The Medieval Village “Il Casale” of Armento (Basilicata, Italy): an Archetype of the Built Environment Sustainability

The research activity is aimed at the recovery and enhancement of the medieval village "Il Casale" of the Municipality of Armento in one of the poorest inland areas of Basilicata with high seismic vulnerability and at risk of landslides and flooding. The village, founded by the Basilian monks between the tenth and eleventh centuries, stands on a conglomerate cliff overlooking the valley of Fiumara of Armento in an environmental context of remarkable beauty. After the earthquake of 1980 and a series of landslides, the village has been completely abandoned and its integrity is severely compromised by landslides and damage. The analysis of the built environments of the village, used as dwellings and places of agricultural production, has shown a wise use of local resources and living spaces that is inspired by the most modern principles of sustainable development and design of minimum living spaces. The artificial terraces for the urban gardens adjacent to the houses served to consolidate the landslide slope on which the village stands. The use of stone from the alluvial debris of Fiumara for the construction of the walls guaranteed the cleanliness of the riverbed and the natural course of water in torrential regime with the mitigation of the risk of flooding. The particular construction technique known as "civate" used for the reconstruction of environments damaged by the earthquake of 1857 is an example of reuse of rubble from demolition and strengthening of the walls with the inclusion of stones and debris of small bricks for filling the spaces of the masonry stone of irregular shape and bound with mortar of poor quality for the high clay fraction. The project for the recovery and enhancement of the village must be based on construction technologies compatible with the original ones and naturalistic engineering works able to reduce the vulnerability of the area and reconstruct the ancient link of the inhabited centre with the natural resources of the river valley.