Sustainability and cultural identity: the rediscovery of the thin tile vaulting technique in the post-industrial architecture in Europe and USA

The research is focused around the rediscovery of the thin tile vaulting technique. This construction system is usually attributed to Catalan architectural tradition when actually, it is the result of interactions between many different cultures and regions in the Mediterranean area during ancient and late Middle ages. The historical origins of this construction technique are not yet fully clarified. Nevertheless, the most recent scientific literature recognizes the decisive contributions of Roman, Byzantin and Islamic architectures in the transfer of this technique from the Arab Maghreb to medieval Spain. The characteristics of the thin tile vaulting technique – such as rapidity of execution, low cost, structural resistance – have made it the subject of periodic rediscoveries, even in the modern and contemporary age. Significant is the story of its use in America during the late nineteenth-century by the Valencian architect Rafael Guastavino Moreno, builder of symbolic buildings of the emerging American architecture. A technology that gained great success due to the intrinsic fire protection features. If the innovative contribution of Guastavino has been extensively illustrated by the scientific literature, the use of the thin tile vaulting system in other areas of post-industrial western architecture is still little investigated. This research therefore wants to focus on that part of the thin tile vaults history that is still unexplored at the moment, such as the widespread adoption of this technique in Rome, from 1870 to the first decade of the twentieth century, as well as the phase of the reconstruction of the Capital after the Second War world. Even today the thin tile vaulting technique is subject of renewed interest, in particular by scholars and professionals in the field of green building, due to its sustainable nature, its enormous potential in the field of recycling of materials (brick, plaster, cement) and of the reduction of CO2 emissions, a saving calculated in the order of 90% compared to other techniques. Modern applications of the technique show a unique mix between tradition and innovation, cultural identity and sustainability. The purpose of this study is to research and present contemporary examples, as well as some tests and evaluations on the behavioral caractheristics and the production process, performed with software and LCA method (Lyfe Cycle Assessment valuation), in collaboration with the UPV Universitat Politècnica de València, University of Florence and the Department of Architecture of Roma Tre University.