Title

Author(s)

Mariella Annese

Milena Farina

Affiliation

Politecnico di Bari – ArCod

Università degli Studi Roma Tre – Dipartimento di Architettura

DOI

https://doi.org/10.65686/RMCZ8131

Keywords

School Space, Urban Regeneration, Urban Reference

PP

55-62

How to Cite

Annese, Mariella, Milena Farina. “Adaptive Reuse for a Children’s City.” In Proceedings of the International Conference on Adaptive Reuse. Volume 1, edited by Andrea Crudeli, Francesca Molle, and Emanuele Carrai, 55–62. Firenze: STH Press, 2026.

Abstract

The aim of the design research presented is to contribute to the debate on some very topical issues concerning the regeneration of the contemporary city: what adaptive reuse strategies can be used to adapt urban spaces to vulnerable user groups such as children, promoting a child-friendly city and the right to the city for all? How can public structures lacking special architectural qualities, but representing a powerful opportunity for urban regeneration due to their widespread presence in the territory, be reactivated? The project to transform the spaces attached to a school provides an opportunity to experiment with intervention strategies on these two issues. The project is part of an urban regeneration program approved by the Puglia Region that involves a large portion of the municipal territory of the small coastal town of Polignano a Mare. The conversion of the former school caretaker’s house into a C.A.S.A. dei bambini (Centre for Scholastic and Artistic Activities) is consistent with the overall strategy of this intervention program, which aims to create a child-friendly city, welcoming towards future generations. The intervention also includes the transformation of the former school sports field, previously used as a parking lot reserved for teachers, into a new public square integrated into the system of urban spaces, with the aim of reconnecting and enhancing this place with great potential. The conversion of the small building and the adjacent public space therefore implies the opening of these structures to the city and their promotion as a point of reference for the school and citizen community.

Edited by
Andrea Crudeli
Francesca Molle
Emanuele Carrai

Publisher
STH Press, Firenze

ISBN Paperback – 9791281661141
ISBN Ebook – 9791281661158
DOI – https://doi.org/10.65686/SISY7263

Year
2026

Proceedings of
International Conference on Adaptive Reuse
hosted by The University of Pisa, Italy
15-19 September 2025, at the Gispoteca di Arte Antica dell’Università di Pisa.