LANDSCAPE ’ S POLARIZATION THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT : INLAND AND THE LAKESHORE
Standing in the middle of Iseo Lake , as its own name suggests Monteisola is both an island and a mountain at the same time : the diversity of its physical and environmental features has indeed favoured the development of different settle arrangement by the population , as well as different kind of activities .
In inner towns the main activities were those related to the land , such as agriculture , forestry and pastoralism . Towns are usually smaller , and they spread around their center toward the surrounding campaigns , between the woods and the fields . Buildings in here assume rougher traits , by the distinctive use of the local natural stone .
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The old towns next to the lake shore on the other hand have always been growing in relation to fishing and related crafts activities ( like the manufacture of nets and boats ). They therefore spreads following the coastline , and the houses seem to be rising from the waters and climbing up to the slopes , rather than being firmly secured to the land .
These are the two dominant polarities of the landscape around the Island , and we could maybe state that the authentic “ genius loci ” lies in the very same dialogical relation growing across the centuries between these two realities , enriched by continuous and reciprocal contaminations .
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