valle d’itria puglia italy

a spasso con un architetto

out with an architect

A Spasso Con Un Architetto / Out With An Architect is an architectural educational initiative that gives participants an opportunity to explore and engage with the vernacular architecture of the Valle d’Itria area of the region of Puglia, southern Italy.

It was developed by Amanda Roelle, an American architect who left her life restoring historic masonry high-rises of Chicago in 2012 and now lives in a trullo in Ceglie Messapica. She is thrilled to share the architecture and beauty of the area with others.

about

contents

about

the valle d’itria

an abundance of stone

experiential learning

offerings

response

about amanda + contact

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the valle d’itriaA walk through the Valle d’Itria is a full-on sensory experience, not something one only experiences with their eyes, but with their whole being. It is a place of adaptability and resilience, where outside and inside become blurred, and the way one lives becomes intrinsically linked to their surroundings. One is immediately immersed in the earthy smells of wild herbs underfoot, the constant Mediterranean breeze, and the unavoidable presence of raw stone.

For centuries humans have sculpted this landscape to render it habitable and productive. With extreme resourcefulness, famers moved earth, terraced fields, and built stone retaining walls to hold back soil and capture rainwater. They excavated bedrock, creating cisterns for rain water storage. The stone shelters among the vineyards and olive groves appear to have grown right out of the ground below and in some instances they did. Stone excavated for a cistern was used to build the walls and the roof of the dwelling adjacent to, or in some cases directly above the cistern. Indeed, it is a grounding and unusual experience to be inside of a building completely constructed of the material excavated from right beneath your feet.

The buildings of the Valle d’Itria are unique to this place simply because they could not be anywhere else.

The structures we inhabit today are often composed of manufactured materials and the construction is usually hidden behind drywall, plaster, and furnishings. The stone buildings found in Puglia, whether they be the dry-stone, cone-shaped trulli, the intricately vaulted, mortared buildings of the fortified medieval towns, or the remains of Rupestrian cave dwellings carved from the soft stone of the gravine, offer a way to observe and experience raw material used in an honest, creative, and beautiful way.

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The trulli and other stone structures of the Valle d’Itria are not simply objects in a landscape; rather they embody the souls and stories of the people who built them. The masons of these structures were people of exceptional ingenuity, who used limiting material to their advantage.

These dwellings are also reflective of the geologic conditions underfoot. The seemingly deep red soil on the surface quickly gives way to a karst geology, a limestone labyrinth of fissures and canyons. The stone is limitless, and relentless. Sometimes referred to as “the land that grows stone”, farmers and herders overtime have worked tirelessly to clear their fields of the small boulders constantly emerging from the ploughed soil.

The area also lacks surface water sources like lakes and rivers, and rain water is collected in cisterns during the rainy winter months to last throughout the dry summer. Given these physical conditions: the karst geology, the abundance of stone available, and the lack of sand from lakes and rivers typically used for mortar in masonry construction, it’s not surprising that a dry-stone typology emerged.

Stone is a limiting material for building, but creativity comes from limitations.

A trullo is the most common example of vernacular architecture in the Valle d’Itria and has become the signature building type of Puglia. A trullo is built of stones collected and quarried on site, and constructed without mortar. This ancient form and building typology is found across the Mediterranean and places in Europe and the Middle East where the stone was suitable to this type of construction. The trulli are particular interesting because they are still inhabited and being restored for modern day use.

an abundance of stone

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experiential learningThe goal of ‘A Spasso Con Un Architetto’ is to offer participants a unique experience of the Valle d’Itria focused on architecture, that ultimately leads to a deeper understanding, appreciation, and respect for the history, place and people of the area.

Through immersion and experiential learning we engage and experience our surroundings, both natural and built, at a deeper, more visceral level. There is a lot that vernacular architecture can teach us about being human and living sustainably on the planet, not only in a functional way but also in a beautiful way.

We learn by doing, and just as vernacular architecture cannot be removed from it’s place, it also must be experienced in it’s place.

The hands-on restoration workshops integrate an exploration of the area with practical stone masonry skills and traditional construction techniques. Students leave with a deeper understanding of the history and culture of the Valle d’Itria, as well as empowered with new practical skills. The walking tours and presentations offer a perspective of life of the Valle d’Itria through the eyes of a curious architect living locally and constantly learning from the people, culture, and architecture of the area.

