Case contadine nelle Valli Bergamasche e Bresciane

The Bergamo and Brescia valleys have been hit by a process of industrialisation, which began two centuries ago, but which has intensified in recent decades. The change affected the flat areas of the valley bottom at the lowest altitudes, making these satellite poles of the large industrial areas surrounding the cities of Bergamo and Brescia. The result was a violent contrast between the working-class and consumerist mentality introduced, compared to the peasant and artisan tradition once rooted in the population. The last phase of this unsustainable conflict is currently underway, from which unfortunately the Alpine world is emerging defeated. In the building and urban planning fields we range between the two extremes: new structures grafted onto the fabric of the old ones, with the contradictions and constraints that derive from them; or gradual abandonment of the most disadvantaged locations, as the elderly who had remained there disappeared. There are still numerous peasant farms where it is possible to run them on a part-time basis or where the environment allows for sufficient income to be obtained from working the land or raising livestock. Instead, they are increasingly becoming rarer in difficult areas, when there is a lack of generational renewal in their management. This research is intended to document the way of life and habitation of past generations. It is therefore aimed at those who, either for study reasons or for sentimental reasons, have an interest in preserving its memory. It must be said that we are not just talking about architecture; in fact, the over 300 photographs contained serve as a starting point to illustrate history, ethnic and religious traditions, and the relationship between man and territory; in essence, much of what forms people's culture, or rather, what formed their culture before the changes mentioned above occurred.