Naturalis materia vs materiali innovativi

The ancient buildings, up to the time of the revolution ‘technology’ which took place with the introduction of new materials (iron, steel and reinforced concrete ) has always based its ‘materiality’ on the use of natural materials such as stone , brick , lime mortars and pozzolanic, cement mortars (in the sense of Roman caementum), ductile iron, wood, and to the origins of buildings - but otherwise still in use today in many regions of the world (Asia, Africa and Central and South America) - , straw, earth (adobe, pisé, CEB), the latter the most natural, sustainable, environmentally friendly and economical building material, and in many regions of the Far East bamboo. In the twentieth century after the great season of reinforced concrete and steel materials used both in new buildings and in the speeches of static consolidation of building structures, but also of the listed buildings and monuments, there was, by industry, the development of high-performance metallic materials (steels with high carbon content), polymers, ceramics, composites, etc., not always compatible with those used in ancient buildings and often invasive and non-reversible, especially when they were used in the strengthening of structures, questioning the “sustainability” of restoration and conservation, especially compared to “experimentum crucis” which, in restoration, can be identified with the ‘test of time’.