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Building construction techniques

Construction techniques are part of material (the buildings) and immaterial heritage (ideas and knowledge at the basis of their execution). A key role for the development of a building technique is the environment and its resources. The functions, durability and aesthetics of a structure are strictly linked to the environment. These features, however, depend on human know-how: a corpus of knowledge developed through the transmission of techniques and rules, elaborated and codified only after long periods of testing (empirical knowledge) and influenced by tastes and skills dictated by the times (trends) as well as by specific demands of patrons and the ability of the artisans[1]. A better understanding of the traditional building methods in a territory means entering into a background that is as historical-anthropological as it is technical-structural, which may open up points of view for the analysis of social and cultural processes, which are otherwise difficult to analyse.

[1] Mannoni, T. 2007, The transmission of craft techniques according to the principles of material culture: continuity and rupture, in Lavan, L., Zanini, E., Sarantis, A. (ed.): Technology in Transition. A. D. 300-650. Leiden-Boston, Brill, xli–lx.

Piero Gilento

Marie Skłodowska Curie Postdoctoral research fellow at Paris 1 - Panthéon Sorbonne

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OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Piero Gilento (December 17, 2017). Building construction techniques. ACTECH. Retrieved June 18, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/al6e


Piero Gilento

Marie Skłodowska Curie Postdoctoral research fellow at Paris 1 - Panthéon Sorbonne

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