Hi guys,
I am an Italian student of architecture and I am interested in your opinion about Italy's contemporary architecture and academia. Can you name any of the contemporary architects? and most importantly how is it keeping up with the rest of the world? Do you have any direct experience of work for an Italian firm or any academic experience of the system in this country? Tell me all you can think about. I am interested in hearing from you.
sadly, you don't hear much about the italy scene in the U.S. I saw some store designs that were mostly interiors and I was blown away. My opinion of this point of Italian architecture is because all the old stuff is so good its a pain in the ass to build anything new, but I have no clue how accurate it is I just figure that explains the lack of press it gets.
in my opinion, it's overshadowed by the number of quality projects just north of the border in AT and CH as well as FR, DE & NL.
but i remember hearing that was more because it's near impossible to build in italy.
Not alot is known about contemporary Italian architects. Asides from the obvious, the first names that spring to mind is Archea Associati and Antonio Citterio. However, I am in New Zealand, so a European-based person might have more of an idea.
I have always been intrigued by the fact that Italians dominate fashion, furniture and industrial design, are influential in automotive design, and their food culture has spread so completely, but you never hear about contemporary Italian architecture.
I met an Italian architecture student at MIT a few years ago, and she talked about the difficulties in designing within an ancient urban fabric, and within a huge unintelligible bureacracy.
What are your thoughts? I'd love to know more being a minor Italophile.
according to prestinenza puglisi in the recent AD issue there is an emerging italian architectural class growing ... it might be true, but it is not really visible, and there are italian architects everywhere in the world, in every sort of university, and in every office ... the problem of italy lies within itself, the contemporary teaching class is too old and not enough agitating, as marc wigley´s terminology , this lethargic class of professors stops from start the natural energetic spirt of young people like you who start questioning what are the "others" thinking about the all thing ...
it would be more fitting if zaha hadid was italian.
she is more italian than british. but she really is an arab above all..;.)
time is ripe for italian architecture to make a huge comeback through residential work. some of the most interesting work i have seen in terms of residential work was in italy. even though i am from los angeles, really. you have to have hills for residential work to thrive and italy has them...
i just returned from a semester in italy and developed an appreciation for the italian rationalists + fascists, such as sant'elia, terragni, and libera. there were great designs from nervi, gardella, rossi, and scarpa, as well. i was studying in genoa, where piano's workshop is, and there are a great many examples of his work there. he completed a proposal to reinvigorate the porto antico, and the model is absolutely fantastic in scale and detail.
Having traveled to Italy frequently to visit family in Umbria, it seems that ridiculously restrictive building codes prevent anything new or non-traditional from being built. The local zoning laws don't allow anything to be built in the countryside unless there is a ruin or old foundation, and the rebuilt structure must conform to a traditional style.
Culturally, Italian architecture is trapped in the past. Rossi's work typically references traditional Italian architecture. Piano's work seems more and more classical and subdued lately, a far cry from the Pompidou.
That said, some of my favorite examples of modern architecture (though still somewhat informed by Neoclassicism) are by Terragni and other Italian Functionalists from the first half of the 20th century. Too bad that it took Mussolini and Fascism to force the implementation of modern architecture in Italy.
Superstudio has also been a big inspiration to some of my academic work.
gillespie, aren't they the futurists, not *gasp* fascists?
I think botta is very italian even tho he is from a mixed area, and that Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, Italy by King Roselli Architetti project linked above seems to use a similar mass/void thing (with more floating)...
pier vittorio aureli [url=http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rls=SUNA,SUNA:2006-48,SUNA:en&q=pier+vittorio+aureli](that's just google) is very interesting.
also, they have the best ideas comps ... I'll blame the burocracy. I'm comfortable with that.
Christian Pongratz of Pongratz|Perbellini
He's mostly known for his work with stone forms and his book "Natural Born CAAD Designers, Young American Architects"
He is wonderfully brilliant although I'm not sure how widely known he is. Currently he is a visiting professor at TTU, but I know he returned to Verona for the summer to get some work done at his firm.
both futurism and fascism were movements in the first part of the twentieth century.
futurism came first in the teens and twenties, and embodied music, art, and architecture. it favored a movement towards rationalism and the use of modern building materials. It was at odds with the ideals of fascist architecture, which favored roman forms and an imperial aesthetic. some of my favorite examples of fascist architecture are in the EUR outside of Rome
It's sort of alarming to discuss anything fascist in a positive light, even while aknowleging the limits of their merits... ever see the colums of light Albert Speer made for Hitler? It's an interesting question one of my professors posed: what would you do- accept the commissions ? get out? Is everything built by the fascists condemned forever because of politics?
Futurists are an interesting 'watch-what-you-whish-for": suggesting the world get leveled so we can start anew... I doubt WWI was exactly what they had in mind...
Italian Architecture
Hi guys,
I am an Italian student of architecture and I am interested in your opinion about Italy's contemporary architecture and academia. Can you name any of the contemporary architects? and most importantly how is it keeping up with the rest of the world? Do you have any direct experience of work for an Italian firm or any academic experience of the system in this country? Tell me all you can think about. I am interested in hearing from you.
