Lecture by Stefano Mancuso

Cities will become the home of the greater part of the world population in the coming decades. In response to the challenge of combining this exponential urban growth with problems occasioned by the climate emergency the neurobiologist Stefano Mancuso suggests that we should learn from living systems in order to develop new strategies that would make cities more sustainable in future. In his “PNAT: Inspired by Plants” project he proposes different ways to achieve this, for example by reducing atmospheric pollution with plants that capture contaminants and incorporate them into their biomass, or by concentrating and breaking down hazardous waste with technologies that use the same abilities as those of plants for cleaning up contaminated environments. In Mancuso’s opinion, cities could work with information systems inspired by forests, complex natural systems where plants create real networks and exchange information and signals, and they should foster urban agriculture to produce fresh products while also helping to improve atmospheric quality.

This session will be presented and moderated by the architect and professor of design history Daniele Porretta.