Mutual Adaptation in Adaptive Reuse Practice: The Case of Borgo Monteruga And The Apulian Olive Cultural Landscape

This contribution presents the case study of the adaptation of Borgo Monteruga, a strategic and synergistic adaptive reuse project that follows a mutual adaptation approach for both an architectural asset and a cultural and productive landscape. Current environmental and energy challenges the economic and social balance of Mediterranean landscapes. This phenomenon is evident in Salento territory, where the Xylella fastidiosa bacterium has devastated the traditional olive crop, obliterating the iconic olive-growing landscape and leading to the abandonment of vast tracts of land. Within this context, the dismissed 1930s farm village of Borgo Monteruga is part of a cultural landscape in danger. Consequently, the reuse of Borgo Monteruga offers an opportunity to develop a pilot strategy to revitalize both the village and its surrounding landscape. The project has two objectives. First, reconstructing the Apulian cultural landscape involves replanting the olive trees. This effort addresses contemporary challenges such as climate change and sustainable energy production by integrating an agrivoltaic system as an economic driver to support the adaptive reuse process. Second, the recovery of Borgo Monteruga serves as a model for the rehabilitation of other early 20th-century rural settlements within a regional network. The research project employs a research-by-design method through the single case study methodological approach. The design project itself is the tool to both understand the phenomenon of abandonment of this historic 1920 farm village. The “research by design” approach aims to develop a site-specific project that exemplifies best practices. The project aspires to redefine Mediterranean-built heritage as an inseparable part of its cultural landscape. Thus, cross-scale adaptation should be conceived as a mutual process, integrating architecture and landscape, function and production, agricultural tradition, and contemporary challenges.