The workshop is an opportunity for students to get involved in the divided walled city of Nicosia, to gain a holistic view of the area and to develop a different attitude toward cultural heritage and sustainability focusing on the adaptive reuse of dwellings, semi-open and open spaces. The area of the walled city of Nicosia and especially the historic neighborhoods of Chrysalinitissa and Ayios Kassianos are areas of special character with many cultural heritage values and many historical layers.
Phase 1: 27th – 28th April (online)
Students will attend the online presentation of the workshop activities and the five lectures on adaptive reuse.
Phase 2: 2nd – 6th May (on site)
Intensive workshop comprised of site visit in Nicosia and group work with tutors on site.
Phase 3: 25th and 30th May (online) + 3rd June 2022 (virtual exhibition)
Two sessions for discussion with critics and finalization of student projects.
Case Study
The architecture heritage of the walled city of Nicosia
The major part of the walled city of Nicosia was declared as Ancient Monument (city walls and other public and private buildings) by the Department of Antiquities, due to its many historical layers, whereas a large number of urban vernacular buildings were listed and protected by the Town Planning and Housing Department. Two historic characteristic neighbourhoods in the walled city of Nicosia were selected as a case study for the Cyprus Workshop on ADAPTIVE REUSE. The area under study comprises mainly of vernacular urban dwellings as well as historic buildings such as churches, schools and mosques.
Case study neighbourhoods
Situated on the north-west quarter of the walled city, Chrysaliniotisa and Ayios Kassianos neighbourhoods, offer representative examples of the evolution of the urban tissue where the presence of the “cul de sac” roads is recognizable and the dwellings preserve much of their original traditional features. In the neighbourhood of Chrysaliniotisa as well as Ayios Kassianos there is a large number of vernacular dwellings that incorporate a central yard and at least one semi-open space (more often a “portico” serving as an entrance to the houses). A number of dwellings incorporate a second semi-open space, an “iliakos” as an intermediate area between the rooms and the yard.
Themes and Goals
TOPIC 1 Adaptive reuse of existing vernacular urban dwellings. The divided walled city of Nicosia as a place of culture and memory.The aim of this topic is to investigate the urban area of the walled city of Nicosia focusing on the two neighborhoods under study and the related vernacular and historic buildings, highlighting their cultural and historical values. The analysis aims to relate the private and historic dwellings of these neighborhoods with the whole walled city of Nicosia and its different historic layers as well as the adjacent green line/buffer zone. The proposals will include – at different scales – new uses and different scenarios in order to regenerate the whole neighborhood and at the same time suggest new connections between these areas and the rest of the walled city and the green line.
Objectives
This topic researches general proposals and strategies concerning the adaptive reuse of the walled city of Nicosia focusing on the traditional and historic dwellings of the two neighborhoods under study. Students should acquire critical awareness and develop analytical theoretical and practical (digital etc.) tools necessary to get a holistic knowledge of the area. They will acquire the necessary information to prepare design strategies for environmental, social and cultural sustainable adaptive reuse for vernacular and historic buildings of the area. From the urban scale to the dwelling scale, students should identify historical, vernacular, and more recent dwellings and recognize the role they play in the formation of the identity of the whole area (the study could be developed in scale from 1:500 to 1:10000). At the neighborhood scale analysis should relate the brief analysis for the whole walled city of Nicosia to the vernacular and historic buildings analysis of the two neighborhoods (the study could be developed in scale from 1:500 to 1:100). Focus will also be given to selected dwellings. This analysis will help students to acquire a holistic overview of the two neighborhoods under study so that they can develop environmental, social and cultural sustainable adaptive reuse proposals for the vernacular dwellings of these areas including the abandoned ruins / buildings and all the premises lacking use.
TOPIC 2 Traditional courtyards and transitional spaces of private vernacular urban dwellings. Intangible and tangibles values as a tool for multidisciplinary reading and revival proposals of the divided walled city of Nicosia.
This topic considers open and semi open spaces of private dwellings as important features of the city and as a part of a network of "transitional" places within the urban area. The analysis will aim at examining open spaces, small and large courtyards surrounded by semiopen spaces, semi-open entrances to the vernacular dwellings, etc., as tools for understanding the dwellings and the whole urban area over time. This analysis will help in the preparation of proposals for sustainable adaptive reuse of cultural heritage, focusing not only on tangible but also on intangible values that these spaces incorporated diachronically.
Objectives
The topic aims at changing the perception of the private open and semi-open spaces of the dwellings, in urban areas, such as Nicosia. Students will achieve critical awareness and get familiar with analytical tools necessary to investigate the character of the area and develop design programmes in order to regenerate and adaptively reuse open and semi-open spaces of vernacular dwellings. The analysis will include architectural and urban scales. Students will identify and map the private open and semi-open spaces in the walled city of Nicosia and will focus on the two areas under study (the study could be developed in scale from 1:10000 to 1:500). They will transcribe the network of "transitional" and open private spaces in a sustainable new plan for the areas under study using the walled city of Nicosia as a pilot case study (the study could be developed in scale from 1:500 to 1:100). New proposals will be prepared in the neighborhood scale for the adaptive reuse of these open and transitional spaces in order to enhance the intangible and tangible values of the whole area. The general proposals will be implemented in selected case study dwellings.
TOPIC 3 Re-discovering routes and paths. Re-use and revival of the divided walled city of Nicosia through cultural network and interconnections.
The purpose of this topic is to relate the streets and narrow cul-des-sacs type roads of the two neighborhoods with the urban context of the walled city of Nicosia through a critical interpretation of the signs and traces of time and history of Nicosia. Existing paths and proposals for new routes could become an evaluation tool for a sustainable adaptive reuse redevelopment project for the historic centre of Nicosia and its heritage. Initially during field evaluation students will immerse themselves in the city and identify the existing situation identifying the previous historic layers in order to be prepared for their suggestions and proposals. Emphasis will be given to the green line border and the way many streets in the area dead-end at that boundary. Another important element is the existence of many cul-desacs creating a small human scale in the urban fabric. The continuous street-wall building system is another feature that forms the identity and character of the area.
Objectives
The students should identify accesses, routes and paths that bind the two neighborhoods with the rest of the walled city of Nicosia. Students should acquire critical awareness and get familiar with analytical tools necessary to develop design solutions to translate the historical paths and routes in narrative and accessibility design elements for the environmental, social and cultural sustainable adaptive reuse of urban areas. The analysis will concern architectural and urban scales. Students will recognize the value of the connection and accessibility in buildings and open public spaces on the architectural scale (the study could be developed in scale from 1:500 to 1:100). According to the urban scale, they will analyze the relations between the two neighborhoods with the buffer zone (green line) and the rest of the walled city through the historical and contemporary experience of the city roads and accesses (the study could be developed in scale from 1:10000 to 1:500)
Participants
professors / tutors
The workshop will be led by the UCY team except for the last day critics that will involve all the consortium members in blended modality, both presence in Nicosia and online on zoom. All students will work in the same room with the tutor and professor. In order to guarantee multiple visions and approaches to the same issue and topic students can share their work with all of the tutors and professors.
students
The Workshop will involve three students per partner rom the II Cycle – Diploma, Master, Graduate Degree. It is expected to have students from various study programs (architectural design, interior design, architectural technologies, structural engineering, urban planning, urban design, integral urban development, sustainable development). To enhance different cultural backgrounds, students' workgroups will be composed of one student for each university.
