At the roots of architecture. The project in the Mediterranean rural landscape

Almost ninety years after Pagano and Daniel's research on ‘Rural Architecture in the Mediterranean Basin’, the theme of traditional construction is charged with new significance in the light of the most recent environmental crisis and the risk of abandonment of these areas, which are fundamental pieces of the overall morphological, economic and social structure of inland Mediterranean landscapes. Is it possible to trace, in recently built architectures, characters of resistance aimed at responding synthetically to the most current criteria of sustainability, recovery of agricultural landscapes and renewal of a building tradition rooted in the collective memory of rural and Mediterranean living? The contribution intends to present some contemporary architectural projects that work on the reinterpretation of features related to traditional constructions in the Mediterranean rural context. From a methodological point of view, the contribution addresses the theoretical-applicative origins of rural architecture and highlights the transfer of theoretical concepts into the evidence of realised projects. The results that the contribution intends to present concern the selection, deepening and interweaving of the themes developed in three case studies, in relation to the principles of sustainability of rural architecture and the construction of the space and landscape best suited to human activities that take place in the rural context. Some recently realised interventions in the Iberian Peninsula summarise these issues in relation to traditional living, collective ritual, and wine production. The project for the village of São Lourenço do Barrocal (E. Souto De Moura, Portugal 2017) renews the consolidated constructive memory linked to living and the ancient agricultural traditions, history and ecology of the Alentejo. Consisting of a vast complex of buildings arranged along a common road and active farmland, the village includes olive groves, vineyards, cork and oak forests. The classrooms, rooms, oil mills and agricultural outbuildings have been transformed and refurbished into sober accommodations that recover a sense of community and simplicity, through a contemporary aesthetic that works by reinterpreting the local building tradition and the measured relationships between interior spaces, mediation spaces and outdoor space. The Capela do Monte (Á. Siza, Portugal 2018), defines a space for the collective rituals of the community living in the agricultural village of Monte da Charneca, a ruined settlement that has been restored to be water and energy self-sufficient. The building relies on natural ventilation, selected local materials (insulated bricks, limestone and Portuguese tiles) and a careful spatial and construction design to keep cool in summer and warm in winter. The underground Parelada winery (RCR, Spain 2022), is attached to the so-called ‘Castle Farm’, an early 20th century rural settlement in northern Catalonia. Based on the very concept of a farm, the new intervention exploits the existing unevenness to realise a profound relationship between land, architecture and landscape. In addition to favouring a full integration into the environment, the project worked with an innovative and sustainable approach, receiving important eco-friendly certifications. The project principles include the use of geothermal energy, efficient consumption of water and electricity, the choice of sustainable materials and processes, thermal insulation and the predominance of natural lighting. Through these projects that reinterpret the principles of traditional construction, it is possible to recognise, in contemporary architecture, a ‘return to the roots of architecture’ (Siza, 2018) that solicits further design declinations for the widespread inland rural landscapes that characterise the Mediterranean.