The Transformation of Healthcare Buildings: The Challenges of the University of Pavia for Urban Regeneration

Abstract

The theme of urban regeneration is currently one of the main actions of transformation policies. It presents an opportunity for cities’ design, in particular historical centers, through joint actions aimed at creating synergies and connections between social, political, economic, and environmental aspects. It also becomes an opportunity to enhance the huge and complex Cultural Heritage, full of architectural values, memory, and history. At the same time, it appears increasingly inadequate and obsolete compared to the new needs of a changing society, of regulatory aspects, and of a general compatible approach to intervention to the more general policies of sustainable development, as required by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. A total of two case studies of the reuse and enhancement of hospital buildings of the University of Pavia are presented, which has a large building heritage spread throughout the city. In recent years, owing to the opportunities offered by funding, it has started transformation policies on some abandoned buildings through projects based on an interdisciplinary approach and a participatory design strategy. The article testifies to a potential method of intervention that can be exported to other contexts, after a previous test of the compatibility on the existing and on the urban context.