VITRUVIO - International Journal of Architectural Technology and Sustainability

Critical and typological analysis of the habitat in Spain after developmentalism

Graziella Bernardo — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0200

For the study at hand, it is necessary to analyse the constructive legacy of the last decades by identifying a model and a type of architecture that allows its study, as a specific example in time and place. With this in mind, we can justify a certain type of approach to the “new” architectural project, which may be somewhat appropriate to a given historical period. Today, cities are undergoing processes of certain obsolescence by presenting attributes that have become commonplace for urban reflection. (Guajardo, 2017). In Spain in particular, to speak of residential obsolescence refers mainly to social housing. These buildings were constructed in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and the issue of regeneration has become one of the major issues of concern to the public administration and therefore to the potential tenant or buyer in the field of residential housing. At present, where new construction is playing a secondary role (due to the excessive growth in construction prior to the 2008 crisis), the national housing stock is saturated and unaffordable. This situation prompts other strategies that respond to the criteria of taking advantage of existing housing, adapting them to the present day with more efficient and sustainable spatial needs. The recent pandemic has greatly restricted privacy in houses. It has raised concerns that the standard construction model we have had in Spain and Italy, (countries with very similar customs), responds to a rigidity that due to the partitions and dividing walls (among other elements) are not adaptable. As a result, it would be interesting to start thinking from the very genesis of the project about interchangeable, transformable, flexible spaces, which allow a better adaptation to current and future needs. In addition, this idea would also be useful for reconditioning the family nucleus as it changes over time. As a case study, we propose the analysis and study of the possibility to transform some prototypes of dwellings from the 1960s belonging to the so-called social housing in the district of Tres Forques in Valencia (eastern Spain), which can serve as an obvious example for the task in hand.

Environmental and technological flexibility for new housing needs

Donatella Radogna, Gerhard Kalhofer — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0200

Over time, the economic and social conditions determined expansion and contraction processes of the domestic space (from the cave to the castle, from the castle to the studio flat) with important consequences on people’s life quality. This evolution stimulated the development of cultural debates and design experiments on the theme of flexibility. In the contemporary scenario, flexibility has a big value because it represents an important design strategy to meet the needs of contemporary living in a sustainable dimension. For more than twenty years, the authors have been linked by a working relationship aimed at comparing theoretical scientific developments and design practice. This paper offers some reflections on the evolution of flexibility concept in residential construction by providing concrete examples through the reading of some projects. The variations of flexibility are debated with reference to the people’s needs in the adaptive reuse of buildings. The writing faces the functional mix and the modifiability of interior spaces given by the design of flexible technological units (partitions, systems, furnishings) and mobile additions as well as the adaptability of the closures with respect to climatic and seasonal conditions. The theme of flexibility, too often “oversized” and not investigated in terms of feasibility, is presented in a possible and useful scale. Flexibility is also faced as a new way for showing the link between utility and beauty of the spaces.

Between persistence and change-methodological aspects of the Corn-Markezic Villa reuse, Sarajevo

Elsa Turkusic Juric, Haris Bradic — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0200

This paper examines the questions of time (transience) and space (persistence) in architecture and culture. The endurance and relevance of these topics are best seen in the integration of architectural heritage into contemporary life. The paper elaborates this by applying a methodological-applicative model to the renovation of the modernist Corn-Markesic villa in Sarajevo’s Crni Vrh housing estate, which has been designated a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The model seeks to achieve a practical and architecturally creative solution for the villa’s adaptations. Although changing the Crni Vrh urban context might change the appearance and values of the villa, the opposite is also true: the adaptation of the villa to meet contemporary requirements may change its current context. This paper examines the character of the villa’s renovation though field research and the development of an architectural design, to reflect present and future needs, but still faithfully represent the past. The suggested adaptation model follows the lifecycle of a family, and questions the possibilities of transformation at the point at which certain spatial structures and content are no longer needed. The design and research process adheres to guidelines in the European Cultural Heritage Green Paper.

Water security: the “new normality” of informal settlements. Nature-Based Solutions as sustainable mitigation and adaptation strategies

Wed, 29 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0200

The COVID-19 pandemic showed us how fragile cities are when dealing with this phenomenon. The lack of green areas, high pollution levels, and human overpopulation contributed to the increase of the urban heat island effect and proved to be the perfect ingredients for the spread of the virus that changed, perhaps forever, our ways of living inhabiting. The consequences were even more dramatic for the inhabitants of informal neighbourhoods, as these exacerbated existing problems related to economic instability and low food and water security. This paper proposes using Nature-Based Solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change and increase access to water in informal settlements. The research study focused on analysing two technologies, the Blue-Green roof and Rain Garden, developing a prototype for each one. Considering that the practice of self-building characterises spontaneous settlements, the modules were conceived to be built by the
inhabitants using recycled materials. These low-tech strategies improve indoor thermal comfort, facilitate the
storage of filtered rainwater for domestic use and provide access to affordable food through domestic scale
cultivation. Implementing these solutions in marginalised neighbourhoods could also empower residents to face challenges related to Global Warming, such as runoffs generated by heavy precipitations, and improve hygienic conditions to prevent the spread of diseases.

