From Venice to Cusco, Leonardo Benevolo’s Urban Preservation Model in Latin America

This contribution traces the global dissemination of Leonardo Benevolo’s work during the 1970s, notably focusing on the consulting work for UNDP/UNESCO carried out in Latin America by Benevolo and his younger colleague, Giorgio Lombardi. The Italian architect and architectural historian was one of the most important spokesmen for the Italian policies on the protection of historical cities in the 1960s and 1970s. His methodology of intervention for the rehabilitation of historic urban areas met with great interest internationally and quickly became a model for architects and planners worldwide and, in particular, for large international organizations. The essay investigates how Benevolo’s approach to the preservation of historical centres was received and used in Latin America. In doing so, it suggests that while the technical aspects became a working reference for the whole region and beyond, Benevolo’s theoretical framework that considered the preservation of historic districts the first step for an alternative model of modern city development was largely marginalized.