Restoration of Villa Busca Arconati Visconti in Lomagna An example of requalification and redevelopment of the architectural heritage, the historical settlements and the agricultural landscape.

Lomagna is a small town located in the north of Italy on the hills of the Brianza, name of a strip of territory stretching from east Milan to the lake of Como, the city of Lecco and the first hillsides before the alps.

The wonderful hilly landscape, the greenery and the presence of many lakes in the area constituted the ideal setting where, starting from the XVII century, many aristocrats decided to build their own private palace or villa of delights in the countryside near the city.

Villa Busca Arconati Visconti was built at the end of 1700 in a neoclassic style.

Marchies Ludovico Busca together with the wife Maria Luigia duchess Serbelloni inspired the construction of the building.

After long time the villa was left in a state of abandon, the building the park and the adjacent agricultural lots has been restored and only in recent times the works have been fully completed.

The restoration and design phase took in great consideration the historical and architectural context constituted by the gothic style farmhouse, the baroque building and the neoclassical villa.

A preservative restoration approach was chosen for the specific case of Villa Busca and among the many possible restoration traditions, schools and techniques, leading sometimes to lively debates and discussions. This technique and design method aims at the preservation of the historical layers of the building including the transformations that the building underwent during the past centuries and of course the deterioration of the materials and decorations.

Thanks to an initial accurate relief of the state of preservation the building the works have been organized, at a later stage, in three main moments:

1 a process of cleaning of the original parts, even if deteriorated 2 the removal of alterations to the original building look 3 the reconstruction of missing parts of the building and new portions aimed at the future use of the renovated structure. This design phase guaranteed the use of techniques materials and colors which could be recognizable as new, without spoiling the overall historical look of the building