Rehabilitation of abandoned villages through tourism: a solution for sustainable heritage development?

Villages which have been abandoned during recent decades as a result of migration from rural areas constitute a serious problem which is all too common in many European countries. The aim of this paper is to examine the problem in Portugal and conduct a comparative study of four villages, set in a range of geographical and socio-economic contexts, which have been rehabilitated. These villages are associated with: different types of vernacular architecture; different types of traditional landscape; contrasting topographic contexts; and different causes of rural abandonment. The findings of this study point to the main requirements for improvement and recommendations are made for suitable developments in terms of the heritage in its broadest sense, including the surrounding landscape. Heritage character is not only important for the preservation of local identity but may also be associated with products and services which are marketed and is thus an essential factor for the socio-economic sustainability of rehabilitated villages.CIDEHUS centre and IIFA institute of Évora University , European Union FEDR, COMPETE and QREN, Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT)

Future users, future cities: dweller as designer

As technology advances, users get more detached from the way things work and are produced. Users end up being pure consumers and leave their positions as decision makers behind. Before the architecture and buildings processes were industrialized, most practitioners of the so-called vernacular architecture were in fact the dwellers of what they built and they easily met the specific personal needs since they were in total control. Some “architectural theorists have turned to vernacular construction with the conviction that such buildings and settlements express the interconnectedness between humans and the landscapes they live in.” (Beesley and Bonnemaison 2008). Considering the present day intense building activity, such relationship of dweller and architecture seems not possible excepting a very few examples to later referred to. This paper will instead focus on the possibility of the non-architect users of architectures as decision makers in order to reach designs that meet the requirements of their addressees

Between landscape and fortified architecture: traces and memory of rural civilization in the territory of Pesche in Molise

The small village of Pesche in Molise extends along the slopes of Monte San Marco, in a perfect symbiosis between architecture and nature. Pesche’s origins date back already between the 5th and 6th centuries, when the steep natural slope was chosen as a place for the construction of a safe village, consisting of many small houses side by side and built using local limestone. Its position, guarding the Isernia valley, charac terized at the top by the ruins of the castle-enclosure, supports the idea that Pesche may have played a dominant role in the passage along the ancient Pescasseroli-Candela sheep track. The castle-enclosure itself is evidence of the traditional medieval building site, but also of a rural civilization which until the beginning of the 20th century probably continued to live in these places, used as houses, stables and barns. This contribution focuses on the architectural and material characteristics of the buildings in the territory of Pesche, which, despite the current state of decay and neglect, are evidence of the use of local materials and the use of construction techniques that have characterized the traditional Molise building site

English language in rural Malaysia: situating global literacies in local practices

This paper claims that underlying the naturalisation of teaching and learning of English in the Malaysian education system are ideological pressures and political dogmas, often emerging from colonial, urban/rural and even local ethnic conflicts and hierarchies. It suggests therein lie the inherent difficulties of teaching and learning English in rural communities in Malaysia. Three paradigms frame this view in the paper: the overarching view of literacy as a situated and variable social process; the use of an ethnographic perspective in investigating English language and literacy education in Malaysia; the stance on the need for Malaysians to acquire English as an additive rather than as a deficit philosophy

Remaining architectural heritage in Kosovo, their durability and sustainability

This paper work aims to contribute in response to the request for immediate intervention of cultural heritage preservation in Kosovo, with aiming to guard against the harmful consequences of insufficient knowledge leading to a misuse of technology and to ill-considered approaches. The Dwelling-Garret Type (DGT)is an important vernacular study case. The DGT is a historic building of XVIII century, located in the core of Lebusha Village, Municipality of Peja, an architectural constructioncharacterized by two concentric volumes at rectangular layout, very dynamic at horizontal composition, obtained by the movement of two differently constructional materials volumes, stone masonry and timber assembly, covered with roof clay tiles. In view of its esthetic and artistic values, thus its important role at developing chain of Kosovo's rural dwellings typology, and its method of construction, the building should be listed as a monument under state protection. Hence, immediateprotection interventions, such as conservation of wooden and stone envelope, improvement of walls and finish works, drainage infrastructure, are considered minimum requirement

Traditional buildings for tobacco processing in Val Tiberina (Tuscany-Italy)

This paper focuses on the analysis of buildings devoted to tobacco processing, built in the first half of the 20th century in Tuscany (province of Arezzo), by studying construction techniques, materials, and preservation issues. Since the 16th century, in Tuscany, the sites involved in tobacco cultivation are both the upper Val Tiberina and Val di Chiana (in particular, Arezzo and Siena territories). At first, tobacco was used either for medical purposes or as snuff and pipe powder. It soon became the most renewed cultivation throughout the Tiberina Valley, due to the excellent quality of the tobacco produced. The first significant crops date back to the early 17thcentury. The drying process took place in specific buildings named “tabaccaie”, where tobacco leaves were placed over an oak wood fire to dry. This process was adopted until the 1970s. Subsequently, a profound crisis of the agricultural sector determined the falling into disuse and the abandonment of numerous “tabaccaie”. In some cases, these buildings have been reused as luxury hotels for touristic purposes, but many of them are in a state of ruin or have been demolished. They represent the testimony of agro-industrial vernacular architectures nowadays at significant risk. Indeed, most of the recovery interventions have often wholly obliterated the original structure to make the former “tabaccaie” able to satisfy housing and comfort requests. The study aims to deepen the knowledge of these buildings to preserve cultural identities and transfer inherited values

Studies and projects for the archaeological park of the Nuraghe s’Urachi (Sardinia, Italy). From knowledge for heritage conservation to project for the community

This piece of research regards the archaeological area of the Nuraghe s'Urachi in San Vero Milis (OR- Sardinia, Italy). The site is probably one of the most significant and complex testimonies of the so-called "Nuragic civilization" in Sardinia (18th–11th century BC). Among the approximately eight thou-sand currently surviving "nuraghi”, the s'Urachi complex stands out for its pivotal role in the vast and important network of territorial relations that characterized central-western Sardinia during the Archaic period. Its crucial role in terms of its political, economic, social, and military importance is displayed by its considerable size. Today only seven of the ten perimetral towers are still visible, and of the cen-tral tower — originally over twenty-five meters high — only the base remains. However, from an ar-chaeological point of view, the Nuraghe still constitutes one of the most interesting artifacts of the re-gion. As part of a renewed collective interest in Nuragic sites, the area of the excavations of s'Urachi is a candidate to host a new archaeological park whose formal and organizational characters are still to be defined (section 1.1). In August 2021, a workshop was organized and promoted as part of Accademia Adrianea in Rome Master's degree program on Architecture and Archaeology. The workshop focused on the site to envision four possible scenarios (section 2.1) for implementing and stimulating the preserva-tion and conservation processes, as well as to enhance the archaeological area in accord with the munic-ipal administration and the local community. The process of rediscovery, participation, sharing, and fi-nal "reappropriation" of this heritage's tangible and intangible value represents one of the fundamental objectives this article intends to outline