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In recent years, a growing attention is spreading towards the Twentieth Century architecture which encloses, in the typological and technological innovation, its cultural value, but at the same time it contains major conservation problems derived from high level of testing of the materials utilized. In particular, cement mixes, combined or not with iron, show incredible malleability and ease of processing, characteristics that guarantee success in the Art Nouveau period (examined in this research); later, with the spread of rationalist architecture, testing is implemented, introducing on the market conglomerates and mixtures cement-based, innovative products such as symbol of 'durability', mainly used for the realization of bold structures that exceed the constructive logics possible up to that moment. However, the enhanced durability and strength of the cement, both of the products with structural function and of refined decorative elements reveal currently their limits, so many buildings have expressed the need of adeguate restoration. In spite of the protection of many Twentieth Century public buildings, according to the "Code of cultural heritage and landscape" - Legislative Decree n. 42/2004, it is still evident the lack of attention, about the materials set, during the planning in the restoration of modern buildings. In fact, unlike the oldest buildings, currently operating decisions aim to the reuse of the building, without paying attention to the cultural values of the materials of the construction1. Waiting for the attention to modern materials will face more and more careful, nowadays the legislation does not provide useful addresses to the designer: so the preservation of Twentieth Century materials depends on the attention of the technician and the client who, hurried by the degradation and the urgency of the intervention, work without any suggestion of restoration specialists. The research starts by studying the manuals and documentation of archive concerning with patents and performance techniques of historical mixes, with the aim of identifying those most prevalent during the examined period. This is followed by the analysis of sixty-three case studies, essential to know the characteristics of the Twentieth Century mixtures set in place and their degradations. The selected buildings, realized between 1900 and 1918 and with different conservation problems, are located between Emilia Romagna and bordering regions and have mostly residential function. For each building were collected different types of data, classified in order to provide a basis for further processing of interpretation. These evaluations aim to put into relation the degradations with several factors affecting the cement mixtures. The result of these evaluations, as well as the first product of the research, consists of preparing the 'degradations sheets' relative to cement mixes used in Italy during the period examined. Subsequently restorations on architectures of the early Twentieth Century were identified, so it was possible to analyze the different approaches currently in use in the construction phase, including techniques, materials and conservative principles. Speaking about this, it is useful to consider also the construction sites of national and European research projects which study similar issues, allowing a comparison of the different practices, but also a better understanding of the current research level in this field. The study concludes with the drafting of the final product of research, that is operational suggestions useful to correct any phase of restoration, which lead to conservative choices respectful both of safety requirements, and the cultural meanings of the material, relevant for technological innovation expressed in material essence and aspect. This product is for technicians and enterprises that, in designing and construction phases, approach to the conservation of historic buildings made of cement. The large number of constructions realized with these materials, that in the near future will be identified as cultural heritage, requires appropriate restoration practices, providing a useful and consistently tool to work for the Twentieth Century architectures. --------------- 1 MONTANARI G., Cosa conservare dell’architettura contemporanea?, in: CALLEGARI G., MONTANARI G. (edited by), 2001, pp. 29-35.

The growing awareness of the importance to limit soil sealing process is one of the reasons to definitely shift the building activity on the existent stock. Approximately a third of the European housing stock was built during the thirty years after WW-II. A huge part of these buildings presents different kind of obsolescence. This declining performance process makes necessary to take a decision about how buildings can meet actual requirements. A decision must be taken in order to choose the preferable intervention in a sustainable and lifespan conscious design perspective. Renovation and demolition are both possible for multi-storey apartment buildings that do not present historical or testimonial quality. By the analysis of some case studies the research illustrates which are the most incidental parameters in the decision-making process and selects some indicators that could be defined as the limits of renovation project. Aware that from a sustainable viewpoint diffused demolition are not preferable, these indicators represent the conditions in which demolition could nevertheless be a preferable option.

Environmental messages communicated by the physical environment are considered a source of stress in hospitals when represented by negative meanings or meanings which do not match patient’s environmental expectations. In the present study, it is assumed that the hospital physical environment, through its meaning, allows or even promotes affective stress restoration when raises positive cognitions and affects. In this way, it was proposed to identify visual physical attributes of pediatric inpatient rooms that communicate environmental messages related to affective stress restoration. The study adopted a mixed method design, by associating direct and indirect observation; a qualitative and quantitative research strategy; and a descriptive profile. In total, 124 pediatric patients from the age of 8 and 66 parents participated in the study. The investigation was conducted in pediatric inpatient rooms of four hospitals in north-central Italy: one pediatric hospital and three general hospitals. Data collection took place in two phases, comprising: (a) direct observation of the physical built environment (inpatient rooms), observation of traces, administration of questionnaires to patients and parents, as well as consultation to medical records and architectural plans (Phase 1); (b) semi-structured interviews with patients from photographs of inpatient rooms (Phase 2). Data analysis involved descriptive and relational statistical analysis and thematic-categorical content analysis. It was possible to empirically establish a relation between environmental meaning and affective stress restoration. A better environmental evaluation was associated with a greater restoration. In addition, restoration was greater the more patients considered the hospital room as reassuring, orderly, cheerful, relaxing, comfortable, with fresh air, spacious, pleasant and lively. It was found that the following physical attributes of inpatient rooms play a role in the construction of these meanings: residential appearance, fresh air, visual and physical access to natural outdoors, moderate amplitude, opportunities for privacy, opportunities for social interaction, access to technologies, paintings and illustrations on the wall, support for parents’ needs, presence of toys and play areas, conservation and order of the healthcare facility. The results were discussed from multimethodological convergence and with the support of the literature regarding Restorative Environments, Environmental Perception and Cognition, and Evidence-based Design. The study of restorative environments and process from the affective stress condition by analyzing environmental meanings proved relevant, highlighting some of the issues that may promote pediatric patient’s welfare. This volume includes an English version of the thesis and, in the Appendix, the research report related to a complementary study conducted at the HELIX Centre, London.

