Smart technological tools for rising damp on monumental buildings for cultural heritage conservation. A proposal for smart villages implementation in the Madonie montains (Sicily)

The Madonie district, in the inner Sicily, is composed of 21 villages, custodians of heritage, traditions, and values that constitute the identity of this area, now exclusively entrusted to the collective memory of an increasingly elderly and inactive population. In the study area, full of tangible and intangible heritage, technological tools, can revitalize and reuse examples of architecture, especially monumental, whose main problem is a deep rising damp affecting the masonry. That is particularly critical for the historic/traditional architectures. This research implements, in one of the villages of the enclave, a new technology system, namely Information and Commu- nication Technology (ICT) tool, like Charge neutralisation Technology (CNT), in contrast to the usual application of the classic and well-known resolution systems. This kind of methodology has been already applied in many monumental buildings in Italy with brilliant results and supporting the protection, enhancement, and promotion of cultural heritage. In Sicily it was never used and represents, in line with the smart village approach, a viable technology to be applied. The smart village model is one of the increasingly popular research topics globally and provides technologies aimed at preserving the identity of the territory and the historical buildings. Culture, if usable and accessible to all, results as an economic resource, a tourist attraction, and a factor of identity. The goal is to develop these inner areas through the smart villages approach by implementing smart technologies and establishing a synergic union of centers to be more competitive in the Sicilian hinterland, but also at the national level, with respect to the wise use of administrative, political, and governmental strategies. Cultural heritage and innovation, together, retrace the past with a view to modernity. The country’s cultural heritage recovered and enhanced is a virtuous strategy to safeguard the identity and value of historic places such as that one of ancient villages and a way to find smart resilient strategies and a sustainability assessment for future communities

Nanotechnologies for architecture

In architecture and building practise, the development of new materials such as the nanostructured materials, and especially the nanocomposite, will lead to a revolution in the way we think about buildings and living. New materials, new methods, new structures will allow us construct higher and bigger enhanced buildings, structures and infrastructures with new functionalities and new perspectives. In this research we will analyze how these new technologies will change, or are still changing, the construction world

Bio-based Materials. Standardizzazione e processi per la commercializzazione

Il contributo si occupa degli aspetti normativi nel campo della produzione e uso di una malta con componenti organici derivanti dal riciclo di scarti agricoli e silvo-pastorali. Viene prestata attenzione alla normativa internazionale più diffusa e nota, a quella europea e a quella italiana. La riduzione del consumo di suolo e di risorse lapidee, degli scarti, la limitazione dell’utilizzo di materiali di cava naturali sono solo alcuni benefici che hanno indotto la comunità scientifica a investire nell’uso di materie prime-seconde di origine vegetale, ecosostenibili; oggi, lo stato dell’arte è molto ricco. Tuttavia, non ci sono ancora normative tecniche e procedurali relative ai materiali che derivano dal riciclo di scarti vegetali; in questo contributo si pone l’attenzione particolarmente su malte da muratura. La normativa esistente non è utilizzabile ed adattabile e rimangono in particolare due aspetti che risultano ancora non definiti quali la vulnerabilità ai fattori di degrado e la tenuta delle prestazioni nel tempo. Ulteriore problematica, rispetto ad una logica di commercializzazione, è la mancanza di normativa di riferimento e, quindi, di indicazioni di processo e test di prodotto, rendendo più complesso il processo di certificazione. Tale circostanza vanifica gli sforzi scientifici e produttivi. La singolarità della questione è accentuata dalla normativa italiana relativa ai Criteri Ambientali Minimi per l'affidamento di servizi di progettazione ed esecuzione di lavori per la nuova costruzione, ristrutturazione e manutenzione di opere pubbliche che impone l’utilizzo del 15% di materiali di materia prima seconda e che potrebbe dare ampio spazio all’uso dei materiali bio-based. Il contributo, a partire dal constatato ritardo della normativa rispetto al progresso scientifico, indica la necessità di prove che possano certificare le qualità specifiche dei bio-based materials relativamente a caratteristiche quali: durabilità, tossicità di fumi, attaccabilità da insetti e parassiti, ecc., e rendere possibile l’applicazione dei materiali sperimentati

Luoghi di delizie nella Palermo del XVI secolo. Il caso di villa Naselli-Ambleri.

