RE3WORK: REsilient REtrofitting and REuse of Water Heritage and Built Environments: Multi-objective Optimization for RisK Mitigation and Cultural Enhancement

In Italian cities and regions, water and its urban built environment play a crucial role. Historical architectures, structures and infrastructures, linked to specific maritime, lagoon and fluvial landscapes can establish a solid basis for an eco-systemic approach to sustainable urban and regional development, aligning with the blue economy vision. In this framework, the paper presents the preliminary results of the two-year project ‘RE3WORK’, recently funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research—Programme PRIN 2022 (Projects of Relevant National Interest). The research is focused on the retrofit, reuse and enhancement of industrial, architectural and archaeological assets hosted in seaports, shipyards and river factories. These targets are undergoing increasing physical and functional obsolescence due to the overcoming of the production regimes for which they were conceived. The overall goal is to develop a multi-objective optimization approach that satisfies both the principles of ‘integrated conservation’ of the cultural heritage (Amsterdam Charter, 1975) and the requirements of ‘disaster risk reduction’ in the cities (Sendai Framework 2015–2030). To this end, the project entails the development of a methodological workflow and a set of innovative digital tools, encompassing the assessment of tangible factors (material-constructional practices) and intangible factors (organizational-managerial models), as well as the identification of vulnerabilities to specific risks towards the selection of appropriate meta-design strategies. The final results include: formulation of multi-criteria decision-support analysis methods; validation of solutions and systems in terms of formal-technical compatibility and economic-institutional feasibility; and the establishment of GIS/BIM/VR/AR environments for collaborative design consultation and user training.