Today’s configuration of the D’Aste building, with its main facade facing Piazza Venezia, dates back to the second half of the 17th century. The palace used to belong to the D’Aste family and subsequently to the Rinuccini family, and from 1818 it became the residence of Letizia Bonaparte, Napoleon’s mother who lived there until her death on 2nd November, 1836.
Its facade faces Piazza Venezia and consists of three floors within attractive round angle irons thus solving the problem of the space continuity of the building related to its surroundings.
The intervention included all the necessary works to fully refurbish the complex.
The restoration project of the famous palace also required to protect and preserve the elegant interiors of the building while maintaining the accessibility and visibility of original mosaic floors.
At all stages, the interventions were subject to the prior authorization of the competent Cultural Heritage Board, which supervised all the work through their officials.
The project foresaw the absolute respect and preservation of original prestigious finishes. The ceilings, wooden walls and decorated masonry, including the high decorations on the top parts of the walls, were safeguarded and preserved, and left in view.
The creation of elements or framework in contact with the ceilings and decorated areas was neither foreseen, nor permitted, and nor was the setting or pinout of new wiring networks.
All the facades of the building were perfectly refurbished, in accordance with the guidelines of the Cultural Heritage Board. The intervention was carried out on the poor plaster of the external walls, by scraping off the decayed plaster up to the raw masonry, including the cleaning of joints; all the rubble was lowered, loaded and taken to a storage facility, to be recycled or subsequently taken to a landfill site; the surface to be restored was cleaned and washed; a rough coat of cement mortar was built; however, the greatest workload concerned the gathering and preparation of the the joints that were still intact.
Other interventions were also planned, such as the renovation of roofs on the small towers of the stairs leading to the terrace, the renovation of the terrace on the fourth floor, the modification or the relocation of existing oylets (skylights) for the realization of VRV air intakes from outside and restoration of the gable roof.
SCHEDA LAVORO
