VIRTUAL: Prague Heritages

Abstract

This paper is intended to be a contribution in the paradigm of design education, practice and research by establishing the importance of heritage conservation and reuse of cities infrastructure for sustainability, economic viability and future growth. Conservation of cities started as a concept in early 1970s with the emergence of many abandoned towns in the world. Dennis Rodwell in his book conservation and sustainability in historic cities talks about the conservation of many historic European cities and how they are reimagined into cultural precincts. Similar, is the case of Matera, Sassi Italy which seen it’s rebirth from a complete abandonment of “Sassi “to a new dynamic cultural landscape. The paper will unfolds the story of Matera from its origin which is one of the oldest continuously inhabited towns in the world and the first human settlement in Italy dates back from the paleothic period to a current contemporary city of southern Italy. Matera has a unique cultural landscape comprises of many building typologies which sits perfectly with the morphology of its natural landscape. The paper will further explore adaptive reuse strategies set for the conservation of Matera city landscape, the principles of infrastructure reuse and environmental sustainability. Furthermore the paper will highlight the factors due to which Matera was listed as a UNESCO world heritage site in 1993 and later designated as a European Cultural capital for 2019. Lastly the paper unfolds design parameters which regain “Matera” presence on the world map and created economic viability, new professions and cultural identity for Sassi.