Aims

Like other forms of tourism, heritage tourism can be interpreted in two ways, namely:

> a factor of modification of public spaces and buildings use, as well as a cause of environmental modifications which are no less pronounced than those produced by other economic activities;

> a phenomenon that can improve economic, social and cultural needs of certain territories and a recognized and crucial element in the regeneration of: marginal regions, territories where the old functions have been abandoned, cities in decline.

Compared to both these opposite conditions, architectural design, complementing other disciplines, can give an important contribution to the enhancement of historical, architectural and landscape heritage. Nevertheless, the design methodologies which are needed to intervene in such a complex and delicate context aren’t still very defined.

It is precisely on these hardly balanced binary relations - heritage/tourism, preservation/accessibility, conservation/use, residents/tourists - that the network schools intend to focus their attention, through research seminars addressed to teachers, researchers, PhD students, research fellows and undergraduates; design workshops and study tours addressed to students of graduate programs in architecture.