Abandoned places, complexes and parts of cities. Regeneration and enhancement of monumental hospitals in the historic centre of Naples

Claudia Sicignano, Lorenzo Diana, Rossella Marmo, Francesco Polverino — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0200

Even before Covid-19 although in the very center of the old town and historic center of Naples there were abandoned buildings and complexes, uninhabited and unused for decades. The cause is attributed to multiple reasons such as functional obsolescence, failure to adapt to intervening European standards in terms of hospital construction, technological facilities to standards, etc. The health crisis which strongly affected European societies revealed the fragilities of our healthcare systems. In Italy, a large number of COVID-19 patients congested hospitals while the continuity of essential services was interrupted at the expense of other needs. At the same time, the process of abandonment of historic buildings affects different monumental hospitals, such as the “San Giacomo degli Incurabili” and the “Carlo Forlanini” in Rome, or the “Gesù e Maria” Hospital, “San Gennaro dei Poveri” and the “Santa Maria del Popolo degli Incurabili” in Naples. This paper reports three case studies of Neapolitan historical hospitals regeneration proposals with the goal of strengthening the existing community healthcare system and developing energy efficiency and seismic improvement strategies in the spirit of sustainable development. Leveraging the flexibility of monumental hospitals, the proposed light retrofit interventions restore the historial healthcare functional destination ensuring also the reuse of such an heritage. The current research delineates an approach to the recovery and enhancement for social and cultural purposes of unused and abandoned historical hospitals. This approach can positively affect the quality of life of citizens and the use of health services, while recovering historical cultural heritage buildings.

Potential for architectural adaptation port silos

Nadia Yeksarova, Vladimir Yeksarev, Andrey Yeksarev — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0200

Post-industrial port structures occupy significant territories and play an important role in the architectural environment of port cities. Constantly changing social needs predetermine the search for new ideas and approaches to the reintegration of the former port territories and structures. The general tendency to preserve the integrity and successive development of the urban environment is the rejection of demolitions, unpromising losses from the standpoint of ecology, culture and economics. Architectural adaptation of a unique historical form (from an individual object to a territory) contributes to its integration into the urban infrastructure; is the art of connecting past and present. The article analyzes the potential of the combined urban planning and architectural value of historical silos as integral elements of port areas, with the aim of their reuse and sustainable development. The catalyst for the search for new ideas for filling, for a vivid imaginative solution of the “space of the future” is the characteristics of port engineering and technical structures (silos, warehouses, berths, cooling towers, etc.), their town-planning value. The overlap of different moments in time stimulates social interaction, forms the “spectacularity of opportunities”, a creative industry. The paper considers the trends and methods of adaptation (transformation, smart reuse) of port territories and silos into a dynamic sustainable environment.

Abandon and reuse - The engineered space at a time of pandemics

Juan Antonio García-Esparza — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0200

This paper critically explores the evaluation of Historic Centres (HC) to establish new perspectives for the management of their values and attributes. The unconventional interpretation of these HC relies on the
revision of the UNESCO Operational Guidelines to achieve new approaches to the cultural diversity of these spaces. A methodological approach based on interviews and open data cross-referencing aims to integrate the social and cultural aspects of the World Heritage cities (WH) in Spain. The research analyses the eventual cultural, architectural and social stratification as elements that need updating to manage HC. Therefore, this research addresses narrative interpretations, both of inhabitants and visitors, as forms of behaviour, expressions and adaptations that result in idiosyncratic innovation and experimentation in the urban fabric. The research steams from a series of scientific contributions to the research projects Writing Urban Places, COST Action 18126, and Dynamics of placemaking, COST Action 18204, (2019-2023). Through a mixed methodology of qualitative and quantitative data analysis, the research aims to analyse the interdependencies
between physical conservation, social awareness and sustainable development of some WH areas in Spain.
Data is analysed by means of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to spatially comprehend the engineered
space in medium-sized heritage cities.

Carlos Campos

Luis Manuel Palmero Iglesias — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0200

He has been an architect since 1978, settling himself as an independent professional with the firm that bears his name. He has carried out professional works for the public administration, in the City Council of Valencia, within the Urban Projects Office, and for the Regional Government of Valencia, as a heritage advisor in Valencia and Castellón regions. Since 1989 he has been an associate lecturer in the Department of Architectural Projects within the School of Architecture (ETSAV) at the Polytechnic University of Valencia. He has participated as a speaker in several seminars and symposiums on architecture and architectural rehabilitation and has been invited to international workshops on heritage preservation. He has published his work and some of his activities in several architecture journals and conference proceedings. He is a person who feels comfortable in architecture, whether heritage architecture, residential, educational or other types of architecture. He is a Full Member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Carlos in Valencia. His work includes the refurbishment of the old Slaughterhouse in Valencia, the Church of San Martín in Valencia, the Church of Sant Jaume in Vila-real, the Circus Theatre in Albacete, the Sanctuary of La Balma in Castellón, the Boïl d’Arenós Palace, the Church of El Carmen in Valencia, as well as the refurbishment and technical supervisor of the Church of San Nicolás, the Regional Administration School in Toledo, etc. As a member of the Urban Projects Office of Valencia City Council from 1986-1988, he has participated in and directed various important urban planning projects.

Editorial

Luis Manuel Palmero Iglesias — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0200

Editorial VITRUVIO - International Journal of Architectural Technology and Sustainability, Volume7, Issue 1 (2022)