THE ROLE OF FIRE IN THE MATERIAL CULTURE OF MEDITERRANEAN REGION

Within the cultural panorama of the Mediterranean region – mainly aimed at artistic, architectural and more generally constructive manifestations of city and territory – it appears very complex to define the role that the element fire plays while processing appointed theory as well as practice. In the present issue of the magazine, dedicated exactly to this element, the Editorial Committee had established the following specific goals. First of all to conclude with the topic of fire the knowledge and the deep analysis of the sequence of the four elements of the cosmos, as they are indicated by the tradition of the Greek pre-Socratic philosophy, and specifically that due to Anassimene di Mileto (VI century A.C.) and then to Empedocle (around 450 A.C.). In fact in our magazine, a first issue about earth (Rammed Earth) and another one about water (Water and Construction) and on the air (Air and Environment) have been already published. And this is due to the fact that the Mediterranean culture deeply roots in the same elements: the sea which links the lands, the fire of the various volcanoes and seismic zones, finally the air itself favoured by a really unique climate in the world.
Therefore, by outlining possible innovative characters in the questions about Mediterranean region, some components are defined which are common to all these man’s interventions within the construction and transformation of landscape; such elements succeed to represent a peculiar programmatic address including future actions aimed at a serious sustainable development, respectful of place’s identity. The more evident character, firstly met – while comparing the concept of fire to the construction – is that of a narrow bond between science and technology. During the identification of the common traits of the whole Mediterranean area according to science-of-earth’s point of view, it can be noticed how the same lands are characterized by a constant presence of fire; as we know the water-land globe has been established around 5 million of years ago, born from a cloud of interstellar matter, probable result of a supernova’s explosion; at the beginning the planetesimals were clumps of very dense matter which, reciprocally attracting themselves, shaped the Sun and the Planets. The Earth was then a sphere of incandescent materials, while neither oceans nor continents existed; the existing iron, being heavier, located itself in the centre, so shaping the Nucleus, while the Aluminium and Silica remained on the surface so constituting the Planet’s Crust or Mantel¹. The earth we know has a ray of 1370 Km, and around 4000°C of temperature. In the internal Nucleus, being constituted by iron and nickel this time at the liquid state and with a thickness of 2000 Km, electric current and magnetic field occur. The Mantel (or Crust), within which the viscous slow magma can be found, has a thickness of 2900 Km and a temperature of about 3000°C. Finally the Lithosphere presents a variable thickness of 5/10 Km under sea level and of 40/75 Km over the same level². […]