Weaving artificiality and nature. Architecture, context and techniques as interacting agents

Abstract

At the start of this century, a discussion took place with regard to humankind as an Earth-shaping force and the beginning of a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. This paper investigates how this condition, where nature and artificiality are considered mutually influencing agents, could concern the field of architecture. It sums up the interdisciplinary background behind the main threads on the topic, and discusses the main implications for architectural design, a discipline traditionally concerned with the relationship between the artificial human habitat and the surrounding nature.Several case studies back up these speculations and show different design concepts that try to work on a fluid relationship between artificial and natural elements.