The 'Historiography of Hearsay' research project seeks to develop a parallel “oral history” of artisanal production. Embraced by scholars such as Janina Gosseye, Naomi Stead and Christine Wall, the method of oral history typically involves recording interviews with individuals (then transcribed, archived, and analyzed) to provide rich, firsthand accounts that offer unique insights into historical events, social movements, and everyday life. This approach challenges the dominance of written sources and official records, which often reflect solely partial perspectives, to capture the lived experiences and personal stories of individuals, generally ignored from traditional historical accounts and the general discourse of architecture. Oral history thus aims to democratize historical production, ensuring that its represents a broader spectrum of society. This mode of research is aligned with the "history from below", initiated in the early twentieth century by Marc Bloch, and with the “history against the grain”, proposed by Brazilian scholar Sergio Ferro – a great advocate for a rewriting of architectural history from the point of view of labourers. Both these authors underscore that the emphasis on the experiences of marginalized groups (such as working-class individuals, women, ethnic minorities, and indigenous peoples) not only recovers lost or overlooked narratives but also contributes to a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of the past.
By foregrounding historically silenced or marginalized voices, oral history validates and empowers individuals to share their stories in their own words, recognizing their agency and safeguarding stories that would otherwise be lost. Through its commitment to inclusivity and its focus on personal testimony, it closes the gaps of more mainstream forms of historiography, ultimately enhancing historical scholarship.