Re-inhabitation project in the Metauro Valley of Central Italy Part 2 Project 2006 Ricardo Lopez-Rivas University of East London London | UK The proposal provides a timber construction system that allows for the re-inhabitation of the currently abandoned medieval sandstone villages in the Marches region of Central Italy. This system is framed within a sustainable use of the local forest resources and the ambition towards the re-vitalization of a local architecture as well as a diminished local economy. Pivotal in the project is the construction of a Centre for Timber Research and Forest Management located in and around an abandoned church and the reconstruction of the nearby hamlet of Calpeglio which is used as a testing ground for domestic application. The unit's programme pursued an exploration into the art of building with an emphasis towards the idea that a strong sense of materiality can give meaning in architecture. Our context for the work was two remote medieval hamlets which lie in the foothills of the Apennines, 30 kilometers to the west of Urbino. Working against these remnant structures Ricardo sought out an innovative architecture that allows for a new measure and finesse of inhabitation and an eloquence of material existence. Crucial to the development of the project, was the building and testing at a scale of 1:1.