MANUFATTI DI TERRA:  RECUPERO DEL PATRIMONIO STORICO MINORE PER LA SUA CONSERVAZIONE E VALORIZZAZIONE.

Cinzia Schiraldi

Architect, self-employed professional, cinziaschiraldi@gmail.com

ABSTRACT 

Early examples of architecture included huts made of three branches fixed to the ground and joined together at the top; the spaces were filled in by twigs and clay mud; a circle of stones at the centre marked the fireplace, with the bedding around it. In 1753 Laugier theorized on the beginnings of architecture in his “Essai sur l’architecture”. In 1923 Le Corbusier's wrote “Vers un architecture” in which he described a temple built using natural measures, such as the foot, the palm, the finger. This was a work on a human scale in which space is in harmony with man. It consisted of the essential. Popular tradition and local culture have always worked for the common good: in agriculture, livestock farming and construction this was achieved through the oral transmission of knowledge.Today ecological design, biomaterials and cohousing are common themes. Natural building materials, such as earth, or rather clay, are being rediscovered in preference to cement. Clay together with sand and straw can be used in new constructions or to renovate historic and rural clay buildings. Surface material is lost over time due to weathering but can be replaced by the very earth which over the years has fallen off: this, which is found along the perimeter of the building, can be ground in a muller and reused to repair, renovate and preserve deteriorated outside walls.

Key-words: Natural building materials, clay, minor historical heritage, conservation.