Transitioning Territories
Adaptation strategies for a disinvested valley in the Monti Ausoni
Vallecorsa is a small and narrow valley that has been inhabited since pre-Roman times in today’s Regione Lazio. Stressed for water and rich soils, communities reshaped the landscape across centuries to sustain themselves. They carved community wells to access the water table; terraced the hillsides to build soils and retain rainwater for groves; and built modest shelters across the mountaintops for transhumance. A new balance was established in this process between human activity and other living actors.
Urbanization trends and the modernization of agriculture throughout the 20th century saw the decline of this balance. Traditional practices became anti-economic, leading to outmigration and land abandonment. Today, the diminished presence of human activity is posing adversities for the community of Vallecorsa that compound with already visible human-induced changes to the climate of the Mediterranean region at large.
In collaboration with the Cooperativa Agricola La Carboncella, liminal is currently engaged researching these changes and exploring new avenues through which the local community can once more produce value to sustain itself. The holistic land management system developed across centuries in Vallecorsa is rich in traditional knowledge that can readily inform how we think of land-based practices as we settle into the century of climate change response. liminal’s work explores how to harness this potential, evolving traditional knowledge and hybridizing it with innovative approaches to address urgent contemporary issues.
Partners
Cooperativa Agricola La Carboncella
Harvard Graduate School of Design
Location
Vallecorsa, FR
Lazio
Status
Ongoing (Present–2019)
Press
Fast Company
How an ancient building technique could help solve the climate crisis
The Changing Family Farm
Comparative analysis between existing land holding patterns and contemporary standards for self-sustaining family farms. A reassessment of the valley’s carrying capacity in response to the needs of farmers under 35 today.
New Avenues for Terraced Land
Adaptation strategies for terraced land across different slope classes suffering from soil erosion and diminishing water retention capacity due to decades-long abandonment.
From Crop Land to Migratory Orchard
Alternative planting strategies for bench terraces no longer suited to grow grain in light of contemporary harvesting methods. An experimental orchard to retain soils through root structure; assess the suitability of new fruit and nut tree specimens better prepared for predictable changes in temperature/rain patterns; and test machinery assisted harvesting practices on shallow slopes.
Population Diversity for Roverella Forest Buffers
Strategies to strengthen the resilience of Roverella Oak forest buffers traditionally used for lumber and firewood through the assisted migration of specimens adapted to dryer mediterranean regions. A means of preserving biodiversity and soil moisture key to agricultural practices in the face of increasingly lengthy dry seasons.
Terracing and Gastronomy
Drystone terrace restoration strategies to facilitate harvesting and care practices for premium crops whose gastronomic qualities are enhanced by well-drained, rocky sloped soils (vines, olive groves, etc). A nursery and reception center to foster ecotourism and consumer awareness for foods with protected designation of origin.
Assisted Succession for Valley-Wide Resilience
Strategies to transform drystone terraced land on extreme slope classes into resilient forest with enhanced water retention capacity affecting downslope agricultural land and root structures that retain soils built by human activity that have enhanced the capacity to host ecological activity in the valley.
Novel Typologies for the Medieval Urban Core
Property clustering and selective demolitions strategies to increase vehicular accessibility and mechanized vertical circulation for residential fabric in the medieval urban core. A method to come to terms with historic density changes and evolving ways of life whilst mitigating the continued abandonment and ruination of small medieval centers.
A New Center for Life in the Valley
Design strategy for a new mixed-use center in the historic medieval core of Vallecorsa that accommodates the lifestyles and needs of the next generation of interconnected, mobile residents of the Italian countryside.
