Material and Craft Study of Diachronic Interface in Old Building Rehabilitation. Reuse and Improvement Design of Ex. Certosina of Palazzo Botta.

In term of old building rehabilitation, the main issue is how to deal with the relation between old and new while the diachronic interface is the specific study object which is prominently reflected on the tectonic relation of the material and craft. As a result, the present thesis which is based on the analyses of the diachronic interfaces of modern and contemporary rehabilitation cases in Western Europe, preliminary concludes some concrete design solutions as well as global design methods of the material and craft, which are also utilized and proved in the subsequent several design projects. For “diachronic interface”, two main inherent concepts: diachronic continuity and synchronic connection, are raised firstly. Then, about “material and craft”, according to tremendous document and case studies, three pivotal layers from “old ”to “new”: previous materials and crafts, interventional materials and interventional crafts, are dissected transitively, which establish a relation organization and expression of different types of diachronic interfaces (structure, construction, configuration) based on corresponding crafts of one-to-one materials. In addition, some inferences from the analyses, like the origins of diachronic interfaces (damage of the structure, lack of the enclosure, transition of the space) and the factors of diachronic interfaces (time, district, function and architect preference), also have certain impact on the forming of design methods. Thence, through incorporating them together, three global design principles (appropriate material use, harmonious relation expression, uniformly differential design skill) and four concrete design steps (investigate old materials and crafts, estimate positions and types of diachronic interfaces, select interventional materials according to factors, design particular crafts for diachronic interfaces) are concluded, which are further elaborated through the design projects in Italy --- Rehabilitation Design of Ex.Certosina of Palazzo Botta for three different types of diachronic interfaces. Finally, the deficiencies and limitations of the whole research process are evaluated and some relative subsequent researches are also mentioned.

Studio Materiale e Artigianale per Interfaccia Diacronica della Riabilitazione di costruzioni Antiche.