Il ritorno dei materiali naturali

Contemporary architecture is increasingly turning to natural materials, which, thanks to modern technologies that suitably exploit and enhance their intrinsic characteristics, are able to actively participate in the creation of comfortable, sustainable and healthy forms, spaces and environments. In this article, we will explore the cutting-edge uses of some natural materials, coming from stones (natural stones and earth) and from plants (wood, straw, bamboo, flax) often combined with each other, such as biocomposites, explicating their composition, production technology and performance and reporting their architectural creations, generally prototypes under study and development. Natural materials traditionally used in architecture and advanced technologies, such as large-scale 3D printing and robotics, come together to offer invisible but essential structural, formal and performance solutions (in response to thermo-hygrometric, acoustic, visual, olfactory well-being). Finally, a section of the paper is devoted to nature-derived materials, i.e., derived from natural sources and recyclable; among these, particular attention is focused on biopolymers, including in this meaning both polymers derived from biomass and biodegradable, as well as those derived from fossil sources but biodegradable.