Vegetation and the construction of space

Abstract

In the last century, the architectural renewal proposed by the functionalist ideal of the living machine placed the architectural object in a context, establishing perceptive relations with it but remaining substantially distinct. Although in some cases the vegetation was incorporated into the architecture for the definition of some internal open spaces, it is necessary to wait for a revision of these principles to find new research for a deep interaction between natural and artificial space (an ecosystem architecture-nature). After these experiences, the focus on vegetation has decreased, returning to be a central theme of contemporary research, especially in response to the complex crisis and pandemic underway that has defined new qualitative and quantitative priorities for domestic space and cities. The contemporary debate about the relationship between built space and vegetation has often been devoted to the urban scale and the external and public dimensions of buildings. At the scale of architecture, the presence of vegetation is often evaluated from the point of view of environmental comfort and for its use in energy strategies. In response to the new needs of living and building (for a truly integrated and sustainable environment), the contribution aims to offer a reflection on vegetation as an architectural and spatial component (mainly in areas with medium-high population density) whose presence acts as an element of structuring and sorting the project. In the desirable change of priorities, the contribution aims to offer a reflection on the theme through a framework of the role of vegetation as a material of the project, making use of different experiences, reporting case studies, and analyzing the use of vegetation concerning the multiple issues of space. The contribution, therefore, elaborates good practices, in order to define ideas and rules for the role of vegetation in contemporary architectural space.