Unità modulari e progettazione geometrica ad Haghia Triada nel Tardo Minoico IIIA2: la Casa delle Camere Decapitate

This paper focuses on an early LM IIIA2 building of Hagia Triada on Crete, the so-called Casa delle Camere Decapitate, which functioned as a silo-complex. The regular layout of this building implies a careful design and possibly hints at the use of a building module. Drawing on the length of the east and south exterior walls, this is identified with the modular unit of 32.5 cm suggested long ago by D. Preziosi. Accordingly, a grid of squares 1.95 m large (side corresponding to six such units) is envisaged as the module used to lay out several inner partition walls and the west exterior wall of the building. An apparent anomaly in its plan, represented by the position of the west wall of space 4, is explained by making reference to another design practice, based on laying out simple geometric figures. This is confirmed by the ratio between the north and east walls, that is, 1: √3. In other words, the two walls respectively correspond to half of the base and the height of an equilateral triangle, the side of which is represented by the diagonal running across the building northwest to southeast.