Gafio

A Gafio is a protruding balcony, usually of small dimensions, constructed by means of placing protruding wooden beams into the stone walls of a house. Despite their architectural significance, Gafio's have become increasingly rare in recent years and are often poorly preserved and maintained.

Gafio's are more commonly found in small Italian mountain villages of Lombardy and are representative of the area's strong reliance on wood in the construction of forms and supports. A prototypical gafio is composed entirely of wood. It is made up of flooring boards laid across a series of beams, a railing structure. At the top of the gafio is some form of overhead covering, this serving as a form of protection from the rain and snow. The popularity of the gafio in Italy can be attributed to the houses in the mountain areas having a need for an open space that could be used for daily chores such as drying clothes, airing out linen, and so on.

Gafio's are also found in the more more southern portions of the Apennine mountains such as Abruzzo. Many houses and other dwellings in the mountains of Abruzzo have been abandoned in recent years and the wooden gafio balconies are often the first portions of these building to decay. Also contributing to this process has been the failure of some owners to properly maintain their gafios. Some wooden gafio's have been replaced by metal or reinforced concrete balconies, thus losing their original aesthetic beauty and architectural integrity.