Reusing and Managing the “Real Albergo de’ Poveri” of Naples: Evaluation and Re-Design for Improved Efficiency

The reuse of historic buildings can be a main strategy to assure the efficiency in growth of our cities. The choice of a new function can produce relevant effects on both the durability of components of the building, and the social and economical dynamics in the area. The “Real Albergo de’ Poveri” was a poor hosting structure promoted by Carlo III Borbone at the beginning of the eighteenth century, and realized in Naples under Ferdinando Fuga’s direction since 1752. The considerable physical consistency of the building, its complex morphological articulation, the strategic roles covered within the urban contest, require the examination of functional systems, more than the choice of a single function. The proposal identifies the activities that guarantee the financial and economic sustainability of the project (driving functions) and it also points out those functions that satisfy the local needs, that alone would not be able to support itself. The attended result is to recognize the best system of functions among different alternatives, to analyze the physical, economic and social system. This strategy should favour the conservation of the building in time, in consideration of the evolution of the function. The project of reuse should select flexible technological solutions in order to the lasting performances of new functions, both to guarantee changes of the activities in time and to bring the building back to its initial status. This kind of strategy could rise a process that guarantees the good management of maintenance of the building thanks to the economic sustainability of the new activities.