The antithesis of Baroque - the vernacular architecture of the Mediterranean islands

Abstract

Magnificent prehistorical monuments in stone are located in the central part of the Mediterranean Sea. The culture of stone is spread from the west, on the Balearic Islands, to Corsica, Elba, Sardinia and Crete towards the east, and in the centre to Sicily and Malta. Material and climatic conditions in the Mediterranean determine stone as the basic building material. Stone can be composed dry, without binding, but clay, as a natural material - even during intermediate working and shaping - needs at least the softening of contact plates with water, as a bed. Stone is typically cleared from a pasture, field, orchard or vineyard and composed into a series of architectural elements, the peak of which is a stone shelter. Both fields and olive groves or vineyards must be cleared of stones, to provide better growth, and also so that tools are not damaged during cultivation. If the stones are merely thrown on a heap, this heap will gradually disappear and the stones will return to the earth. Once again, they will be in the way. We will have achieved nothing. If the stones are composed into a construction, though, so that the stones are in some way bound together two by two, and then successively, the construction will have an essentially longer lifespan. This is dry stone building, without binding. And now the essence: if we are going to build a construction, it should at least be functional.