Abstract
In a world shaped by urban homogenization and climate crisis, architecture must redefine its relationship with the environment. In this context, The Essential Matter explores material sustainability as a key strategy against the erosion of territorial identity and environmental degradation. Matter, both substance and language, links tradition and innovation, fostering an architecture that inhabits and dialogues with the landscape. By revisiting vernacular knowledge, this study examines architecture’s ability to create spaces that integrate with, rather than dominate, their surroundings. Modular units serve as shelters for inspiration, framing nature as the sixth wall, a dynamic, ever-changing surface that challenges static architectural forms. Each unit’s unique configuration prevents repetition, ensuring a harmonious relationship with its environment. Five shelters built only with wood, stone, plant fibers, earth and ceramics form a dispersed but connected community, with Architecture acting as a paradigmatic case study. Material sustainability -defined as responsible resource use and contextual adaptation- is not just a technical solution but an ethical and critical response to urban challenges. In the core of the complex, a cantilevered central structure serves as a social hub, framing the landscape and fostering dialogue between nature and creativity. Ultimately, the project poses two questions: How does Nature shape architectural thought and how can Architecture contribute to preserving and enhancing untamed natural landscapes? In this sense, The Essential Matter envisions an architecture that coexists rather than imposes, transforming space into an experience of knowledge and contemplation.
Presenters
Sergi Ortín MolinaStudent, Arquitectura, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
Architectonic, Spatial, and Environmental Design
KEYWORDS
Essential matter, Post-pandemic, Housing communities, Neotraditional architecture, Wood construction
