The Alpine villages of Val Sangone: a heritage in danger

The mountain territory that surrounds the Piedmont plain is dotted with settlements once inhabited and alive. Today, having suffered from the depopulation that at the end of last century involved the mountain areas, they preserve with difficulties their architectural and environmental appearence, and even, more generally, their own permanence. One significant example is Val Sangone, which branches off about twenty kilometres west of Turin. Its history is closely linked to the territory and the historical events of which it had been the protagonist at one time. Its historic architectural heritage, characterized by typical stone and wood mountain buildings, has undergone during the second half of the twentieth century significant changes, due to the progressive abandonment and/or its conversion into holiday location. The lack of preservation of this heritage caused profound changes and, in some cases, the complete destruction, not only of single buildings, but of entire villages which lost their architectural and environmental identity. This paper intends to analyse the typical Val Sangone architectural features, expressions of local building culture, and to provide useful guidance to promote the safeguarding of the few still existing buildings, through interventions aimed at preserving a heritage which, if not properly protected and re-used, is likely to go completely lost.