Thanks
LoneDevil
sadly, you don't hear much about the italy scene in the U.S. I saw some store designs that were mostly interiors and I was blown away. My opinion of this point of Italian architecture is because all the old stuff is so good its a pain in the ass to build anything new, but I have no clue how accurate it is I just figure that explains the lack of press it gets.
outside of renzo...
massimiliano fuksas
in my opinion, it's overshadowed by the number of quality projects just north of the border in AT and CH as well as FR, DE & NL.
but i remember hearing that was more because it's near impossible to build in italy.
Sorry,
Not alot is known about contemporary Italian architects. Asides from the obvious, the first names that spring to mind is Archea Associati and Antonio Citterio. However, I am in New Zealand, so a European-based person might have more of an idea.
I have always been intrigued by the fact that Italians dominate fashion, furniture and industrial design, are influential in automotive design, and their food culture has spread so completely, but you never hear about contemporary Italian architecture.
I met an Italian architecture student at MIT a few years ago, and she talked about the difficulties in designing within an ancient urban fabric, and within a huge unintelligible bureacracy.
What are your thoughts? I'd love to know more being a minor Italophile.
d
according to prestinenza puglisi in the recent AD issue there is an emerging italian architectural class growing ... it might be true, but it is not really visible, and there are italian architects everywhere in the world, in every sort of university, and in every office ... the problem of italy lies within itself, the contemporary teaching class is too old and not enough agitating, as marc wigley´s terminology , this lethargic class of professors stops from start the natural energetic spirt of young people like you who start questioning what are the "others" thinking about the all thing ...
what's the deal with these guys? I really dig that project...
it would be more fitting if zaha hadid was italian.
she is more italian than british. but she really is an arab above all..;.)
time is ripe for italian architecture to make a huge comeback through residential work. some of the most interesting work i have seen in terms of residential work was in italy. even though i am from los angeles, really. you have to have hills for residential work to thrive and italy has them...
i just returned from a semester in italy and developed an appreciation for the italian rationalists + fascists, such as sant'elia, terragni, and libera. there were great designs from nervi, gardella, rossi, and scarpa, as well. i was studying in genoa, where piano's workshop is, and there are a great many examples of his work there. he completed a proposal to reinvigorate the porto antico, and the model is absolutely fantastic in scale and detail.
Carmine & Carlo Sarno- architects- Salerno,Italy
Beniamino & Laura Rocca- architects-
Milan, Italy
Aldo Loris Rossi- architect-
Naples, Italy
Mario Galvagni- architect-
Italy
Giuliano Chelazzi- architect-
Volterra, Italy
Mario Botta is technically Swiss, but he trained in Italy, and has done quite a bit of work there.
Having traveled to Italy frequently to visit family in Umbria, it seems that ridiculously restrictive building codes prevent anything new or non-traditional from being built. The local zoning laws don't allow anything to be built in the countryside unless there is a ruin or old foundation, and the rebuilt structure must conform to a traditional style.
Culturally, Italian architecture is trapped in the past. Rossi's work typically references traditional Italian architecture. Piano's work seems more and more classical and subdued lately, a far cry from the Pompidou.
That said, some of my favorite examples of modern architecture (though still somewhat informed by Neoclassicism) are by Terragni and other Italian Functionalists from the first half of the 20th century. Too bad that it took Mussolini and Fascism to force the implementation of modern architecture in Italy.
Superstudio has also been a big inspiration to some of my academic work.
agfa
i left out all the ticino architects for that reason. and there are a plethora of them...
gillespie, aren't they the futurists, not *gasp* fascists?
I think botta is very italian even tho he is from a mixed area, and that Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, Italy by King Roselli Architetti project linked above seems to use a similar mass/void thing (with more floating)...
pier vittorio aureli [url=http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rls=SUNA,SUNA:2006-48,SUNA:en&q=pier+vittorio+aureli](that's just google) is very interesting.
also, they have the best ideas comps ... I'll blame the burocracy. I'm comfortable with that.
pretend I did this:
pier vittorio aureli
my last studio professor has a practice in italy.
Christian Pongratz of Pongratz|Perbellini
He's mostly known for his work with stone forms and his book "Natural Born CAAD Designers, Young American Architects"
He is wonderfully brilliant although I'm not sure how widely known he is. Currently he is a visiting professor at TTU, but I know he returned to Verona for the summer to get some work done at his firm.
both futurism and fascism were movements in the first part of the twentieth century.
futurism came first in the teens and twenties, and embodied music, art, and architecture. it favored a movement towards rationalism and the use of modern building materials. It was at odds with the ideals of fascist architecture, which favored roman forms and an imperial aesthetic. some of my favorite examples of fascist architecture are in the EUR outside of Rome
It's sort of alarming to discuss anything fascist in a positive light, even while aknowleging the limits of their merits... ever see the colums of light Albert Speer made for Hitler? It's an interesting question one of my professors posed: what would you do- accept the commissions ? get out? Is everything built by the fascists condemned forever because of politics?
Futurists are an interesting 'watch-what-you-whish-for": suggesting the world get leveled so we can start anew... I doubt WWI was exactly what they had in mind...
of course, hitler wasn't technically one of 'the fascists', blah blah blah its all the same awfulness
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