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  • Engineering without Engineers, Architecture without Architects: dry stone walls
    Publication . Marçal Gonçalves, Marta; Pérez Cano, María Teresa; Prates, Gonçalo; J. A. Marin Casanova; J. E. González Vallés; Daniel Navas Carrillo
    Dry stone walls, also called loose stone walls, are a consequence of Man's becoming sedentary and his need to obtain food through agriculture. They were built without the help of engineers or architects, however, they demonstrate complex knowledge of construction and implantation in the terrain, depending on environmental conditions and the place where they are inserted, forming a characteristic landscape of each region. It is intended to make a comparison between two Portuguese territories, located in the Centre and in the South of Portugal, with different characteristics, analyzing various typological and natural factors, formed by these walls. This article starts with the characterization of the climate and geology and moves to a comparative analysis of the type of stone and the typology of the walls, to culminate in the differentiation of the landscapes generated in the territories where they are inserted. In order to better know their characteristics, several field visits were made, as well as a photographic and bibliographical collection, cartographic surveys and direct contact with the naturals of the places. It is intended to publish this kind of vernacular heritage and to valorize it, especially for the local population, which, as a rule, does not value this type of heritage and landscapes. Once valued, it will be the local community itself to protect, publicize and exploit them, taking advantage of the sense of place and the sense of attachment that the local population usually presents. On the other hand, inrecognizing the patrimonial, tourist and economic potential of this heritage and landscapes, the populations organize themselves, protecting and maintaining this good. The works in this field of study, in the studied regions, are very scarce or non-existent. From this perspective, this paper has an additional value, being one more work to divulge and promote this heritage.
  • Territory and drystone walls. Comparative of case studies in central and southern Portugal
    Publication . Marçal Gonçalves, Marta; Prates, Gonçalo; Pérez-Cano, María Teresa; Rosendahl, Stefan; I. Lombillo; H. Blanco; Y. Boffill
    Since becoming settled, Man had the need to shape the territory in his benefit, gaining ground for agricultural activity. Drystone walls were the way found to overcome sharp slopes. The way these walls are arranged in the territory is not random, as it may seem at first glance: they are disposed in the best way to facilitate the agricultural activity, taking into account the natural factors of the territory where they are located, such as orography, climate or geology. Taking as study cases two regions in Portugal under slightly different climate regimes, one located in the Algarvian Barrocal and the other located in the Center, we intend to compare and advance with explanations as to the way drystone walls are disposed and their relation to the territory. To achieve the objectives bibliographical and photographic studies, as well as interviews with the inhabitants of these areas, and cartographic and field surveys were carried out. Whereas the purpose, materials and construction characteristics were achieved by the previous, their disposition and relationship with the orography were carried out by the latest. Particularly, field surveys were made by digital stereophotogrammetry applied to several overlapping nadiral photographic images from different perspectives acquired by an unmanned aerial vehicle along its flying pathways that allowed for very high-resolution geographic data. Where such surveys were not made, cartographic data were used instead. Through the dissemination of such vernacular heritage, it becomes valued and known. In this way, people will attribute cultural and patrimonial value, protecting it, especially the local population that tends not to attribute any value to this “minor” heritage, contributing to its disappearance. There are still not much works about this subject in the areas analyzed here, so this paper has an added value, in order to disseminate and create added value to these kind of heritage.