September 9, 2025
In recent years, sustainability has become a buzzword in public and professional discourse—so overused that it often risks losing its meaning.
Architect Mario Cucinella, one of the most respected voices in this field, reminds us that labeling a project “sustainable” is not enough. True sustainability requires empathy, awareness, and an approach where aesthetics and ethics go hand in hand.
For Cucinella, architectural design must begin with deep listening—understanding the place, the people, the climate, and the collective memory. Without empathy, architecture becomes a hollow exercise in form-making.
A striking example is the “School of Desires” in Pacentro, built after the earthquake in Abruzzo. More than a functional building, it was co-designed through a participatory process that involved students, teachers, local citizens, and associations. Even the children’s voices were heard—one request, “a roof that opens to see the sky,” became a symbol of how architecture can hold both memory and emotion.
As Cucinella puts it: “Buildings don’t move, but they travel in our memory.”
In architecture, beauty is never an isolated value. Authentic beauty comes from responsible choices: analyzing climate conditions, using resources intelligently, and adopting innovative, circular materials.
A façade that ignores context or consumes excessive resources may look elegant, but today it is nothing more than decoration.
In his essay “Beauty Isn’t Enough” (Wired, Summer 2025), Cucinella emphasizes that his design philosophy does not stem from a fascination with technology for its own sake, but from studying architectural history.
He points to the Alhambra in Granada, where courtyards were not designed solely for their aesthetic qualities but to ensure natural ventilation and passive cooling in a hot climate. Function became beauty.
These historical examples show us that sustainable solutions are not new inventions; they are often ancient lessons waiting to be reinterpreted through modern technology and materials.
The broader takeaway is clear: true innovation comes not from creating rootless spectacle, but from translating tradition into a contemporary language.
The challenge today is to move beyond the idea that architecture must astonish at all costs. As Cucinella stresses, “Beauty isn’t enough.” Chasing eccentric forms or spectacle without meaning leads nowhere.
His Italian Pavilion for Expo 2025 in Osaka proves the point: a structure made of wood, designed to be disassembled and reused, aligned with the principles of circular economy. It’s a project that blends innovation, functionality, and sustainability—demonstrating that true beauty is born from ethical intent.
The key lesson is that aesthetics and substance are inseparable. A truly beautiful building is one with depth and purpose: it connects with the people who inhabit it, respects natural resources, and is designed to endure and adapt.
For businesses, for designers, and for those imagining the spaces of the future, the challenge is no longer just to “make something beautiful,” but to make something meaningful.
Meaning that stems from empathy, ethics, responsible innovation—and the humility to learn from the past.
Sustainability cannot be a slogan or a label; it must be the very content of the project. Only then does aesthetics become authentic, lasting, and truly moving.
Curated by Marketing Team
