Ricerc@Sapienza

Despite an undoubted awareness of the intangible aspects of culture in heritage studies, scholars continue to base their understanding of intangible heritage according to rationalist theories of perception, which accept only a single mode of perception—that which is bound to the empirical, sensorial and terrestrial world.

It now belongs to common sense, as well as to administrative law, the concept of legacy that within the cultural heritage is both the object and the matrix of a particular form of design that tends to protect or restore in the physical space new or lost qualitiesover time.

The heritage of intangible assets consisting of spoken traditions, rituals, worships, festivals, and craft activities, expresses a population’s culture, defining its identity. Despite the central role it plays in the cultural scene, this heritage is currently at risk to disperse and disappear. Therefore, a critical study and analysis of immaterial assets of a community represent the key to promote the enhancement and the safeguard of the territory, the architecture, and the cities.

The heritage of intangible assets consisting of spoken traditions, rituals, worships, festivals, and craft activities, expresses a population’s culture, defining its identity. Despite the central role it plays in the cultural scene, this heritage is currently at risk to disperse and disappear. Therefore, a critical study and analysis of immaterial assets of a community represent the key to promote the enhancement and the safeguard of the territory, the architecture, and the cities.

Wine is one of the most traditional products with high symbolic value and for some countries in the world is a carrier of community knowledge, embodying immaterial and intangible assets. Furthermore it generates income, employment, economic and social value. Through a review of the various contributions of the research strands, this work aims to highlight what have been, over the years, the most discussed issues, the research areas most investigated and those that have aroused less interest, so that any gaps may emerge in the current academic scenario.