Open Air Museums: Case Study of the Ecomuseums of Trentino (Italy)

The ecomuseum is a particular structure of open air museums which preserves permanently on the territory the environmental, cultural and historical features more representative of a geographical area and of its way of living. The ecomuseum is not a building or a place that exhibits objects and has visitors. But the ecomuseums spreads on the territory and it has inhabitants and visitors. The inhabitants are the main promoters and custodians of the collective memory. As in some Italian regions, the Trentino region satisfied the request of ecomuseums through a provincial law on the ecomuseums. The aim of the Trentino’s ecomusums is to preserve the peculiarities of the territory through the recovery of the traditional rural buildings, the environmental protection, the knowledge of the old trades, the conservation of the agricultural and traditional activities, the improvement of the collective memory with the direct participation of the local population. This paper deals with a research activity carried out by the Laboratory of Building Design of the University of Trento in order to give a methodology to support the design phase setting down the typological and constructive characteristics of the open air Museums. In particular the paper describes the state of the art and the future opportunities of the Trentino’s ecomuseums.