October 29th, 2015 – Brunelleschi’s hometown continues to be a benchmark in the field of architecture, in Italy and beyond. With this in mind, the intercultural dialogue between the University of Florence and Colombian universities is stronger than ever. Manizales, capital of the Caldas department, recently welcomed a mission of the Department of Architecture (Dida) led by Michele Paradiso, Associate in Construction Science and Reference Point for the inter-university collaboration agreements with Colombian universities. The initiative had as its central moment the participation in the “Week of Tuscan Renaissance Architecture “, organized to spread in Colombia the Tuscan culture of heritage conservation. During the mission, financed by the Italian Cultural Institute in Bogota, the Colombia National University and the Catholic University of Manizales, Paradiso was flanked by Grazia Tucci, Associate in Topography and Cartography within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DICeA), and from the Department of Fine Arts for the provinces of Florence, Pistoia and Prato Alessandra Marino and Valerio Tesi. Among the themes of the event, there was the study of the dome by Filippo Brunelleschi conducted by the research group of Salvatore Di Pasquale between the19 70s and 1980s, the potential of laser scanning technology, the project Grandi Uffizi, and intervention strategies for the restoration of monuments of Renaissance architecture. In the days before the event in Manizales, the Florentine delegation – accompanied by the Italian Ambassador in Bogota, Gianni Bardini, and the Director of the Italian Cultural Institute, Uberto Malizia – met with Colombian ministerial institutions in charge of cultural heritage. “The presence of the University and the Department of Fine Arts – said Paradiso – has had a positive response among the Colombian academic and political circles, and excellent visibility in the local press. The goal is to strengthen synergies between our universities and those in Colombia, on mobility students and joint research projects, heritage, and earthen and bamboo architecture. ” (Red)
