The San Lorenzo complex in Pistoia: a history of transformations: Analysis of the state of decay and hypothesis of refunctionalization for museum purposes

Abstract

Interest in the San Lorenzo complex in Pistoia rose at the end of the last century thanks to the attention shown by the Superintendence of Florence and Pistoia and the restoration work that followed. The former Church of San Lorenzo has covered multiple function over time: from the initial small oratory the complex is transformed into a Military District. The entire volume is divided into three levels through two wooden floors, supported by nine transverse septum arranged with constant distance. supported by nine evenly spaced transverse septums each consisting of four pillars connected by three round arches. In the apse region, both the bell tower and the adjacent chapel are demolished and a staircase is built that connecting the new floors. The supporting structure of this staircase is typically military, is part of the category of self-supporting vaults and in the Iberian and Latin American world, they are called "bòvedas tabicadas" in the first case, "bòvedas de rosco" in the second. This technique derives from a long tradition of interchange of constructive knowledge between Italian and Spanish military engineers. The top floor is one of the most evocative environments of the whole complex still today, as the Superintendency demolished the septa in the 1990s. The cover is made of by seventeen truss post in wooden, whose chains are divided into three sections and composed by a “dart of jupiter” joint because of the very wide span that they had to cover. An analysis of the material and structural degradation was carried out, which made it possible to arrive at a re-functionalization hypothesis which involves the conversion of the former church into a museum complex. The main idea of ​​the project is based on the concept, present in the world of restoration, that ancient architecture can be perceived as the sum of infinite interventions by architects, patrons and inhabitants; hence the duty to preserve and restore the existing to gift the richness of its history back to the city.