Volume 1 • Issue 1 • 1000102 J Architec Engg Technol ISSN:2168-9717 JAET, an open access journal Open Access Review Article Leone, J Architec Eng Technol 2012, 1:1 Architectural Engineering Technology Keywords: Nanotechnology; Architecture; Nanostructured materials; Cement; Concrete; Eco-eiciency Introduction Nanotechnology represents one of the fastest growing industrial sectors in recent years worldwide. he construction industry begins to look with increasing attention to nanotech innovations, identiied as an important resource to give a new impulse to market growth. Nanotechnology applied to building materials represents an example of how innovation increasingly combines dematerialization, eco- eiciency and knowledge-based approach to develop new classes of products – oten substitute of conventional technologies – with the aim of opening new market sectors based on the paradigm of the green high-tech 1 . Recent innovations in construction materials driven by nanotechnologies application are based on the design of material properties in order to obtain the required performances, developing sophisticated transformation processes that allow to realize custom-it products for speciic architectural applications. he development of “designable” materials and components marked the evolution of architectural languages, evolving from a “muscular” exhibition of technology (typical of the “high-tech” architecture of the past decades) to a widespread microinnovation not always visible to the naked eye. Since the beginning of the twenty-irst century, this perspective has changed mainly due to the “change of scale” of possible modiications, which have passed from micro to nano scale, moving further the boundary of possible transformation and exponentially expanding both the potential and the risks associated with the use of increasingly advanced and smart materials capable of expressing both high and customizable performance, reliability and durability, minimal environmental impacts, but also unknown efects. Even though advanced materials – and, among these, those developed through the application of nanotechnology and biotechnology – are capable of ofering efective responses to economic and environmental issues in the industrial sector, only in recent years the architectural have disciplines begun to acquire the technical knowledge needed to use them and to wonder about the implications in the design process. Nanostructured cementitious materials represent *Corresponding author: Mattia Federico Leone, Università di Napoli Federico II, Department of Urban Design and Planning Via Toledo 402, 80134 Napoli, Italy, Tel: +39 329 9531038; Fax: +39 081 2538717; E-mail: mattialeone@gmail.com Received December 08, 2011; Accepted May 24, 2012; Published May 28, 2012 Citation: Leone MF (2012) Nanotechnology for Architecture. Innovation and Eco- Eficiency of Nanostructured Cement-Based Materials. J Architec Eng Technol 1:101. doi:10.4172/2168-9717.1000102 Copyright: © 2012 Leone MF. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Nanotechnology for Architecture. Innovation and Eco-Efficiency of Nanostructured Cement-Based Materials Mattia Federico Leone* Department of Urban Design and Planning, Via Toledo, Napoli, Italy Abstract The paper explores the recent innovations in architecture materials developed through nanotechnology, based on the design of material properties in order to obtain speciic performances. In particular, nanostructured cementitious materials, represent an interesting application of nanotechnology in the construction industry, considering the signiicant performance advantages compared to conventional products and the potential in reduction of resources and energy consumption throughout the life cycle connected to their use. To understand the relevance of these innovations, an approach aimed at identifying the possible impact on design and construction is required, considering the beneits achievable through a conscious use of nanotechnology, without neglecting the scientiic issues still open and risk factors for humans and environment related to their uncontrolled use. The speciic focus on the characteristics and potential applications of nanostructured cement-based materials is intended to reafirm the need to develop an adequate level of knowledge internal to architectural disciplines on nanotechnology-related innovations, starting from the prominent role that cement and concrete plays in the construction industry. an interesting development of nanotechnologies in construction sector, showing a higher level of performances and a lower consumption of both material and energy resources if compared to the traditional cement- based products. Starting from the comprehension of chemical and physical phenomena occurring at the nanoscale, which are responsible of the inal performances of cementitious materials, it is possible to optimize properties such as mechanical strength, durability and resistance to aggressive environments. In other cases, the integration of nanomaterials in the cement mix can lead to nanocomposites with novel properties, such as self-cleaning, self-monitoring or anti-pollution. Nanotechnology and Architecture he origin of nanotechnology Over 50 years have passed since the Nobel Prize physicist Richard P. Feynman, with the lecture at the California Institute of Technology entitled “here’s plenty of room at the bottom” [1] has opened the way for innovations related to nanotechnology, preiguring the possibilities associated with the transformation of matter at the molecular level. Studies conducted by Feynman and his intuitions have laid the basis for a radical transformation of techno-scientiic horizon, starting from the possibility of miniaturization of computers to which much of technological innovations produced in the last ity years is owed. Despite the “intellectual authorship” of Feynman, the term “nanotechnology” was coined in 1974 by Norio Taniguchi of Tokyo Science University, which deines it as a process of reorganization of matter atom-by-atom or molecule-by-molecule [2]. Ater twelve years, in 1986, the potential of this new concept of science and technology was http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2168-9717.1000102