Identification of the ancient centres of Mondonico and Dorio since the 18th century through comparison of historic property registers

The analysis and enhancement of complex systems as heritage in historic landscape necessarily require a synthesis of the multidisciplinary approach so often evoked in theory, whilst so seldom displayed on real study cases. Therefore, the authors proposal consists on merging different scales and levels of the analysis tools and especially the criteria for the multiscale revitalization of neglected spread historic fabric (both of rural and urban settlements) in remarkable landscape. The authors display the proper disciplinary methods in the first part of the book (“The historical landscapes and settlements: fundamentals of the analysis”) and decline it on a common case study, for testing the robustness of theories in the cultural clash of different approaches. All the contributions are useful in themselves, and acquire more value thanks to the common convergence to overcome their local application that could appear focusing on Mondonico village. The study case is Mondonico village, an outstanding remain of the recent past in Lecco lake area. Its unicity consists in many features, typical of 18th-19th century villages in the mountain, that keep intact after almost 70 years of partial neglect. The relationships between the ancient center and the surrounding breathtaking landscape (natural and built) are still mostly perceivable, despite the unconscious, rushed appreciation of few tourists passing by. The local community, living in Dorio since early 20th century, still refers to the old village for few agricultural activities on the mountain slope and for the cultural/religious reasons due to the presence of the old church, still in function. Nevertheless, the pressure of exploitation for new construction of the surrounding landscape is rapidly increasing, due to the exceptional view on the lake and mountains and the improvement of the existing facilities/connection with the lakeshore. As an example, a recent stock of in line hosing, with brilliant colors and contemporary features, rises at half slope, along the paved road from Dorio to Mondonico. The isolation of the village constitutes both a threat for the conservation for the maintenance of the rural historic characteristics of the settlement and an opportunity for enhancing it, due to the possibility to beckon new attention and investment for the revitalization. The authors of the book focused on the study for the conservation and enhancement of the landscape and village with the aim to refine and display the methodological tools for the analysis and project. In fact, the book gathers the contribution of different approaches or the conservation/enhancement of the built landscape: the analysis and project of conservation of historic landscape and buildings, refurbishment and enhancement of ancient centers, study for the valorization of the built heritage. The first part of the book also deals with the different analysis led on Mondonico case study. They support the discussion of guidelines for intervention and the projects. The scale of the analysis is multiple, from the the territorial one to the building one (the church, as an example of a representative building). The analysis methodology is the content of specific contributions, as well as the results and their discussion that support the following phase of the study. The second part of the book deals with Mondonico conservation and enhancement (“Conservation and enhancement of the village and the landscape”). The information, including the data related to the population, current uses of the buildings and paths, expectation of the inhabitants, etc. came under a further step of analysis, the SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis served as catalyst filter to combine the different data into the threat and opportunity for the valorization of the site, the strong potentiality to hinge on and the weakness to mitigate in the project for new uses and the most aware conservation plan. The introduction to the project of conservation and new uses refers to the update, commonly accepted criteria at the base of the present debate on restoration and conservation, and underline the possible common field between the different disciplines for improving the quality of the existing architecture. Despite of the differences of the intervention on the existing historic buildings of restoration, conservation and refurbishment, the authors achieved a multidisciplinary methodology for the analysis and the proposal of enhancement of the village and its surroundings. The effort resulted in the achievement of a shared knowledge, obtained by different analysis tools (the documentation of buildings and site, surveys, visual and experiential analysis of the landscape, the assessment of the state of conservation, materials and building techniques). Therefore, the second part of the book also deals with the enhancement, and it focus on the production of different tools to lead the projects towards the fulfillment of the needs of conservation and everyday use. In fact, the authors defined the guidelines for both the maintenance of the particular and unique features of Mondonico and the construction of new buildings, the masterplan localizing the new functions and connections at urban scale, and the criteria and strategies for the project of the new architectures. The authors present three alternative examples of new uses of the village, similar for the respectful use of the existing and the philosophy of the intervention, with different impact on the site and the population resident in Dorio and Mondonico. Moreover, one of the proposals broadens the view from the village to the landscape for its enhancement: the proposal aim is to mend the historical settlement to its landscape thanks to the creation of a new system of relationships.