Strategies for Sustainable Rooting in Landscape: Arrangements between Architecture and the Ground

Abstract

Contemporary environmental awareness requires new architectural practices to reformulate the relationship between buildings and the ground. Among these, the way in which buildings land on the site emerges as a key architectural condition that must be reviewed, focusing on generating new systems of articulation, more sensitive and attentive to the specific conditions of the grounds. Drawing on the ecological perspectives put forth by authors like Bruno Latour in recent years, this article presents a critical analysis of the rooting systems developed by some of the most significant architectural practices today. This case study provides a catalogue of various sustainable topographical strategies that prioritize the conservation and nurturing of soil properties. The discussion of these strategies enables the synthesis of a series of design guidelines to foster new relationships of affinity with the land, positioning architecture not as an imposition on the territory but as a facilitator of its natural development.