Conservation and Adaptation for Medieval Castles: The Case of Messner Mountain Museums

In international conservation documents, adaptation is considered an important conservation process for culturally important places. It is especially important when the cultural context changes, as is the case with medieval castles, many of which were altered or built for military and domestic use in the Middle Ages. Medieval castles which are no longer used for their initial functions, are mostly non-functional today, and non-functional buildings often disintegrate into nature and disappear in time. Therefore, maintaining their relevance and cultural significance depends on appropriate adaptation strategies. When adapting a historic building, it is essential to design for the current use and needs, referring to conservation principles. It is also important to blend cultural heritage consciousness with creativity, and this can be achieved by balancing conservation and design practices. Therefore, in addition to design parameters, characteristics of the existing building should be meticulously analysed, and design concepts should be predicated on sustaining the existing values and meanings while adding contemporary ones. It is the purpose of this research to discuss and contribute to the theory of adaptation regarding medieval castle conversions by analysing three related case studies from Northern Italy. The findings lead to the proposal of a diagram, the focus of which is on the conceptual parameters of the multi-dimensional theory of adaptive (re)use, to be used for the design process of historic buildings.