When the shapes unite: cataloguing and analysis of vernacular architecture in the valleys of the Provinces of Bergamo and Brescia

This paper takes advantage of the Italian Ministry of Culture’s cataloguing of rural architecture currently in progress to suggest reflections on the construction techniques of rural buildings occurring within the valleys of the Provinces of Brescia and Bergamo. It focuses on the analysis of the constructive elements to be found in territories adjacent to one another, yet with a slew of communication issues due to their geographical makeup, and which, by the very same token, also feature some commonalities, to wit, the use of similar local materials, such as stone and wood, which have lent a significant contribution to high-quality engineering construction solutions. These observations have led to the assumption that socially-specific know-how begotten by the same resources has led to equally similar design solutions even in the absence of any direct mutual contamination.