ABSTRACT

In the past, rural territories were characterised by their agricultural and forestry activities; nowadays, those activities are to be found taking place alongside a remarkable growth in residential settlements in the countryside. A mixture of urban and rural lifestyles characterises the landscape and land-use patterns of contemporary rural settings (Donadieu 1998, 2001). There are many signs of the rise of a mixed and agro-urban society, and many scholars and institutions have devoted themselves to the assessment and investigation of this complex phenomenon.1 With respect to the endowment of built systems, extra-urban territories in Italy are characterised by the presence of buildings abandoned and unused. Of special interest is the series of roadman’s houses which before the Second World War served as bases for organising and delivering services and maintaining the national road network. Nowadays, these buildings are largely unused, even though they constitute a relevant system for their complex value, as they are considered as historical, cultural and landscape goods.