Ricerc@Sapienza

The intrinsic nature of local rocks shaped the features of built heritage in historical centers. The resulting building culture is part of the cultural heritage itself, and must be considered when building in such areas, while it is essential to solve the issues related to traditional constructions’ weaknesses. Nonetheless, the potentialities of massive stone envelopes, particularly the importance of thermal inertia, have contributed to redefining the language of contemporary architectural culture.

Nowadays, environmental sustainability has become a fundamental requirement for new residential buildings, which should be designed to have low energy consumption. In countries where natural stones have shaped the features of the architectural heritage of urban contexts, it is necessary to develop new design approaches that could express the local identity and promote the existing building culture, enhancing its environmental and economic potential while going beyond weaknesses and vulnerabilities of traditional stone envelope.