Enhancing the Cultural Heritage through Adaptive Reuse. A Multicriteria Approach to Evaluate the Castello Visconteo in Cusago (Italy)

Cultural heritage can play a strategic role in developing a sustainable built environment, contributing to the improvement of the economic, social, and environmental productivity of a city. Human activities are constantly affecting the quality of the environment and altering the ecosystems, which produce negative consequences also on human wellbeing. Within this context, it has been much discussed how cities and the built environment can counteract this process by supporting more sustainable development. Adaptive reuse is defined as “a process that changes a disused or ineffective item into a new item that can be used for a different purpose”, which strongly triggers the sustainable development of cities. It can be recognized as a promoter of economic growth, social wellbeing, and environmental preservation, given its capability of both preserving past values and creating new ones. The adaptive reuse matches the main points of the circular economy, seen as the sustainable economy, which is aimed at the reduction of natural resource extraction and environmental impact by extending the useful life of materials and promoting recovery, reuse, and regeneration processes. Given these premises, the current contribution aimed to evaluate alternative scenarios for reuse in Castello Visconteo in Cusago, located in the Lombardy region (Italy), and understanding how adaptive reuse could contribute to generating new values within a circular economy perspective. In detail, four alternative scenarios were proposed to face the new needs born during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Since both intangible and tangible values must be considered, a multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) has been applied by combining economic and qualitative indicators to define the most suitable function for its adaptive reuse. In detail, the Novel Approach to Imprecise Assessment and Decision Environments (NAIADE) was used to identify the best alternative solution based on the opinions of conflicting stakeholders. The innovativeness of the contribution is given by the combination of different methodologies, the preservation of the memory and the generation of new values, and the consideration of adaptive reuse as a strategy for the achievement of sustainable development within a circular economy perspective

Gyumri città di fondazione. Un caso studio come paradigma di abbandono e gentrificazione nei centri storici della Repubblica d’Armenia

Gyumri is the second largest city for population in Armenia. It is located at 1550 metres above sea level on the bank of the Akhuryan river in the Shirak region, bordering Turkey on the west and Georgia on the north. Planned and built in its current structure since the 1930s, it has a "historical core" of 200 hectares that significantly retains its nineteenth-century conformation, despite the violent earthquake that struck and partly destroyed it in 1988. The disastrous earthquake and the consequent closure of the large established productive systems massively reduced the employment opportunities of the inhabitants, forcing them to move or to live at the limit of the poverty threshold. Independence, conflicts and the economic crisis further impoverished the city. Not infrequently, along the streets of the historical centre, some of which are still in clay, you can see the piles of tuff blocks, that testify the violence of the earthquake, abandoned buildings, or those with partially collapsed floors and missing doors and windows, even though, after years of neglect, the city is today the subject of renewed attention which, paradoxically, could lead to further losses in the urban tissue. The paper, starting from a reconstruction of the historical and constructive events of the city, analyzes the current conservation problems and projects in progress, taking a cue for some preliminary considerations about the general situation of the historical centres in Armenia.Gyumri, seconda città armena per popolazione, deve il suo attuale assetto alla pianificazione voluta dallo zar Nicola I a partire dal 1837. L’impianto a scacchiera, gli edifici eclettici in tufo, la gerarchia degli spazi ne rendono l’assetto da città pianificata; i più di duecento ettari occupati dalla città storica risalgono, infatti, ad un periodo ristretto che va dalla seconda metà del XIX secolo ai primi anni del XX.Il violento sisma del 1988, oltre alla dolorosa e ingente perdita di vite umane, ha interrotto la vita di Gyumri per lungo tempo. Le grandi fabbriche situate ai margini della città hanno chiuso, riducendo massivamente le possibilità di lavoro degli abitanti. L’indipendenza prima, i conflitti e la crisi economica poi, hanno ulteriormente impoverito la città. Non di rado, percorrendo le strade del centro storico, alcune delle quali ancora in terra battura, si notano i cumuli di blocchi di tufo segno della distruzione di una costruzione, gli edifici abbandonati, o quelli con i solai parzialmente crollati e i serramenti mancanti, anche se, dopo anni di abbandono, la città è oggi oggetto di una rinnovata attenzione che, paradossalmente, potrebbe comportare ulteriori perdite nel tessuto urbano.Il contributo, a partire da una ricostruzione delle vicende storiche e costruttive della città, ne analizza gli attuali problemi di conservazione e i progetti in atto, prendendo spunto per una più generale riflessione sullo stato delle politiche e degli interventi per i centri storici in Armenia

