piloni a risparmio

Sarah Gregg (asker) Feb 24, 2018:

That sounds pretty convincing. Thanks!

Dan Newton Feb 24, 2018:

if what you're translating... is anything like this
https://goo.gl/mB7UCB
which refers to "un enorme ambiente sotterraneo di 7000 metri quadrati ed alto circa 10 metri, nel quale furono lasciati, a cadenze irregolari, enormi pilastri di roccia per garantirne la stabilità."
or this https://goo.gl/AvspCX
which describes an underground area being classified as "per camere e pilastri"
then maybe "room and pillar mining" is what we're talking about
https://goo.gl/2MvgUB
The wikipedia entry refers to ""pillars" of untouched material...left to support the roof overburden"...which sound a lot like your "pilastri a risparmio"

Sarah Gregg (asker) Feb 24, 2018:

Like you, I had imagined something like that. Not sure though how to render the idea in English. Perhaps subtractive would do the trick.

Dan Newton Feb 24, 2018:

A guess: pinch of (rock) salt required Hi Sarah, could they be referring to rock-cut architecture do you think?
https://goo.gl/VTjSRz
That is, in the sense of pillars that have been sculpted by removing the material around them - rather than their having been brought there from outside, i.e. using a "relief" or "subtractive" process, rather than an "additive" one.
"A risparmio" seems to be more frequently used in descriptions of techniques used to decorate pottery (e.g. here https://goo.gl/YBb3nQ - "la tecnica “a risparmio”, che consiste nel lasciare le figure sul fondo naturale dell'argilla, definite in negativo dal colore circostante."), but it sounds like its meaning has been extended here by analogy to refer to the way the pillars are defined by a process of "sparing" rather than by one of "adding".