In his lecture Eco Mimicry, the Architecture of Fusion: Design with Traditional Knowledge, Pietro Laureano invited attendees to imagine a sustainable architecture existing in harmony with even the most hostile landscape. In his talk, Laureano tried to show how an oasis can be rebuilt by human hands using ancient water harvesting systems.

Laureano is a UNESCO consultant on arid regions, water management, Islamic civilization and endangered ecosystems. In particular, he has rebuilt the water systems of Petra, Jordan, as part of the UNESCO plan for “Greater Petra” and restored canals and drainage systems in Lalibela, Ethiopia, famous for its monolithic churches.

In addition, he has coordinated and managed projects involving the recovery of ancient water harvesting techniques in Yemen, Mauritania and Ethiopia. He is also the author of the reports that led to the inclusion of the Sassi of Matera and the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

He is the founder and coordinator of the Ipogea Centre for Studies on Traditional Knowledge, a non-profit organization based in Florence and Matera, Italy. The Centre carries out projects to preserve landscape through the use of ancient systems such as dry stone terraces, water harvesting cisterns and catchment tunnels.

The ESARQ Forums are an annual lecture series organized by the ESARQ School of Architecture. This year the series, whose theme is Transformations, is directed by the architect Jorge Vidal. With this series, the school hopes to contribute to reflection on architecture and urban planning and how each discipline reconciles urbanism and landscape with society. The lecture series is open to architects, institutions in the industry and the general public.