Demonstration Cases

Demo site 1: The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Center, Bulgaria

Demo site 2: The Brancacci Chapel, Italy

Demo site 3: Droom je Thuis Foundation, The Netherlands

Demo site 4: Casa Girasole, Switzerland

Demo site 5: The Palazzo di Città, Italy

Demo site 6: Mercado de Veronicas, Spain

Map

Demo site 1: The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Center, Bulgaria

Gabrovo, Bulgaria

The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Center is located in the heart of Gabrovo, Bulgaria, where Christo was born in 1935. It is housed in the building of the former Textile High School, which is owned by the Municipality. In recent years, Gabrovo has embarked on an ambitious journey to transform this building of great significance to the local industry in the past into a center for contemporary art and culture. The Center's development is guided by the principles of the New European Bauhaus, ensuring that the project embodies sustainability, inclusivity, and innovation. The building's renovation will achieve high-energy efficiency standards, aligning with Gabrovo's broader goals of sustainability. The integration of smart technologies will further support the management of the Center and its surroundings, ensuring an inclusive and sustainable urban space.

Photo credit: Boryana Pandova

Demo site 2: The Brancacci Chapel, Italy

Florence, Italy

The Brancacci Chapel is a civic museum of the City of Florence, and it is considered a masterpiece of the Renaissance. The extraordinary cycle of frescoes, created by Masaccio and Masolino da Panicale and completed by Filippino Lippi, depicts one of the most complete representations of the Stories of St. Peter. Due to some micro detachments noticed in 2020, a diagnostic project, coordinated by the National Research Council in collaboration with the city of Florence and other partners was carried out. The painting analysis project has also been accompanied by an enhancement project, with the aim of creating an immersive virtual reality environment, which accompanies the tourist in discovering the stories hidden in the frescoes, making him put on the role of the diagnostician

Demo site 3: Droom je Thuis Foundation, The Netherlands

Naaldwijk, The Netherlands

Droom je Thuis is a parent initiative (private foundation) for 12 young adults with multiple disabilities or intellectual disabilities. The building was constructed in 2022/2023 and consists of 12 apartments, each designed with a living room, bathroom, bedroom, and kitchenette. Additionally, there are 2 communal living rooms, a communal kitchen, and a night watch room. The residents are provided with 24-hour care. The building is fully wheelchair accessible and equipped with facilities for people with physical disabilities. The building's energy consumption is minimal and it does not use gas.

Demo site 4: Casa Girasole, Switzerland

Massagno, Switzerland

The Swiss pilot site, Casa Girasole, will stand as an innovative example of integrating electric mobility into senior living environments. With 66 beds across 58 single and 4 double rooms, each equipped with private bathrooms and basic amenities, the facility also features a 59 kWp rooftop PV plant. The ground floor hosts a reception, a living room-bar, a multi-purpose room with movable walls, administrative offices, an industrial kitchen, and a chapel. Located in an area primed for urban development focusing on electric mobility, Casa Girasole aims to: facilitate eco-friendly transportation solutions, provide accessible mobility infrastructure, contribute to sustainable urban planning. By incorporating electric vehicles as active building elements, Casa Girasole demonstrates practical engineering solutions that align with modern environmental and urban development goals.

Demo site 5: The Palazzo di Città, Italy

Bari, Italy

Bari, the coastal capital city of the Apulia region in the southern Italy has applied Plans of eliminations of Architectural Barriers (PEBA) on its territory and has implemented a series of interventions to facilitate the use of public spaces for citizens with motor or sensory disabilities, resulting in around 40 interventions on the territory of the municipality. The Municipality of Bari has started an action plan ("Bari Smart City") and is also involved in the no-profit project “City Plus”, involving citizens with disabilities, local associations, local entities, industries and stakeholders to promote and diffuse the accessibility in urban. The city intends to improve accessibility by experimenting with new technologies and involving associations with interests that cover the area and know its needs. Even the city adopted the PEBA which guarantees accessibility to public spaces and public buildings, this must be further enhanced with new technologies and experiments. One of the associations active on the territory of Bari that has expressed its active support to AccesS is Zero Barriere. Funded with regional funds, the cooperative works on accessibility and inclusion in different sectors, from development of accessible software with a particular attention to people with disability of sight, to consultancy to remove architectural barriers and the organization of public accessible events to raise awareness on disabilities.

Demo site 6: Mercado de Veronicas, Spain

Murcia, Spain

Between 1912-1916, architect Pedro Cerdán designed and constructed the Plaza de Abastos. In a Modernist style, its facade is notable for the large lateral arches alternated with reddish brick pillars, as well as the large windows of its two access doors, which combine brick with white stone and attached columns. The building has undergone various renovations to adapt it to new commercial needs At the moment it has a surface area of 3,000 square meters. On the ground floor, there are 116 stalls for sale. On the upper floor, there are another 120 stalls. In the central area, there is a basement measuring 45 meters long by 9 meters wide, where the refrigeration chambers are located. The renovation will adapt the building to the current regulation with focus on accessibility and inclusiveness and will improve energy efficiency, reducing energy consumption and CO2 emission over 50%. The renovation follows the concept of New Bauhaus as a result of Murcia participation on the Urban Agenda for the EU Partnership for Culture and Cultural Heritage. As part of the Murcia Smart City Strategic Plan, the city has performed co-creation activities with the citizens to engage them and gather feedback in order to plan specific actions within the smart city objectives of the city.