Architetture storiche rurali: una proposta di valorizzazione per il “Casello” della Commenda gerosolimitana in Calerno

Traditional rural architecture is a precious part of the Italian cultural heritage because of its peculiar historical, constructive and environmental values. Indeed, the definition of rural heritage involves a deep interaction between social and formal aspects, which together determine the structural organization of the buildings, gathering local and vernacular features substantially derived from as many functional and economic managements of the territory. Despite their significance, rural heritage has been widely neglected in the past: rarely protected by specific laws, they are nowadays largely abandoned and partially ruined, also as a result of the last century intensive farming and the consequent lifestyle change. The paper presents the case study of an historical cheese factory, part of the complex known as “Commenda Gerosolimitana dei Santi Lorenzo e Giovanni”, located in a rural area of Emilia Romagna Region and now completely abandoned. Within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), a project was developed for the conservative restoration and functional recovery to investigate strategies for keeping alive these resilient historic constructions, searching for a balance between use, preservation and sustainability issues. To this aim, traditional techniques have been recovered and optimized to enhance the value of rural heritage.