Adaptive Reuse of Religious and Sacred Heritage: Preserving Material Traces and Spirit of Place
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors1. The references in this article are relatively outdated and the quantity is also limited. Suggest the author to supplement 15-30 relevant references from the past three years.
2. The renovation and utilization of historical buildings are very important, and the practical operation of the case study in this article has significant value. However, in the process of renovation and utilization, the protection of the structure of historical buildings themselves and the explanation of corresponding technologies should be strengthened. Especially regarding the principle of reversibility between historical building structures and newly constructed structures.
3. How should we protect intangible remains in historical buildings? It seems to be a very interesting and debatable question. It is suggested that the author discuss how to protect intangible cultural heritage such as religious significance in this renovation project based on the case of this article.
4. It is suggested that the author strengthen the description of details such as the transformation technology, the connection and construction nodes between historical components and new building components in the article.
Author Response
Comment 1 The references in this article are relatively outdated and the quantity is also limited. Suggest the author to supplement 15-30 relevant references from the past three years
Reply to comment 1. See improvement in red colour
Comment 2. The renovation and utilization of historical buildings are very important, and the practical operation of the case study in this article has significant value. However, in the process of renovation and utilization, the protection of the structure of historical buildings themselves and the explanation of corresponding technologies should be strengthened. Especially regarding the principle of reversibility between historical building structures and newly constructed structures.
Reply to comment 2. The chapter referring to the case study has been implemented with the requested information and additional pictures (in red). We thank the reviewer for this commentary, which makes a better understanding of the results of the work possible.
Comment 3. How should we protect intangible remains in historical buildings? It seems to be a very interesting and debatable question. It is suggested that the author discuss how to protect intangible cultural heritage such as religious significance in this renovation project based on the case of this article.
Reply to comment 3. The project envisages both the preservation of the building, emphasising its intrinsic spatial and material peculiarities through targeted interventions, and the insertion of new structures capable of dialoguing with the pre-existing building and overcoming the critical issues encountered. Particular attention was paid to the coherence of the design approach at all scales of intervention, from the functional choice, to the internal distribution and architectural design, to the restoration and integration of the decorated surfaces.
The project for the re-functionalisation and restoration of the property therefore establishes the need to restore unity to the different environments that make up the building so that they dialogue with each other, while respecting their historical nature and different characteristics. We can therefore define some key criteria on which the project is based:
- Preservation of historical traces as evidence of the building's history, its evolution and its different uses over time
- Retractability of new interventions through the use of techniques and materials that can guarantee, without compromising, new restorations, rethinking or functional changes
- Choice of implementing interventions that are as minimally invasive as possible, avoiding actions of restoration and stylistic falsification
- Recognisability of the contemporary intervention such as to always guarantee distinction with the historicised parts.
Comment 4. It is suggested that the author strengthen the description of details such as the transformation technology, the connection and construction nodes between historical components and new building components in the article.
Reply to comment 4. Please see all the new insertions in red colour
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsI would like to congratulate the author on her wealth of detail and methodological rigour.
The paper deals with a very topical issue concerning the built heritage and its "adaptive" reuse. With great awareness and precision, the author raises the issue of the reuse of historic buildings, situating it within the cultural debate on reuse and the need to try to define methods of design, with actions on the “material text” of architecture that take into account the “spirit” of the place, its history, symbolic meanings and previous uses. The author thus presents the results of an interesting interdisciplinary workshop in 2015, where the skills of architectural restoration interacted with those of architectural design and technology.
The author explains the adaptive design methodology for the case study: the former University Library of Genoa inside the church of the Jesuit Collegium.
The state of the art is well outlined and contextualised in the cultural debate, and also addresses the rise of the concept of adaptive reuse. The excellent synthesis could perhaps be enriched with some recent experiences highlighting this issue at international conferences.
The methodology is well illustrated with relevant photographs.
A picture of the GIS interface could be added to section 6.3.
The proposed paper is accepted in present form.
Author Response
I would like to congratulate the author on her wealth of detail and methodological rigour.
Thank you for this comment
The paper deals with a very topical issue concerning the built heritage and its "adaptive" reuse. With great awareness and precision, the author raises the issue of the reuse of historic buildings, situating it within the cultural debate on reuse and the need to try to define methods of design, with actions on the “material text” of architecture that take into account the “spirit” of the place, its history, symbolic meanings and previous uses. The author thus presents the results of an interesting interdisciplinary workshop in 2015, where the skills of architectural restoration interacted with those of architectural design and technology.
The author explains the adaptive design methodology for the case study: the former University Library of Genoa inside the church of the Jesuit Collegium.
The state of the art is well outlined and contextualised in the cultural debate, and also addresses the rise of the concept of adaptive reuse. The excellent synthesis could perhaps be enriched with some recent experiences highlighting this issue at international conferences.
See implementation in red colour and in references
The methodology is well illustrated with relevant photographs.
A picture of the GIS interface could be added to section 6.3.
A picture has been inserted (Figure 19)
The proposed paper is accepted in present form.
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe article is interesting and consistent in its methodological approach, applied in a significant case study.
In the part of the article where results of archival research are mentioned, it would be useful to cite the sources.
Please note that from line 104 to line 113, the same sentence appears twice.
Author Response
The article is interesting and consistent in its methodological approach, applied in a significant case study.
Thank you for this comment
In the part of the article where results of archival research are mentioned, it would be useful to cite the sources.
The archival sources have been inserted in specific parts
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe author has thoroughly optimized and revised the manuscript, and there are no other issues.
