Renewable Energy 19 (2000) 7±15

www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Rural architecture between arti®cial intelligence

and natural intelligence
Michele Cennamo*, Paolo di Palma, Annalisa Ricciardelli
Department of `Con®gurazione e Attuazione dell'Architettura', University of Naples `Federico II', Via
Tarsia 31, 80135, Naples, Italy

Abstract

Following the ®eld of research carried on and reported in the Second International
Conference for Teachers of Architecture held in Florence on October 16, 17 and 18, 1997,
which stated the central position of Architectural project in relation to Human Intelligence,
Natural Intelligence and Arti®cial Intelligence, the present paper suggests a phase of
application of the theoretical assumptions to spacial models paradigmatic of the complexity
of projects and building technique as well as of the relationship between man-made
environment and natural one.
Among the di€erent typologies in architecture, this research focuses on the rural
buildings in Campania, mainly on the ones in the Vesuvius area, as those are the most
suitable to be studied about and salvaged with the help of biology, mathematics and high
engineering. # 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Rural architecture in the Vesuvius area

On the whole, the farm-houses existing in the area of the Vesuvian outskirts can
be considered a remarkable heritage of architectural tradition dating back to the
works of Vitruvius, Columella and others dealing with rural architecture; over the
centuries they have acquired a physiognomy of their own, and nowadays they are
an autonomous building expression (Fig. 1).

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: uvolpe@yahoo.com (M. Cennamo)

0960-1481/00/$ - see front matter # 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 6 0 - 1 4 8 1 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 1 1 - 7
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Vesuvian farm-houses can be de®ned as examples of handicrafts because of the

presence of specialized workmen, and also home-made products as they were built
making use of the only extractable material to be found around the mounts
Vesuvius and Somma; this is made up of the eruptive magma in its di€erent
typologies (lava, pumice, lapilli, pozzolana, `pietrarsa' etc.).
What makes the tradition of building around the Vesuvian area an original one
is the use of further `materials' of Nature, such as greenery, wind, heat and sound,
which can be considered, with the `Sun' and the local stone (`pietrarsa') the typical
technological rules of the area.
In many such farm-houses it is possible to see, even today, the existence of
long-trunked trees as well as evergreen trees such as poplars, chestnuts, oaks,
pines, etc.; bushes are also present, sometimes of considerable size, which give
shelter against the wind, noise and bad weather, and form a sort of isolating belt
between the outer space and the building. The colours also vary, from dark grey
in the lava stones to white in lime; the former captures and accumulates the heat

Fig. 1. Typical Vesuvian farm-house.

M. Cennamo et al. / Renewable Energy 19 (2000) 7±15 9

Fig. 1 (continued).
10 M. Cennamo et al. / Renewable Energy 19 (2000) 7±15

from the sun; the latter re¯ects it, so as to make the interiors respectively warmer
or cooler.
The vertical sections of these buildings also present bioclimatic devices: in fact,
their basements are, most times, destined to host wine cellars or oil deposits, as
they take advantage of the heat stored by underground lava. This, also thanks to
natural ventilation holes, allows temperature and humidity suitable for the storage
of goods.
The tops of roofs, being in direct contact with the outside and the weather
changes, are conceived and produced according to the same rationale of
exploitation. The typical extradossed vaults, for instance, made in lava stone and
a covering layer of volcanic lapillo, though not properly working as vacuums, are
still insulating, owing to their granulous nature and to the porosity of the
material.

