Overriding the building industries’ material inertias, this essay presents five perspectives that shed light on a more promising material approach, attuned not only to ecological and social demands, but also to human desires for health and comfort, promising a built environment of ecological emancipation and sensorial intensity.
1.”Material atmospheres” advocates for architecture rooted in local material cultures and climates, connecting building materials’ thermodynamic performance (weight, porosity, color) with architectural qualities and tectonics. It integrates a territorial dimension, linking materials to ecological sources, and prioritizes adaptability through flexibility and resilience. Emphasizing low-cost, traditional techniques like rammed earth and wood, it balances simplicity with environmental awareness. Finally, it highlights the human body’s role, shifting from comfort to holistic, multisensory atmospheres that enhance perception and well-being.
2.Architecture possesses a territorial dimension that extends beyond material objects to include the ecological geographies they are connected to. This links building systems to the natural and artificial sources of their materials, creating a territorial “material ecology” that challenges the traditional, object-based understanding of buildings in architectural culture.
3.Architecture should align with biogeological cycles as well as with the changing needs and rhythms of users. Beyond the demands of a laissez-faire economy with adaptable interiors, the focus is on the durability of buildings and their ability to evolve over time. “Material infrastructures” embody both flexibility, enabling spaces to expand or contract, and resilience, ensuring stable spaces capable of supporting various programs.
4.The everincreasing technological sophistication underlying building culture is, however, balanced by a renewed interest in primitivist lowcost technologies, adopting ageold construction techniques to generate passive, environmentally aware buildings. This approach shows the potential of basic structures and materials to offer a renewed performance. This new trend, which blends the local and artisanal with the global and technological, is consistent with an architecture technology approach which unveils an underlying “material ethics”.
5.Last and not least, architecture’s material culture manifests a growing concern for the human body, which is becoming one of the core questions in architecture. “Material bodies” focus on this interest in the human body, showing how material culture and environmental technologies have the capacity to generate atmospheres that have a clear influence on the perception and wellbeing of users inside a building.
Overriding the building industries’ material inertias, this essay presents five perspectives that shed light on a more promising material approach, attuned not only to ecological and social demands, but also to human desires for health and comfort, promising a built environment of ecological emancipation and sensorial intensity.
1.”Material atmospheres” advocates for architecture rooted in local material cultures and climates, connecting building materials’ thermodynamic performance (weight, porosity, color) with architectural qualities and tectonics. It integrates a territorial dimension, linking materials to ecological sources, and prioritizes adaptability through flexibility and resilience. Emphasizing low-cost, traditional techniques like rammed earth and wood, it balances simplicity with environmental awareness. Finally, it highlights the human body’s role, shifting from comfort to holistic, multisensory atmospheres that enhance perception and well-being.
2.Architecture possesses a territorial dimension that extends beyond material objects to include the ecological geographies they are connected to. This links building systems to the natural and artificial sources of their materials, creating a territorial “material ecology” that challenges the traditional, object-based understanding of buildings in architectural culture.
3.Architecture should align with biogeological cycles as well as with the changing needs and rhythms of users. Beyond the demands of a laissez-faire economy with adaptable interiors, the focus is on the durability of buildings and their ability to evolve over time. “Material infrastructures” embody both flexibility, enabling spaces to expand or contract, and resilience, ensuring stable spaces capable of supporting various programs.
4.The everincreasing technological sophistication underlying building culture is, however, balanced by a renewed interest in primitivist lowcost technologies, adopting ageold construction techniques to generate passive, environmentally aware buildings. This approach shows the potential of basic structures and materials to offer a renewed performance. This new trend, which blends the local and artisanal with the global and technological, is consistent with an architecture technology approach which unveils an underlying “material ethics”.
5.Last and not least, architecture’s material culture manifests a growing concern for the human body, which is becoming one of the core questions in architecture. “Material bodies” focus on this interest in the human body, showing how material culture and environmental technologies have the capacity to generate atmospheres that have a clear influence on the perception and wellbeing of users inside a building. Read More
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