The valorisation of Italian rural historical buildings and territory

The architecture, connected with the rural civilization and building culture, is made with local materials and it originates from the land management needs, therefore the study and valorisation of rural architecture and territory are inseparable from each other. Territory and architecture are exposed to anthropic and natural hazards: the gradual abandon or abuse of the rural territory favour the hydrogeological instability; on the one hand the abandonment of the historical buildings support their degradation and definitive loss, on the other hand it protected them from distorting renovations. However most of the Italian territory has maintained yet significant landscape features, whose touristic attraction could be an important economic resource. The paper considers the architecture and the territory of the Lomellina and of the Piacentine Apennine valleys. The Piacentine valleys are characterized by strong altitude gaps and by a marked anisotropy; the river’s course and the routes on valley floors, hillsides and ridges are the main travel direction of the territory. On the contrary the Lomellina is distinguished by an eminently flat country and a dense tangle, made of land ways (main and secondary roads and rural tracks) and waterways (rivers, creeks and canals), which contribute to constitute a substantially isotropic mesh. Only a careful knowledge of the specific peculiarities of the territories is able to allow a rational identification of the most adequate strategies for the territory access and valorisation.