Computer Aided Design for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage: The Case of Mavrogiorgiannika in Kythera, Greece

Abstract

AbstractSustainable development is linked with the preservation and revealing of cultural heritage via practices of adaptive reuse. Adaptive reuse of cultural assets could provide various benefits to the local communities: environmental, economic and social. An important goal of these practices is the attraction of external economies in order to ensure the financial viability of monuments but also to succeed the prosperity of the residents. This study is focused in Kythera, a Greek isolated island. Information collected by local archives, communication with local bodies and in situ observations were combined with spatial data about the island’s settlements, road and trail network and cultural reserve. This process permitted the creation of thematic maps that led to the configuration of Kythera’s potentials and threats. Thus, the proposal scheme focuses on the abandoned neighborhood, Mavrogiorgianika of Karavas, a traditional settlement in the less prominent northern part of Kythera. The proposal suggests the restoration and reuse of the abandoned housing stock as agro tourism facilities in the context of a comprehensive circular economy program. The aim of the proposal scheme is to promote the natural environment, local products and local agricultural practices, with the active participation of residents and agricultural cooperatives of the island. The proposal of the rehabilitation of the neighborhood is combined with the reuse of the old agricultural school in the village, the watermills and the developed network of trails on the island.KeywordsCircular economyTraditional settlementsCultural heritageKythera