Reuse of Vernacular Architecture in Minor Alpine Settlements: A Multi-Attribute Model for Sustainability Appraisal

Abstract

In the marginal areas of the Alps, there is a huge built heritage expressed by local communities, resulting in an architectural model that is sustainable in terms of its material use, resource exploitation, and landscape coherence. Although buildings in these small settlements have been largely protected from transformation, currently this heritage is largely underused. Thus, it is desirable to consider reuse and enhancement actions that can combine both economic viability and the protection of historic, cultural and architectural values. This paper presents a multi-attribute model for the evaluation of sustainability in reuse projects concerning traditional buildings in the Italian Alpine settlements. For the appraisal of sustainability, the model uses relevant parameters aggregated into three macro-indicators. The model was calibrated by an expert panel and tested on reuse projects in Sauris, in north-eastern Italy, where residential building type is characterized by specific techniques that are expressions of community traditions. The main results show that the attributes aggregation function is predominantly andness in all nodes. A short range in sustainability assessment is a predictable result, as the buildings used for the model’s application give a common judgment in some attributes. Finally, activities for widespread hospitality generate a greater expected return compared to commercial services.

“Świdermajer”, the Architecture of Historic Wooden Summer Villas in the Polish Landscape: A Study of Distinctive Features

“…The historical recognition of the presented phenomenon indicates the need for more comparative research in relation to the international examples of Swiss-style architecture and a deeper recognition of the research already carried out, e.g., [36,37]. Attention should be also paid to the inseparable connection between the architectural features of the Świdermajer type of buildings and the pine forest occurring in Otwock and the surrounding area.…”

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

“…Not all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are satisfied by any alternative under evaluation. Specifically, the nursing home is more focused on factors related to wellbeing and the sustainable use of natural resources (No 3,6,7,9), the university research center promotes, moreover, the gender equity and good quality of education (No 4,5,7,8,9,15), the food district considers responsible production and consumption by supporting the generation of sustainable cities and communities (No 2,7,8,9,11,12), and the cultural center is the only one concerned with the relationship with the institutions (No 4,10,11,16).…”

“…The questionnaire prepared for this study also included the evaluation of the criteria according to an order of importance. According to the SMARTER method, the interviewees were asked to order the evaluation criteria from the most important (1) to the least (10), remembering that each criterion can have a single level of importance different from the others; therefore, it is not possible to place more than one criterion on the same level of importance. Once the sort is obtained, SMARTER assigns the weights using the ROD method.…”

“…The protection of cultural heritage is not only of a conservative nature. Within the Italian urban and rural landscape, historic buildings have always represented important centers of aggregation and points of strong historical identity for the towns or urban districts that have developed around them [7][8][9][10]. The best strategy to preserve, and at the same time enhance, an abandoned historic building is undoubtedly to give it a new function in the perspective of adaptive reuse [11].…”

Evaluation of Sustainability Principles in Adaptable Re-Functioning: Traditional Residences in Demirel Complex

“…Local architecture and sustainability concepts consist of two dimensions. The first is the sustainability of the renovation of building materials and typology; the second is re-functioning, sustainability of change and transformation that constitutes integration and perception and understanding of the existing building [22]. The sustainability goal requires a balance between re-use and protection.…”