The aim of this study is to investigate night Ankle Foot Orthoses, commonly prescribed to Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy patients to understand if there are margins to increase their comfort, aesthetic customization and psychological acceptance by the users, but even to improve their manufacturing process and to reduce costs. Duchenne is a rare form of muscular dystrophy affecting 1 on 3.500 male children that, at about 8 to 12 years old progressively become wheelchair bounded and with an expectation of life on the late 20 or 30 years old, since usually cardiac or pulmonary complications occur. Due to muscles’ weakening, Achilles tendon takes over on muscle tissue and starts to thicken and shrink, causing plantar flexion and retractions, while the function of AFOs is for applying a stretching force that can delay equine deformation of the feet. It is scientifically demonstrated that a constant use of night Ankle Foot Orthosis, together with physiotherapy, can extend the independent ambulation by up to two years and delay the occurrence of other complications. The PhD study was conducted from 2012 to 2014 thanks to a partnership between the Department of Architecture of Ferrara University and Parent Project Onlus for Duchenne and Becker. Moreover the thesis was endorsed by the Neuropsychiatric Department specialized in Duchenne of the Policlinico Gemelli in Rome, orthoses manufactures, experts in 3D survey, parametric design, and solid prototyping and, last but not least, by the direct contact with final users and their families. The core of the thesis was organized in three parts. In the first one, after a brief recognition on the disease, a market analysis on all the lower limb orthoses available on Italian, European and North American market was conducted. The elaborated interactive database was essential to understand the state of art, the Italian picture and the most advanced innovations and ongoing experimentations. All these data were a crucial tool in the design process. The second part focused on cultural and methodological approaches in the design of the AFO. After an overview on theories that frame the research, as Customer Centered and User Centered Design, as well as Universal Design, Inclusive Design, Design for All and Design for disabilities, a Quality Function Deployment process was chosen to translate theories into design directives. Relating user needs, technical requirements and comparison with the competitors, the scheme provides the guidelines for the design of a really innovative dorsal night AFO for DMD patients. The results of the research and future perspective are exposed in the third part. The analysis of the handcraft current processes of manufacturing suggested the opportunity of investigating the application of modern technologies aimed at the optimization of the process and the final product. Indirect survey techniques of photo-modelling or laser scanner are used to accurately reproduce the shape of the leg, while the user is sitting on a particular bench designed to acquire the foot in a stretching position and to entertain the child as he was on a rocking horse. The 3D virtual reconstruction of the limb, combined with 15 control points, is elaborated in an algorithm of parametric design to obtain a customized AFO that can be 3D printed with complete freedom of personalization to meet the tastes of the child. The results are highly promising and deserve to be further developed in future experimentations on field.

Seismic events in recent years have caused heavy damage to historic city centers. This calls for an effective planning aimed at reaching an adequate decrease of the vulnerability of city centers buildings. A deep knowledge of the structure of the urban environment ‐ and, to a lesser extent, of the buildings the urban environment is made up of ‐ is the essential precondition for effectively intervening on the urban fabric. Currently, the most used means of knowledge are Vulnerability Assessment Forms, whose goal is to assess not only the damage suffered by a building in the aftermath of an earthquake, but also its habitability standards. These forms, which are supposed to assess the buildings as a whole, in most cases only analyzes single buildings or cadastral units, since there is no well‐defined procedure on how to identify single units within the urban fabric. The identification of an Elementary Unit (i.e. the smallest independent unit within the fabric) is the crucial point of this delicate process. This identification process, though, is based on weak and misleading definitions, e.g. those that have been used up to today to fill in the Assessment Forms. This work of research aims at clearly defining both the idea itself of Elementary Unit and a procedure to identify it. This procedure could be extensively used not only in emergency situations, but also for the regular preventive territory management. This goal can be reached through a constant phenomenological examination of the urban fabric buildings carried out using Muratori‐inspired typological analysis tools. By studying the transformation process of the basic building types, it is possible to identify the Elementary Units the urban fabric is made up of. Once the urban fabric structure has been comprehended, this work will present a clear and most valid definition of Elementary Unit, which will simplify any later examination of the urban fabric – from the identification of “subjects” for AeDES Forms, to the drafting of Reconstruction Plans. The case study of Ferrara offers a chance to verify the validity of the process of identification of buildings within the urban fabric, designed on a real example. This will, in turn, prove the validity of the term “Elementary Unit” and its strong connection with the concept of building type and the typological development.

The increasing demand for affordable housing or controlled rent accommodation, due also to the reduced purchasing power of a share of users, undoubtedly exacerbated by the economic crisis that has fallen upon global markets since the second half of 2008, highlights the need and urgency for new procedural means and standards aimed at the recovery of the existing property heritage. The subject of this research is the vast heritage of state-owned residential property, accumulated from 1949 through to 1963, through the action of the Public Housing Intervention Plan named “Gestione INA Casa”, with special reference to the target district of Barca in Bologna, by Giuseppe Vaccaro, selected as a specific case study. Attention was focussed on the improvement of heat insulation properties of the enclosure, acting exclusively from the interior to keep the specific architectural features of the INA Casa building unchanged. The objective and main target of the research consisted in the drafting of guidelines organised in charts and technical assessments for a retrofit intervention, to apply to the INA Casa residential property, specifically in the cases in which interventions from the outside are not possible. In the last phase of research, an evaluation was made of the economic sustainability of this energy requalification intervention, simulated in order to draw up the said guidelines. The methodological approach selected in this case, i.e. the assessment model used, is defined as the Cost and Revenue Analysis (CRA). In the case in question, comparable to a renovation project in terms of energetic requalification and subsequently placed on the market (in other words let at a fixed rent or sold as a property), this model, by means of a discounted cash flow (DCF), enables an assessment of the economic profitability of a property investment. Lastly, the hypothesis was formulated to make use of instruments and conventional means already in place in the specific market of social housing, and which can guarantee the potential funding of an intervention such as that simulated in the case study. More specifically, the hypothesis was made of the possibility of setting up a closed property investment fund by transferring the property share still owned by the state. The subjects potentially interested in the procedures developed and in the results obtained, are the various “Aziende casa” (Regional housing authorities) present in Italy and public administration authorities, such as Municipal authorities, who are entrusted with the ownership of a residential complex due to undergo retrofit interventions for maintenance purposes and to enable these properties to subsequently be placed on the social housing market. Other potential user subjects are the freelance professionals assigned with requalification of the share of INA Casa buildings transferred to private ownership

The research aims to create guidelines for restoration of maritime heritage, wooden built or wooden-metal composite boats, considering principles and standards specific for restoration. Different types of documents have been prepared specifically for traditional maritime sector, with the help of effective documents adopted for protection of other types of cultural assets. In order to increase the awareness of size and characteristics of the national maritime heritage, a tool for boat census has been issued in the form of a website, which allows data gathering and statistical analyses. With the help of observations in shipyards, used to recognize the main issues in this kind of boats, it has been possible to identify a list of typical damages in wooden hulls. Thanks to the cataloguing of traditional building materials and techniques, the research presents valid action methods on maritime heritage. In order to evaluate effectiveness of guidelines, the whole research work has been validated through two case studies (Dragon class), with damages, structural and building characteristics similar to bigger classic and traditional boats

