Abstract:

The purpose of this work is to develop a new teaching approach within the academic education on international cooperation topics. Different and specific needs of NGOs (no governmental organizations) have been investigated and a new teaching model has been developed in the course "Preservation of Design Reuse Historical Architecture" (PRDmasterclass) of the Politecnico di Milano.

The main topics of this work were:
- The importance to re-define the concept of monument and document : material culture and cultural heritage.
- The meaning of living: a possible definition starting by the knowledge of the architectonical and urban element.
- Reading of living from the local material culture.
- The study of living in the territory of the Dominican Republic.
The study of “vernacular architecture” on the border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Identity and Caribbean culture. The territory and house evolution by the Spanish colonization and by the growth of peasant culture. Comparative analysis of the Dominican house types during its historical phases. The current conditions of marginalization in the plantations of sugar cane. The bateyes and batey Cuchilla. Morphology of the bateyes construction. Collected data in the bateyes. Relationship between architecture and the necessary collected data for the NGOs. Architectural proposals for the development of the areas described.
- The importance of the European research on "emerging countries".
- Comparative analysis with the immigration phenomenon in Milan; study of the marginal areas of the city. Morphology and anthropic of places. The search of “wellness” in different cultures.
- Modern slavery in contemporary cities. Involvement of association working in immigration field.
- The future and sustainable development of Italian cities.
- Proposals for the identification of a model for the multicultural city.

Keywords:

Preservation Historical Architecture, local material culture, no Governamental Organizations.