A collaborative Web App to foster a knowledge network on vernacular heritage, craftspeople, and sustainability

Abstract

[EN] Vernacular architecture provides extraordinary technological and typological solutions, which are the result of a complex system of knowledge that has evolved through trial and error, in a deep connection to the environmental, social, economic and cultural contexts. The goal of the study presented here is to propose a tool able to organise vernacular knowledge, both tangible and intangible, by systematising principles, strategies, design models and solutions in order to be more easily shared, transmitted and employed in the design of new sustainable architecture. The tool, which is developed as part of the project "VerSus+ / Heritage for People" (Creative Europe Program), is a collaborative Web Application able to map solutions and models from vernacular architecture, and to associate and classify them with sustainable strategies. In addition to physical objects (cultural landscapes, urban, typological and technological solutions), the App will also map the people involved in the knowledge management of vernacular architecture: craftspeople and professionals in the field of vernacular architecture enhancement and conservation. This tool can catalogue solutions and knowledge from different branches of vernacular architecture, and make it available to a large audience, such as professionals, researchers, artisans and citizens, who can also directly contribute to the growth of the vernacular database by adding new information and solutions to the App. The idea is to have a user friendly and easy to consult App, able to suggest new solutions to contemporary design problems, based on the observation of similar past problems, so that sustainable models developed in the past can be adapted to design and construct a more appropriate architecture for the future.