Achieving thermal comfort in buildings has currently become an urgent need, because of excessive demand in energy consumption across the length and breadth of the world. Accordingly, academics, policy-makers, regulators and governments are striving to find solutions that can be applied to achieve thermal comfort in buildings without excessive consumption of energy. Corollary to this, thermal comfort and energy efficiency in buildings are two faces on the same coin. Egypt is characterised by haphazard utilisation of prototypical design in public housing projects. The haphazard utilisation of prototypical strategy is in stark contrast with the conventional strategy, which takes into account the various climatic design issues in carrying out social housing projects. Previous studies indicated that the thermal behaviour of same building stock varies across Egypt due to different climatic regions. This evidence overtly illuminates that in order to ensure thermal comfort in residential buildings in Egypt, a combined strategy that takes into consideration the prevailing climatic condition is imperative. It is therefore, against this backdrop that this study examined how the combination of natural ventilation behavioural strategies and insulation retrofitting technique influences indoor thermal comfort without using any mechanical cooling or heating systems. In order to accomplish the research aim, the problem of thermal comfort in the prototype design social housing building stocks within the hot arid climate of Egypt was identified. Further, the Integrated Environmental Solution – Virtual Environment (IESVE) was adopted to predict the building thermal behaviour whilst applying natural ventilation behavioural strategies on the one hand and its combination with insulation retrofitting technique on the other hand. Predictions were comparatively analyzed to identify the optimum strategy during each month of the year. Cross analyses were carried out to ascertain either this strategy highlights the differences among building orientations or otherwise. In addition, a comparison between typical and upper floor was conducted to highlight their differences. By applying natural ventilation behavioural strategies, scenarios of natural ventilation were categorized into three; the base case scenario, the actual behavioral scenarios and the hypothetical suggested scenarios. The results illuminated that, In terms of the summer season, the hypothetical suggested scenario of cross night purge ventilation revealed a considerable improvement in indoor thermal comfort. Moreover, whilst natural ventilation scenarios had a modest improvement in thermal comfort in springautumn period, it had a negative effect in winter season. In regards to the combination strategy, simulation results revealed that whilst this strategy played a major role in increasing indoor thermal comfort and reducing cooling demand in summer period, it had very slight impact on enhancing indoor comfort and reducing heating demand (in winter) and heating or cooling demand (in spring-autumn periods). However, by comparing the combined strategy with natural ventilation only, it was deduced that the insulation technique had relatively small impact on thermal comfort enhancement in all periods of the year. Improving indoor thermal comfort in residential buildings in hot‐arid climates through the combination of natural ventilation and insulation retrofitting techniques II The study further assessed the effect of orientation on indoor thermal comfort via the utilisation of natural ventilation only as well as the combined strategy in winter, summer and spring-autumn periods. The observable fact illuminated that the orientation has no significant effect on indoor thermal comfort in winter, summer and spring-autumn seasons. Finally, the comparison between typical and upper floor confirmed that the difference between them is negligible in terms of thermal comfort.

Retrofitting interventions on existing rural buildings are frequently associated with new functional requirements consequently causing changes in intended use. Rural architecture is intrinsic to human needs and environmental specifics and it is characterized by long periods of product testing and modifications to reach the optimal among building techniques, materials and environment. The process of upgrading and enhancing the traditional rural landscape should be oriented towards environmental sustainability; it should recognize the typical characteristics of the natural environment and built up surroundings. For this reason, the energy redevelopment project of existing rural buildings should take into consideration the purpose for which the technological solution was envisioned. Adapting the building techniques to the new constructional needs and the new redistribution of space is essential. The proposed intervention methodology is driven by the desire to acquire a broader approach in respect to the one tied to the mere renovation of a country house. The aim is to employ a modern interpretation of using space, once dedicated to common activities, and now the subject of renewed interest. Research is therefore aimed at providing the tools you need to fully characterize both the refurbishing of rural buildings and any possible activities that can be done, highlighting the potentialities of the territory on which these buildings lie. Measures not separating the building from its territorial context are taken, while maintaining the close relationship that binds the architectural form to its use. A careful conversion is pursued, allowing the subject of intervention to remain a vital resource for the community. Creating a full scale investigation of these rural buildings in our national territory is not easily achievable. Therefore the study is limited to rural housing in Piemonte: the hilly and mountainous area are taken into account to assess the performance characteristics for different weather conditions. The proposed methodology, in addition to identifying the steps required to correctly accomplish the energy redevelopment building interventions, provides guidelines able to support professionals and technicians complying with the indications provided by the local authorities. An in-depth and complete documentation of each step incorporating accurate input and output data will be provided throughout the working process. Guidelines for the energy recovery of rural buildings provide a practical professional resource in designing technological solutions, in order to improve the energy efficiency of rural architectural heritage. This is accomplished through the analysis of building components and the critical constructive joints.

The 2008 economic and financial crisis has deeply affected the global economy, causing the collapse of the building market and particularly the propriety housing; besides, the new demographic organisation has defined its type of user, which we are going to take into account. Information and Communication Technologies ICT are basic to define the innovative government of a country, influencing both buildings, the urban landscape and bettering the relationship among users. The several meanings releted to Smart City embody all the possibilities to create a new environment. With Open Government we mean a new philosophy of life that is at the same time a practice of dealing with data that can be shared by users freely because they have lost any sensitive information. Untill a recent past, these data where stored in the archives of the Public Administration, now the user can get and reuse them freely in a new perspective and with a different aim. The topic of this reaserch project is to identify a scientific methodolgy to choose, arrange and use these Open Data. This will help to better manage a geographical and urban area according to specific requests, for example the creation and the spreading of co-housing, a model of accomodation, particularly suitable in some contexts. Phdcohousing.idra.it is a web site that shows the appliance of this process, referring also to users and their new needs of housing. Actually this practice could be quite useful also for the Public Administrations, agencies, architects and builders that will save time and money and will meet the needs of the users more effectively.

A project of energetic redevelopment of a historic building starts from the preliminary assessment of its energy potential and residual performance, in order to tailor interventions and properly address the energy needs according to the characteristics of the building, without losing or jeopardizing its heritage and historic value. This approach is relatively new and specific industry regulations have not yet been developed. The absence of specific legislation means that a dedicated methodology for calculating the energy performance of historic buildings is not included in the best practices of intervention. Currently the energy performance of historic buildings, on which the whole intervention project is based, is calculated with the same tools developed for modern buildings. This research starts from the hypothesis that the two types of calculation available today (analytical standardized method and simplified method) present some limits of applicability, in particular if used for the evaluation of historical architecture, which has technical, geometric, and architectural characteristics that differ significantly from the ones of newer buildings. The use of non-specific instruments can lead to errors in the calculation of the residual energetic performance of buildings. This calculation error can consequently lead to choices of intervention that can be harmful to the conservation of the building, to final level of comfort of its interior, or to its resulting energy efficiency. This study, therefore, critically analyzes the current methods of calculating energy efficiency, with the aim of verifying their validity and limits of applicability by testing them on a sample of historic buildings. This analysis shows significant differences between the results obtained by the analytical method, taken as reference, and the calculations made with the simplified system. It identifies the need for evaluating the energy performance of historic architecture in a different way from that used for recent buildings. At the same time, the application of different methods of calculation to the case studies also highlights the inherent difficulty of finding, for buildings constructed in the past, the necessary data for correctly applying the standard analytical method, regarded so far as the only reliable system. These findings call for the refinement of the simplified method, more suitable to the calculation of the energy performance of historic buildings, and the development of a new instrumental method for the measurement of the energy characteristics of historic buildings, which can be used in parallel with the analytical calculation.

