At the roots of sustainability: Mediterranean vernacular architecture

[EN] As numerous examples show, bioclimatic architecture is an historical, ancestral design practice. The whole history of architecture is marked by the search for living comfort resulting from the link with the land and the correct use of natural resources. In vernacular architecture, we also find this ‘holistic’ conception of living in which design choices (compositional, constructive, material, and technological) are deeply connected to climatic and functional issues. However, until now, studies on these typologies have usually focused more on formal aspects, leaving out sustainability ones. The spontaneous constructions of the Mediterranean area – the Sicilian dammusi, the trulli of Val d'Itria, the Sassi of Matera, the Scirocco rooms in Sicily or the houses on the Amalfi coast – are sincere, rational, and logical, and have always sought living comfort through energy and economic efficiency, even without pre-established rules or standards. For example, the absence of wood and clay, the abundance of limestone and sand, led to design the Amalfi Coast dwellings essentially of stone, abandoning tiles, bricks, and wooden floors. The structure without sharp corners results from the limestone which was not tender enough to allow a good squaring. The dammusi were built with the same stones used to reclaim the land to form the terraces on which they stood. Their domed roofs were made of stone covered with a layer of earth and a mixture of volcanic pumice as insulation, and a layer of red tuff and milk of lime as waterproofing. The paper aims to investigate these peculiar vernacular typologies to trace the remote origins of sustainability in their morphological and technological characters. This study could also trigger a reflection on strategies for the contemporary design of sustainable architecture inspired by the tradition of these climatic regions.Talenti, S.; Teodosio, A. (2022). At the roots of sustainability: Mediterranean vernacular architecture. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 513-520. https://doi.org/10.4995/HERITAGE2022.2022.1562151352

Visions “humaines” ou “infernales”: les moyens de transport et la perception de la ville chez Le Corbusier

[EN] The representations of cities viewed from the sea have had, since the fifteenth century, a great success in urban iconography. From 1911, Le Corbusier began drawing urban landscapes in his sketchbooks, which he discovered during his trip to the Orient. Cities, fortifications or significant monuments are often depicted from the sea or rivers, because the arrival by boat allows a gradual and overall perception of the site. After his stay in South America in 1929, the architect openly expressed his appreciation for the panoramic view obtained from the boat in the middle of the bay. This point of view allows him to contextualize his urban development proposals immediately. This iconographic practice is no longer a simple function of knowledge, but it has become an instrument for realising the project. However, the horizontal view was soon accompanied by the process of flying over urban centres to understand the magnitude of the man-made and natural landscape. Through the analysis of the many images – drawings, sketches, photos – developed by Le Corbusier using different means of transport, of comments accompanying these iconographic documents and of some published texts, the paper aims to better understand the relationship between the scale of these panoramic visions and the new territorial approach developed by Le Corbusier from the Thirties onwards.[ES] Les représentations des villes depuis la mer ont eu, à partir du XVe siècle, un grand succès dans l’iconographie urbaine des voyageurs. Depuis 1911, Le Corbusier a pris l’habitude d’esquisser dans ses carnets de croquis les paysages urbains découverts au cours de son voyage en Orient. Villes, remparts ou monuments significatifs sont souvent représentés depuis la mer ou les fleuves, car l'arrivée en bateau autorise une perception progressive et globale du site. Suite à son séjour en Amérique du sud en 1929, l'architecte exprime ouvertement son appréciation pour la perspective obtenue depuis le bateau au milieu des baies, car ce point de vue lui permet de contextualiser immédiatement ses propositions d’aménagement urbain. De simple connaissance des villes, cette pratique iconographique devient, chez Le Corbusier, un instrument d’élaboration du projet. Mais la vue horizontale est bientôt accompagnée du procédé de survol des centres urbains pour appréhender la grandeur du paysage naturel et construit. À travers l’analyse des nombreuses images – dessins, croquis, photos – élaborées par Le Corbusier à partir des différents moyens de transport, ainsi que des commentaires accompagnant ces documents iconographiques et de quelques textes publiés, on essayera de mieux comprendre le rapport entre l’échelle de ces visions panoramiques et la nouvelle approche territoriale mise au point par Le Corbusier à partir des années Trente.Talenti, S. (2016). Visions “humaines” ou “infernales”: les moyens de transport et la perception de la ville chez Le Corbusier. En LE CORBUSIER. 50 AÑOS DESPUÉS. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 2184-2204. https://doi.org/10.4995/LC2015.2015.821OCS2184220

