Architecture & Nature: learning from the past to build the future

The landscape is a complex system and, like all systems, it is dynamic: it is in a state of continuous transformation, under the action of both nature and man. In the past, the relationship between the built environment and the "natural" environment was balanced, based on our empirical but profound knowledge of nature and its workings, natural resources and their characteristics. Now, all too often, this balance is no longer clear in built landscapes, at times because they have been transformed according to rules that do not respect the natural dynamics, at times because they have been abandoned. To re-establish a balanced relationship between architecture and nature it may be worthwhile to study the "rules" (both consolidated and experimental) that made it possible, in the past, to create landscapes of quality that we now work to preserve and valorize, so that we can apply those principles, updated where necessary, to contemporary landscapes. It may even be necessary to take a different tack than in the past decades, and not simply throw away everything that belongs to the past, but learn from it to build the future. We hear talk these days of “Traditional Knowledge” and UNESCO has promoted a Traditional Knowledge World Bank” (TKWB). We feel the need more and more to understand the principles of sustainability (originated more by need than by our own desires) of traditional building, evaluating the possibilities of applying them once again. This contribution intends to present a few examples of traditional technologies and constructions, recently explored in the sphere of research projects, to be viewed in this light.