CuciTechno

I won't talk to you about
technological innovation,

or at least as I imagine it.

And before telling you a little
about what I do,

I want to tell you a story
to make you understand, too,

that the theme of sustainability is a
theme that comes from a long time ago.

First -

this tale I want to tell you
is a wonderful story.

Marco Polo crosses from Venice to China,

and when he arrives in Persia,

in the heart of Persia,
so we're between Iraq and lran,

a place of deserts, a deadly heat -

When he arrives in a village,

the Persians, as a sign of welcome -
we're in 1472-73,

as a sign of welcome
they offer him a tamarind ice cream.

A tamarind ice cream in 1470?

It's a question which
demands an answer.

How did they eat ice cream?

This is why it's important
to talk about architecture.

The Persians probably took centuries

to understand how
the science worked, right?

We're in a period where
power didn't exist.

Then they built this
building you can see,

which is a large wall facing south.

This wall protected a small,
let's call it a swimming pool,

a small basin.

And in front of this wall
there was a large dome

that had been obtained
by digging a cistern.

And what did the Persians do?

At night,

they deposited a thin layer
of water in this pool,

and since the wall protected
that area from the sun all day,

there was no thermal increase,

it never heated up.

As a result of the celestial canopy,

which, as you know
when you travel by plane,

the captain says, -
the outside temperature is -55 degrees -,

the celestial canopy is -55 degrees
and because of celestial radiation,

in a historical period
where there was obviously no pollution,

the sky was clear

and because of the celestial radiation,
there was this layer of icy water.

And night after night,

the Persians removed,
they broke this ice

and put it in this cistern.

During the summer, + 55 degrees outside,

there's a dome protecting
this great mound of ice

through a simple
principle of ventilation,

so the sun's radiation

which became a temperature
inside this dome

was then expelled

through a system
of natural ventilation.

This is one piece of architecture -
out of sadly few - that remains,

because of war which,
besides being a terrible thing,

also destroys culture.

This example is an important one,

because the Persians,
despite the great summer heat,

ate ice cream during the summer,
and they offered it to him.

Perhaps in Rome it would have been
called a grattachecca,

which is crushed ice
together with some essences.

This is an example that it's
important to tell you about,

because we're looking

at what will happen
in the next 30, 40, 50 years.

Now, to give you an idea
of the scale of the problem,

then you'll understand why
I told you about Marco Polo -

talking about sustainability is important,

because what's happening
is unprecedented in our history.

Just to give you the numbers:

today, on Earth, we have built on
145 billion square metres,

and I can't even explain
how big that is physically.

Lots of stuff, lots of stuff.

But that's not the point.

The point is that in the next 15 years,

we will build half as much again
as what we've already built.

This is the scale of the problem.

73 billion square metres is more or less
a billion units of accommodation.

This is what will happen,

and what is slowly happening
in countries that are growing.

Maybe Italy has a different problem,
but in other countries around the world -

So, in order to do that,

that is, to build 75,
73 billion square metres,

we need cement, glass, bricks, lime.

We need to bring water,

in some places, we need
to provide some cooling,

like in these pictures,

which also help us understand
the scale of consumption.

Have we perhaps placed
too much trust in technology?

Because the technology -

and in this case
I'm talking about construction

not technology in a broader sense -

Technology for buildings
has been a great achievement.

Because, in the last 50 years,
we've been living in buildings

that no longer have any
relationship with the climate.

It doesn't matter at all if
it's hot outside, or cold.

I've got my air conditioning,
with my thermal control.

See, this technological innovation
was a bit like these robots,

a bit of a dream for mankind;
do something against nature.

But now nature has
presented us with a reckoning.

You wanted high-tech buildings?

And now we have a series of problems
that we've heard about before.

Which are those of climate change,

local changes in conditions.

So, perhaps, also looking at
the goals for coming years,

we have to ask ourselves some questions.

Now to give you some more simple data,

every week, one and a half
million people move

from the countryside to the cities.

This is the movement that's taking place.

It would also be worth
discussing this topic,

because this huge
phenomenon of megacities

was a great dream,
and also a great opportunity,

but it has also had a few
little side effects, hasn't it?

That's why, if you've ever had
the opportunity to see the Biennale,

we talk about the inner areas,

that is, they are not metropolitan cities

because they are cultural deposits.

What's going on?

We have before us
a road map that was -

Europe has designed a scenario,
and this scenario has no alternative,

this is the way.

It has been since 1992,
with Rio de Janeiro,

where every year, for 21 years, there's
been a conference on climate change.

The last agreement, the Paris one,
which we would call more successful,

is also the result
of 20 years of discussions.

But why is time important?

Because the true theme here
is not just climate change,

which is going to happen in any case,

whether we want it or not,
whatever efforts we make.

The real change here
is cultural change.

We have to enter another era.

We're no longer in the era
of using fossil fuels.

We're entering a new era,
an ecological era.

In an ecological era, like this -

You can see, this map tells us that
in 2020, in 2030 we'll have meetings,

but what's the goal?

The goal is to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions.

And yet, despite the Paris agreement,

the indices this year
are increasing, not decreasing.

But then what does the framework tell us?

I'll talk about it -

It seems I'm not talking about
architecture, but it is important.

Because the built-up world
contributes 70 per cent

of CO2 emissions
from energy consumption.

So we have absolutely
got to talk about it.

Here they ask us:
to reduce CO2 emissions;

apart from the numbers,

to make energy savings;

and from the other side
to consume less energy.

