Matera Fabbrica del Verde. La rigenerazione verde e adattiva al clima del progetto del Moderno: Matera Green Factory. The Green and Climate-Adaptive Regeneration of Modernist Matera

Architecture and nature have always been in a constant and historical dialogue, engaging in an ongoing debate about their heterogeneous and often controversial relationship with humanity—one as a cultural product, the other as an independent and complex system of relationships. At a time when climate and environmental emergencies are forcing us to rethink how we inhabit the planet, it is essential to question the symbolic and real boundaries that emerge between the human-urban realm and nature. In invoking the need for a new contrat naturel (natural contract), we can explore potential coexistence pacts that enable alternative transformations of anthropized spaces. This perspective also allows us to reconsider other dichotomies—natural/built, domestic/wild—as lenses through which to rethink the human-nature relationship.

Within the framework of recent research projects funded by PON FSE-REACT, PNRR Tech4You, and PON RESO, the Nature-City Lab investigates this renewed relationship between cities and nature through the lens of inhabited spaces. This contribution, in particular, presents a theoretical reflection on the human-nature relationship and addresses the pressing issue of urban forestry by exploring experimental applications in the Modernist urban projects of Matera. The pilot cases of the rural village of La Martella and the neighborhoods of Piccianello and Serra Venerdì provide an opportunity to examine both the potential and the challenges of urban regeneration projects using spatial and natural devices based on Nature-Based Solutions (NbS), with a particular focus on urban forests. By considering the theoretical contributions of NbS to green and climate-adaptive regeneration, the study ultimately seeks to define a taxonomy of elements, actions, and spatial devices to delineate the architectural and spatial contribution of green and blue infrastructures in urban contexts.

"Matera Green Factory" thus represents a transformative vision of the role of architectural design within and for the city-nature relationship. It positions Matera as an urban laboratory where new models of collective living can be tested, offering innovative solutions that respond to contemporary needs by promoting climate resilience, biodiversity, and community well-being. In this scenario, particularly relevant to Mediterranean cities, the project highlights its cultural significance, contributing to the development of synergistic visions for climate and environmental transitions.