Metodologie e strumenti per la conservazione e il riuso del patrimonio militare: la base aerea di Cagliari-Elmas | Methodologies and tools for the protection and the reuse of military sites: the Air Force Base of Cagliari-Elmas

On 28 March 1923, the Italian air force was founded as an independent service with the name of 'Arma Azzurra' (Blue Army). Fascism always held it in the maximum importance, as an Italian excellence among the national armies. In 1934, an important exhibition on Italian Aviation was held in Milan to celebrate the exceptional innovation reached in this field. In the same exhibition, some models of the modern airport were showed. The first Italian airport built according to Milan's models was the seaplane base of Cagliari, quickly transformed into a modern aviation base, completed in 1935. The historical buildings, still preserved, show a clear futurist character together with rationalistic elements, avantgarde for the contemporary European context. The military area has very recently been decommissioned, turned into civilian use and outsourced to the company responsible for civil airport management (So.G.Aer. SpA). The University of Cagliari, together with the local offices of the National Ministry for Cultural Heritage, is carrying out a scientific research on the ex-military area, with the specific aim of inserting the entire site in the list of protected monuments, since it represents an important witness of the Italian military history of the 20th century. The research follows the rigorous protocol of investigation generally used for historical monuments and includes the indirect analysis, through the recognition of bibliographic, archival and graphic sources, and the direct survey of the structures, carried out through photographic, architectural and material surveys, with non-destructive diagnostic techniques. Based on the in-depth knowledge, the research drafts a first proposal for a sustainable reuse.