Adaptive Reuse of a Historic Building by Introducing New Functions: A Scenario Evaluation Based on Participatory MCA Applied to a Former Carthusian Monastery in Tuscany, Italy

Abstract

The lack of financial resources and the constraints about interventions are threatening the survival of built heritage and the multiple benefits it can provide. In time, the role of building conservation has changed from preservation to being part of a sustainable strategy where adaptive reuse may allow to protect built heritage, while promoting it as a resource. This paper presents the results of a multicriteria analysis applied to the case study of Certosa di Pisa in Calci (Tuscany), a former Carthusian Monastery currently run as a publicly owned museum center. Based on information gathered from literature and the involvement of the two main stakeholders, a SWOT analysis was performed to identify three scenarios in which new functions were introduced with the aim to cover restoration and maintenance costs. Scenarios were compared by using a participatory MCA, taking into account not only economic performances but also cultural, territorial integration and restoration co-impacts. Results show that it is possible to reach economic sustainability while conserving heritage values, but several criticalities may hinder the process. Conclusions discuss the suitability of the method in identifying sustainable reuse solutions and highlight the role of governance bodies and the problems related to their public and/or private composition.

Economic Valuation of Cultural Heritage Using the Travel Cost Method: The Historical Centre of the Municipality of Bucharest as a Case Study

“…The importance of the built heritage is associated, on the one hand, with a varied typology, but, on the other, with the multiple values that it incorporates (historical, architectural, artistic, aesthetic, social, authenticity, symbolic, cultural, and scientific) [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. These values justify the need for cultural heritage to be preserved properly and reused [12][13][14][15][16][17] to ensure a sustainable development that means cultural heritage can be passed on to future generations [12]. At the same time, heritage buildings have an economic value [3][4][5][6]9,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] due to the fact that they have multiple possibilities for adaptive reuse [3,6,12]: for hosting various economic activities (hotels, restaurants, offices, shops, etc.)…”

“…These values justify the need for cultural heritage to be preserved properly and reused [12][13][14][15][16][17] to ensure a sustainable development that means cultural heritage can be passed on to future generations [12]. At the same time, heritage buildings have an economic value [3][4][5][6]9,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] due to the fact that they have multiple possibilities for adaptive reuse [3,6,12]: for hosting various economic activities (hotels, restaurants, offices, shops, etc.) [1,6,23,24].…”

“…[1,6,23,24]. Some historic buildings that no longer retain their original function are also reused for cultural purposes [12,[14][15][16]22] due to their particular characteristics (antiquity, architecture, symbolic value). Cultural reuses also ensure the tourist use of heritage buildings and are often considered an appropriate form of their conservation [14][15][16]22].…”

“…There are various forms of cultural reuse of heritage buildings, such as museums. Examples include the Alexandria National Museum, formerly a gathering place for the upper class of Egyptian society [14], D'Orsay train station in Paris, transformed into an art museum [25], Certosa di Pisa in Calci (Tuscany), a former Carthusian Monastery currently reused as a publicly owned museum center [15], Limassol castle, Larnaca Castle [22], and the former Royal Palace in Bucharest transformed into the National Museum of Art of Romania. In the recent years, museums have been transformed in heritage buildings located in cities that have won the title of European Capital of Culture.…”

“…Over time, the conservation process has become more and more complex, with the role of preserving the cultural heritage being integrated into a sustainable strategy [15,26], involving the environmental, economic, and social dimensions, i.e., material and resource efficiency, cost reduction, and preservation of intrinsic values [3,16]. Thus, adaptive reuse allows both conservation of heritage buildings and their promotion as resources [15].…”