The concept of “trullo type” in the formation of Alberobello urban organism

The proposed topic is the result of research carried out within the Degree Thesis Laboratory - final Workshop promoted in the Dicar Department of the Polytechnic of Bari. The study deepens the formation of the city of Alberobello, a UNESCO site located in the Murgia dei Trulli, and analyzes the characters of the building types present in the perimeter of the monumental area. Laboratory research focused, in particular, on the “concept” of the trullo type widespread in the historical building of the city, in the two initial settlement systems - Rione Monti and Aia Piccola - separated from the ancient style, today Largo Martellotta. This typology, originally created to meet needs related to the productive-agricultural activity, has changed over time generating different structural modalities, both in the configuration of the space for domestic use, and in the relationship between several basic units aggregated in series on a path or on a common area to configure the “neighborhood”. The analytical study of the building units present has made it possible to reconstruct an abacus that includes the main types and the synchronic and diachronic variants. The recognition of typological differences was also useful for a further investigation: the reconstruction of the phases of tissue formation consisting of spontaneous and planned aggregate nuclei. With an in-depth study of the type of trullo with a cone-shaped pseudo-dome roof, the “house concept” in force at that time and in that specific place was identified, consisting of a main room intended for daily activities and two small spaces: the alcove, reserved for night rest, the focarile for cooking food. Starting from this elementary configuration, some variants are gemed with the addition of additional spaces, often also covered in trullo. It follows that the housing unit, in its present state, sometimes shows complex configurations obtained by doubling the elementary cell with the addition of additional spaces. The proposed study aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of the results obtained by using the typological-process analysis tool in the recognition of anthropic structures, a fundamental basis for starting a tissue recovery project also thinking about its possible/ potential congruent transformation.