Hic sunt leones. Nuove frontiere per le comunità vegetali

Abstract

Putting on a map the whole forms given by humans to plant communities, the result would be a planisphere with an extremely rich geography. The mappae mundi, however, would present some terrae incognitae: white spots, whose existence is hypothesized but its content is not yet known. They would not be located only in the most remote corners of the planet, but on the contrary, they could be closer than we thought, since nature itself has become a hybrid entity, mixing itself with artifice. The article deals with issues such as the application of mycelium-based materials in the building sector, the management of wastewater through the use of cactaceae, marine agriculture. Food for thought on future’s natural capital and ecologies, on new ways of using plants in design, based on principles of ecological coexistence and habitat rehabilitation logics.