di Ambleri per sovrintendere una vasta proprietà agricola. Dal XVI secolo questa struttura rurale iniziò ad essere ingentilita secondo canoni rinascimen- tali per diventare una nobile casena suburbana per la delizia dei suoi proprie- tari che, ieri come oggi, erano soliti intrattenersi «con cavalieri e dame, amici e parenti, [nella] comodissima e faustosa stanza» dello Scirocco. Dalle prime fonti alle ultime modifiche del XX secolo, si analizzano le fasi evolutive del complesso architettonico che rappresenta oggi un caso di buona conservazione dei beni culturali privati a Palermo

Analytical studies of the Sirocco room of Villa Naselli-Ambleri: A XVI century passive cooling structure in Palermo (Sicily)

This work focuses on a passive cooling architecture particularly popular from the Renaissance in Palermo area, as building sumptuous suburban villas became a real hobby for the Sicilian aristocracy. A Sirocco room is an artificial subterranean construction, built close to a water spring in order to reproduce the pleasant conditions of freshness that could be experienced in a natural cavern. In these places, nobles used to spend their time with friends to escape from the hot summer. The room of Villa Naselli-Ambleri is nowadays the best preserved in Palermo thanks to its owners' conservation care and it is unique for its cooling operating principle. The above-mentioned considerations make this structure worth of deeper analysis regarding its architectural configuration along with some climatic studies. Following a well-established procedure intended for an intimate knowledge of historical architecture, the construction has been investigated from various points of view. A preliminary analysis of ancient documents (manuscripts, notary deeds, pictures) was performed to outline the historical evolution, the materials and constructive techniques used and the possible modifications it had undergone. Then, an architectural survey was performed in order to evaluate the geometrical/dimensional features. The collected data were compared with the historical quotes previously acquired. Furthermore, some thermo-hygrometric measurements were performed with the purpose of studying the unique cooling operating principle that is caused by the room peculiar architectural configuration and by the interaction water-air-limestone, recalling the antique Persian systems of passive cooling. Such a scheme was partially modified during the beginning of last century reducing de facto the cooling effect; a potential restoration project, as hoped by the owners, the Counts Naselli Dukes of Gela of the Princes of Aragona, will deal - as a central theme - with the reconfiguration and re-functionalization of the structure. The knowledge of such a construction and operating principles is also particularly important to re-discover the forgotten "places of delight" that are a fundamental element in Palermo history and culture, a central part of its population identity. Furthermore, preservation and reuse of surviving rooms represent a useful way to understand a simple passive cooling system whose principles could be reproduced in a contemporary way in modern buildings intended for a valid and functional energetic control

THE SICILIAN DEFENSIVE SYSTEM: THE COASTAL TOWERS. THEORY AND TECHNIC MEET IN UNIQUE LANDMARKS

Sicily has historically experienced a massive colonial occupation due to its strategic position among the Mediterranean Sea. Still today, its tactical importance is under everybody’s eyes with at least 15 NATO’s headquarters. Thus, it’s easily understandable how defending such a large territory was particularly important which, in turn, meant guarding and protecting more than 1600 km of coasts, leading to a possible supremacy on the trading routes through the Mediterranean area. This work will analyse the Sicilian coastal towers, a real typology that exploited traditional construction technologies and local materials integrated by instances of military engineering, in a continuous relationship between international theories and local practice. The Sicilian defensive coastal system is made of tens of towers arranged to create a closed circuit able to spot and communicate, in a very fast way, the presence of possible enemies approaching the territory from the sea. The first towers were built during the early-XIV century and their construction was intensified due to the North African corsairs’ raids and later, between the XVI-XVII centuries, for the fights for supremacy among the Ottoman and the Spanish Empires, to continue during the XIX century with the revolution of the military technics and the risk of Napoleonic troops invasion. During centuries, many military engineers worked to improve the islander defensive system: towers perfectly reflect the evolution of the military technologies (i.e. transition to fire gun) helped by the development of studies and the spread of dedicated treatises and manuals. Defensive towers were built in a solid way, respecting some precise principles in order to make them robust to attacks, self-sufficient to host a permanent guard, dominant to have the best view. Furthermore, they were perfectly integrated in the surrounding environment and generally located in particularly scenic positions. Nowadays 218 towers still survive and no one is used for military purposes. Many are in a terrible state of ruin, some were incorporated in other structures, some were fully restored and are well preserved. Preservation of coastal towers is fundamental for the cultural identity of Sicily along with representing an important landmark strongly linked with the history of supremacy over the Mediterranean Area in an international panorama where the evolution of military disciplines strongly influenced the local constructive technologies and building typologies. Finally, their reuse may be strategically important for a compatible touristic exploitation

NANOTECHNOLOGY IN CONSTRUCTION: JUST FASHION OR REAL POTENTIALITIES?

