Traditional Wood Architecture in Northern Italy

In Italian vernacular architecture, the use of wood elements for structures, roofs, floors and panelling is common all over the country, but we find examples of buildings all made of wood only in northern regions, for cultural peculiarities, and for the availability of the material. Nowadays the Italian building sector use wood mainly as raw material for structural laminated systems and cross laminated timber structures, but there is a spread commitment for the maintenance and the refurbishment of traditional wood artefacts as well. Considering some traditional settlements of northern Italy, where traditional wood constructions are well preserved (i.e. Walser constructions in Piedmont region), effective conservation and valorisation strategies, which strengthen the relationship between local landscape and traditional constructions systems, as the “in situ” open air museum, become more and more fundamental for the enhancement of cultural heritage.