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Towns and villages in central Italy have been hit by an earthquake for the fourth time in three months.
The 6.6-magnitude quake - Italy's strongest in decades - struck close to the region where nearly 300 people were killed by a quake in August.
This time no-one appears to have died, but about 20 people were injured.
The medieval basilica of St Benedict in Norcia, the town closest to the epicentre, was among buildings destroyed.
— BBC
The earthquake is the most recent in a series that has rocked the region for several months. Last August, an earthquake in Amatrice killed about 300 people and, in 2009, an earthquake destroyed most of the town of L'Aquila. Related:How Architects Can Help Nepal (And Learn From Past Disastrous... View full entry
Standing at the foot of the Rialto Bridge in Venice since 1228, the Fondaco dei Tedeschi has had many lives: a trading post for German merchants, a customs house in the Napoleonic era, a post office during Mussolini’s regime. It survived two fires and extensive architectural interventions... View full entry
Virginia Raggi, who was elected in June and has faced a tumultuous start to her tenure, said in a highly anticipated press conference that it would be irresponsible to move forward with the bid, given the debts that it would accrue and the burdens it would place on Roman taxpayers. [...]
The 38-year-old lawyer said the city was still paying debts it had accrued for the Games in 1960, and would not stand for more “cathedrals in the desert” – abandoned stadiums – that the city could ill afford.
— theguardian.com
Take the Olympics, please!Wilkinson Eyre, designers of Rio's biggest Olympic stadium, reflect on the Games' architectural legacyHow are London's Olympic grounds being used 4 years later?Boston backs out of 2024 Olympics bidJapanese slam highly unpopular Tokyo Olympic Stadium design with hilarious... View full entry
Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2016Gearing up for another eventful school year this fall? Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session. Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check... View full entry
The 6.2 magnitude earthquake that hit central Italy on August 24 reduced the medieval towns of Amatrice, Accumoli and Pescara del Tronto to ruins, and has claimed the lives of at least 290 people. With over 3,000 people displaced by the quake's damage, Italy's prime minister Matteo Renzi called on... View full entry
The head of an influential charity in Italy has said that it is not feasible to rebuild all of the Medieval villages reduced to rubble by yesterday’s earthquake, as it would be too costly and the region has been depopulating anyway.
Instead, the strategic plan for the mountainous area northeast of Rome should be “rethought completely”, said Paolo Beccegato, vice director of the Catholic charity Caritas, which has workers assisting in the devastated zone.
— Global Construction Review
The 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit the mountainous area northeast of Rome yesterday morning, affecting 241 towns and killing at least 250 people.In related news:Death toll climbs to 350 after powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake hits EcuadorA 6.4 magnitude earthquake has just struck JapanTaiwan... View full entry
Most Americans know MoMA’s Young Architect’s Program (YAP) through its annual summer festival in the MoMA PS1 courtyard in Long Island City, but they also have an impressive international program. For the Roman edition of the program, this year’s winner, studio Parasite 2.0, installed a... View full entry
"Climate change is happening so fast and on such a huge scale that it's forcing us to change the borders of a country," said head of the mapping expedition, Marco Ferrari... The borders of a country are "something we always consider as stable, as a political device, the foundation of the modern state, the most sacred thing, but this huge natural transformation makes clear how disruptive and alarming these changes are," he said. — Vice
"Even the biggest and most stable things, like glaciers, mountains—these huge objects, they can change in a few years. We live on a planet that changes, and we try to make rules, to give meaning, but this meaning is completely artificial because nature, basically, doesn't give a... View full entry
...Mussolini, at least for his first decade in power, wasn’t quite as interested in architecture as his fellow dictators. While enthusiastically censoring film-makers, writers, academics and journalists, he let architects do as they please [...]
The resulting architectural output, between Mussolini’s rise to power in 1922 and the late 1930s, when he began to exert more control, embodies an accidentally healthy pluralism.
— The Guardian
"While Hitler rejoiced in the traditional völkisch kitsch of his imaginary master race, and Stalin revelled in over-iced baroque confections, Mussolini sat back and let historicist revivalism compete with the crisp forms of forward-looking modernism."For more on the architecture of... View full entry
The opulence of Venice's 16th-century Palazzo Franchetti is as memorable as the designs of a particular Zaha Hadid. A can't-be-missed retrospective honoring the late architect's four-decade career opened to the public today, just in time for the hoards of visitors venturing out to the nearby... View full entry
Without a doubt, there will be plenty to see in and around the Venice Biennale. Planning on attending and not so sure where to start? For the next few months, Bustler will share our recommendations of national exhibition pavilions and related events that you shouldn't miss. Have a look at our first list that you can use as a starting point for your visit(s). Happy Biennale-ing! — Bustler
Don't miss out on an exhibition featuring Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, a nearby Zaha Hadid retrospective, and the national pavilions from Great Britain, the Republic of Korea, The Philippines, and more.You can also keep track of Archinect's ongoing Venice Biennale coverage... View full entry
Rome has issued a €500m (£380m) SOS to companies, wealthy philanthropists and its own citizens to help restore many of the Italian capital’s historic sites and prevent others from falling into ruin.
The Roman Forum, the Circus Maximus and the walls, aqueducts and sewerage system of what was once the most powerful city on Earth have all been earmarked as needing help ranging from a relatively minor clean up to full-blown structural works.
— the Guardian
"Saddled with debts of some €12bn, Rome cannot afford to do it on its own."Or: in search of noblesse oblige during the age of austerity politics.Of course, Rome isn't the only European city struggling under the weight of debt. Check out these related articles:Tensions build... View full entry
The Italian government announced [May 2] that it is allocating €1bn [approx. $1.15B] to major restoration and building projects at 33 museums, monuments and archaeological sites across the country, including Pompeii, the earthquake-stricken city of L’Aquila and the Uffizi galleries in Florence. [C]ulture minister Dario Franceschini described the funding, which will continue until 2020, as the “biggest investment in cultural heritage” in Italy’s history. — The Art Newspaper
More on Archinect:Better than ever: Mackintosh Building will reopen in 2018 along with campus expansionRecreation of Palmyra's Arch of Triumph presented in Trafalgar SquareLe Corbusier's Cité de Refuge in Paris to reopen after restoration View full entry
Back in 2004, Elio Ciampanella was evicted from his apartment of three decades...So he applied for an apartment in Rome’s public housing. And he waited. More than a decade passed.
Then, in February, [Ciampanella] unexpectedly had his choice of several apartments. His tale might be considered one of patience rewarded, but there was a twist: It turned out Rome’s municipal government never really had a shortage of properties.
— the New York Times
"Instead, the government actually owned so many thousands of apartments and buildings that no one was quite certain how many there were, who lived in them or where they were. That was, until staff members for Rome’s new interim administrator, Francesco Paolo Tronca, discovered nine boxes... View full entry
On the long approach from the sea, the flowing, horizontal silhouette of this all-concrete structure, bracketed fore and aft by leaning walls, stands out from the heavyset classicized buildings along the waterfront promenade [...]
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi visited the site on Sunday, calling it a masterpiece. The absence of Ms. Hadid, 65, who died on March 31 without ever seeing the finished terminal, was keenly felt both days.
— NYT
The city of Salerno, some 60.5 km south of Naples, gained a major new architectural icon this week. A 50,000 sq. ft., €15 million maritime terminal, it's also the first project by ZHA to be inaugurated after their principal Zaha Hadid passed away last month.Before the inauguration ceremony... View full entry