CONOSCERE E RIVIVERE I BORGHI RURALI DEL SETTECENTO. ESPERIENZE ‘ILLUMINATE’ DI RINNOVAMENTO SOCIALE, ECONOMICO E ARCHITETTONICO

The 18th century division into farms system involved the construction of many autonomous and self-sufficient rural villages in the Italian countryside. The change in economic and production systems has led to the abandonment and progressive degradation of several settlements and their buildings. Today they have frequently been turned into luxury residences or farmhouses for a very often foreign customers, allowing the villages to be revitalized and the constructions preserved.  But perhaps possible reuse scenarios could be imagined as alternatives to the more obvious and widespread tourist accommodation. The conservation of this historical heritage should perhaps not be detached from the need to re-establish a relationship with its environment, stimulating not only economic, social and commercial dynamics, but also a new awareness and renewed interest in country life

Imagination in the treatise ‘L’Architecture considérée sous le rapport de l’Art, des Moeurs et de la Législation’ (1804) by the French Architect Claude-Nicolas Ledoux

The paper analyses the different kinds of imagination that the French architect Claude-Nicolas Ledoux uses during his career as architect but also as theorist. In fact, Ledoux employs his imagination to project his famous ideal city of Chaux but also to write his treatise L’Architecture considérée sous le rapport de l’art, des moeurs et de la legislation. The book of Ledoux, published for the first time in 1804 is composed by a collection of 125 engravings, accompanied by an introduction and a very long text of 240 pages. Even if it belongs to the tradition of Renaissance treatises like the one published by Palladio, at the same time it is very original because of its narrative sequence which combines various genres: from the philosophical thought to a travel report, from a personal diary to the moral fable. Three voices appear in this text very emphatic and rich in pathos: the traveller, the tourist guide and the architect. And through these voices, Ledoux may write a very particular kind of architectural history where imagination holds a large and important part

Tra due litorali: ospizi marini e città tra terapia e villeggiatura da Viareggio alla Riviera romagnola

Halfway between the hospital model and holiday camps, the Seaside Hospices born and developed in the course of fifty years, on the edge of the historic city and the new resort districts. Sometimes they had a flywheel effect on new urban expansions, sometimes they hampered the development of villas for aristocrats and bourgeois. The establishments for the prevention and treatment of scrofulous children aim to hygiene and functionality of spaces and services, freeing-looking sad and prison of hospitals. The anonymous designers bestowed only minimal attention to the building envelope. The paper aims to focus on the urban impact of Seaside Hospices on the Romagna coast, on their features as well as on the events that have seen their rise between 1870 and 1913

Preliminary procedures to the reuse of the seats of justice: parallelism France-Italy

The French Ministry of Justice has launched a little over a decade, an operation of alienation of its extensive judiciary heritage. What is striking is the intended use allocated to these abandoned buildings. The most unusual case of atypical reuse is definitely one of the court of Nantes, recently transformed into a luxury hotel. While some of the architectural features of the judicial type have been betrayed, the quality of the operation has been properly controlled through extensive preliminary studies. A decade ago, a hypothesis of similar transformation has been proposed for the Courthouse in Milan (built by Piacentini), because of the project to transfer the courts to the district of “Porto di Mare”. But in this case, it seems that the new use – a great hotel – wasn’t the result of a thorough analysis of the possible enhancements of the building. The paper aims to reflect on the cases of disposal and atypical reuse of court buildings and on the procedures adopted by public authorities to identify the most appropriate ways of enhancing