Community-based care for a Living Heritage. The University Colleges of Urbino as a case study

The present contribution aims at determining a community-based care for the long-term conservation of the University Colleges of Urbino. Designed by Giancarlo De Carlo between 1959 and 1982, the Colleges are here considered as a Living Heritage Site and, as such, require an approach to conservation that guarantees the “continuity” of their function in accommodating students, while also maintaining the architectural values. To this end, we argue that the discipline of conservation should call upon some strategies developed in other fields, such as placemaking and participatory design, which can provide tools for reinventing the use of spaces through the users’ engagement. The ultimate goal is reawakening a sense of attachment to this place as a basis for the birth of a community that independently cares for it.