S p o n t a n e o u s A r c h i t e c t u r e a n d E n e r g e t i c S u s t a i n a b i l i t y
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Lipari; it has assumed since time gone by the role of capital of the islands, even though
Salina island has a larger economic presence (fig. 1). Their history is documented since
the ancient times. Along the different ages they had very prosperous periods, such as
the free kingdom of the Eolinidi people, during the VI century B.C. or the colonization of
Lord Ruggero D’Altavilla The Normand, and depressed periods, for example the
surrender to the Roman fleet of the Consul Aurelio Cotta, during the Punic Wars (252
B.C.), or the sack of the Saracen pirate Ariadeno, called Barbarossa, in the 1544
(Perricone Oliva 1995). Recently, the Aeolian Islands have been rediscovered by the
general public thanks to ‘Stromboli’, a famous film of Roberto Rossellini, played by Ingrid
Bergman in the 1949. It told a strong and tragic love story, in reference to a similar visual
landscap
.
Filicudi is located in the Western arm formed by the islands, it is one of the most
isolated, with the nearer one, Alicudi. Although Stromboli is further off the Sicilian coast,
Filicudi and Alicudi are more isolated by the fact that they are a considerable detour from
the Milazzo-Lipari-Naples route, the most frequented by the merchant ships (in the past)
and by the touristic ones (today). Nevertheless Filicudi boasts the longest history: a
prosperous community, that traded obsidian, lived in the little hill of Cape of Graziano,
from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age.
The relation between the inhabitants and the Natural Environment has created a
tremendous landscape, that is the result of a industrious work of the land. It is also
recognized by UNESCO that put the Aeolian islands in its World Heritage List in the
2000
. Thanks to the isolation that I have already
highlighted, Filicudi island has
preserved its landscape in a more efficient way
.
In particular it is characterized by two factors: the geo-morphology of the soil and climate
conditions. The first of them has an influence on human infrastructures, the second one
on the architectural elements.
During the past centuries, the local people had created a elaborate terracing system,
with lava stone walls in Cyclopean Opus, to be able to cultivate their hilly estates.
Nowadays they are not pristine condition owing to the lack of maintenance, because the
locals are less interested in the cultivation of the land.
The climatic conditions of the island are those typical of the Mediterranean countries
(mild weather, during the winter, and hot, dry summers), but here these climatic
conditions are extreme. The summer temperatures are up to 40° C for several days, and
precipitation is limited to 30 mm for all summer (5% of the total). Moreover, they are
buffeted by strong Westerly winds (6-17 knots)
(fig. 2). To defend themselves from this
adverse condition, especially during summer, the Filicudian builders had set up a perfect
machine à habiter
6
, a comfortable, friendly place with quasi zero energy consumption.
2
The islands were location for many other films: ‘Vulcano’ of William Dieterle (1950), ‘Kaos’ of Taviani
brothers (1983), ‘Caro Diario’ of Nanni Moretti (1994) and ‘Il Postino’ of Massimo Troisi (1994).
3
«
Filicudi: recent studies have dated the lava at the centre of the Zucco Grande as being more than 1 million
years old, thus making it the oldest product yet known from the whole archipelago. Despite its
appearance of having been created at the dawn of time and the initial visual impact it has on visitors
(...). The slopes of the island are almost completely covered with terraces that indicate past agricultural
activities. The wild western slopes remain uninhabited due to their steepness and inaccessibility
»
(see
Aeolian Islands Description – UNESCO website) .
4
The richness of the landscape is a value largely acknowledged in Aeolian Islands, by the Institutions, that
recently had approved the Paesistic Plan of Aeolian Islands (Dec. n. 5180 23/2/2001), and by the
citizens. This second aspect is relevant, especially in Filicudi, if you consider that locals had contrasted
the installation of the public illumination plant; in fact it would have increased the light pollution.
5
As you probably know, the name of the islands is referred to Aeolus, the Greek god of the winds, to
highlight this characteristic. Ulysses, the Homeric hero, stopped here during his long voyage, and
received a goatskin by the god, as a present. Here they were collected all the winds to not disturb the
sail back to Ithaca. The companions of Ulysses, jealous and ignorant, open it to inspect, rousing a storm
that shipwreck themselves.
6
