干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

The evolution of consumption of the planet's resources increased along with the needs to be met. The latter, in fact, were initially tied to survival, today, with the evolution of technology, are considered indispensable a series of a not necessary needs. The effects of uncontrolled exploitation of fossil fuels are responsible for environmental pollution and traditional energy sources and, can be consumed in a medium to long term.

The last two decades have witnessed the changes in public attitudes to ecology and energy consumption. These trends have been anticipated in many projects, and solutions that greatly favor renewable energy sources have been proven.

Alternative sources may not, however, be considered as a solution to a prevalently cultural problem: technological evolution has led certainly to obtain a number of benefits, but, at the same time, those principles which, throughout history, have always taken into account the interaction of the building with the surrounding environment were lost. If it is true, therefore, that we must take full advantage of what technology offers us, it must be done in the best manner and considering priority the interactions between building and environment. It's clear that the solution of the problem resides in the study of technological and architectural - compositional aspect.

Starting from the understanding of the current issues, we tried, through a study of the state of the art, to analyze traditional settlement patterns such as the Oasis of Shibam, the city of Matera, Petra and Trulli Pugliesi. In these systems the soil urbanized constitutes a fully integrated system with the environment through the adoption of functional ingredients similar to natural ones, in which each residue or waste of a process is reinserted within the system for the production of new resources. The building structures of these systems are the result of a complex and polyfunctional method that is part of an integrated approach between society, culture and economy, and whose techniques are based on a shared knowledge and handed down through the centuries.

Nowadays, the trend is to explore the latest technologies when instead you should try to recover the forgotten traditions such as the study of the shape and orientation of a building, its flexibility, the usage of ventilation and natural lighting, and the use of ecological materials. Based on the analysis of a building constructed in Italy, using traditional building techniques of straw, one objective was to verify the actual advantages and benefits that it could take in terms of global sustainability.