The Italian case of Leopoldine in Tuscany: methods and issues for the cataloguing of rural building heritage

Abstract

[EN] The Val di Chiana is characterised by a dense rural building heritage, which differs according to its mountain, hill and plain areas. Among the houses on the plains, there is an elegant model called 'Leopoldina’, which can be considered an exemplary case of vernacular architecture: indeed, such a farmhouse, built on the occasion of the land reclamation initiated during the Grand Duchy of Pietro Leopoldo of Lorraine (1765-1790), presents local materials and building techniques and, moreover, it was designed to meet the precise economic, agricultural and lifestyle needs of the peasant families of sharecroppers. Although the Leopoldine refer to a repetitive typological model, there are many singularities that can be found in the Val di Chiana area, both from the formal and constructive point of view. For this reason, it is indispensable to have a thorough knowledge of them, based on cataloguing. The Landscape Project entitled "Leopoldine in Val di Chiana" (Tuscany Region, 2021) proposes cataloguing the Leopoldine, while in the past, certain municipalities in the Val di Chiana had already carried out a survey of these abodes. However, from a critical analysis of the various files, certain critical points have since emerged. Thus, the present contribution introduces a new tab model of Leopoldine, taken from a PhD Research Project, based on both the richness of information and on an inter-dimensional reading between architecture and landscape: the purpose is to allow an exhaustive knowledge of the factories within the Lorraine area aimed at restoration and re-use projects compatible with the value of the houses, as well as with the development needs of the territory involved. For this reason, the tab has become a valid tool, even to be adopted in agricultural territories, through which it is possible to address, the challenge proposed by the Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society (Faro, 2005) of heritage conservation in a sustainable way, as an opportunity for the recognition and strengthening of social cohesion.