But how are we going to do this?

Because CO2 can't be seen.

And in a world of images, something
that can't be seen does not exist.

How do we produce renewable energy?

And how can we consume less?

So, perhaps, and this is what seems
the most interesting theme to me,

perhaps we have to go fishing

right in that enormous cultural deposit

that is our history,

where buildings were built
when there was no power.

How did they manage to create
wonderful buildings for 2000 years

when power wasn't one
of the basic components?

This makes me think that the theme of
innovation goes back a bit, perhaps -

perhaps we should look back
to see what innovation is.

If it's just a car,
if it's just a programme,

if it's just a computer.

Or maybe, in construction or architecture

we have to find a relationship
that I call empathy with the environment.

So there are some wonderful examples.

I don't want to bore you
with too many things, though,

for centuries, people have created,

you might say, complicity
with the environment.

They built - these are windcatchers.

They take the prevailing wind,
they bring it inside the houses,

they cool the houses at night
and in the daytime it's ten degrees lower.

Now it's clear that we
don't want to do this.

That's the past.
I'm not nostalgic,

nor do I have the idea that the past
is always better than the future.

I believe that the future
will always be better.

But it intrigues me.

I'm intrigued, for example,
by the Pakistanis,

who make these towers

with this type of catcher, this kite,

which collects the wind,
channels it into homes,

and reduces the temperature.

At night, these houses are cooler,

and by day - outside it's 50 degrees,
inside it's only 42.

That's a difference of 7, 8 degrees.

All this makes me think
that in there, in these buildings -

of course we won't make them like that,
but some knowledge is hidden in them.

That is, they knew how to do it.

They knew how to react.

So, if Europe is telling me,

and we are all working with this idea,

that the buildings of 2020
i.e. the day after tomorrow,

must be at almost zero energy,

and that should "virtually all" be
made with renewable resources,

the first thing that comes to mind is
"I'll study the Pakistanis".

I'm going to study those that had
this complicity with energy.

And we live in a world

where we have an opportunity
that we never had before.

Which is precisely that of technology.

They didn't even have a computer,

but the Persians, perhaps by
doing so many tests,

realised that at certain times

this relationship with the environment
could be very beneficial.

i.e. that energy, which was outside,

was something that could
be useful to people;

it was not against man, but for him.

We, this thing, we've completely lost it.

I mean we've completely lost the ability
to communicate with the environment,

because we've had a wonderful dream.

We said: now, with
technology, with machines,

we can do everything we want.

You know, what's out there
doesn't interest us.

Look, this doesn't work anymore.

I like to think that
the future of innovation

is in fact a hybrid thing.

Maybe there's technology,
but there's also knowledge,

there's also something we could do.

We knew how to do this, once.

Another wonderful example.

This is a story of architects.

This is a palace in Merhabad.

Instead of being built above the earth
it's dug underground.

Every ten metres you go down,
it also drops one degree.

And these were the houses,
and the squares,

where the Indians took refuge
when it was 60 degrees outside.

And they were also public places.

So it was a building in reverse.

In the semi-darkness.

the earth - as you know,
when you dig up the earth,

after a few metres
the temperature's constant

around 16, 17 degrees.

So if I - for this there's an incredible
subterranean architecture:

when I go underground,
whatever the temperature outside,

It's 18, 20 degrees inside.

The nice thing about this
building, if you go -

it's called Stepwell, in India,

it turned out so well, this building,

the Maharaja was so pleased,

that he killed the six architects
who had worked on it.

And outside the entrance to this building

there are six tombs, as a form of honour.

As if to say: it's so beautiful,
that you mustn't do it for anyone else.

You see, these are the risks of the trade.

(Laughter)

Today -

(Applause)

And here we come back again
to the idea of responsibility.

Because doing this job -

I always say that architects
are very dangerous people,

because they can build
wonderful things

or they can create nightmares.

And there are many nightmares,
all over the world.

This is the Camera dello Scirocco,

where the people of Catania took refuge
during the Mediterranean sirocco winds.

And this room, with natural ventilation,
allowed them to stay below.

Now I will show you
two simple things, to finish,

about the relationship with nature.

These are the dunes of Algiers,

and these are stone constructions

that were made to collect the heat,

and with the day-night change in humidity

moisture condensed,around these stones

and pools were built
to provide water for the animals.

So this was all about the shape.

This is a building which
we're making in Algiers,

the first building

which addresses this theme
of sustainability of consumption,

in a country that is the largest
gas producer in the world.

This is a palm tree, and a salt cave,

out of which came this building,
which is in Ghana,

which we made
for a Ghanaian developer,

and which has become a landmark,

because it's reconnected some
themes that had been lost:

shade, natural ventilation.

All themes that have allowed this building

to function for half the year
without any conditioning.

Just through a passive principle.

So I like to think

that maybe the future of our
buildings is no longer high-tech,

that chunky building full of facilities,

but maybe it's a mediation
between knowledge and innovation.

And I'll finish with this
image, a greeting.

This is a Bedouin with his camel,
crossing the desert.

Oh well.

That said,

if I change the point of view,
and I'll show you this,

this isn't a Bedouin.

It's a doctor who has a camel,

which has a GPS antenna on its head,

and has a photovoltaic panel

that produces energy,
which powers a battery,

which powers a fridge
containing medicines.

You see: here in this image

there's a hidden idea which
we haven't yet understood.

That, perhaps, the future is this ability
to bring together technological innovation

and ancient knowledge like the world.

Thank you.

(Applause)