In preindustrial basic buildings, technological solutions that a local community processes to respond to specific needs are the lexical components of building language. Such processing takes place within the limits of a spontaneous behavior - which is aimed at finding the most economical resolution in terms of material and constructive knowledge - until the gradual progress of technological possibilities and the gradual weakening of the cultural and constructive limitations caused by the local-size of each community, lead to solutions gradually more elaborate than the initial spontaneous ones. This process is particularly interesting if it’s related to the costitutive elements of building enclosure, which constitute the main vehicles of rework in construction, technology and formal solution- first relating to the local tradition and then to monumental architecture’s codes- enriched gradually by the intentionality of architectural language. This process is particularly important in historical basic buildings, where urban tissue is readable in plan and elevation as a continuous organic and enclosure, in its specific connotation of facade, plays a key role in the characterization of building units. This applies in basic buildings rather than monumental architectures, because in monumental architectures all parts of the construction, such as the enclosure, are configured as costitutive elements designed to be representative of a coded language and architectural culture that often goes beyond the local traditions. Building language, as an anthropic product at minimum scale construction, it’s a particular aspect of the spontaneous process in pre-industrial buildings that regulates transformations in building structures and urban tissues. The approach to its reading can be follows methodological criteria of morpho-typological basic buildings reading, with the aim of systematically reconstruct the logical spontaneous figurative and construction processuality of its elements. This investigation, based on a multi-scale reading of building transformations, can break free from considerations about uniqueness of building product and influence of specific actors in building process; these are evaluations that were otherwise inevitable in the case of investigations on individual building, especially in monumental architecture. It is possible to encode, and not only classify, basic building language to reconstruct systematically the figurative and construction processuality of its elements? It is possible to outline this method of analysis to develop a design tool to support cognitive actions on historical urban tissue? These are the questions that the research aims to answer.

The sequence of events that, in Italy, has characterised the development of Social Housing since the Second World War until today has made it necessary to face the renovation of social residential buildings. Despite the short period of time that has elapsed since their construction, the condition of large housing estates built in our country between the 1960s and 1980s are not only largely unfit for purpose but they also present substantial limitations with regards to energy efficiency. In this respect, research has defined a methodology to approach the regeneration of buildings of reference and has assumed some strategies to improve energy efficiency. After outlining the latest developments regarding public and private housing construction both in Italy and in Europe since the post-war period, some representative Italian residential areas with high density living have been analysed taking into particular consideration their most important features. Among these areas, an suitably representative case study has been identified in the “Virgolone” housing development which is located in the Pilastro district of Bologna. In this large housing estate, consisting of more than two thousand units, the technical and architectural features of the three main urban sections have been firstly identified. This sections correspond, in turn, to three periods of construction (1964-1986) whose predominant differences have been highlighted. The variety of housing types, of building systems and of management policies has characterized a diversified development which, depending on the building, has sometimes produced a variety of results in the same housing estate. Defining a strategy for effective renovation necessitates acquiring a preliminary and detailed knowledge of the building of reference, based on an analysis of a multiplicity of elements, in particular of those elements which are most affected by obsolescence and that influence its performance directly. The cognitive survey investigated the performance deficit of technological units which make up the building envelope and assessed the degradation phenomena related to structural and construction features, contextualizing the choices in a given historical moment. This survey has been followed by a critical evaluation of the qualitative analysis carried out and of the instrumental data acquired, which has allowed to focus the attention on the most important problems of the individual residential units and to gain a basic knowledge necessary to undertake the following phase, which consists of defining the possible intervention of renovation. In this regard, the energy consumption of the building has been calculated, comparing it with the energy performance index defined by legislation. The results of this in-depth analysis has contributed to formulating scenarios of intervention through following transformation stages, proposing different project hypotheses for solutions for which assessments of the intervention costs and of the time it would take to have a return on the investment have been calculated.

The research aims to calculate the influence of urban textures on the energy demand of residential buildings. It compares 24 samples of housing aggregations in the city of Rotterdam, Netherlands, that are characterized by different levels of texture complexity. Building types are recognized through a clusters analysis of the morphological data of the residential stock. Sun radiation and energy demand for heating and cooling are calculated with a GIS model. The results are compared to the typological uniformity, the prevailing building type and the seriality of the aggregations.

The research aim is to provide architects with decision making and analysis tools in order to manage the actual glass technology complexity in the field of architecture. Such kind of complexity belongs to: - the high standard levels of production; - the number of glass materials and glass technologies; - the required knowledge and skills through concept design, project development, construction phase and occupancy; - the high materials and technology prices; - the energy costs connected with glass technology in use. These parameters have been investigated starting with the role of information in the entire chain.

The energy performance of buildings, their needs and the possibilities of energy saving, have long been an issue in the debate of construction and real estate sectors. The transposition of the Directive 2002/91/EC (EPBD), as well as of the Directive 2010/31/EU, has modified the relationship between building and energy, also in existing buildings. On the other hand, the energy performance certificate (EPC) spreading has changed the real estate perception. Energy upgrade is a good way for retrofit existing buildings of the second half of the 20th century, but not for all existing buildings. The cultural heritage and preindustrial basic building should be a special case to discuss. Several studies discuss energy performance of single building, building stock, heritage building and also urban comfort. The planning of actual energy policies and the organization of targeted action in the structural planning, can only start from the knowledge of the real state of things. With the aim of validating the real need for improvement of energy performance in preindustrial basic building, my dissertation provides an in-depth quantitative analysis of the thermal energy demand and the improvement of energy efficiency in preindustrial basic building, through the analytical investigation of the case studies in the urban center of Ferrara.

Public residential buildings built in the second part of XIX century form the main part of contemporary building estate, but they often show technical, structural and functional loss. Sure-Fit (Sustainable Roof Extension Retrofit for High-Rise Social Housing in Europe), is a research project funded by the European Commission under the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme on the theme of retrofitting through the use of technologies, methods and implementation procedures to extend and expand the social housing stock. Sure-FIT project is part of a wider strategy of retrofitting and urban renewal. It seeks to develop strategies that not only increase the living space, but add additional benefits in terms of architectural improvement and updating of the housing stock. The analysis of design solutions developed during the research showed the factors shared by the various studied approaches, included: - choosing construction procedures that can lower construction costs and shorten completion times; - using industrialized systems and lightweight technologies compatible with the structural features of retrofitted buildings; - adopting solutions that simplify the interface between new and existing structures and can use standard components and systems available on the market. The project developed by Ipostudio Architetti and E.R.P of the City of Florence, pertaining to row housing built in the 80s on the west outskirts of Florence. The building has obvious shortcomings in terms of energy use, accessibility and heights not fitting with the buildings in the areas. The new extension system proposes a comprehensive redevelopment in terms of energy, building type and structure. The facade expansion and height extension make up an independent structural respecting technical regulations for building in seismic areas. A series of facade components are anchored to the new structure to improve the building’s energy efficiency. New spaces are added to the existing apartments. The technological and typological customization of the added system, on the one hand, ensures the product/components customization strengthening the catalog market, while ensuring flexibility in design and the use of solutions that meet and adapt to space requirements.

