Wi­sdom from the pa­st, In­tel­li­gen­ce from the ar­ti­fi­cial

Data di pubblicazione
17-04-2026

Testo in italiano al seguente link

The construction industry stands at a pivotal crossroads. For more than a century, development has been measured in terms of scale and complexity, e.g. taller buildings, longer bridges, increasingly complex geometries etc. Today, however, priorities are shifting dramatically. The depletion of natural resources,1 rising material costs,2 and the environmental consequences of continuous extraction,3 construction waste, and demolition4 are calling the traditional build–use–discard paradigm into question. This linear model is no longer sustainable within the ecological and economic constraints of our time.

Two interrelated challenges must be urgently addressed by the construction industry: (a) the limited availability of construction materials and (b) the significant environmental impacts associated with their extraction, processing, and fabrication. As resources grow scarcer 5 the stock of virgin materials rapidly diminishes.6 At the same time, the embodied carbon emissions generated from traditional construction practices (mining, processing, transporting and careless material discarding),7 further intensify the ecological crisis facing the building sector. These concerns must frame how we (re)think about the future of construction.

Material scarcity is nothing new in human history. Civilizations have repeatedly faced resource shortages arising from wars, epidemics, or economic disruptions, and each time humanity has responded with ingenuity and creativity. History shows that periods of constraints often acted as catalysts for innovation, encouraging adaptive reuse, local sourcing, and the construction techniques that maximized efficiency within available means.8 From the recycling of masonry in post-war reconstruction to the inventive use of vernacular forms,9 these responses demonstrate that scarcity has long been a driver of creativity and forward-thinking in the built environment. Therefore, the current crisis should not be perceived as a limitation but rather as an opportunity to revise and reinterpret the intelligence encapsulated in past practices.

As we enter once again an era of material scarcity, both low-tech construction approaches and systematic material reuse must emerge as fundamental principles of structural design. By studying historical precedents and low-tech construction methods, designers can unveil principles of adaptability, modularity, and material economy that remain highly relevant nowadays. Every beam, column, and slab embodies not only material resources but also energy and craftsmanship invested in its production.10 Rather than discarding building materials, the upcoming generation of engineers and architects must identify them as assets, namely components that can be catalogued, reassembled, and reintegrated into new structural configurations. Beyond addressing scarcity, reuse represents a reliable strategy for reducing embodied carbon and prolonging the lifecycle of construction materials.

Unlike material scarcity, CO2 emissions have rarely concerned past societies, partly due to limited understanding, but also because humanity has long been relying on low environmental impact materials.11 Contemporary practices, however, have altered the landscape profoundly. While operational energy demands have decreased12 thanks to high performance and quality materials, improved building envelopes, and efficient mechanical systems, the embodied energy has increased dramatically.13 Continuous extraction of raw materials, energy-intensive manufacturing, long-distance transportation and short service lives now contribute a substantial share of a building’s overall climate impact too.14

The dominance of cement and steel in modern construction, materials that require energy-intensive and chemically-driven production, place them among the highest industrial contributors to global CO2 emissions.15 Demolition practices further augment these numbers, triggering new rounds of carbon-intensive material production, while discarding «ready-to-use» components. Consequently, life-
cycle analyses, BIM-integrated carbon tools, and material passports need to be considered decision-makers as early as the conceptual design phase. Learning from the past, adopting construction methods, such as reversible assemblies, modular components etc., relying on local, as well as less carbon-intensive materials, become essential for reducing the sector’s environmental footprint. Thus, optimisation is no longer about weight or cost minimisation; it is about minimising carbon emissions across building lifecycles.

The artificially created demand for high-performance and excess has driven the development of new construction materials, often at the expense of high CO2 emissions associated with their extraction and/or manufacturing.16 While such innovations have allowed engineers to exceed their limits and set new targets, they require our critical thinking. What if, instead of aiming at inventing new materials, we re-examine long-existing underexplored materials?

Lessons from past eras of scarcity can inform a renewed exploration of unconventional materials, suggesting that part of the solution may lie in diversifying the material palette beyond established conventions or new inventions. Materials such as bamboo, rammed earth, mycelium-based composites, and other bio-derived materials represent compelling opportunities for low-impact construction.17 Though often overlooked in Western practice, these materials exemplify sustainability and circularity, qualities essential to the sustainable transformation of the built environment.18 While often labeled as «generative», none of these materials are truly new; they have simply been overshadowed by excess, standardisation, and careless over-consumption. If the term generative carries any prophecy, it is that these materials may once again enrich and diversify the future construction palette, reminding us of earlier paradigms of efficiency.

Expressions of efficiency and regenerative practices converge with the evolution of digital technologies. Digital transformation in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sector is reshaping how we design and build.19 Computational design tools, once celebrated for enabling unprecedented formal and geometric complexity, fostered a culture of overcomplexity that overlooked material efficiency and intensified resource consumption. In this respect, they inadvertently amplified the problem of material scarcity. Acknowledging this contradiction is crucial 
for redirecting digital tools towards more intelligent, re­source-aware, and sustainable practices.

In parallel, we have entered a new era which artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are easily accessible. Integrated into digital design workflows, they enable the simulation, analysis and prediction of structural performance with unprecedented precision.20 Generative design algorithms can propose material-efficient configurations,21 while AI-driven assessments can identify reusable components within existing buildings.22 By embedding intelligence into the design process, these tools are transforming how architects and engineers conceive, evaluate, and optimize structures, allowing sustainability considerations to be integrated at the earliest conceptual stages of design.

Complementary to the AI capabilities, advances in computational power facilitate the rapid exploration of complex optimization problems that were infeasible just a few years ago. This includes challenges related to the stock-constrained generation of trusses through material reuse,23 construction waste reduction24 and stock-constrained minimisation of embodied energy and carbon across structural systems.25 The ability to rapidly simulate, evaluate, and iterate on thousands of design alternatives transforms the decision-making process,26 allowing efficiency pursuit like never before. It is both an opportunity and a responsibility to employ these technological capabilities wisely, not the novelty of the tools, but as means towards a genuinely sustainable built environment.

The future of construction will be less about concrete or steel, and more about unconventional, regenerative materials and intelligent design systems that adapt, reuse, and evolve. Coupling knowledge from the past with the technologies of the present, architects and engineers can minimize waste, extend material lifecycles, and reduce embodied ­carbon. The challenge is clear: the next era of construction must bridge the physical and digital merging low-tech with artificial intelligence to create a truly sustainable and resilient built environment. Sustainability is no longer just about selecting greener materials; it requires smarter systems that optimise resources, respond dynamically to environmental challenges, and ensure efficiency at every stage.

Nevertheless, no amount of precedent knowledge, tools, or scientific contributions can replace the power of a conscious mindset. The future of our planet and of the built environment depends on the choices each of us makes. Architecture and construction are, at its core, by humans for humans; every decision reflects our responsibility to people, communities, and the ecosystems that sustain them. Sustainable construction begins not with norms or technology, but with ethical awareness and a willingness to act differently as individuals. Are you ready?

Notes

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  5. UNEP. «Resource Efficiency and Climate Change|Resource Panel». United Nations Environment Programme (2020) https://www.resourcepanel.org/reports/resource-efficiency-and-climate-change
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