Tecnologia del recupero dell’architettura tradizionale: gestire la coesistenza tra conservazione e innovazione

The main aim of this PhD Thesis was to develop meaningful data and information on how to address the fundamental question related to rehabilitation technologies of traditional architecture: managing the coexistence between innovation and conservation, in order to restore the functionality of the building according to the contemporary standards of quality and, at the same time, not to alter the historical - cultural identity of the building technology. The present study is an analysis of good practices. The criteria applied to managing the coexistence between conservation and innovation of the building technology in some successful rehabilitation processes of historical city nuclei have been systematized. The main expected outcome is to fill a gap in literature concerning the evaluation of rehabilitation results by the technological point of view, in order to adjust the criteria of intervention on the basis of the results of earlier experiences. A qualitative and inductive research methodology has been applied, based on an evaluative-comparative strategy focused on case studies. Three rehabilitation processes of historical nuclei have been analyzed: Genova in Italy, Guimarães in Portugal and Santiago de Compostela in Spain. It has been systematically analyzed how windows, floors and roofs were processed, and it has been highlighted which traditional building technology characteristics were usually maintained and which were altered. The applied methodology has proved to be incisive in revealing the rehabilitation dynamics of the case studies. The findings show that in all cases the applied criteria were conceived in line with the Nara Document on Authenticity. The problematic coexistence of technological conservation and innovation was addressed by upgrading the traditional building technology thanks to the preservation of some building characteristics, that represent traditional building technology logic, and the implementation of all required innovations that do not contrast with the abovementioned traditional characteristics. The homogeneity of criteria among the three case studies represents a relevant fact in rehabilitation, as it demonstrates the existence of a common, well developed, rehabilitation methodology that is internationally shared among rehabilitation experts

Bioclimatic lessons from Mediterranean vernacular architecture: The Sardinian case study

Nowadays one of the most pressing objectives toward a sustainable development is to construct bioclimatic passive buildings. Vernacular architecture is more and more recognized as a source of inspiration for facing this challenge. The main purpose of this paper is to identify how and how much vernacular architecture implements the most performing bioclimatic strategies in the Mediterranean climate. The work starts from the analysis of the island of Sardinia as a case study. The bioclimatic strategies are analyzed by applying the adaptive thermal comfort approach. Several Design Reference Years (DRYs) are defined by elaborating climate data from stations all over regional territory, and then they are inputted in Szokolay’s bioclimatic chart. The results of the analysis are then compared with the characteristics of the Sardinian vernacular built heritage, to verify if and how those strategies were applied. The findings reveal that, in Mediterranean mild, but variable, climate, vernacular architecture incorporates bioclimatic strategies in order to meet both underheating and overheating needs in different ways. In some cases there can be found a strong correlation between constructive and morphological features and climatic contexts

The ‘earthen cities’ itinerary

The pilot project ‘The itinerary of the earthen cities’, presented in 2006 at the Civis regional announcement of selection, has been recently founded, and it is now developing. The goals of the project are several, but mainly it aims for offer a new local sustainable development based on the local traditional earthen building culture. It considers both the wide architectural heritage still survived in Sardinia, and the intangible patrimony of ‘good lessons’ coming from the past which represents, at the same time, the traditional local identity and the ‘quality of life’ inherents to the earth. For this reason, this project looks on the Sardinian earthen culture as the main strategy to couple the conservation and rehabilitation of its heritage with a new development policy, able to appraise the communities traditional culture and foster a new local ‘green’ economy. In this way, the project achieves a new earthen itinerary through ten small towns in to the flatland of the middle-south Sardinia (the Campidano area). This cities network, which it has already taken part into the National Earthen Cities Association since 2001, collaborates and cooperates in the achievement of three main specific goals : 1- promoting both the urban regeneration and the local sustainable development supporting the ‘building good practices’ into the rehabilitation and new construction of earthen architectures. This involves the ‘sustainable’ features of the earth (healthiness, recycling, environmental-friendly and energy-saving property, etc.) and its deep relationship with the current need of sustainable architecture. 2- Promoting a new tourist sustainable development through the creation of cultural-tourist itineraries. Those latter will be joint with urban and architectural requalification’s actions with the aim to incentivized and support the ‘horizontal’ or ‘scattered’ hotel on territory. Specifically, the project achieves high-quality scattered hotels in to these ten different towns, recovering the existing structures or building a new one, in both cases according to the best sustainable standards. In addition of this, some traditional buildings will be recover and use as ‘domus amigas’: ‘stations’ and focal points of this earthen path. Those ‘containers’ function as a territorial network of info points, laboratories and launch windows where showing and selling tourist, handcrafted and food farming products. 3- Promoting both technical-administrative cultures and social perception links to the earth. The aim is the creation of a real technical and administrative local cultures able to manage the earthen heritage. This can be reach through the dissemination of knowledge and the integration of earthen culture and techniques at different levels of educational modules. All those objectives go with specific strategies, which point out the priority actions for each of them. Therefore, the paper aims to follow the example of this pilot project to show as communities can find in their local cultural heritage the ideal tool through which built a new sustainable development model base on local resources

Estratégias bioclimáticas da arquitetura vernácula do sul da Sardenha (Itália)

Objetivos energéticos da sustentabilidade ambiental, impostos pelas recentes diretivas da União Europeia (UE), estão relacionados à arquitetura para atingir os requisitos rigorosos de desempenho que levam a rever os modelos de comportamento e design do edifício e do espaço urbano. A partir deste ponto de vista, a reinterpretação da arquitetura vernácula fornece à arquitetura contemporânea um conjunto de lições exemplares que podem garantir o conforto de habitabilidade com a ajuda mínima dos sistemas mecânicos de arrefecimento e aquecimento. Vários fatores, entre os quais podemos encontrar a configuração geomorfológica do solo no sul da Sardenha (em particular na região histórico- geográfica do Campidano), favoreceram o uso da terra crua como material escolhido para a construção do património arquitetónico vernáculo desta área. As propriedades higrotérmicas, garantidas pela grande espessura da parede, combinadas com as configurações espaciais historicamente tomadas (casa com pátio geralmente voltado para sul, a presença da loja, etc), hoje fornecem um repertório de conhecimentos e medidas técnicas projectuais para a adaptação ao clima local mediterrâneo. O projecto europeu interuniversitário de investigação VerSus1 constitui pela Universidade de Cagliari a oportunidade de investigar as soluções tecnológicas e tipo - morfológicas pertencentes à tradição da construção vernácula da Sardenha, com o objetivo de compreender e disseminar o know – how das estratégias de adaptação ao clima inerentes à região