Architetture rurali sparse in Valsugana: una geografia umana tra tradizione e innovazione

The tools of knowledge of built heritage are far from performing a passive or neutral task of mere collection of information. On the contrary they necessarily direct choices about preservation and promotion of sites, since the instruments implicitly allude to intervention criteria, in turn legitimized by the procedures of analysis and interpretation. In the case of Trentino, a census of buildings originally used for agriculture and farming, distributed in the countryside of the town of Borgo Valsugana, and characterized by a common building tradition, documents the close connection between the planning strategies and methods of investigation. Computerized census documents disregard the wealth of vernacular architecture developed over time through gradual adaptation to local needs. These morphological and functional types are now at risk of extinction because of the uncritical adoption of stylistic models based on a stereotyped image of mountain architecture.