Construction words

Building, erecting, foundation, structure, architrave, cornerstone: these are but a few words that our cultural catalogue has borrowed from construction, transforming them from physical reality of the yards into support for symbolic processing. These terms are strong and substantial, because they can express and transmit ideas, meanings, evocations, qualities and peculiar properties.

Symbolism of the tools

Building tools have always inspired a rich production of symbols. Masonic symbolism is a striking example, with a square ruler, a compass, a level, a plumb line, a mallet, a chisel, a trowel and the hierarchy of the initiate follows the professional levels of the building trade: bricklayer, apprentice, workman, master.Building tools have always inspired a rich production of symbols. Masonic symbolism is a striking example, with a square ruler, a compass, a level, a plumb line, a mallet, a chisel, a trowel and the hierarchy of the initiate follows the professional levels of the building trade: bricklayer, apprentice, workman, master.Building tools have always inspired a rich production of symbols. Masonic symbolism is a striking example, with a square ruler, a compass, a level, a plumb line, a mallet, a chisel, a trowel and the hierarchy of the initiate follows the professional levels of the building trade: bricklayer, apprentice, workman, master.

Worksites

The worksite, par excellence, is Babel, the famous tower the Bible talks about whose iconography is varied through the centuries, but with one constant element: the Tower always appears as a work in progress, where we can spot building figures in action, busy with their own task, displaying tools, materials, construction stages, almost giving us the opportunity to open a breach in the time continuum and observe a real working site of the past.

“In the yards you can find interesting men, beaten, on the go, stranded sailors forever” (Erri De Luca, Tre cavalli)

Pragmatic work

ich in symbols and rituals, the trade of building is practical, but it is familiar with religious and laical customs that are associated to the working cycle: the grounding of foundations, the setting of the foundation stone, the building of the roof, the end of works. These rituals underline and celebrate some socially important moments, transitions, beginnings (full of expectations) and endings (when the celebration relieves workers from the heaviness of the task).

Foundations

It is a good omen to insert coins, blessed olive branches, holy images in the corners of the foundations in order to favour abundance and protection for the house and those who dwell in it.

Laying of the foundation stone

The laying of the foundation stone, and the attached blessing, is the start of a building and of its life. The construction trade has established precise rules.

When reaching the top of the roof: to lift a branch or to hoist a flag

The realization of the roof marks the end of structural works in a building, moving towards conclusion. The branch exposed on top of the roof is a sign of this final event.

Licôf

Licôf is the final ritual of the works and it calls for conviviality among those who took part in the work.A

Rituals for the beginning and end of works

The beginning and end of a work are crucial moments that deserve a celebration through religious or laical ceremonies.

The ex voto are dedicated to the Virgin Mary and to the patron Saints to thank them for an escaped danger.

The ceremonies for the celebration of anniversaries and awards to companies and workers are laical rituals which fortify the sense of belonging to the trade and its tradition.

Bibliography