Building Characteristics of the Residential Asset in Bologna AfterWorld War II

Renovation of unlisted built heritage is a topical issue at the European level. In countries such as Italy, there are more than 12 million residential buildings; 86% of them were realized before 1990, thus before the adoption of stringent regulatory standards. In Bologna, many residential buildings in the first suburbs date back to the post-World War II period. These constructions were often built quickly to respond to the growing need for housing due to a relevant population increase, often to the detriment of their construction quality. Through deep archival research, 191 buildings realized within the Municipality between 1947 and 1961 with the adoption of State funds were analysed. These buildings, consisting of 2,260 housing units and 9,335 inhabitants, represent 2% of the city population in 1961. The rich documentation, consisting of working drawings, metric calculations, reports, and photographs, made it possible to determine the following information for each building: general data, typological characteristics, housing unit characteristics, construction characteristics, finishes and facilities. The collected data were implemented in a database and a geographical information system to offer an insight into the ways of the building practice adopted at the time, providing indications both on the ways of living and on the performance in terms of structural, energy and functional distribution.