The slate is the fundamental material of the structures and the popular constructions in the towns of the black architecture, the slate slabs are in the walls, the paving of the streets and the squares, the closures of the corrals, the fences of the corrals and the cattle farms. The grey, bluish and black tones of the stone give the towns a dark and primitive atmosphere, they are images of an era that seems frozen in time. Clay, wood and quartzite boulders to prop up and reinforce the walls complete the structure of the buildings. The slate was extracted at the peak of the vein in large blocks or rocks and in the quarry itself it was crushed into manageable pieces for the construction of the walls and tapials or in flat and elongated slabs to pave the streets. The mud was transported in cavalries to the construction site, where it was mixed with vegetable fibers to form adobe and hit with a hoe to create a homogeneous mass with which to plaster the interior walls and partitions.
The most widespread and traditional typology in the towns of black architecture is the single floor, in low and collected houses, with narrow and small holes to isolate themselves from cold, heat and extreme environmental conditions. The kitchen is the most important room, it fulfills the functions of a living room, food preparation, bread oven, drying place for the slaughter and hall.