The historical stone architecture in the Ossola valley and Ticino: Appropriate recovery approaches and solutions

Conservation and requalification of mountain vernacular architecture concerns a large area of the whole Alpine arch. Stone constructions are an important heritage both from the cultural, social and real-estate point of view. The paper proposes approaches to conservation and possible solutions developed by the international project Interreg-AlpStone. This study focuses on the traditional constructions located in the area between Italy (Ossola valley) and Switzerland (the canton of Ticino). In order to reuse these buildings it is necessary to ensure safety conditions according to current regulations. To do this and to promote local materials, the project firstly tested the mechanical behavior of the serizzo Formazza stone, largely used in traditional stone balconies. The obtained resistance values provided useful data for the future finding of safe architectonical solutions. Secondly, the project studied how to improve the seismic behavior of the stone buildings without destroying their cultural value. The research project will soon produce a manual providing architectonical guide-lines for appropriate stone buildings conservation.