From historical railways to cycleways. Re-functioning the heritage of linear monuments

This paper proposes a reflection on the relationship between historical infrastructures and cycleways. In Italy, with the Law 2/2018, rules have been provided for the development of bicycle mobility and the creation of a national cycleway network. The recovery of historical infrastructures is particularly promoted. Among these, disused railway lines reveal a specific vocation for cycling reuse. Unlike highway infrastructures, whose design is bound to parameters that imply a substantial autonomy from the landform, historical railways show how the project of territorial infrastructures can stage the architectural geography of anthropic and natural landscapes. Moreover, recovered in view of slow mobility usage, they appear as linear monuments capable of restoring the identity and stratified memories of the territory. With particular reference to the international cycleways longitudinally crossing the peninsula, along the Apennines, this paper focuses on the description of the architectural characteristics of several historical railway infrastructures, selected according to different geomorphological contexts. Aim of these slow mobility infrastructures is also to contribute to the revitalization of ‘inner areas’ of the peninsula. The knowledge of historical infrastructure is, in fact, assumed as a prerequisite for the design of cycleways that are able to relate to the territories and the multiplicity of their settlement forms

LDE HERITAGE CONFERENCE on Heritage and the Sustainable Development Goals:

Heritage—natural and cultural, material and immaterial—plays a key role in the development of sustainable cities and communities. Goal 11, target 4, of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emphasizes the relation between heritage and sustainability. The International LDE Heritage conference on Heritage and Sustainable Development Goals, which took place from 26 to 28 November 2019 at TU Delft in the Netherlands, examined the theories, methodologies, and practices of heritage and SDGs. It asked: How is heritage produced and defined? By whom and in what contexts? What are the conceptions of sustainability, and in what ways are these situational and contextual? How can theoretical findings on heritage and SDGs engage with heritage practice? The conference built on the multidisciplinary expertise of academics in the humanities, social, and spatial sciences, notably the interdisciplinary crossover research program, Design & History, the new theme of Heritage Futures at TU Delft, on active collaboration within the LDE Center for Global Heritage and Development (CGHD), and on heritage-related research conducted by the three partner universities Leiden, Delft and Erasmus in Rotterdam by further associated partners in the consortium and internationally. At TU Delft the research programs bring together different departments and disciplines: architecture, urbanism, history, landscape architecture, real estate and management, and engineering. They aim to further an interdisciplinary understanding of the transformation of the built environment and, through the consistent use of the past, to enable buildings, cities, and landscapes to become more sustainable, resource-efficient, resilient, safe, and inclusive. Researchers from Leiden University approach heritage from a broad variety of disciplinary perspectives, such as archaeology, museum studies, cultural anthropology, and area studies. Heritage research at Leiden University explores processes of heritage creation, and the appreciation and evaluation of material and immaterial heritage, to gain new insights into the cultural constitution of societies. Creating, acknowledging, and contesting heritage tends to be politically sensitive as it involves assertions and redefinitions of memory and identity. History and social studies scholars from Erasmus University in Rotterdam add further insights into heritage practice. This conference created a setting where academics and heritage practitioners could explore these questions from specific perspectives. It brought together 120 academics and practitioners keen to develop their understanding of and their input into heritage conservation, and to increase their contributions towards the development of sustainable cities and communities. The three-day conference combined a variety of formats. Participants engaged in nine academic sessions with peer-reviewed papers, eight roundtables on strategic goals, and six workshops spent applying specific methods and tools

HISTORY URBANISM RESILIENCE: Book of Abstracts

The 17th conference (2016, Delft) of the International Planning History Society (IPHS) and its proceedings place presentations from different continents and on varied topics side by side, providing insight into state-of-the art research in the field of planning history and offering a glimpse of new approaches, themes, papers and books to come. Book of Abstracts

A New Life for Landscape, Architecture and Design

The volume entitled A New Life for Landscape, Architecture and Design encloses 14 essays, research and original experiments, projects and interventions. While they address only some of the issues listed in the introduction, they are food for thought and contain good practices capable of give a contribution to the international debate on the subject

Changing Priorities. 3rd VIBRArch

In order to warrant a good present and future for people around the planet and to safe the care of the planet itself, research in architecture has to release all its potential. Therefore, the aims of the 3rd Valencia International Biennial of Research in Architecture are: - To focus on the most relevant needs of humanity and the planet and what architectural research can do for solving them. - To assess the evolution of architectural research in traditionally matters of interest and the current state of these popular and widespread topics. - To deepen in the current state and findings of architectural research on subjects akin to post-capitalism and frequently related to equal opportunities and the universal right to personal development and happiness. - To showcase all kinds of research related to the new and holistic concept of sustainability and to climate emergency. - To place in the spotlight those ongoing works or available proposals developed by architectural researchers in order to combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. - To underline the capacity of architectural research to develop resiliency and abilities to adapt itself to changing priorities. - To highlight architecture's multidisciplinarity as a melting pot of multiple approaches, points of view and expertise. - To open new perspectives for architectural research by promoting the development of multidisciplinary and inter-university networks and research groups. For all that, the 3rd Valencia International Biennial of Research in Architecture is open not only to architects, but also for any academic, practitioner, professional or student with a determination to develop research in architecture or neighboring fields.Cabrera Fausto, I. (2023). Changing Priorities. 3rd VIBRArch. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/VIBRArch2022.2022.1686