The architectural heritage of the 20th century reflects a transformative period in design and building techniques, as exemplified by structures like the Palazzo del Lavoro, which embody the transition between traditional methods and modernist experimentation. This paper aims to analyze the building in order to understand how its structural innovations, material choices, and formal composition interact with its urban context and reflect broader cultural and historical shifts. The study combines documentary research, morphological analysis, and urban contextual assessment to provide a critical reading of the building's architectural and structural features. The analysis highlights the Palazzo's innovative structural system, the integration of reinforced concrete with lightweight canopies, and its compositional strategies that balance functionality and aesthetics. Furthermore, the study addresses the building's current state as a fragile piece of heritage, facing challenges related to preservation and adaptive reuse. By examining its technical and cultural significance, this research demonstrates how the Palazzo del Lavoro stands as a testament to engineering and architectural innovation and also offers insights into the evolving identity of post-war Turin and the broader discourse on modern heritage.
One of the reasons for the disappearance of architectural heritage, which constitutes the collective memory of societies, is the gradual loss of functionality over time. Historical buildings that lack function and are closed off to users are inevitably condemned to deteriorate and fall into ruin, ultimately disappearing along with all traces of the past. The adaptive reuse of buildings with historical value is a comprehensive process aimed at preserving their significance while adapting them for contemporary use and transmitting them to future generations. Choosing the most appropriate function from among the alternatives proposed for the reuse of historical buildings requires considering multiple factors. In adaptive reuse, which is regarded as a conservation approach, architectural characteristics, social and cultural values, environmental factors, and user opinions should all be considered when assigning new functions to historical structures. Although these factors are generally considered in adaptive reuse projects, user opinions often remain in the background. Therefore, adopting a participatory approach that integrates user perspectives into the reuse process would be a more accurate and effective strategy. In this study, the aim is to determine local user opinions and preferences within the adaptive reuse process of historical buildings, with a specific focus on the Protestant Boys' School located in Erzurum. As a method, a five-point Likert scale questionnaire was administered to 100 local users. Based on the survey results, a new social and cultural function is proposed for the Protestant Boys' School, which considers the desires and preferences of the local community.
This article addresses the need for computer-aided design systems in Architectural Engineering (AE) design for building construction, an essential aspect of every building's design that is currently underserved by existing software solutions. First, we analyse the various challenges facing the development of better tools and propose that a fundamental problem of representation lies behind most of them. Next, we suggest a desideratum for representing building constructions digitally in our tools, and we argue that a formal ontology is best suited for the task. Numerous systems have been proposed for developing ontologies, many of which rely on a domain-independent upper ontology. This common upper layer supports the creation of more specific ontologies in an interoperable and mutually supportive way. The BFO upper ontology and the corresponding methodology are briefly introduced, followed by a review of many existing ontologies relevant to AE. Lastly, we introduce a prototype proto-ontology for describing building constructions and their related phenomena: the building construction ontology. We present the most important terms and modules of BCON and then demonstrate its use through a small case study of a relatively simple construction detail. Finally, we highlight the many possible applications of such a representational system.
The separation of engineering and architectural perspectives in the 20th century led to the delegation of different aspects of building design to specialized professionals. Consequently, structural, architectural, and heritage preservation tasks were handled independently, creating diverse prioritization orders in the evaluation of the buildings. One of the greatest victims of this approach are heritage buildings, as less constructive collaborations can result in lasting damages, leading to the loss of certain values.In heritage preservation projects the structural model is typically less regarded as a value, often leading to a reconstruction without consideration of the original state. This significantly impacts the timber roofs, which are one of the most vulnerable building structures and their deformations can affect the entire building, underscoring the critical importance of preserving the original structural model and raising awareness of its significance as a heritage value.This research examines roof structure damages, their categorization from a structural perspective, and possible restoration options considering heritage preservation criteria. Through the examples presented, it becomes evident that the roof structures can only be understood as parts of a complex system. It also becomes apparent that due to this complexity, categorizing structural damages in heritage buildings does not help in making schematic solutions.For every heritage building a thorough investigation and understanding of the historical structural model, the examination of building structures and their interconnections, and the preparation of a reconstruction plan are essential. This process must acknowledge that both the building and its structural model require a unique approach.
Under the influence of the consumer culture that dominates the relationship between cultural heritage and tourism, competing cities have begun to resemble each other and their identities have been damaged. It is thought that the Safranbolu Historical Bazaar is an example of the process described due to its constant marketing by the tourism industry and the danger of its unique culture being commodified and collapsing. In this study, it is aimed to first examine and reveal the threats to the sustainability of cultural heritage through the relations established by the space with the concepts of production-consumption and tourism, and then to create a framework that will ensure the sustainable development of the transformation that the space undergoes throughout the production process in historical cities. Based on this, the study aims to contribute to the development of alternative conservation approaches for the Historical Bazaar by producing information that will strengthen and transfer the unique value of the space. The study was designed with qualitative research methods and multiple data collection tools were used together. Observations and in-depth interviews were conducted in order to reveal spatial practices. As a result of the evaluations in the Historical Bazaar, it was seen that the transformation of the city was shaped around a heritage discourse that emphasised consumption, and suggestions were presented to contribute to the sustainability of cultural heritage.