How is the relationship between the requirements, the building process and geometric, descriptive, morphological information? From this question, the thesis analyzes the process of data mining and transmission of information in the process. The information, measurement, geometry, morphology, may be subject to change due to banal reasons, for example an unordered data storage, or an incorrect data mining or an inaccurate data base. So first goal of the thesis is developing a methodology of data storage and data mining. The information must be consistent with the levels of precision required, versatile compared to other segments of the process and focused exclusively on information that you need to know to carry out the project development. Enucleated the problem, the thesis is developed in a series of case studies that deal with separate commissions. The case studies are located in different segments of the building process with relative accuracy constraints to be respected. The variety of case studies is to show the transversality of this scientific problem in the building process and how the information derived from the techniques of representation will constitute an essential support occurs at different steps of the process. Show the process applicability need a check with the variables of the process itself: the segment of the building process respect to which the case study is located, the requirements defined by the client and the delta of accuracy defined for the validation of information extracted. From case studies some opportunities for innovation in extracting information are identified, they are then coagulated together according to the objectives identified at the start of research to form the future scenarios: these scenarios take over part of the know-how of case studies and industry profiles are addressed to the final clotting knowledge and skills and can develop the industrial scenario sketched.

The research investigates the quality in the construction process taking into account environmental issues that have become part of the construction project on urban scale and the building, over the last few decades. A new culture has taken over, that is the birth of a sensibility that wants to create a systemic way to integrate social issues in environmental sustainability, that leads to reconsider the processes and models’ growth known so far, especially in the thought of Brundtland. Starting from the analysis of the main elements, the study of the construction process have been deepen with the aim of defining its complexity on the one hand, and showing the typical elements of the process, on the other hand. The study of all the actors involved, starting from the legal frame work, the institutional and internal hierarchies and, above all, the dynamics related to the controller, has allowed the identification of emergent behaviours, which cannot always guarantee the final quality of the architectural realms. In order to consider the quality of such a complex process, the theme has been limited to the public space projects in residential housing, allowing the study of a sector in which many environmental issues has been focused on internationally, and that have brought significant improvements on urban scale. The research has tried to respond to the initial objective through a dual interpretation. First of all by defining, through analysis of case studies, the effectiveness of the proactive/inductive model processes used in construction such as the British system, in pursuing the overall objectives through specific objectives. Then focusing on the proactive/inductive model, as a new paradigm of quality that can effectively control the process of construction of public space. The research, which sought primarily to explore the theme of quality in complex processes, opens up to the possibility of further exploring the transfer of technology from the design of public space in the building sector. This translation is capable of enclosing the instances necessary for the prosecution of quality in the Italian building process.

Topic of green walls is important for contemporary architectonical experimentation and R&D: it express an expansion of designer’s possibilities. The use of vegetation like a functional element in the project is may be found for a long time, but only recently, thanks to the attention for environmental conditions and the consequent cultural moving towards a sustainability development, the architectonical use of plants like collaborative components is increasing. This research shoots for a detailed analysis, with the aim to understand the features of these particular typologies (green façades, living walls, etc.), which ask a collaboration between technological components and living system represented by plants. Technical and functional development characterizing these envelope systems were the target of all methodological research’s choices, with the aim to draw up some planning instruments for the architect.

The research aims to identify a knowledge approach for the preindustrial basic building that is preliminary to the improvement of energy efficiency. Preindustrial basic building refers to existing building resulting from a traditional building process, i.e. preindustrial, constituting the bearing structure of historic centres. The analysis aims to identify the alteration limits of historic and artistic characteristics pertaining to these buildings, in order to improve energy efficiency, from the point of view of mediation between performance issues, according to national and regional laws, and conservation issues, pursued with the restoration of an historical heritage, be it preserved or not. In consideration of the unavoidable preservation of cultural and architectural characteristics, the difficulty of operating on preindustrial building implies the intentional distinction between energy efficiency “improvement” and the “compliance” with the minimum requirements set forth by regulations, from the viewpoint of critical assessment of compatible and actually effective technological solutions, among the ones currently available. In this case, the experimentation of the morphological and typological evaluation of Ferrara building represents the application starting point to develop an evaluation process targeting research objectives. The final outcome is a number of additional and applicative proposals for the current Emilia Romagna regulation on energy efficiency of building. These proposals aim to guide the professional towards the development of improvement projects, in consideration of the distinctive and constituent characteristics of preindustrial basic building. The study represents the first knowledge moment within a wider research process, which is strictly related to the contents and the developments of Marco Zuppiroli Ph.D. dissertation (“Valutazione del fabbisogno di energia termica utile in sistemi aggregati di edilizia pre-industriale di base nel centro urbano di Ferrara”). This Ph.D. dissertation is legitimately the second part of the research. Starting from the methodological assumptions and the final objectives developed during this study, the dissertation provides an in-depth quantitative analysis of the thermal energy demand and the improvement of energy efficiency in preindustrial basic building, through the analytical investigation of the case studies considered and which were analyzed at an urban fabric scale.

Alpine huts are facilities for tourists placed in apart settings, usually subjected to a strong wear due to environmental factors and to the massive human presence while their opening. Their working is infuenced by the optimized management of the resources and by the extreme reduction of economic and environmental costs. With the analysis of needs and requirements which allow the building use, have been identifed renovation works on the existing huts which give an improvement either in technological integration and optimization or in building energy performance (also considering the use of renewable energy sources) or in gaining an indoor environmental comfort that enables a better living in it. A procedure has been defned which allow both their evaluation and application.

The present research, beyond offering a picture of prior art on the components for the construction of basic skins in traditional “on wet” coverings, and on the criticalities of interface to light of the current regulatory framework and the situation of the construction market, puts to system and analyzes the nodal issues characterized in the relationships that elapse between the vertical closing and the other classes of involved technical elements in the definition of a covering. In specific the search heads to characterize with of the complex existing relations between the indications expressed from the enforced norm in the three withins taken like reference - energetic, acoustic and seismic -, the technological applicative necessities in the nodal issues indicated and the performances offered from the coverings realized in this way. Such distance not only places in evidence an increasing necessity of innovation in the within of the components, but - and perhaps above all – in that of the putting in work and the management of the constructive process of that type of coverings defined here like traditional.

