Conservation of historical buildings. A sustainable approach to earth houses of Fujian

This paper has been developed in the framework of a larger research program, in which the university of Rome “Tor Vergata” and Beijing university are jointly involved to study and preserve historic dwellings. Cultural heritage is the intangible and tangible attributes of a society, including the natural heritage, that are inherited from past generations, preserved in the present and transmitted to the next generations. Nowadays we consider the cultural heritage as a world heritage belonging to all the people of the world, irrespective on which territory they are located. This paper introduces a model and a methodological approach to conserve cultural heritage in a sustainable way. The case study is that one of the Earth Houses (tulou) of Fujian (China), one of the most interesting types of Chinese rural dwellings that could become an example for other cultural sites around the world connecting the environmental and socio-economical aspect to the tourism development.