Christina Paci

Thesis in Architectural Design

New Assisted Health Residence RSA for Bagheria. Villa Serradifalco Complex 

Thesis by Cristina Paci
Email: cpaci90@gmail.com
University of Palermo - Faculty of Architecture - Single-cycle Master's Degree, class LM_4
Architectural Executive Design Laboratory Department of Architectural Technology
Speaker: Prof. Giuseppe De Giovanni
Co-supervisors: Prof. Francesca Scalisi; Dr. Biancamaria Guarnieri
Academic Year 2013 - 2014

The thesis aims at the reuse of a building that is part of a monumental complex belonging to the Villa Serradifalco located in Bagheria in the Montagnola Serradifalco district. The Villa was built by the Dukes Lo Faso in the second half of the 1700th century on an area where an ancient fortified baglio originally stood. The entire complex has undergone various stylistic and functional stratifications and today appears as a passive and decadent memory of the past. Located on the slopes of the Montagnola Serradifalco, within an area with a strong landscape impact, the Villa, with its imposing volume, constitutes the main building of a series of contiguous bodies and is currently in a state of serious structural and architectural degradation. Inside the complex there is a recently built nucleus that houses the ONLUS association "Casa di riposa la Trasfigurazione".
The non-profit organization of social utility has started conservative restoration interventions only on a part of the ancient complex, although the entire area requires restoration interventions at a general level and a deep stylistic architectural continuity. The entire complex appears to have a courtyard conformation that favors a continuous connection along the internal sides to improve the system of paths and the use of all the parts. On this data, the intervention hypotheses were formulated that concerned the reconstruction of the Nursing Home and the conversion into an RSA (Assisted Health Residence) of the modern building, and the recovery of the historical complex through new and more suitable intended uses. New paths and connections were formulated for better accessibility by the elderly and Caregivers.
The project was studied in several phases: The first phase concerned the study of Alzheimer's disease and the repercussions that the environment causes on the elderly in the different phases of the disease. The second phase involved the choice of the location based on previously studied criteria, suitable for the users taken into consideration. A further phase of analysis of the site, and a fourth design phase aimed at the recovery of the historical complex favoring more suitable uses such as: environments to be used for the performance of auxiliary therapies, specific outpatient clinics, training center for operators and caregivers. Finally, a final phase of technical-constructive detail concerned the study of structural systems and construction techniques at different intervention scales 1:50, 1:20,1:10.