Traditional buildings for tobacco processing in Val Tiberina (Tuscany-Italy)

This paper focuses on the analysis of buildings devoted to tobacco processing, built in the first half of the 20th century in Tuscany (province of Arezzo), by studying construction techniques, materials, and preservation issues. Since the 16th century, in Tuscany, the sites involved in tobacco cultivation are both the upper Val Tiberina and Val di Chiana (in particular, Arezzo and Siena territories). At first, tobacco was used either for medical purposes or as snuff and pipe powder. It soon became the most renewed cultivation throughout the Tiberina Valley, due to the excellent quality of the tobacco produced. The first significant crops date back to the early 17thcentury. The drying process took place in specific buildings named “tabaccaie”, where tobacco leaves were placed over an oak wood fire to dry. This process was adopted until the 1970s. Subsequently, a profound crisis of the agricultural sector determined the falling into disuse and the abandonment of numerous “tabaccaie”. In some cases, these buildings have been reused as luxury hotels for touristic purposes, but many of them are in a state of ruin or have been demolished. They represent the testimony of agro-industrial vernacular architectures nowadays at significant risk. Indeed, most of the recovery interventions have often wholly obliterated the original structure to make the former “tabaccaie” able to satisfy housing and comfort requests. The study aims to deepen the knowledge of these buildings to preserve cultural identities and transfer inherited values.