Abstract:

The paper presents the methodological approach developed within the research group "Mitigation Risk Design" of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of Politecnico di Milano. The project is shared within the workshops for students of the Architecture Urban Planning Construction Engineering School.
The study of the Italian territory shows the presence of a multitude of villages, built over the centuries due to several settlement reasons. Since the middle of the last century, villages, hamlets, shelters, forts and castles have been slowly and gradually abandoned.
In order to understand the reasons of this phenomenon and looking for possible reuse scenarios, the research introduces a new methodology based on the analysis of paradigmatic case studies. Starting from a "critical view" of the case studies, the research defines "MetaDesign Tools" (MeDeTs), from which it is possible to draw a variety of design attitudes that help to reinterpret the potential of the existing conditions of these villages.

The paper is organized into four parts:
The first section briefly presents the theme of abandoned Italian mountain villages in the Alpine areas. Starting from a multidisciplinary reading (geographical, socio-economic, ethnological-anthropological, architectural) the research identifies a set of reasons that led to the depopulation of some areas of the territory.
The methodological approach is based on the elaboration of several MetaDesign Boards with different deepening levels and interaction (Synthetic Board, Analytical Board, Thematic Board, Synoptical Table) aiming to define some conceptual tools and operative guidelines for designing (Design Orientation DO). The research also aims to implement the Design Orientation in order to become Best Practices useful for the planning and forecasting of future scenarios.
The work defines "Best Practice" as a way to approach a problem (in a specific context) being able to yield better results compared to those achieved with other methods. The “Best Practice” does not necessarily represent a legal constraint, but it is a useful tool to Focus on Issues (FoI), define GuideLines (GL) and elaborate MetaDesign Solution (MeDeS).
The third section presents some results of operative research, based on thirty case-studies analysed with the introduced methodology. In order to experiment the potential of the research, a small village is selected to test the Boards system with the target to elaborate meta-design solution for the valorisation of constructed area.
The fourth section shows the double relevance of the research methodology introduced: the definition of Best Practices for the enhancement of abandoned villages and the training implications of the students who participated in the research-related workshops. In conclusions, the last section summarises of the work limits and critical issues and presents development and possible scenarios.

Keywords:

Meta-design tools, alpine villages valorisation, best practice, reuse design.