Developments of technology and advances in materials science and engineering are leading to a new generation of products that may represent a competitive route to achieve a real sustainable growth in construction. Currently many nano-based products are available on the global market: smart-materials, nano- composite materials, nano-devices, etc.. Further nanotechnologies enable new developments: materials and products are fast emerging or exist in bulky and expensive forms in other industrial sectors. Anyway, a great deal of research, directly focused in construction’s applications, should be done. This paper is aimed to discuss such an increasing trend and analyses the global market. A general survey on official financial data is performed from many governmental sources in order to enumerate the effective R&D efforts undertaken worldwide. All of those show how nanotechnologies are not just a matter of fashion. Indeed, such a novel materials, technologies and devices are truly applicable in construction and represent also a real natural solution to the number of problems that have afflicted this industrial sector for decades. In this review, many examples of successful applications are reported along with the most popular lines of research. Finally, the acquisition of the knowledge on nanotechnology’s applications in construction allows to formulate a judgment on the real applicability and convenience on such a novel technologies’ usage in comparison to the traditional systems and materials, well established and consolidated in the practice

Nuovi rivestimenti termocromici a scala nanometrica per vetrate architettoniche depositati tramite la tecnica AA/AP CVD

The aim of this work is to study and analyse new thermochromic coatings for architectural glazing carried out using a novel hybrid technique called Aerosol Assisted and Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Vapour Deposition (AA/AP CVD). This work was carried on at he University College London (UCL) – Chemistry Department – Christopher Ingold Laboratories – London (UK), under the supervision of the Prof. Ivan P. Parkin, with the collaboration of Dr. Clara Piccirillo and Dr. Russell Binions. The activities completed were the depositions of Gold-doped Vanadium (IV) Dioxide coatings and their chemical and physical analysis

NANOARCHITECTURE: A NEW CREATIVITY IN CONSTRUCTION

Object of this work is the construction industry that, until the industrial revolution, has always been a major human activity and nowadays still represents a massive sector of production. Nevertheless, it often deals with coarse components and systems as, in the last century, investments in research remained lower than in other industrial sectors as army, medicine, etc.. Only recently, with the development of technology and the advances in materials science and engineering, a new generation of products, that are both of higher performance and more economically viable, is to be realizing as a competitive route to achieve a real sustainable growth and innovation. Nowadays, the market show hundreds of novel (nano)products that could be successfully applied to the construction industry. Many other (nano) technologies enable new developments: materials and products are fast emerging or already exist in bulky and expensive forms in other different industrial sectors, but a great deal of research should still be developed. NanoArchitecture is a new concept that is spreading out in architectural and engineering schools along with a new perception of architectural/structural design. Such a term conveys in it the fundamentals of architectural design and constructive requirements with the customer wish and expectation in respect of the real constructive possibilities and the new international regulations. In this work we will analyse some concepts spread out from 1960s as growing architecture, molecular architecture or smart/sculptural buildings to outline the slow and long process that lead to the interconnection between traditional constructive technologies and design criteria with new enhanced and novel materials. Some exempla of futuristic buildings will be provided along with many famous academic studies and exercises proposed to train students, the new generation of technicians and scientists, in an open-minded way of thinking leading to an innovative approach in construction. Furthermore, we will outline the most popular lines of research analysing the possible applications of nanotechnology, nanostructured materials and multifunctional/smart materials in construction. The acquisition of the knowledge on nanotechnology, nanostructured materials and multifunctional/smart materials in construction will allow to formulate a judgment on the real applicability and convenience on high technologies\u2019 usage in comparison to the traditional systems, consolidated by now in the practice

Nanotecnologie per le costruzioni: nuovi materiali ed edifici dalle alte prestazioni

In architecture and building practise, the development of new materials such as the nanostructured materials, and especially the nanocomposite materials, will lead to a huge revolution in the way architects and engineers think about planning and building as well as living inside new high-performance structures. New materials, new construction procedures and technologies, new structures will allow us construct higher and bigger enhanced buildings, structures and infrastructures with new and enhanced functionalities and perspectives. In this study we will analyze how these new technologies will change, or are still changing, the construction world