Research investigates the concept of TRANSLUCENCE in application to the ARCHITECTURAL ENVELOPE, through the interpretation of the new expressive tendencies of the contemporary design planning, which more and more opens up to the experimentation of innovative materials and technologic solutions. Over the past few years, many architectural planners have not only turned their attention to the creation of stimulating environments, but also focused on the design of surfaces, tactile features, of color and texture and building materials. In the current perception concept, architecture seems to shift its interpretation and essentiality limits from sensibility obtained through the features of materials, to sensibility given by artificial or natural light applied to them. The planning care seems then to achieve innovative solutions for the building structure, which is considered the baseline element of the expressive quality for architectural productions. The outline is then considered a converging point of technical and representative concepts in architectural projects, and has also a main role itself when relating with all its surroundings (streets, squares, environment, nature, other buildings and so on). In the development of research, the initial definition of architectural translucence aims to explain the status of art in this planning interpretation tendency, and to trace the possible innovative paths in the production of technological products and materials that can lead to this new potentiality. This developments are to be applied for both improvement works and/or reuse for the valorization of existing buildings, and for new building plans. By analysing and comparing several representative and illustrative studies about the expressive potential of different materials, capable of adding translucence to structures or sections, these most innovative materials and application solutions will be hereby thoroughly elaborated. Moreover, combining the results about materials with the data obtained by comparing different representation cases, we will try to create specific guidelines for the project planners that aim to use these details.

Cement and derived products have an essential role in the modern architecture language; in particular the production of artificial stone surfaces. It was used in architecture spread at the end of the XIXth century, when the application of “stucco” and “marmorino” was replaced by cement, properly pigmented to show aesthetically similar to natural stone. A cultural and technical recovery is essential today for the conservation of these artefacts, through a necessary knowledge of these techniques.

Introduction The growing interest in the wine sector and the increasing profits deriving from this trend have created new possibilities for investment within a relatively short time. Some enterprises have extended their estates, others have concentrated their resources in the restructuring of the vineyards and on the reorganisation of the production cycle. Over recent years, many wine producers, drawing upon the best contemporary architecture available, have attempted to bring content and container together in the realisation of new wineries, combining investments in technological development with substantial efforts towards an overall reorganisation of the spaces. In many cases, the buildings were conceived not only as places designed for the production and conservation of wine, but also as complex architectural works accessible to the public and with the power to convey a precise cultural and commerciai image. Field of investigation A reaffirmation of hypogean or partially buried types of construction - with the capacity to respond to specific environmental and productive requirements - may be seen in many of the most recent works carried out. These buildings, without impacting in a negative manner on the landscape, in addition to offering the indoor thermohygrometric benefits typical of subterranean constructions, also permit the realisation of a more rational organisation of the grape and must processing "by gravity". If contemporary criticism has often expressed an interest in the architecture of hypogean wineries, pointing out their spatial characteristics and evocative potential, it is equally clear, on an examination of the state of the art, that sdentific research geared at analytically and systematically investigating their technological and constructive aspects is practically non-existent. The aim of this research is to make an in-depth examination of the characteristics of the buildings designed for the production and conservation of wine, focusing attention on hypogean installations. Goals and object of the research The research project sets itself the strategie goal of updating the state of the art on the subject, of examining in depth the aspeets connected with the production methods and technologies used in wine processing, of analysing the most innovative projeets and architectural trends in the European and non-European environment with particular attention focused on the technological, construetive and energy-related aspeets of the realisation of a hypogean installation, in order to supply qualified and reliable information and help orientate professionals in choices connected with the designing of hypogean wineries. Correlated aims are: - identification of specific necessities and an analysis of the requirements connected with the prescribed use (safety, usability, well-being, management and integrability); - comparison of the possible subterranean and surface-level construetion methods identified in literature and/or in the field; - analysis and classification of the typological variables; - definition of morphological characteristics and of possible alternative subterranean development plans; - identification of technologies, construetive systems, components and materials suitable for the realisation of hypogean spaces; - identification of technical and construetive solutions compatible with specific orographic and/or geological surroundings. A detailed study of the following will be undertaken: - the relationship between wine production and the protection of the agricultural landscape; - the occupation and use of the land aiming at reducing the quantity of built-up areas in proportion to vine-planted areas; - the functional organisation and sizing of the spaces; - the requirements ofthe production cycle basedon the various winemaking andfining systems; - the peculiarities of the production of quality wines (production by gravity); - thermal and hydrothermal performance and health and hygiene requirements ofthe processing environments; - the adoption of bioclimatic and bio-architectural principles; - the application of innovative ventilation and air conditioning systems and of systems for exploiting and controlli ng light radiation; - reduetion of energy consumption and the exploitation of naturai and renewable energy sources; - the possibility of prolonged Storage in hypogean environments; indoor comfort (offices, laboratories, routes open to the public, wine tasting areas); - any specific legislation in force. Methodology and phases of the research - identification of the strategie goais, detaiied structuring of the research project in phases, based on the time budget avaiiabie, Iimitation of the field of investigation to the specific goais identified and drawing up of a table of contents; - identification of traditional and computer-based reference sources; - interaction with experts from the world of wine (oenologists, producers, technidans) and design; - identification of international case studies (projeets and buiidings completed) and data research activities; - definition of a method of analysis and detection aimed at evaluating the performance of the buiidings; - on-site inspections in buiidings designed for wine production accompanied by instrumentai surveys and monitoring; - creation of a filing tool and examination of the data collected Results - creation of a data base relative to technologies, construetion systems and materials pertinent to the buiidings examined in the research project; - proposai of guidelines for the planning of hypogean buiidings designed for the production of wine.

The industrial culture hasn’t got any connection to the traditional culture: due to its own definition, the industrial revolution has subverted the social and cultural order of things and represents a breaking point, a fracture oriented towards evolution but still a fracture”. Inevitably features and needs of the industrial system have distorted the architectural design dynamincs, quickly climbing the hierarchical categories of the historical ideas which have driven the architectural culture for years. The new concept of construction is based on the principles of the mass-production, on the work division and the generalization of needs, on the banalization of the products and finally of their making. Building products industry is nowadays one of the main factors of the building process therefore it’s required to relate to another important figure: the designer. The different goals of the two elements, the first one mainly focused on the sale incomes while the second is particularly related to the aesthetical-functional quality of the desing, both coincide with a common requirement: innovation. This research will be done throught a comparative analysis of the innovation “products” of the two factors above during the period of time between the 1950s to nowadays and will be focusing on the different innovation processes and on how these are able to transform the building. 1. Ciribini, Giuseppe (a cura di), Tecnologie della Costruzione, Roma, La Nuova Italia Scientifica, 1992, p.124

