Hemp: past, present, future for a Sustainable Architecture

Abstract

Cannabis, so classified by the botanist Linnaeus in 1753, is a plant with a long and tormented history. It has been a source of subsistence for many peoples who, since the dawn of time, have exploited its enormous and almost infinite potential. Hemp has survived eighty years of prohibition and the fierce attacks of the chemical, pharmaceutical, textile and other industries, which over the years have monopolized the world economy, contributing significantly to the process of ecosystem degeneration of the planet. Today, in the light of the compelling and urgent intervention actions, aimed at contrasting environmental emergencies, hemp returns to peep globally to help create a sustainable model of environmental, economic and social development thanks also to the extraordinary results achieved by technological research on its potential and new possible fields of application. Among these, the construction industry, one of the human activities with the highest environmental impact and for which it is necessary to put in place all the strategies necessary to neutralize its critical issues. The extraordinary properties of hemp make the use of this plant very interesting in the field of sustainable construction technologies. The contribution intends to cover the most significant stages of the history of hemp and its multiple applications in the most disparate sectors, with particular attention to building production and experimentation which, drawing inspiration from the traditions of the past, today find interesting applications in the design of sustainable architectures to be used. also in conditions of territorial and economic vulnerability and in the recovery of buildings, focusing attention on new and future frontiers.