Evoluzione delle chiusure verticali nell’architettura contemporanea: nuove tendenze e nuovi materiali

The short paper summarizes the doctoral thesis or, at least, the main results. Starting from the identification of current needs and requirements concerning the theme of the architectural envelope, such as energy saving, mediaticity, transparency / translucency, lightness, the paper tried to figure out if there are materials and construction systems on the market capable of ensuring both the above requirements and needs. The thesis identified the new materials available through the development of scientific research; characteristics and capabilities of these materials were studied and also some remarkable buildings which use them. The thesis, at the end, tried to draw the possible future scenarios in the field.