Vernacular heritage of Northwest Portugal: The valley and the mountain range farmhouse

Abstract

Vernacular farmhouses are one of the most notorious and authentic elements of the European rural cultural landscape. For centuries, such structures proved their resilience and adaptability to social and economic changes and are part of rural populations cultural identity. Nonetheless, they are a slowly fading heritage, due to the progressive loss of traditional ways of life and the industrialization of agrarian production methods. Being heritage authenticity and identity features identification a key element to any heritage preservation methodology, this research was set in motion to identify such features regarding Northwest Portuguese farmhouses. The goals were to create a database on vernacular farmhouses context and their role in the construction of the rural landscape, but also to identify representative morphologies and typologies, construction features and durability issues. Taking into consideration the strong loss of authenticity or the severe state of ruin of the majority of most existent examples, the research methodology was based on: i) deep literature review to set the methodologic framework; ii) guided exploratory visits to representative areas of the studied region, to assess in-situ heritage’s main features and state of preservation; iii) selection and analysis of representative case studies of buildings and rural landscapes; iv) assessment and identification of vernacular heritage main design and construction principles; v) guidelines for heritage farmhouses preservation and rehabilitation. Being and ongoing research, the three first steps revelled the existence of a strong regional identity, shaped into two more specific local identities. Agrarian strategies, adaptation to geography and to natural building resources were identified as directly responsible for buildings design, construction principles and specific identity elements. This paper presents the preliminary results of the research and contributes to enlighten researchers to the deep cultural value and importance of preserving this European endangered vernacular heritage.