Venice and urban regeneration: the ideas of Mario Cucinella and Sheng-Hung Lee (MIT)

A guest of honor like the architect Mario Cucinellaexperts on sustainable design at Boston MIT such as Sheng-Hung Lee and, again, entrepreneurs, academics, innovators, representatives of the institutions of the sector and of the world of communication took part again this year in VID, Venice Innovation Designan event that takes place in conjunction with the Architecture Biennale to raise awareness of the process of urban regeneration taking place on theIsland of San Servolo, to Venice. For two days, debates, round tables and speeches focused on new visions, ideas and projects, operational and entrepreneurial proposals dedicated to sustainable design in the setting of the island affected by projects to achieve progressive energy self-sufficiency.

In his “Building Green Futures” lecture, Mario Cucinella presented his vision on sustainable architecture. “It was an opportunity to talk again about the role of architectural firms in contemporary society – says Cucinella – for reflect on the social role of the architect by going deeper, overcoming the chatter“. The architect, who has repeatedly accused the category of too many words and few facts, adds: “We are not looking at reality: compared to 450 million tons of CO₂ produced, in Italy the natural world absorbs 30, it is clear that we cannot expect to reduce emissions by compensating with treeswe have to rethink our exaggerated production and maybe give something up.”

For Cucinella “giving up something” means above all “design much more carefully, build buildings with reduced impact, recover materials and use recycled materials to create buildings that need less and less energy. Planting trees is essential – he continues – but I think we should look at plants as an organism that suggests what to do. As it teaches us Stephen Mancuso, plants know how to adapt to the climate. The lesson they teach us must serve to adapt us”.

From plants, according to the architect who has made sustainability a staple since his first works, we must also learn the ability to collaborate: “Nature is a collaborative organism, therefore we should take citizens’ listening policies as a suggestion. Living has a social and economic impact, we don’t design for ourselves, social responsibility is fundamental“. Cucinella, who has developed important regeneration projects in historic centres, now underlines the important role of the suburbs: “I find it offensive that we continue to talk about the suburbs as if they were only a satellite of the historic centre. The suburbs are now our city, we have to reverse the theme we live in modern cities where there is also a historic center”.

Cucinella’s speech ended with a provocation: “I showed the project for the first 3D printed raw earth house. Our “Tecla” – says the architect – it is an answer to the question of whether we want to build everything from scratch and it demonstrates that technology and innovation allow us to do so. It is the demonstration that if we want to make an effort we can find solutions, it is a positive message, we have creative and economic resources to make a leap into the new era”.

Among the most awaited interventions at Vid also that of Sheng-Hung Lee, of the MIT AgeLab in Boston, on “Sustainability and longevity of people”. The Taiwanese-born designer combines different approaches to reflect on how an increasingly long-lived society can truly become sustainable. His D4L project (design for longevity) “proposes to put the accent – he explains – on how the concept of sustainability cannot be understood by thinking only of products. It is a question of planning the way in which we will spend our existence from many points of view, not least the financial one. But don’t get it wrong – underlines Lee – it is not a matter of money but of quality of life and all the aspects that guarantee it, from economic stability, precisely, to mobility services to health services“.

Sheng-Hung Lee’s work follows the principle of collaboration to which Cucinella also referred: “In our laboratory – says the MIT researcher – we have an integrated approach, we involve the people who are the object of our studies, we listen to them and ask them questions then analyzing the keywords that according to their visions best define living a full life throughout existence.We do this type of research because it is clear that as life expectancy increases, consumption will grow. The planet cannot afford to waste resources: we will always be more and we will live longer and longer, therefore we will have to make ever more prudent decisions, not only for ourselves, but also for others”.

If Sheng-Hung Lee’s research seems only theoretical, just refer to one of his most awarded projects, “TetraPOT”, a breakwater system composed of concrete, organic materials and plants. The TetraPOT elements look like simple reinforced concrete structures, but have plants inside them that grow and create a long-lasting barrier made up of growing trees and roots, to help keep the blocks in place. The design of the TetraPOT not only prevents soil erosion, but also helps protect and create a natural habitat,”it’s not just a defense – Lee underlines – it’s an ecosystem, a home for other living beings“.

“TetraPOT is a project from a few years ago – explains the designer – but it’s a good example of our way of working. The idea came to me looking at the sea in Taipei, on the island of Taiwan, where I come from. Breakwaters serve as protection, but they are also a barrier in our connection with the marine environment, I thought that to protect ourselves we must look for better solutions that do not distance us from Nature, which create empathy and collaboration. TetraPOT has a great metaphorical meaning, because the roots establish a deep attachment and the general idea underlines a different conception of design”.

“We now abuse the term ‘sustainability – concludes the researcher – also because people imagine achieving sustainable solutions very quickly. Instead, even the roots of TetraPOT teach us that to achieve a real transformation it takes patienceprofound changes are needed. The transformation requires different levels and above all a change of mindset. I always give an example: it’s not enough to put separate collection containers for people to know where to throw away their coffee cups, my students and collaborators also demonstrate this, who, although well informed, often still have hesitations when faced with waste bins”.