The course is a follow‐up of the Winter Semester Elective course “ Special Topics in Conservation and Restoration 1”. In contrast to the previous course that dealt with issues related to the restoration of individual buildings or monuments, this is an introduction to the theory, practice of protection, rehabilitation and revitalization of traditional settlements, historic city centers, and the integration of modern buildings into a historic environment.
The course aims to give students the first knowledge and experience that will help them work in the future for the protection and upgrading of historical sites. The methodology for designing interventions in the historical settings withlegislative measures, regional and urban planning is also presented. The lectures are based on bibliography, but also through many applied examples. At the same time there are visits to historic settlements, in order to give students the opportunity to understand the issues presented in theoretical teaching. The purpose of the course is to record and analyze part of a historical settlement and to prepare proposals for its protection. The course also includes a presentation of the Greek Traditional Architecture, as well as the urban planning of the settlements and the historical centers of the cities, through the lectures and the exercises to be developed during the semester.
The mishandling of architectural cultural heritage in recent decades, either due to ignorance, or to particular social and economic factors, even due to poor rehabilitation interventions, is a reality. That is why the practice of students in recognizing and evaluating the qualitative elements that make the buildings and the ensembles preservable is a basic objective of the course.