Dalle case di terra alle ville suburbane: architettura rurale da tutelare nella Regione Abruzzo. From earthen houses to suburban villas: rural architecture to be protected in the Abruzzo Region.

The paper proposes the first results of a research relating to some kinds of vernacular buildings and rural architecture; these typologies belong to a heritage not adequately recognized as a cultural asset by the community. These buildings have been altered by too many transformations due to widespread urban development, also because of theirs state of abandonment and inappropriate demolition and transformation interventions. The buildings are earthen houses, farmsteads, farms or suburban villas; all of them, starting from the second half of the last century, have undergone progressive impoverishment mainly due to the abandonment of the countryside. The research is aimed at promoting an important project of the Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali - Ministry of Cultural Heritage (MiC), aimed at outlining a cognitive framework of the rural historical heritage built on the entire national territory; the study of the buildings in the Abruzzo area aims to provide scientific support to the cataloging campaign “Protection and valorization of architecture and rural landscape” promoted by the General Secretariat of the MiC. The knowledge of this architectural heritage and the values of the buildings in their environment is important today to study the uses consistent with the proper conservation of these settlements and their valorization and reuse within sustainable development.