2. Ideas of complexity and complication in rural architecture

The di€erence between natural objects and man-made artifacts is made clear if
we focus on the distinction between the terms `complexity' and `complication'.
Any architectural artifact is the product of human activity and as such it carries in
itself the memory of the project or purpose which has generated it. An
architecture product can be de®ned as `complicated', meaning that, though its
spacial features may not appear easy, it is nevertheless something decipherable,
being the product of a well-de®ned project. On the other hand, natural
phenomena come within a `rationale' not always understandable by us; this is why
they may be de®ned as `complex'.
As a matter of fact, each of them appears to work as a system capable of
having an autonomous organization of its own, after a project which is internal to
the body itself.
Following this reading-key, we can assume that the typology of architectural
production which is here being examined (the farm-houses in the Vesuvian area),
having been conceived in thorough harmony with the natural environment, is
characterized by simple expressive features; this is, nevertheless, brought about
through daring, unforeseeable building systems, which cannot be studied with any
known law of statics, science of construction, or elementary geometry. They are
actually the result of a continuous relationship with natural phenomena and, as
such, they can only be classi®ed within the general ideas of `complexity' and
`Science of Chaos'.

3. Similarities between biology and rural architecture

The interrelations between Post-Industrial TechnologyÐa crucial factor for

Arti®cial IntelligenceÐand biotechnologyÐis typical of Natural IntelligenceÐ
have inspired three research and experimentation directions: the ®rst of these
 M. Cennamo et al. / Renewable Energy 19 (2000) 7±15 11

entails developing new shapes and new architectural spaces capable of enhancing
the creative processÐas well as overcoming the current lack of ideas and reference
frames; the second direction aims at identifying technological mechanisms within
the organization and behaviour of natural systems and transferring them for use
in controlling and protecting the built-up and natural environments in such a way
as to identify and face problems and take action in keeping with the idea of a
sustainable growth; the third direction, at last, involves looking into the
synchronic aspects common to Nature and Architecture in order to try and detect
formal and structural analogies between the animal and vegetal systems on the
one hand, and the architectural system on the other. Nowadays, when the very
natural factors, i.e. the sun, the wind, the climate and even sounds can be
considered nearly `construction materials', the third research direction mentioned
aboveÐwhich we are especially interested inÐseems to o€er the greatest potential
not only for Bio-Architectural studies but also for pioneer studies in Biology,
Advanced Engineering and Mathematics, as well as to lead towards a new
philosophy and a new architectural design procedure which, though certainly
more sophisticated, would nonetheless be more suited to curb the current
predominance of technology over natural equilibria and quality of Life.
Biomorphism, i.e. the reproduction of human, animal or vegetal living forms
(respectively referred to as anthropomorphism, zoomorphism and
phytomorphism), is one of the foundation-stones of `biological' architectural
design, and has always been a major source of inspiration for the language,
technology and design technique of architecture.
This research has focused, in particular, on three seminal aspects: the general
organization of a Vesuvian farm-house, the ¯ights of steps on the outside, and the
extradossed vaults.
Beyond any doubt, even if there is no formal resemblance, the `workshop±
farmhouse' being considered here can be assimilated to what we ®nd in Nature,
i.e. the work organization of beehives, termitaries and ants' nests under the aspect
of their complex system of interweaving work functions, as well as cycles.
In the same way, if we consider such a complex organization from the inside,
we can compare the con®guration of the cellars, and of all the other rooms used
for the production and storage of wine and oil, to the dens of some animals which
present a similar ventilation, and lighting system, together with the best use of
internal spaces.
The ¯ights of steps on the outside are undoubtedly the products of the most
striking technological invention; in fact, respectful as they all are of a traditional
building technique, yet they vary from each other in no little way, even if all such
products can be assimilated to the movement of a goose neck.

4. Similarities with post-industrial technologies

A new original approach can be conceived if we consider the architectural

products in question under the point of view of Post-Industrial technologies; in
12 M. Cennamo et al. / Renewable Energy 19 (2000) 7±15