LEARNING FROM THE BUILDING: DIRECT SOURCES FOR THE PRESERVATION PROJECT. THE EXPERIENCE OF BESOZZO'S TOWN HALL (VARESE, ITALY)

The Town Hall of Besozzo (Varese, Italy) is located in the city centre of the village and its first construction phase is dated back to the XIV-XV century. It shows a complex palimpsest which is the result of the numerous transformations occurred during its life: enlargements, super elevations, demolitions, inner spaces subdivisions and use changes. Currently a project has been issued for the reuse of the building which assigns new spaces for the town offices to the northern wing recently acquired. The aim of the research was to provide a diagnostic insight, useful for the development of the conservation project which will necessarily take into account the multitude of values registered on the building. Owing to a lack of meaningful archival documentation, the elevation's stratigraphic reading and the methods for dating historical buildings proved to be an invaluable resource for the comprehension of the building's transformations. Cross-referencing readings of indirect sources carried on the building with the results of the in-depth analysis made it possible to rebuild the growth of the structure from its origin to the present days. Such analysis includes: geometric survey, photographic rectifications of facade and inner sections, non-destructive diagnostic investigations, bricks, mortar and plaster chemical-physical analysis, mensiochronology, study of the building techniques and chronotypology which is a stylistic analysis performed both on the constructive (apertures) and decorative (shelves, graffiti, colourings traces) architectural elements. Blending the results of these dating techniques produced the complexity of the stratigraphic reading which has been conveyed with adequate hatching on the rectified images (U.S. – Stratigraphic Unity) while schematic 3D reconstructions exemplify the chronological sequence of the building activities. Individuation and comprehension of the building constructive phases made also possible to understand which were the different uses of each room inside this domestic architecture thus providing the client and the bodies in charge of protection with valuable data for the preservation project

Dalla conoscenza alla conservazione: il territorio della Civita di Tarquinia

Forthcoming

The Role of Optical Coherence Tomography in an Atypical Case of Oculocutaneous Albinism: A Case Report

Background: Oculocutaneous albinism is a group of autosomal recessive disorders featuring hypopigmentation of the hair, skin and eyes. Ocular signs associated with the disease are nystagmus, decreased visual acuity, hypopigmentation of the retina, foveal hypoplasia, translucency of the iris, macular transparency, photophobia and abnormal decussation of nerve fibers at the chiasm. Case Report: An 8-year-old Caucasian girl presented to our clinic ‘Referral Center for Hereditary Retinopathies’ of the Second University of Naples with a diagnosis of Stargardt disease and a progressive reduction in visual acuity in both eyes. She underwent a complete ophthalmic examination including standard electroretinography and optical coherence tomography (OCT). A molecular analysis was also performed. Best-corrected visual acuity was 20/30 in the right eye and 20/40 in the left eye. Biomicroscopy of the anterior segment revealed a transparent cornea, in situ and transparent lens and normally pigmented iris. A mild diffuse depigmentation and macular dystrophy were observed at fundus examination. Standard electroretinography showed normal scotopic and photopic responses. OCT revealed high reflectivity across the fovea without depression. The typical OCT pattern led us to direct the molecular analysis towards the genes involved in oculocutaneous albinism. The molecular analysis identified mutations in the TYR gene. Conclusion: In this case, the role of OCT was crucial in guiding the molecular analysis for the diagnosis of albinism. OCT is therefore instrumental in similar cases that do not present typical characteristics of a disease. The case also proves the relevance of molecular analysis to confirm clinical diagnoses in hereditary retinal diseases

CHM/REP1 Transcript Expression and Loss of Visual Function in Patients Affected by Choroideremia

