Stigmergy-based parasitic strategies in architectural design for the transformation of existing heritage

The refurbishment of an abandoned post-WWII factory becomes a case study to propose an alternative approach to Italy’s mainstream preservation logics through parasitic architecture. Drawing from the fields of stigmergy-based systems, swarm intelligence and Embodied Embedded Cognition, their characterizing features and processes have been coded into a digital ecosystem where multi-agent systems operate. The project exploits the ecosystem and develops through strategies based on intrusion, adaptation and growth focusing on the relationships between different systems (host/parasite); the goal is to turn the present building (which has become an urban landmark for a socially intricate community) into a polarizing element for the community that facilitates its cultural expression by working on the material and spatial substrate as its prerequisites.