particular, in the ®eld of communication, we assume that the dove-cotes of the

farm-houses in question can be compared to a sort of natural internet system as
to their structural organization: in fact, carrier pigeons used to transmit
information about weather and climatic conditions from place to place and from
farm to farm.
Let us further follow the hypothesis that the architectural products of the
Vesuvian area can be better studied within the idea of natural intelligence than
with the category of arti®cial intelligence: some experts have demonstrated that
such elements as the tallness, the evergreen nature, the thickness of the treetops,
together with the di€erent weather conditions, are capable of transmitting sounds
modulated in such a way as to create real complex and distinct messages.
The architectural space of a typical Vesuvian farm-house can be seen as strictly
related to its internal function. The same thing that happens for eye perception
takes place for ear perception: in fact, di€erent levels of such perceptions exist,
which allow us to take pro®t of sounds according to personal exigencies, that is,
towards a continuous search of new solutions, regardless of any ®xed mechanical
law.
An example can be given by the cellar or cistern: these, covered as they are by
vaults which can be analysed with the Fourier series because of their particular
geometric structures, are suited to the frequency of low voice conversations and of
feeble sounds; the same can be said for the space of big depots, which implement
deep sounds, or for the spacial dimension of chapels, most suitable to high
sounds; again, the shape of the typical courtyards match complex sounds, and,
last but not least, that of the kitchens is suitable to strong sounds.

5. Relationship between stress and shape

The research on the structure of any architectural artifact has always been
concernedЮrst as a matter of perception, and then on more scienti®c levelsÐ
with the relationship between the shape of the artifact and the di€erent forces that
model it.
This paper aims at suggesting a model of analysis for a quicker appreciation of
a form in its best expression and for the control that the force itself has on the
mechanic behaviour.
The model is here being considered as an element which gathers form and
structures into one single project expression. According to this approach any form
is generated directly by a stress, so that the following con®guration is a result
itself of such stresses; in this way we have the best result ever in the project
process a priori.
This research has focused on two forms of the goose-neck shape of the stairs (in
the Vesuvian farms) and the shape of the extradossed vaults covering their wide
rooms. The nexus existing between the form and the stress, or better the
biunivocal relationship between the form and the stresses that generate it, is the
loads funicular, which is a form in itself. In the plane we know the existence of
 M. Cennamo et al. / Renewable Energy 19 (2000) 7±15 13

the parabola and of the catenary; but, as a matter of fact, referring to the topic
here being examined, we have a great number of plane curves and surfaces with
no reference whatsoever to the above-mentioned curves; so a method has been
needed in order to determine the force development within a given form.
From the point of view of architectural building procedure, the curving central
part of the vault here considered, scanty as it is, yet makes it classi®able as a
membrane, in particular as a VI order paraboloid, i.e. a higher paraboloid, where
the surfacesÐaccording to the equation of the hyperbolic paraboloidÐhave
vertical sections which follow the more general equation of the parabola.

6. Relationship with the Science of Chaos: the Fourier series

The spontaneous forms of a rural Architecture, which presents unpredictable

and sometimes even apparently incoherent features, allows us to use a more
careful reading-key by taking pro®t of the Science of Chaos. This research
direction aims at demonstrating that such aspects as composition disorder,
structural devices and spacial improvisation come within the idea of scienti®c
complexity, and can therefore only be analysed by means of the Science of
Fractals, as well as of the Fourier Series; only in this way can we detect the order
in them, i.e. by getting more and more into the composition and the geometry of
the matter.
In particular, by the contribution of the Mathematical Fourier theorem, experts
have managed to understand the geometry of the goose-neck arches sustaining the
outside stairs in Vesuvian farm-houses as well as that of the extradossed vaults
covering the rooms on the top ¯oors.
The research program in this speci®c ®eld has developed with the use of the
trigonometric series according to which every periodic function with frequency F
can be expressed univocally by means of a set of trigonometric functions with
frequencies F, 2F, 3F, etc, so that every periodic phenomenon can be subdivided
into an in®nite set of elementary periodic phenomena. By using this method, a
perfect correspondence has been detected with the laws of Statics and of the
Science of Construction in a building system which is apparently based on no
scienti®c knowledge. In such a way we have got order from chaos.
In the preceding illustration, the ®rst column expresses a function and the
second its application by the Fourier series (according to the formulae referred to
in the caption) valid between the limits of the third column. The graphic
representation is given for a number of cycles. Any periodic curve may result from
the sum of two or more graphics and, therefore, of their respective functions.

