Valorising the past as a strategy for sustainable development for the future. The Convent of the Capuchin Friars in Buscemi (Syracuse, Sicily – Italy)

Abstract eng:
Valorisation is intended as “a process of promoting an understanding of heritage buildings, ensuring the best conditions for their use and enjoyment, and consequently improving their performance.” The purpose of a valorisation project is to improve the physical state of the properties and their safety, completeness and value, and to improve the functional requirements, particularly accessibility, through knowledge processes and sustainable development strategies. To valorise therefore means to propose processes that improve the quality of construction and make a building accessible. In this sense, its meaning is to revive existing assets, returning that historical memory and identity that time has taken away, through methods that enhance performance in order for them to be used and enjoyed. The research project is aimed at proposing interventions for buildings and meaningful contexts, long forgotten by all. It proposes to enhance an area that has been almost totally unspoilt and which was a key element of local history over the centuries. The Convent of the Capuchin Friars in Buscemi, Sicily was built in the early eighteenth century on the ruins of a much older castle. With the rise and fall of fortunes in human experience, different uses and political alternations, the convent was reduced to ruins. Ruins that deserve to be recovered and revitalised, to be discovered and used by the locals and visitors alike. The strategies developed by research range from in-depth knowledge, historical and technological processes, and aim to recommend a restoration project that is respectful of the past and geared towards a sustainable and environmentally-friendly restructuring, which would be noticeably different from the original due to the technology, form and materials used.

• Export as: BibTeX | MARC | MARCXML | DC | EndNote | NLM | RefWorks
• Add to your basket