The transformation of the contemporary city. Exercises of retrofit and improvement of architectural and urban heritage.

The city and the building stock of the XX century require a reinterpretation and new design visions capable of interpreting the needs of contemporaneity. Among the various approaches for the transformation of the existing cities there is the attention to the redevelopment of the urban building stock and the social housing, through architectural retrofitting actions and the redesign of public spaces. Interdisciplinary models include projects from the urban landscape scale to the building scale, also looking at environmental issues. Retrofitting and its practical methodologies analyze and develop technological and energy aspects. The design decisions take into consideration the transformation of building, its context and the entire urban area. The regeneration of the existing building and urban area, through 'microsurgery' operations to replace 'demolition and replacement' practices of large portions of buildings, emphasize an operating mode that is respectful of the social and urban identity of the consolidated city, even more sustainable. These very topical themes represent an opportunity for reading, analyzing and reinterpreting existing buildings and the cities.