Eco-Architecture 2022

9th International Conference on Harmonisation between Architecture and Nature

Post Conference Report

12–14 July 2022
Online

Overview

Eco-Architecture 2022

With the main objective to preserve our delegates’ wellbeing, but also with the belief that the international contacts among the scientific community should not be stopped, WIT decided that this conference should not take place as scheduled in Lisbon, Portugal, but take place as an online event instead.

The conference was organised by the Wessex Institute, UK, represented by Prof Santiago Hernandez, a member of WIT Board of Directors, and the University of Alcala de Henares, Spain, represented by Prof Pilar Chias.

The objective of this Conference was to review the challenges and new opportunities of contemporary architecture. These are a result of advances in design and new building technologies, as well as the development of new materials.

Many of the changes are motivated by a drive towards eco-architecture, trying to harmonise architectural products with nature. Another important issue is the adaptation of the architectural design to the natural environment, learning from nature and traditional construction techniques.

Contemporary architecture is at the threshold of a new stage of evolution, deeply influenced by the advances in information and computer systems and the development of new materials and products, as well as construction processes that will drastically change the industry.

Emphasis is placed on the minimum use of energy at each stage of the building process, the design by passive systems, life cycle assessment, resources optimisation and rehabilitation.

Opening of the Conference

The conference was opened by Prof Santiago Hernandez, Wessex Institute Board of Directors, who welcomed the delegates to the event on behalf of all Chairs.

Invited Speakers

There were two invited lectures on advanced topics of research and applications, as follows:

  • Overview of the performance of external vacuum insulation composite system
    by N. Simoes, M. Goncalves, C. Serra & I. Flores- Colen

  • How to build food sustainable cities and give health to the ageing urban residents: a tale of two community gardens from Lisbon, Portugal
    by I. Madaleno

Conference Sessions

The papers presented during the conference were classified under the following headings:

  • Circular economy

  • Energy performance

  • Occupants and users’ behaviour

  • Sustainable cities

  • Innovative materials

  • Design for Eco-architecture

Q&A Live Zoom Sessions

Conference delegates were invited to participate in two Q&A live zoom sessions which took place on 13th and 14th July 2022. These friendly sessions were a great opportunity for participants to interact with each other and put questions to authors about their papers.

Conference Publication

Papers presented at this conference are published in Volume 210 of the WIT Transactions on the Built Environment (Electronic ISSN: 1743-3509)). Papers presented at the meeting are available Open Access in the eLibrary of the Wessex Institute (https://www.witpress.com/elibrary) from where they can be freely downloaded by any interested parties.

Closing of the Conference

We are very sorry that we were not able to meet our delegates in person this time, but hope that we will be able to do so at a future event.