Fictile Elements in Calabrian historical buildings. Results of a territorial survey

Closed hollow fictile elements, known as “caruselli”, commonly used to obtain light and resistant roofs, can be found in historical buildings in Calabria. A research activity was carried out to inventory, collect and catalogue various types of “caruselli” characterized by different manufacture, shape, availability of clay soils, assembly method and buildings where they were found. “Caruselli” were shaped by hand and differed in the quality of the clay and in the type of furnace where they were fired. Specifically, the study presents the first results of a research activity aimed at systematizing information and data collected in the Calabrian context, as well as at classifying the fictile elements in relation to different attributes, such as materials, shapes, manufacturing techniques, assembly methods