Introduction The importance of connection between construction envelopes and environmental and technological systems is rising up thanks to the grow request to answer to environmental necessities and resources safe. Moreover the envelopes become a complex technologic machine, which are able to adjust automatically to environmental condition and weather changes. Facing these technical problems, architects must plan more flexible and active evolved envelopes with dynamic behaviour to adapt to the sudden changes of surrounding condition. The principal problems are in particular the aspects related to the correct material choice and the study of physical and thermal principles of the envelope. Every envelope is constituted of an external skin, an internal one and an air space buffer in the middle. According to the type of material we could discern between transparent, translucent and opaque envelope, everyone with specific characteristics. The study refers in particular to the glassy-glassy envelope (made of a double glass skin), which is the principal field of research of our group. Aims The principal aim is to determine new universal application model, solution and use possibilities of glassy-glassy envelopes, studying the best and useful technical and physic parameters to improve the energy safe and environmental performance quality. Step by step the middle aims were: • Evolved envelope state of art definition; • The critical analysis of lacking and mistakes about actual knowledge on evolved envelope; • The study of material and component basing on previous analysis and current courses; • Definition of instruments able to solve technical aspects and problems; • Collection and schedules of existing projects; • Application models of dynamic evolved envelope Limits Because the verification of normative applicability was easier in a regional contest than in an international one, the methodologies pointed out by this research concern only a regional background, even if the research was based on national and international quality projects, Generic considerations about evolved envelopes are missed out. A more specific parameters dissertation was preferred to define physic phenomena limitation and application solutions. Moreover the research concern only glassy-glassy enveloped, a field that permits a deeper tractability starting from the experience of Professor Fabio Conato and his collaborators (Arch Simona Cinti and Arch Giuseppe Camillo Santangelo) and from the elaboration of data collected about the construction of double skin envelope. Methods The results are based on a bibliographic revision of the literature and on a collection of expert opinion in the branch of envelope (planners, technicians and producers). Project phases: • Architectural characteristics and performances analysis of the evolved envelops. Definition of functional principles; • Technical assay about the possibilities of envelope applications: • Examination of energy safe plans already existing; • Identification and consequences of application of existing normative and rules about quality environmental assessment and energy safe certification (both in UE, Italy and Emilia Romagna institution); • Revision of documents concerning the need of dynamic envelope and quality verification instruments The research is based on theoretical physic principles connecting the environment to the buildings, on the evaluation of environment phenomena on a realized construction, on the possibilities to manage energy natural fluxes, on building thermal balance and on technical components exploiting renewable sources to produce energy. Results The final results confirm the validity of dynamic evolved envelope to rise good and variable performance. Otherwise the dynamic technology is efficient in a restricted area and is necessary the application of different typology of the same system to optimize performances. The analysis of this model of envelope is important to define the interventional scenario and the application system. The review of previous study also permits to analyze and rebuild prior hypothesis, particularly specifying the state of art relating envelope project and the lack of information, filling with new details. Consequently possibilities of envelopes solutions, internal and external factors and physic phenomena were defined. According to the ongoing normative, new planning indications and issues of normative elaboration were furnished. Finally, thanks to a new quick and concrete instrument (planning guide), the final results of such a complex field could be easy comprehensible. Recipient, development and future evolution This research would be finalized to society and people who work in building trade field, in order to help them in planning. Moreover the evaluation about the actual normative should bring new elements to discuss and formulate again this instrument. Also technical evolution and innovation in double skin envelope, nowadays lacking and inaccurate, could help the project of new advanced component solution. At the real end the research could show many solution apt to offer new evolved system Particularly: • Material: research in new material, production methods and components for wall face have a great importance to improve performance and characteristic of envelope; • Components: in particular one of the principal criticism about the space between the two skin of the envelope; • System: the grow request of performing wall face could transform the static system in a sort of dynamic system integrating both the wall and the air conditioning/healing system guarantying a thermal and visual comfort both in term of energy earn and use; • Actual building integration: the use of envelope in re-qualifying and renovate old buildings could be an interesting field of research; • Planner guide: this software is based on Emilia Romagna weather conditions. An implementation to other Italian and Europe reason should be necessary.

The research concerns the technological innovation applied to the architectonical heritage conservation and restoration field, particularly for what concern the use of non-traditional materials in conservative interventions and how they are received on the basis of the principles of restoration. Starting from the comprehension of the values of the architectonical heritage up to the studying of the traditional technologies, methodologies and materials used for the protection conservation and enhancement of the historical surfaces the research field has been restricted in the study of the synthetic transparent materials aimed at the enhancement. protection and conservation of the historical architectonical external structures. The technical properties of the synthetic transparent materials, shaped in horizontal or vertical sheets or protective panels, and the characteristic of transparency represent, for the intervention on the historical materials, a protective System and a means with important potentiality thanks to the large compatrbility with the needs that an intervention on historical surfaces requires. The topic of the transparency is Iinked with the double need of protection of the historical architectonical structures or surfaces and, at the mean time, the warrant of a good vision of the monument with the minimum possible visual and environmental impact. The starting point of the research is the introduction of the synthetic transparent materials as protective and enhancing means in restoration field. The aim of the research is the definition of the actual outline of the synthetic transparent materials applications in conservative field. the definition of the outline of best-practices and the experimental definition of the best synthetic materials for the protection of surfaces.

L’elemento fondamentale e caratteristico di un grattacielo è senza dubbio il service core, ovvero il nucleo di connessione che attraversa verticalmente l’intero edificio. Il service core è occupato in gran parte dagli elementi di comunicazione verticale (ascensori e scale), ma svolge però altre importanti funzioni: molto spesso esso è infatti circondato da un “guscio” (core) strutturale al quale è affidata la resistenza dell’edificio ai carichi orizzontali generati dal vento e dai sismi. All’interno del service core trovano inoltre alloggiamento tutti i principali cavedi di ventilazione, le reti di servizio (elettricità, fluidi, dati ecc), e gli spazi meno pregiati di un grattacielo come i servizi igienici, magazzini, ripostigli, ecc. La corretta progettazione del service core è fondamentale per il funzionamento del grattacielo e i principali attori coinvolti nella realizzazione di un edificio alto sono direttamente interessati dalle caratteristiche di questo complesso elemento. Oltre ai progettisti e agli specialisti delle varie discipline tecniche, l’efficiente progettazione del service core risulta cruciale anche per un’altra figura chiave del processo che porta alla costruzione di un grattacielo: il developer, ossia la figura professionale che si fa carico delle esigenze degli utenti. Il service core si presenta infatti come l’elemento chiave anche nel successo economico della costruzione, poiché dalla sua corretta progettazione dipende il rapporto di efficienza dell’utilizzo dello spazio (superficie netta commerciabile / superficie totale costruita). Nonostante la sua importanza, il service core viene però troppo frequentemente visto dagli architetti come un elemento secondario, una componente esclusivamente tecnica del progetto, “estranea” alle competenze e agli interessi dell’architettura. La sua messa a punto viene dunque lasciata agli specialisti delle varie discipline (ingegneri strutturisti, trasportisti, progettisti degli impianti tecnici, ecc.), ognuno dei quali è responsabile della definizione degli elementi di sua competenza e il risultato finale è spesso dato dalla semplice somma delle singole componenti. In questo modo vengono meno due aspetti fondamentali: l’integrazione funzionale degli elementi progettuali e la possibilità di una evoluzione tipologica di questo elemento. La presente ricerca si prefigge l’obiettivo di sistematizzare le nozioni disponibili riguardanti la progettazione del service core di un edificio alto per fornire, ai destinatari dello studio, gli strumenti necessari a comprendere il ruolo fondamentale che questo elemento e le sue singole componenti svolgono nel bilancio energetico di un grattacielo.

