Sustainable Mediterranean Construction

Sustainable Mediterranean Construction

A SEMIOTIC FRAMEWORK TO SUPPORT SUSTAINABLE DESIGN INSIDE MEDITERRANEAN CITIES

Authors 

Massimiliano Condotta

Keywords: 

Sustainable Design, Semiotic Framework, Historic Center, Mediterranean Cities, Place

File Size 800 KB
Downloads 2

STUDIES AND RESEARCHES

Abstract

In recent years the concept of sustainability in architecture has often been confused with the concept of green buildings, which restricts the issues to energy savings, environmental governance and the protection of nature. The Brundtland Report defined sustainable development as that which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, but since then a different current of opinion has arisen, which supports a view that sustainability refers rather to the idea of long-term preservation, maintenance and conservation of existing conditions, without producing deterioration. Such a view is currently gaining strength and is even more relevant if we consider the Mediterranean area, which features natural and urban territories with a huge cultural legacy and sense of place attachment. In this context, when designing and constructing new buildings, renovating existing ones or regenerating urban areas, attention must be paid to preserving the surrounding environment, which expresses its own language, patiently produced over time. Current architectural production that wants to adopt a design approach which considers sustainability as preservation and conservation without forgoing a contemporary factor, must use a language that is understood in the context into which it will be placed. For some years a group from Università Iuav di Venezia has been working on an instrument with which to interpret an architectural text according to a logic that reflects the architect’s way of thinking at the design stage. Using this state of the art and these experiences as a starting point, the idea described in this paper is to improve such studies and develop a design support instrument in the Mediterranean context, using a framework to facilitate reading and understanding the relationship between ‘matter and architecture’ and that between ‘materials, shape and structure’ from the point of view of sustainable design.

Preview

SMC N.08 2018

SMC MAGAZINE N. EIGHT/2018

001_ COVER

003_ VIEW_Matter: Science and Technology for Habitat
Dora Francese

016_ BOARDS AND INFORMATION

017_ INDEX

FOCUS ON MATTER AND CULTURE

018_ Iron and Steel: the Industrial Revolution New Materials as a Game Changer in Architecture’s Evolution
Georgia Cheirchanteri

025_Earth-Shelterd Dwellings in South Tunisia: Troglodytic caves of Sened Jebel
Fouad Ben Ali

030_On Applications of Thrust Lines to Simply-supported No-tension Panels
Enrico Babilio, Luca Buoninconti

036_Insulation, Building Mass and Airflows – Provisional and Multi-variable Analysis
Giacomo Chiesa, Mario Grosso, Andrea Acquaviva, Badiaa Makhlouf, Alice Tumiatti

041_Materials and Finishes in Mediterranean Healthcare Facilities
Artemis Kyrkou, Fani Vavili

047_Mathematical Models for Atypical Terracotta Infill Walls
Adriana Rossi, Umberto Palmieri

052_Material Identity Harmony Perception. New Solutions for Eco-oriented Building
Giuseppe Vaccaro

058_Living, Building, Recycling
Gigliola Ausiello, Enza Santoro

064_Resource Matter Material. Reuse as a Technical Option for Sustainable Design
Paola Altamura, Serena Baiani

071_Recovery and Re-use of Building Materials and Components in Architecture
Tiziana Firrone

STUDIES AND RESEARCHES

078_A Semiotic Framework to Support Sustainable Design Inside Mediterranean Cities
Massimiliano Condotta

PHD RESULTS

085_Bio-composite Materials in Architecture. An Hypothesis for an Indoor Vertical Partition power system
Claudia Balestra

086_Functional Refurbishment with Architectural Membranes
M. Rachel F. Macieira

087_Variability of Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Materials Affected by Humidity.
Veronica Vitiello

EVENTS

088_ Building in Mediterranean Region. Sustainable Technologies and Materials for Inhabiting. Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Tunisia
Paola De Joanna, Fani Vavili-Tsinika, Giancarlo Priori

091_LIST OF AUTHORS

The latest issue of the magazine
SMC n. 19 | 2024