Green Utopia. The LAN workshop for a truly green city.

LAN_Laboratorio Architettura Naturali, natural architecture workshop) is a group of young Italian architects who dedicated a workshop to the creation of “Green Utopia”, a city of plant life constructed at the Fabbrica del Vapore (old steam factory) in Milan during the Salone del Mobile furniture show.



Building with plant life, not in terms of a pastoral solution or for a "garden", but as a construction reality that can give some truly worthwhile responses to architecture in the cities of the future. 



This is the basis of the work of LAN_Laboratorio Architettura Naturali, (natural architecture workshop), which has been operating in the “green building” sector for years. 





In their workshop, proposed in preparation for “Green Utopia”, they constructed a cupola, making the frame from giant cane (arundo donax), a reed plant known for its lightness and flexibility. The frame was then set in a natural stone foundation and finished with a lime and hemp mixture.



The group’s approach to each of their projects is first of all to research the setting so they can opt for the most appropriate solution and in this case the material was selected after they studied the land. 



This approach is backed by the use of traditional building techniques applied to new scenarios. LAN presented its vision of “Green Utopia” as a form of research and a peek into the most sustainable future possible. 



And where better to do this than in Milan, the city that is hosting EXPO2015?

Project: LAN_Laboratorio Architettura Naturali http://www.lan-architetture.org/
Location: Milan, Italy 
Year: 2014 
Photography: Courtesy of LAN