The Construction History Group (CHG) responds to the recent development of Construction History in the international scenario. The CHG is open to scholars and PhD students of the Politecnico di Torino who carried out research or are investigating the history of construction in the fields of architecture and engineering, particularly from the early modern to the contemporary period.
The group intends to support research and teaching related to the history of construction. It is our intention to provide space on the website to report courses, conferences, and exhibitions that intersect the themes of CHG organised by the Politecnico di Torino but also outside of it, especially when members of the group are involved.
The research themes and the purpose of the group perfectly fit with the mission and the tradition of the Politecnico di Torino, and we will also encourage investigations into the archival heritage of our University and the past publications of our scholars and researchers that testify the important contribution given to the history of construction.
The CHG aims to discuss studies related to the history of construction in a wider context (actors, processes, economies, techniques, theories...). However, although we support and encourage a multidisciplinary approach, this does not mean that there are no boundaries. In line with the current recommendations provided by the History of Construction international congresses, we consider important to point out that the works of pure description of artefacts or analyses exclusively focused on other fields of research or professional practices (restoration, energy calculation, etc.) are not included among the research topics that the group intends to promote. On the other hand, although we express full interest in the ongoing international debate on the “identity” of CH, the Group will not seek to establish a separate and specific disciplinary statute for the “construction history”: we believe it is important - and consistent with the mission of our University - to welcome different points of view, disciplines and different training experience .