Sustainable Interventions for The Preservation of Earthen Heritage

Earth is one of the most common material used for the construction of historical villages, whose conservation ensures the transmission of a technological culture that represents the landscape, as well as historical and architectural values. The preservation of this rich, but very fragile, heritage requires the development of projects that should be promoters of sustainable interventions, not only able to guarantee a limit in the consumption of resources, but also the start-up of local development processes, generating externalities that could significantly contribute to the preservation of tangible and intangible assets. As it concerns Piedmont earthen vernacular architecture the development of thematic itineraries could give a significant contribution to the enhancement of this cultural heritage. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.