Gli hórreos delle Rías Baixas in Galizia: architettura e paesaggio | The hórreos of Rías Baixas in Galizia: architecture and landscape

The main goal of vernacular architecture is to respond to the need for living. The rules of settlement together with the organization of the territory take part in the construction of the landscape and highlight its identity. This study, is part of a wider research: it investigates the coastal territory of the Rías Baixas in Galicia, first, the way in which the practices of living participated in the construction of the landscape; then, how this represents, today, a possible resource for local economic development, trying to overcome the traditional rural vision of places towards a contemporary conjugation between urban space and rural elements. The production of living spaces, here, reflects the needs of the rural environment and at the same time generates urban micro-environments. In this sense, the hórreo becomes a legancy element, integrated into the landscape and at same time a key factor for local economic development through tourism activity. An activity, which sometimes, due to the lack of regularization and unlimited speculation, results in a massification of spaces without identity. Instead it can be an element of harmonization between economic development, quality of life and local development.