PURPOSE. To evaluate the disease progression in patients with clinical and genetic diagnoses of choroideremia during a long-term follow-up and to investigate the relationship between pathogenic variants in the CHM/REP1 gene and disease phenotypes. METHODS. We performed a retrospective longitudinal study on 51 affected men by reviewing medical charts at baseline and follow-up visits to extract the following ocular findings: best-corrected visual acuity, Goldmann visual field, optical coherence tomography, microperimetry. Data obtained from the analysis of DNA and mRNA were reevaluated for genetic classification of patients. RESULTS. The longitudinal analysis showed a significant (P < 0.001) worsening of best-corrected visual acuity with a mean rate of 0.011 logMar per year before 50 years and 0.025 logMar per year after 50 years. Similarly, V4e Goldmann visual field area significantly (P ≤ 0.01) decreased at a mean rate of 2.7% per year before 40 years and 5.7% after 40 years. Moreover, we observed a significant (P < 0.05) decrease of macular sensitivity with a mean rate of 5.0% per year and a decrease of mean macular thickness with a mean rate of 0.8% per year. We classified our patients into two groups according to the expression of the CHM/ REP1 gene transcript and observed that mutations leading to mRNA absence are associated with an earlier best-corrected visual acuity and Goldmann visual field loss. CONCLUSIONS. Our analysis of morphological and functional parameters in choroideremia patients showed a slow disease progression, particularly in the first decades of life. Overall, reevaluation of clinical and molecular data suggests exploring the genotype–phenotype relationship based on CHM/REP1 transcript expression. PURPOSE. To evaluate the disease progression in patients with clinical and genetic diagnoses of choroideremia during a long-term follow-up and to investigate the relationship between pathogenic variants in the CHM/REP1 gene and disease phenotypes. METHODS. We performed a retrospective longitudinal study on 51 affected men by reviewing medical charts at baseline and follow-up visits to extract the following ocular findings: best-corrected visual acuity, Goldmann visual field, optical coherence tomography, microperimetry. Data obtained from the analysis of DNA and mRNA were reevaluated for genetic classification of patients. RESULTS. The longitudinal analysis showed a significant (P < 0.001) worsening of best-corrected visual acuity with a mean rate of 0.011 logMar per year before 50 years and 0.025 logMar per year after 50 years. Similarly, V4e Goldmann visual field area significantly (P ≤ 0.01) decreased at a mean rate of 2.7% per year before 40 years and 5.7% after 40 years. Moreover, we observed a significant (P < 0.05) decrease of macular sensitivity with a mean rate of 5.0% per year and a decrease of mean macular thickness with a mean rate of 0.8% per year. We classified our patients into two groups according to the expression of the CHM/ REP1 gene transcript and observed that mutations leading to mRNA absence are associated with an earlier best-corrected visual acuity and Goldmann visual field loss. CONCLUSIONS. Our analysis of morphological and functional parameters in choroideremia patients showed a slow disease progression, particularly in the first decades of life. Overall, reevaluation of clinical and molecular data suggests exploring the genotype–phenotype relationship based on CHM/REP1 transcript expression

I Piani di Ricostruzione in Italia: da strumenti per l’emergenza ad occasione per ripensare alla città

Known as urgent operational tools, the Reconstruction Plans in Italy are set up in 1945 to deal with the destructions that occurred during the war. Analyzing them in details, they present a variety of approaches linked to contingent factors; these define plan setting and significantly affect Italian cities with heterogeneous results. The paper investigates contacts between the normative framework and the theoretical debate of those years, and evidences how their modus operandi cannot be generalized but requires a redefinition in the collective consciousness

TUTELA E CONSERVAZIONE DEL SISTEMA IRRIGUO: IL CASO DEL MANTOVANO

La ricerca intende fornire una conoscenza il più possibile completa e articolata di un bacino territoriale della pianura padana. La metodologia di analisi interdisciplinare messa a punto per la tutela e la conservazione dei paesaggi culturali complessi è stata applicata in modo sperimentale su di un’area campione, il basso mantovano, coinvolgendo a vario titolo una pluralità di soggetti. Le caratteristiche ambientali dell’area derivano dalle trasformazioni indotte dal sistema irriguo e dagli interventi di bonifica realizzati nel corso dei secoli, al fine di promuovere lo sviluppo produttivo e il miglioramento delle condizioni di vita