Everyone brings something to the table. It is in this spirit that Amanda designs the architectural experiences with ‘A Spasso con un Architetto’ and strives to create a nurturing learning environment where participants are encouraged to access their own inherent creativity and intuition, and where imagination and innovation is encouraged.

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offeringsArchitectural Walking Tours In The Valle d’ItriaOffered in both half-day and full day excursions to locations with important and interesting architectural sites in both the countryside and the medieval towns of the Valle d’Itria. Local, Italian-speaking guides upon request.

PresentationsAn interactive presentation and discussion to the architecture of the region supplemented by materials and tastes of the area.

Trullo Restoration WorkshopsHands-on trullo restoration workshops under the direction of a local trullaro, master trullo builder, with supplementary architectural instruction and excursions.

Trullo Restoration Workshops with Thea AlvinA 10-day, hands-on stone restoration in collaboration with American mason and stone artist Thea Alvin of My Earthwork and local trullaro Mario Santoro. Offered yearly, usually in the autumn. Accommodation and food provided by Casa Cilona*

Dry-Stone Wall Building And Repair Workshopsin collaboration with Scottish master craftsman Norman Haddow

Past WorkshopsConstruction Techniques Of A Trullo, May 2015, in collaboration with B.A.G. A 3-day workshop where participants built a trullo cone under the direction of trullaro Angelo Pentassuglia. Photos here2015 Trullo Restoration Workshop, September 2015. A 10-day workshop where participants restored a trullo and built a stone stair.2014 Trullo Restoration Workshop, September 2014. A 10-day workshop where students restored a trullo and built a dry- stone shepherd’s hut.

* Casa Cilona is a B&B of trulli and stone vaulted structures located in the countryside of Ceglie Messapica. Owner Tonino Tuma is a chef specialising in local and seasonal specialities.

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responseThe course and experience were exceptional, unique and singular in my experience. Your sensitivity to and your instincts in interaction with the attendees were excellent. - Jim Pensabene, USA

I really appreciate the time and consideration you put into our workshop. The accommodation and food was fabulous, and you went out of your way many times to make sure we had what we needed to make the experience truly memorable. Thank you for sharing your enthusiasm for the traditional buildings and habitations in the area, and your insights on life in Puglia today. - Jacqui Jeffers, Canada

You know when you read a book and something in the book strikes you so you make a little rabbit ear on the corner of the page so you can go back to that passage and get that same feeling again? Thats what my experience was like at your workshop - its a rabbit ear in my life that I will always go back to and get a good feeling. - John Misci, USA

Thank you for all the hard work and amazing organisation you put in, the visits were really great and complimented the work perfectly. I feel like the context really helped with understanding the area and building evolution. - Kelly Murray, UK

Thank you so much for taking the time to show us the trulli. We learned a lot about the area and the tradition of building these unique structures. After your tour we saw trulli in many other villages and were able to tell our friends, who traveled with us, a little bit about it. - Michal Sernoff, Israel

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In addition to the experiential workshops she leads in Puglia, Amanda founded Archistrati, an architecture and sustainability consulting firm to provide architecture, sustainability, and educational services to community organizations, businesses, and individuals. Amanda is a licensed architect and LEED AP, BD+C*. She uses her strong intercultural communication skills, professional architecture and community development experience, organizational management abilities and inherent creativity to empower individuals and communities to create sustainable environments.

As the ‘strati’ in the name represents, Amanda’s experience and knowledge is multi-layered, deep, and unique. After graduating from architecture school, Amanda took the indirect approach to becoming an architect by joining the U.S. Peace Corps, and taught Industrial Arts in the South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga for two years. Following the Asian tsunami in 2004, she worked with Peace Corps Response and Habitat For Humanity to design housing for tsunami survivors. During her five years in Chicago she worked for a global environmental consulting firm, as a green building consultant and restoration and preservation architect.

Intrigued and inspired by different ways of living on the planet, Amanda has travelled extensively. She has collaborated on sustainable building, community development, and small-scale agriculture projects in Europe, Southeast Asia, Oceania, and West Africa. She never ceases to be amazed by our individual and collective creativity, and the endurance of the human spirit. Committed to environmental stewardship she is driven by her passion to collaborate, to stay curious, to imagine, and to keep creating.

*Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system developed by the US Green Building Council.

about amanda

Amanda Roelle

+39 366 5953582

amanda@archistrati.com

www.archistrati.com

facebook/archistrati

contact

12Photo Credit Philip Arnold

© 2016 Amanda Roelle