This study investigates the vulnerability of modernist architectural heritage and the multifaceted challenges it faces in contemporary society. The analysis focuses on the inherent difficulties of conserving these structures, considering their cultural and historical significance alongside the need for adaptation to current social, functional, and regulatory requirements. Through the lens of a key case study, the architectural legacy of the distinguished Argentine architect Miguel Ángel Roca, the research examines how digitization can address these challenges by generating multi-scale and multi-resolution models that support detailed analysis and conservation strategies. The research stems from an interdisciplinary collaboration among the National University of Córdoba in Argentina, the University of Salerno, and Federico II University of Naples in Italy. It showcases the potential of digital tools for modernist heritage conservation, providing innovative solutions for its management, enhancing community engagement, and establishing a comprehensive digital archive. This archive ensures the long-term preservation and dissemination of Roca’s work, contributing to future research and educational initiatives. By integrating digital technologies, the study addresses the technical, social, and economic challenges associated with heritage conservation. The creation of detailed digital archives offers a sustainable framework for managing modernist architecture, ensuring its adaptability to contemporary demands while preserving its historical integrity. Furthermore, this research aligns with the objectives of the journal’s special issue, Imperfect Modernism, by exploring how changing social and political conditions across different countries shape contemporary attitudes toward modern architecture. It explores weaknesses in preservation and protection practices that can affect its legacy, and the challenges and solutions inherent in its conservation, and highlights how the interdisciplinary and digital methodologies introduced set new standards for the sustainable management of architectural heritage, promoting a balance between conservation and the need for modernization in response to evolving societal needs.

The Amalfi Coast represents one of the most fascinating examples of Mediterranean landscape with a unique cultural and natural setting, resulting from its dramatic topography and the evolution of its community. The universal value of the coast, the evolutionary process of human adaptation to its production and exchange spaces, as well as its residential settlements, is very important to preserve. In this regard, the research is focused on the interpretation of these places, and in particular on the typical medieval houses to find the main features through the representation of ancient and new designers. The observation through the drawing allows rediscovering the essential elements that distinguish and at the same time link the buildings with the Mediterranean tradition. The geographical and economic characteristics that particularized the Amalfi Coast in medieval times and the absence of terrestrial connections inevitably led to isolation towards the hinterland and an opening by sea. The owners of these artifacts were mainly merchants and, coming into contact with different cultures, brought to their territories a miscellany of traditions. Similar, these houses are made of local stone and are characterized by their vaulted roof extrados that, depending on the type, leads back to a specific historical phase. The study and analysis of the drawings over time, therefore, aims to discover the main characteristic and rediscover the historical, aesthetic, and artistic value of the vernacular architecture of Campania. These buildings have always been a source of inspiration for great artists and architects who, following the Grand Tour along the coast, have characterized their works, and therefore represent an important heritage to be known, protected, and enhanced to safeguard harmony and splendor of the Amalfi Coast.