Fragments of Past in the Contemporary Contexts: Rural Architecture in the Basque Country

There is a trend in the design, defined by prof. Piccinini as ecological philological, that does not accept diachronic presences in the rural world utopia. This trend frantically looks for the original landscape value, however returning an image that does not exist in a given real environment because at no time it was exactly like that. The study of vernacular architecture allows us to reconstruct the diachronic evolution that led to the structuring of a specific built environment. The vernacular architecture in fact, using local materials and employing different strategies to overcome the lack of energy systems, reflects in a strong way the environment in which it was born and establishes close ties with climate and local resources. This archetype, contrary to the architectures utopically imported, has evolved over time in a continuous and almost imperceptible way, proportioning itself to the human dimensions and needs, despite the use of industrial materials and the inexorable drive towards modernization, relegated vernacular architecture to the status of "legacy of the past". However, in the Basque Country the geography of the area and folk customs allowed an excellent preservation of many specimens of vernacular buildings, some still in use with their original function. This study, initiated in partnership with the University of the Basque Country, is interested in vernacular and neovernacular architecture, and presents a first analysis about the evolution of the building type in the area and its impact on the recognition of the Basques Country physical and cultural landscape.