Introducing Building-Typology in the Decision-Making Process: a Strategy of Adaptive Reuse for Refugees in Turin

This study puts the architect’s technical knowledge within a great horizon, that of the 21st-century migrant crisis. Today, in the local Turinese dimension there are two defined "crisis" conditions. On the one hand, the continuous and growing flow of people coming from countries of international conflict creates a mass of "new inhabitants", with housing and welfare needs. On the other hand, the economic crisis and the change in production systems have left the city running real "urban voids". The purpose is to detect the optimum typology of vacant building located in Turin which can best accommodate the refugees. By typological understanding, the study will explore the finest strategy to adopt, on the one hand for the newcomers, without orienting them in random struc- tures, on the other hand for the Turin territory, through a holistic approach of regeneration and revitalization of discontinuous areas. To be able to accomplish the purpose, the study introduces the functional and formal build- ing-typology in decision-making through a scientific method. This method, based on a multi-cri- teria mathematical model, was extracted from an article written by scholars from the University of Lisbon. Through the results of the study, it is clear that not all the vacant buildings are favora- ble for the maximization of the inclusion of migrants in the urban context. Study of building type becomes important in order to meet the common requirements of immigrants. Certain typologies are more adequate than others to host refugees and to catalyze a regeneration process of the city.