The dry stone walls in the Mandurian countryside in Puglia.

The dry stone walls, far from being mere delimiters of private property, are of transversal importance, such as to have led them to the nomination of UNESCO heritage since 2018. Traces of it are found in every culture and represent one of the first attempts by man to modify the surrounding environment. The Apulian dry stone wall is made using rough stones from the surrounding area and below, through the technique of stone removal of the ground. It is an architectural element of value for the places: it is not invasive for the landscape but it conforms perfectly; it also represents a true ecosystem created by spontaneous vegetation that grows between the interstices of the stones or close to the wall and a populous microfauna of insects and reptiles. In this way, the anthropic beauty of the places and the protection of biodiversity are formed in unison. The project that is intended to be shown on the occasion of the Conference is that of enhancement and landscape arrangement of the dry stone walls in the Mandurian countryside of the Archidamo III farm, under construction. For the purpose of presenting this project, it is appropriate to reflect on the current state of the places affected by the intervention which, on closer inspection, is inspired by the general consideration of the widespread conditions of the national rural architectural heritage. This heritage has been in an objective state of abandonment and underuse for some time, the centripetal strength of urban centers has probably led to the loss of interest, first of all, on the part of those involved in primary activities. This has led to a progressive obsolescence and disintegration. "Exposure for a long time outdoors involves the alteration of the color of the material, which tends to darken, and the formation of layers of lichens that contribute to characterize these artifacts also chromatically. Depending on the exposure, these walls are true samples of the biodiversity of the territory and require constant protection, possible only by raising awareness mainly among the owners of the land and the actors of the processes of transformation and maintenance of the territory itself. The repair of degraded walls and the possible construction of new ones must respect the original technological process, consisting in the stratified deposition of stone slabs according to alternating joints and the filling of voids with stone fragments, gravel and earth. A greater durability of the artifacts can be ensured by taking care to conclude the wall with a series of blocks arranged with a knife transversely to the linear development of the wall, in order to form a sort of covering curb". (Nardone C., Racconti Contadini, Benevento, 2019). There is, however, a renewed interest in such assets. Today it is the object of the attention of new users, attracted by the remarkable architectural and environmental quality of the national rural areas, varied and different depending on the region and in this direction Puglia shows economic and productive agricultural circuits and rural tourism extremely growing especially for organic production and aimed at the sustainability of the places and the conservation of the rural environments themselves. In fact, there is an increasing interest in agriculture as an important productive factor for the country, an agriculture that rediscovers its entrepreneurial nature, in the virtuous sense of the term, and that moves away from the conception that has traditionally considered it inadequate to modern social and cultural standards. This interest in agricultural areas leads to a necessary reconsideration of the form and quality of the surrounding landscape, also with a view to reflecting the environmental needs that run through the present era. Starting from these premises, the fundamental core of the project, which represents its ultimate goal, consists in the integration between architecture and the nature of the places; purpose that arises spontaneously from a type of project such as the one in question, namely the restoration and renovation of the dry stone walls of the Archidamo III Company that to the quality of the production of organic extra virgin olive oil that has already had significant awards and indications on the guides of the sector, associates a program of architectural enhancement of the rural artifacts present in the territory of relevance such as the ancient Masseria Cicella in Manduria and the Lamie in Francavilla Fontana. The dry stone wall also represents a structural architectural element that conforms to the context in which it is inserted, modifies the surrounding environment without overpowering or distorting it.