Abstract:

Laboratory activities in academic training are an educational challenge for teachers and tutors, and each time, we try to propose more professionalising projects. In the 2024-2025 academic year, the workshop for the Innovative Building Technologies course in the Master's Degree programmes in Building Engineering and Building Engineering-Architecture at the University of Naples Federico II had the initial objective of defining an innovative design strategy. The architectural object to be preserved and enhanced is the Fraina Mill, located in Lavorate, a hamlet of Sarno (province of Salerno, Italy), which survived demolition at the behest of the citizens and was listed by the Superintendency in 2012.

The aim is therefore to provide ideas for action to ensure a future for this cultural asset, which requires action, through strategies aimed at combining conservation and innovation. To complete the design experience, an exhibition of the projects carried out was organised with the aim of raising awareness among local authorities and rewarding the citizens who had opposed the demolition. But it was also important to share the academic work, taking it outside the walls of the University with activities to promote knowledge. The aim is to understand how important it is today to orientate training towards a design approach that is attentive to the environment and the free contributions of climatic resources, innovation and economic sustainability, capable of making the transition from sustainable design to sustainable construction.

Keywords:

Share academic work, educating young people in design, innovative design strategy, innovative projects on exhibition, to tackle educational challenges.