The environmental, architectural and constructive “sustainability” of the religious architectures

One consequence of globalisation has been the design and construction of identical buildings without regard to their geographical, cultural or economic setting, thus nullifying what, for centuries, was a foundation of most architectural designs: the knowledge of a location’s defining physical and non-physical (history, culture, customs, etc.) features. In his desire to define new forms and use new materials and technologies, the architect frequently neglects the context in which they are to be situated. However, the interpretation of the extant and thus its meaning is essential for acquiring the conceptual model at the heart of our shared heritage. In the past, a construction had to exploit the terrain’s morphology in order to optimise lighting, permeability to wind and exposure to the sun. And besides being a function of field patterns and road systems, a building’s location also had to underline the role intended for this architectural creation. Therefore, when we today design and construct a sustainable building we should consider returning to architectural tradition and hence take account of the functional and stylistic elements that characterise a setting or place: a design based upon "processes of significant interactions between a place’s material, energetic and cultural resources and the functional, structural and linguistic organisation of architecture", in short, an environmental and cultural approach. This point of view has been adopted to analyse the churchs constituted by religious buildings of various volumes and periods build in an isolated Alpine area wherein lies the generating nucleus of the place's residential architecture.