Frank Lloyd Wright’s World Heritage throughout Time. The complex compromise between use and conservation in the American approach to architectural restoration

Abstract

This essay aims to provide a brief summary of the most controversial restoration realized on four cases out of the eight Frank Lloyd Wright’s works listed as Unesco World Heritage (the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Unity Temple, the Robie House, Taliesin West), in a comparative view between the recurrent methods of the American approach to architectural restoration and the shared values of the Italian theory of conservation. In this way, the principles laid down by Unesco to list this valuable heritage (Integrity, Authenticity, Protection) are looked under a critical perspective, showing how liable they are in within the selected cases. Furthermore, the text will focus on the complex implications deriving from the design intent, the authorship, the architectural history and the use of photography in the restoration process, opposed to the principle of time and authenticity deriving from the Venice Charter and the Nara Document.