Tra scienza, tecnica e storia. Hermes Balducci restauratore

Hermes Balducci is an interesting figure of scientist and engineer active in the study and restoration of archaeological and architectural heritage. His university education follows a precise path aimed at obtaining a vast scientific and technical preparation for the profession of engineer. At the University of Pavia he earned a degree in Chemistry (also attending all the preparatory courses for the enrollment in engineering, including Drawing of Ornate and Architecture held by Sebastiano Giuseppe Locati) and in Chemistry and Pharmacy. Then – while working as temporary assistant to the Locati’s drawing course in Pavia – he began studying Civil Engineering at the Milan Polytechnic, graduating in 1928. In 1930 he became a tenured assistant and in 1935 he succeeded Locati in teaching; in parallel – until his sudden premature death – he carried out an intense research activity between Italy and the Dodecanese islands, and designed the restoration of some important buildings in Pavia. In those projects, Balducci made use of his historical, technical and scientific knowledge, making frequent reference to Giovannoni’s theories of scientific restoration, but also feeling the influence of the ones by Luca Beltrami, with whom his master Locati collaborated in his youth.