Title

Circular reversible design in the reuse of the existing buildings. Experiments on public housing districts in Rome

DOI

doi.org/ 10.19229/978-88-5509-291-3/682021

Keywords

material resource efficiency, design for deconstruction, up-cycling, reversible building design, reuse

Abstract

European policies are increasingly driving the redevelopment of existing assets within the construction sector. The aim is to boost material and non-material resource efficiency while promoting circularity as well decarbonising. This contribution sees the refurbishment of existing buildings as providing a strategic opportunity to combine design for disassembly and reuse (at the building, system, component and material level) with a ‘life cycle’ approach. A ‘circular’ and ‘reversible’ analytical and design methodology is theoretically defined and verified. This is done by applying this methodology to concrete cases (public housing – ERP – districts in Rome) of funded research and using a set of indicators to quantify the achieved level of effectiveness. This effort reveals original perspectives on how the application of Circular Reversible Building Design to existing buildings can be transferred to the national context.

Section

Architecture | Research & Experimentation

pp. 136-157

Author(s)

Serena Baiani, Paola Altamura

Author(s) Biography

Serena Baiani, Architect and PhD, is an Associate Professor in Architectural Technology in the Department of Planning, Design and Architectural Technology (PDTA) at ‘Sapienza’ University in Rome, Italy. She specialises in Industrial Design and conducts research centring on the relationship between technological innovation and existing architectural structures. Within this area, she specifically considers the issue of ecological and energy efficiency in recovery projects within the built environment. Mob. +39 339/30.44.575. E-mail: serena.baiani@uniroma1.it

Paola Altamura, Architect and PhD, is a Research Fellow at the Laboratory of Resources Valorisation in Productive and Territorial Systems at the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA). She is also an Adjunct Professor in Architectural Technology within the Faculty of Architecture at Sapienza University in Rome, Italy and conducts research and investigation on the ecological effectiveness of interventions on the built environment. She particularly focuses on the issue of ‘material resource efficiency’. Mob. +39 340/51.34.638. E-mail: paola.altamura@enea.it

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