Protection and reuse of a forgotten heritage: the Parmesan cheese buildings. Notes for a widespread museum in the lower Reggio Emilia plain

[EN] The content of this proposal is a reflection on the landscape of the low Reggio Emilia plain and on the material traces still present in the area linked to the artisanal production of Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmesan) cheese dating back to the 1700s and 1800s. We refer in particular to the agricultural system related to the production of forage and high quality grass to obtain the so-called “white gold”, milk - the raw material for making cheese - and to the architectural buildings used for artisanal dairy production. These structures, called caselli, are much more numerous in the province of Reggio Emilia (the Dairy Charter of 1911 lists 711 caselli), compared to Parma and Modena, despite the fact that Parmigiano Reggiano has always characterized the economy of these areas. This kind of architecture, is characterized by buildings of reduced proportions, with a central, square or polygonal, plan, structurally set on a central pillar around which the processing phases of the cheese production were organized. With perimeters defined by brick walls, bearing on the edges and characterized by jealous paneling on the sides, they are a testimony of valuable constructive knowledge. The grid infills, designed to calibrate air and light, transform them into essential components for the cheese production. Starting from the idea of a widespread museum in the area, close to H. de Varine's thought on the ecomuseum, some design guidelines are established for the enhancement of this production tradition and its agricultural landscape. The rapid evolution of dairy technology on the one hand, and the changes in the territory on the other, have compromised the interpretation of a system that in the tradition of knowledge, techniques and materials had characterized a territory for at least two centuries.