At a time when attention to the environment seems to have finally become one of the primary objectives to be pursued for the management of human processes and effects related to them, the maximum extension and strengthening of policies for efficiency and quality of building systems becomes a necessary vehicle for the implementation of Community and national programs. Within the existing park building, school buildings occupy a large segment of public property, but are rarely involved in investment projects of national interest. Especially since, according to the Annual Report of Legambiente "Ecosistema scuola”, two thirds of the existing school constructions are housed inside buildings constructed during the period between 1940 and 1990, many of which have not undergone substantial changes and transformations over time. From this relationship and from many verifications by the Public Administrations and users is clear, moreover, that these structures have many building issues related to consumption of resources, the well being of the internal conditions of use and security and, not least, management by local government units. From the perspective of management, school buildings relate to the heritage of competence of local governments (municipalities and provinces in relation to education) that are required to provide for the maintenance of quality and performance requirements that guarantee safety and efficiency. Unfortunately, in daily practice, the managers are not always able to steer the school buildings through appropriate logic programming, in the medium to longer term, and there is therefore a widespread culture of "urgency”, such that are performed only emergency. This logic operation can not affect significantly on the general conditions of school buildings, whose problems are emerging so disruptive only at accidents and in the presence of victims. The possibility to operate substantially and in a scheduled way on school buildings, by adapting the physical environment and optimizing the use of resources, would, on the one hand, increasing the quality of construction and conditions of use and, secondly, improving the management of economic resources available to the local government units. It should be noted, also, that the school is a breeding ground for the spread of the principles of sustainability and to promote in students a higher awareness and commitment in energy, both in school, both in everyday life. The innovative processes of management and upgrading school buildings, therefore, may affect both the system building facility and the implementation of educational objectives, because, since the school is the institution responsible for education and cultural growth of citizens, it must start a strong training in line with the principles of environmental protection and resource savings.

The object of this research regards the studies of strategies for regeneration large residential settlements in the urban peripheries that were constructed during the second half of the 20th century. These settlements, being subjected to a high level of social, technical, and functional deterioration, have their origins mostly in housing policies implemented during the post-WWII recovery period by public authorities to meet the intense demand for public housing through the urban planning of areas that were, at the time, peripheries but have since been absorbed by the urban fabric. The existing buildings in question were planned and constructed with no attention having been paid to energy issues from the points of view of both heating and natural illumination as well as ventilation, relying on non-renewable sources of energy to maintain adequate interior levels of comfort. The primary objective is to elaborate multidisciplinary analyses of strategies that include different yet complementary aspects of the construction attributes, such as: sustainability, energy efficiency, usability, accessibility, and multipurpose functions. Monitoring and control tools will be analysed in the research for specific renovation actions and programmes, with particular reference to those based on forms of partnership between public and private entities. The expected result is the elaboration of strategies and reflection for regeneration interventions, gathered from case studies but offering wide-scale applications on public housing complexes, including criteria, regulations, and requalification principles. In order to implement the functional and operational recovery models, the preliminary activities of the study were aimed at the identification of some case-studies that are representative of the Italian panorama because of their typology, construction, and state of physical and social deterioration.

In recent years we’ve encountered new attention regarding musealizzazione on site of archaeological heritage, in Italy as well as at international level. A wide array of technical meetings and conferences have brought the matter to attention worldwide. We are in need of a definition for the main subject of this issue, in order to acknowledge the area involved by this research. Archaeology and musealizzazione disciplines have points in common regarding protection and enhancement of assets. An archaeological site is intrinsically a three dimensional portion of space in which we can notice a wide variety of physical transformations due both to nature and mankind, with the result of a place where space and time are built in as one. Usually an archaeological site undergoes two different stages, conservation and musealizzazione, being divided in movable and non movable components. The first ones are typically assigned to conservation in environments not directly referring to the site, guaranteeing an high level of conservation and enhancement. Non movable components remain in place where they have been found, creating a portion of ground called “site”. Separation of these components usually distorts the completeness of finding on a large scale, as well as comprehension of an archaeological site both historically and anthropologically. Musealizzazione on site is therefore necessary in order to protect assets and return them to the community. Involvement of different professional figures must emerge in every aspect of enhancement of an archaeological asset, but mainly during the process from excavation through enhancement. This procedure can be associated to the process intending to realize an asset in other fields. From this similarity rises an identification that shall be called “archaeological process”. “ The Archaeological process” is the procedure that an archaeological area performs from its finding to its enhancement, representing throughout musealizzazione on site the whole process of enhancement of movable and non movable assets, including practices (excavation, analysis, cataloguing, restoration) performed to make them usable and perceptible by the community. “The Archaeological process” surely needs continuous technological innovation regarding protection and communication of findings, not only about materials used in the process but also about different communication aspects of findings and of site itself.

This research deals with the architectural integration of mobile external shielding devices with the building’s façade. In most cases these elements act as solar shading. For this reason, within the research, they are called by that name. The research mainly develops around the theme of environmental quality, strictly limited to the architectural integration of these mobile devices with the building’s façade. It concerns mainly the quality of open spaces but also of those internal. When we talk about environmental quality often it means an interest in microclimatic comfort. Recently the research tends to focus only on the energy aspects. These issues are left aside here, since the researches about energy-saving and microclimatic comfort sadly neglect some strategical aspects: in most cases the solar shading systems do not fall within an architectural design and also they may affect the appearance of places, from single side to the urban front, to the entire city. This research deals with all the main aspects of this area: history of architecture, manufacturing of solar shading systems, legislation, bibliography, software, technological and environmental design. The main goal of this research was to identify technological and architectural parameters for the choice of external dynamic shielding devices. These parameters must allow the integration of shielding devices with the building’s façade in connection with the culture and the traditions of the places. The ultimate goal of this research was to produce guidelines for architectural design and a user-friendly software. These instruments are addressed to the world of architectural design, manufacturing and sales of solar shading systems, but also to local authorities for the improvement of building regulations. Among the identified parameters the main are: color, type and dimension of the shading elements related to the buildings and their relationship with the context. On these basis, over one hundred case studies of contemporary international architecture have been analyzed. The data emerged from the analysis were developed in graphs and were compared across, producing scientific results under the form of stochastic analysis of the sample studied. The research has produced a system of guidelines dealing with the use of different façade types and different solar shading systems with specific color combinations and a software to quickly view these possible configurations.