usual to find traces of fossils and marine life en-cased within quarried tufo.
While there are many types of tufo in Apulia, the main material used for construction in this case study is dubbed tufo tenero2, or gentle tuff in en-glish. It’s mined from two main quarries, namely those of Cutrofiano in the Lecce area and Fracag-nano in the Taranto area although the Cutrofiano quarry was shut down in the eighties.
The rock from both sources are very similar, white and soft with low hardness, suitable for internal partitions as well as in vaults, it could also be used in exteriors although if left without protection it faced high erosion risks, a solution would be to apply a separating layer of plaster to isolate it from the elements.
Benefits of tufo tenero is its unique workability, the very tender stone can be sawed and adjust-ments of a few centimeters can be achieved with a rasp. Other benefits come in the form of its af-fordability and low construction costs, as well as producing somewhat light structures when used in construction all the while not compromising in resistance. These benefits come at the expense of its porous and friable nature, the results of which become evident when the tufo is exposed to the exterior without a protective layer and be-gins to erode and absorb moisture.
The case study is mainly constructed with tufo blocks.
Masseria Aia Nuova
Figure 69 .Tufo Figure 70. Pietra Leccese (Lecce Stone)
Figure 71. Cocciopesto Plaster Figure 72. Hollow clay brics
sisting of a lime base to which brick dust is add-ed5.
The brick dust gives the dough excellent hydrau-lic properties, forming a moisture-resistant plas-ter. This ancient technique was applied by the Romans in the construction of aqueducts, cis-terns, walls and roads because it was particularly suitable for damp walls, it was invented by the Phoenicians and left for the former to discover in Sicily.
In this case study the cocciopesto plaster is ap-plied on the roof of the masseria as a protective layer.
HOLLOW CLAY BRICKS
(Figure 72, 76) Consisting of a mixture of clay and inerts, drawn and cooked in a high-temperature oven, they have been widely used for many years almost exclusively to make internal walls to which a particular insulating function was not required, while for external walls, load-bearing or of sim-ple plugging, the square blocks of tuff were still used, certainly more resistant but very porous, therefore absorbent, and very heavy. There are many types of hollow bricks and the amount of voids within vary according to the requirements and size but generally do not exceed 70% of the total surface.
PIETRA LECCESE (LECCE STONE)
(Figure 70, 74) This highly prized stone emerges from the ground throughout the Salento area3. In particular near the municipalities of Melpignano, Cursi and Maglie and Corigliano d’Otranto where the majority of the quarries are present.
It contains a bit of marl in the finest and homo-geneous paste and lends itself to many special processes due to its high density. It is very well known for its artistic and decorative use in many houses, palaces and churches in Salento. With a prominent presence in Lecce itself where it has replaced marble in the artistic field, especially during the baroque period.
The rock is mainly composed of calcium carbon-ate4, consisting of microfossils and fragments of macrofossils of marine fauna, and of calcitic ce-ment and clay. In terms of color It is white/straw yellow or gray, compact and fine-grained. The coloring varies according to the extraction point and the concentration of its chemical compo-nents. Thanks to the presence of clay, it is easily malleable. This malleability opposes it to marble or granite, and favors its use decoratively. In this case study it is used as pavement blocks in the habitable quarters.
COCCIOPESTO PLASTER
(Figure 71, 75) The cocciopesto is a plaster,
con-3. Pietra leccese o pietra di lecce, le origini e gli usi, <https://www.carparo.net/pietra-leccese/>;
4. Vitiello F, 2008, Manuale di scultura: tecniche d’intaglio ed elegia della pietra leccese. Corigliano d’Otranto: Anet, p. 9;
5. M.P. Cibelli, Intonaco di cocciopesto: tecnica antica e naturale per muri umidi,
<https://www.architetturaecosostenibile.it/mate-Figure 73. Tufo blocks Figure 74. Pietra leccese flooring
Figure 75. Cocciopesto application on the roof Figure 76. Gaps in the ceiling showing traces of the terra-cota blocks
and a squadro. They adapt perfectly to square en-vironments but are born fundamentally to solve the rectangular ones in which cross vaults are aesthetically inferior.
Lecce vaults are an elaboration of the volta a lu-netta which is formed by joining two generally barrel vaults of different radius, but having axes that are generally perpendicular and coplanar with each other. The vault with the largest radius called the main one, acts as a covering element of an architectural environment, and the other, with a smaller radius, called the secondary one, is useful for creating an opening along the surface of the main vault.