7. Relationship with the Science of Chaos: fractals

An analogy between natural worlds, arti®cial worlds and human intelligence can
be devised through project models using the ®ndings of fractal geometry (derived
14 M. Cennamo et al. / Renewable Energy 19 (2000) 7±15

from mathematical science), which show that every system, sub-system or

component of an architectural organism repeats the structure of the aggregate
system; moreover, it is perfectly in keeping with a special organisation resulting
from di€erently sized systems and sub-systems, but having structures which
present analogies with those that can be found in Vesuvian farm-houses.
Research on fractals has in fact prompted the conclusion that each living
organism can be subdivided into its component parts (as can the architectural
organism here being examined), and that these parts are interrelated, and make it
possible to construct geometrical models comparable to the fundamental laws of
Chaos.
Fractals take their name from the Latin word `fractus' (broken, irregular): they
are geometrical entities having extremely indented shapes and sizes that measure
their degree of irregularity and fragmentation. Unlike the dimensions measured by
Euclidean geometry, which are represented by means of integers, or whole
numbers (0 for the point, 1 for the straight line, 2 for the surface and 3 for the
space), fractal dimensions are generally represented by means of either a
fractioned or an irrational number.
Euclidean dimensions are naturally whole, as they refer to well-located ®gures
which can be schematically represented with a point, a straight line, a plane, or a
®gure spread out in the space. On the other hand, fractal dimensions take into
account the complexity of an actual object. In de®ning a fractal dimension the
idea of `omotetia' should be applied, i.e., a linear transformation which dilates or
contracts a euclidean ®gure by multiplying every single part of it by a whole
number.
In conclusion, by using the science of fractals, this research has managed to get
more and more into the structure of the matter as far as the unforeseeable and the
impossible, making us understand the characteristics and the performances of the
only lava material coming from the Vesuvius-Somma mount system. Therefore a
complex structure has been spotted and analysed by means of appropriate
algorithms.
Considering, for instance, the typical extradossed vaults, we have been able to
draw the irregular curve of the geometrical generatrix of each of them; this has
been possible by considering an equilateral triangle as a starting point, then
increasing the scale each time, then dividing a side into equal third parts, then
drawing another equilateral triangle on the central segment so as to make out,
eventually, a new 4-segment side. By repeating this operation, the length of the
curve increases more and more as far as the unforeseeable and as far as a model
of apparent incoherence; yet, this coincides with the geometrical and structural
order of the architectural artifact.

8. Conclusions

The results achieved so far make us con®dent in the e€ortless job we have been
undertaking; this research, we assume, will enlarge the present knowledge of the
 M. Cennamo et al. / Renewable Energy 19 (2000) 7±15 15

recovery of architectural artifacts, as well as the defence of the built-up and

natural environments.
Our aim is to enhance the aspect of Quality on a scienti®c ground, contributing
to a project of optimizing and upkeeping the environment with a broad outlook; a
therapy of prolonging the life of an artifact which is being here considered is also
the aim of our e€ort, in order to reach a balance between opposite issues as well
as between tradition and innovation.
The technological scenario which is the background of our paper cannot be
considered exhaustive of the whole range of scienti®c issues referring to this
research ®eld.
Undoubtedly, the sudden appearance of new cognitive categories referring to
information, communication and images, as well as to Bionics, Engineering and
Advanced Mathematics are deeply changing the traditional methods of production
(machines replacing human labour), distribution (with the use of perishables) and
occupation (search for new ways of work); all this, in its turn, automatically
a€ects Architecture, both in its creative aspects and in its actual procedures.
In the past the great revolutions have all carried out a technological aspect that
has made use of instruments and means typical of the material world; nowadays,
on the other hand, we cannot but consider the convergence and the clash between
Material and Immaterial Worlds.