SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES AND STRATEGIES AIMED AT RECOVERING THE HISTORICAL HERITAGE OF URBAN SETTLEMENT

This memory intends to bring the attention on some Sicilian urban areas (Territory of Agrigento – buildings and landscape of the Valley of the Temples) which are very interesting from the historical and architectural point of view. These urban settlements are characterized of buildings that are a remarkable evidence of arts and building techniques of the past. Today these urban settlements are marked by heavy shapes of building decay. This decay is determined by an improper use of them and by an extended absence of maintenance. In order to fill these breaks and to sew up again the urban tissue, it’s necessary to apply interventions of recovery and valorization. These recovery interventions must be able both to safeguard the historical heritage, and to constitute poles of reference and aggregation in the contemporary city. In order to reach this task the memory describes and illustrates some research and methodological experimentation experiences on the “Strategies for recovery and retraining of degraded historical areas”, which were carried out by the University of the Studies in Palermo and which take part of an important agreement with local regional Institutions. The researches have brought to interesting outcomes (relationships of international research) about studies on strategic process for recovery of the historical buildings in smaller urban centres.