Characters and models of Rural Architecture in Puglia

Abstract

The farmhouse represents an example of rural buildings in the Puglia region, it consists of model types connected to functional efficiency and to saving the natural resources available, becoming an example of sustainable architecture. The farmhouses built between the 16th and 18th century are the most significant model of traditional eco-sustainable architecture and can be broken down into the following types: 1. Landscape – morphology: connected to their insertion in a specific environmental context (with trulli in the Itria Valley and fortified farmhouse in the coastal areas); 2. Climatic – orography: connected to their location in the territory (with pitched roof in Capitanata and in Alta Murgia, flat roof in the plains and coastal areas, gabled roof with stone blocks in the Murgia hills of the Trulli); 3. Farming– productive: concerning the type of farming and production (agricultural – pasture, egg farming and/or vineyards; 4. Defensive – functional: concerning the presence of defensive elements (including fencing, wall-walks, watchtowers, trap doors, embrasures, raised steps, corner towers). Apulian farmhouses are not only important historically and culturally, but also play a fundamental role in the agricultural production of the territory. This property must be safeguarded by envisaging structural recovery using traditional building techniques capable of preserving the rural identity and at the same time promoting eco-sustainable development criteria.