The Campidanese House and its housing typology. Studies and strategies for an integrated recovery of Sardinian historical centres

Sardinia, the second largest island in the Mediterranean, is the Italian region with the largest number of historical centres built on raw earth. As a result of the modernization of society and new construction methods, the vernacular architecture of this beautiful island is gradually disappearing: over the years, the negligence of the municipalities combined with a lack of awareness of the heritage on the part of the inhabitants, have destroyed entire testimonies of an architecture that has lived for centuries and has been an integral part of the social life of the population. The Campidanese House is the symbol par excellence. To denitively lose this heritage of historical and testimonial value is unthinkable The aim of this work is to dene a methodology that focuses on a strategy of intervention aimed at the recovery of this heritage. This starting from a careful analysis of the general themes of the building culture of the earthen architecture, dening the eculiar building characteristics of Sardinia, divided into ve macro areas Subseuently, and for each area, the fabrics of the most relevant historical centres were studied, as well as their morphological characteristics linked to the type of building and its variations. In order to achieve a targeted intervention strategy, the analysis material has been reworked in various actions and projects, in particular on the case study of the city of Quartu Sant’Elena, the second largest city in Sardinia, which boasts the largest historical centre built in raw earth on the island.