Analysis of a Sustainable Site Specific Museum design experience for the Opera of Santa Croce’s Museum, Italy

This paper examines the design experience of a green temporary museum brought to light inside the multidisciplinary context of the PRIN 2007 (Progetto di Ricerca di Interesse Nazionale – National Interest Research Project) SiSMus - Site Specific Museums. The design case study is a sustainable Welcome Point inside the claustrum of the Santa Croce complex in Florence (Italy) that serves as new decompression space both for entering and exiting visitors. At the same times it redefines the nowadays lost original geometries of the cloister and hosts new spaces for the museum’s staff. The SiSMus Welcome Point has been designed following the Life Cycle Design and Life Cycle Costing approaches, so it endorses the concept of sustainability. with recycled and recyclable materials and keeping in mind the reduction of the carbon burden. Indeed the structure is entirely made of dry-assembly building systems and offers the possibility to install solar harvesting systems on its envelope to achieve energetic indipendence. In conclusion this sustainable architecture serves both the visitors and the museum, whilst being non-invasive and resource consuming. Furthermore it restores the original proportions between the different parts of the complex with a minor impact on its environmental footprint.