Climate Change and Historical Food-Related Architecture Abandonment: Evidence from Italian Case Studies

Climatic factors have always played a key role in the construction of food-related architecture: mitigation of outdoor temperatures or winds, adoption of raining waters in the productive processes, etc. However, sometimes, climate change has impacted the profitability of those structures and eventually caused their abandonment. Today, historical food-related architectures are significant elements of local rural heritage, and they are also tangible symbols of all the values connected to the corresponding typical food productions. When the cultural value of rural cultural assets and the historical management of climatic factors coexist, this potential can be investigated, and the results can ultimately be included in the corresponding enhancement processes. To exploit this potential, the paper introduces the theoretical concept of food-related architecture as climatic indicators, with reference to the changes in the climate that have occurred during their construction, as well as their abandonment. According to the thesis of the research, the adoption of the concept of climatic indicators can implement the value of selected minor cultural assets, support sustainable rural regeneration plans and integrate missing historical climate series and data. In the Materials and Methods section, two theoretical charts have been introduced, and the pyramid of the Mediterranean diet was analyzed to allow for the selection of some food-related architectures to test the theoretical approach developed. Then, three Italian case studies have been analyzed: the concept of climate indicators was tested, and some potential focus points of actions connected to this aspect were elucidated. The case studies are the Pietragalla wine district in the Basilicata Region, the Apulian rock-cut oil mills and Mills's Valley in the Campania Region.