Ceramics in Sustainable Design

Built from earth. Built to last.

Ceramic is simple. Earth, water, fire.
Nothing wasted. Nothing added. It’s been used for thousands of years, and it still makes sense today.

At Cersaie, architect Mario Cucinella and Massimo Imparato from the School of Sustainability spoke about why. The message was clear: material matters. Not just how it looks. How it behaves. How it belongs.

Ceramic fits. It holds heat when needed, stays cool when it should. It doesn’t release toxins. It doesn’t wear out. It connects architecture to place — not in theory, but in practice.

You can see this philosophy brought to life in the new San Raffaele Hospital in Milan.
Designed by Mario Cucinella Architects, the building is a response to both human and environmental needs — and ceramic plays a quiet but essential role.

Used across the facade and interior elements, ceramic helps regulate temperature, reflect light, and soften the visual experience of a large-scale public space.

Its tactile presence invites calm. Its durability ensures resilience. It’s not there to impress. It’s there to endure.

Too many buildings ignore their surroundings. They block light. They fight weather. They sit heavy on land that never asked for them.
Ceramic works differently. It’s quiet. Familiar. It brings buildings closer to the ground, and closer to the people who use them.

Cucinella’s work shows this. In the suburbs of Milan, in hospitals and schools, in places built to heal and gather — ceramic plays its part.
In San Raffaele, the choice of ceramic wasn’t aesthetic. It was intentional. Sustainable. Local. Human.

Sustainability isn’t just about numbers. It’s about feeling. About making places that make sense.
Ceramic is part of that. It doesn’t try too hard. It does what it’s always done — hold space, hold warmth, and let the rest fall away.

Cucinella’s work shows this. In the suburbs of Milan, in hospitals and schools, in places built to heal and gather — ceramic plays its part. It’s not loud. But it lasts.

Sustainability isn’t just about numbers. It’s about feeling. About making places that make sense. Ceramic is part of that. It doesn’t try too hard. It does what it’s always done — hold space, hold warmth, and let the rest fall away.