The Sassi di Matera as the oldest bioclimatic architecture model.

The Sassi of Matera are the oldest example of bioclimatic architecture in the world, thanks to its materials, its typological and functional characteristics, but above all thanks to techniques and technologies. The calcareous rock or tuff characterizes the whole architecture of the Sassi, caved into this soft rock or made of tuff blocks. This material has been used since ancient times, for its characteristics of breathability, insulation and porosity, combined with wise technique of building according to functional types and elements improved over time, allowed to make inhabitable caves and cisterns and wisely exploit the most valuable natural resource, water. The typical evolution of housing models of the Sassi is the different way of exploiting the natural features and the materials, unchanging over time. The tuff has always been the basic element of this type of architecture, which from the cave becomes constructed, structural layouts reinterpreted by the forms and the natural examples, since the Palaeolithic period. The research wants to investigate the structural examples of the past to confirm the importance of form, technique and the different types of construction on bioclimatic definition of the building , a “natural governor” of the thermal and hygrometrical comfort for an high quality performances.