Utilizing natural materials in construction is both an ancient practice and a contemporary necessity. As Daniel Ibáñez, Architect, Doctor of Design & CEO at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia told Interhotel 2023: “As architects, when it comes to deciding on the materials we build with, we have a very big responsibility,” he said. “I think the key is to stop building with fossil resources and start betting on bio-based materials.”
Around the world, museums are proving that natural materials can be as expressive as they are ecological — carrying cultural memory while delivering measurable environmental benefits.
Wood, stone, bamboo, clay, and earth are renewable, low-carbon, and adaptable, offering thermal and acoustic comfort while creating spaces that feel warm, serene, and grounded. In a world urgently seeking alternatives to fossil-based resources, natural materials also act as carbon sinks, locking in atmospheric carbon dioxide for the life of the building.
Designed by Japan’s Kengo Kuma & Associates, the Odunpazari Modern Museum in Turkey is clad entirely in sustainably sourced timber, arranged as stacked wooden boxes. The design pays homage to the traditional Ottoman houses of the city of Eskişehir’s historic Odunpazari district, bridging past and present.
As Architectural Digest notes, its interlocking wood structure allows the museum to stand out while remaining deeply connected to its context. Wood is not only a cultural gesture but an ecological strategy: it functions as a carbon sink, storing carbon dioxide and reducing the building’s footprint, while creating galleries with a natural warmth that complements contemporary art.
In Japan’s mountainous Kochi Prefecture, the Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum is another way of using traditional timber construction to meet contemporary museum needs. Designed by Kengo Kuma in 2010, its vaulted bridge-like form uses local wood, celebrating centuries-old carpentry traditions while reducing the carbon footprint of long-distance material sourcing.
The museum is both a tribute to craft and a model of how bio-based materials can support rural economies and cultural continuity.
Nestled in Italy’s Trentino forests, Arte Sella is more than an open air museum; it is a landscape of installations built directly from natural materials — stone, branches, leaves, and earth. Its new visitor reception area continues this ethos, employing wood and organic elements that harmonize with the alpine environment.
For more than 30 years, Arte Sella has embodied the principle that cultural experiences can be inseparable from nature itself. Architecture here becomes an extension of the forest, not an interruption.
Founded in the 1970s, the Centro de Artes Visuales/Museo del Barro, in Asunción has grown into one of Paraguay’s most important cultural institutions, housing indigenous, folk, and contemporary art. Its very name — barro meaning “clay” — reflects the use of local earthen materials in its construction and identity. Clay bricks, wood, and traditional finishes root the museum in Paraguay’s vernacular architecture while reducing embodied carbon and promoting thermal comfort in a subtropical climate.
The museum illustrates how natural materials are not just sustainable — they are deeply symbolic, embedding cultural heritage into the very fabric of the building.En estos ejemplos, los materiales no son una decisión secundaria. Forman parte del planteamiento del proyecto desde el inicio, definiendo tanto su comportamiento como su relación con el entorno.
La arquitectura se construye así desde lo que está disponible, desde lo que permanece, desde lo que conecta el edificio con su contexto.
The examples from Turkey, Japan, Italy, and Paraguay are just some of the ways that natural materials in cultural institutions are lowering carbon footprints, providing healthier interiors, and connecting people to places.
Museums built from nature’s palette do more than house art: they become art, living monuments to heritage, ecology, and imagination.
NEXT IN Summit is an event promoted by ACCIONA Cultura that brings together international leaders in the cultural sector to share experiences, discuss ideas, and analyze the challenges that will shape the future of the cultural industry.