Pro.tetto
Now in the prototyping phase, the inflatable, self-bearing shelter conceived by Andrea Paroli for cold-weather emergencies has great potential.
In this issue
Cover
15 May 2013: students infront of the courtyard building
leading to the Edward Said
National Conservatory of Music
in Beit Sahour, a town east of
Bethlehem administered by the
Palestinian National Authority.
The conservatory started life
as a national institution in 1993
in Ramallah, thanks to the
combined efforts of a group of
Palestinian musicians. Today
it has five branches. Designed
by aau Anastas, the Beit
Sahour branch was officially
inaugurated in 2012
Hunting particles
Domus meets Fabiola Gianotti, permanent researcher at CERN in Geneva, to discuss the process behind the design of particle physics experiments on an urban scale.Op–Ed: Slavic rhapsody
Zara Audiello, Lorenza BaroncelliJournal
Photoessay
Material Networks. Alberto Sinigaglia, Emma CharlesToday’s lesson
At a time when politics is struggling to tackle the economic crisis, the latest official stance on school building in the United Kingdom seems to associatearchitecture with needless extravagance. The refurbishment of a Croydon primary school points in the opposite direction, going far beyond a show of
pretty design to offer new possibilities to civil society.
The game of life
A white grid raised from the groundencloses a chessboard of courtyards,
gardens and domestic areas. Makoto
Takei and Chie Nabeshima use a typically
modernist element—not as a reference to a
universal rational order, but to strengthen the
building’s links to its context and local history.
Enter the decorator
The finished building is just half the story. Artist Pablo Bronstein,who in 2008 created the Branca Tower Ballet for Domus, offers
the owners of a house extension recently completed by OFFICE
in Brussels some helpful advice on how to furnish it tastefully.
The paradox of architecture
One reality of working in rural areas is that the profession of architecture does not exist invillages. So what can an architect do in a place with no need for architects? This is a question
John Lin from Rural Urban Framework has been facing since working in Chinese villages over
the past six years.
Network: Pro.tetto
Now in the prototypingphase, the inflatable, selfbearing
shelter conceived
by Andrea Paroli for
cold-weather emergencies
has great potential.
Contemporary practices: an Italian road trip
It is often said that moments of crisis are a crucial opportunity for innovationand regeneration. Rossella Ferorelli takes to the road to test this theory against the
reality on the ground, mapping the practices, collectives and agencies redefining the
identity of Italian architecture in critical times.
A matter of scale
Joseph Grima takes a drive from Amsterdamto Rotterdam with Rem Koolhaas to talk about domesticity, design and Tools for Life,
his first furniture collection, recently presented by Knoll International.
The Salone is now
A visual roundupof products and events selected by the editorial team, accompanied
by a reflection on the macro-themes that emerged this year, offering
a composed snapshot of international design’s busiest week.
Why design doesn’t need to perform
The design of a minesweeper reignited the age-old controversy in theDutch community between hardcore functionalists and those with a more
progressive approach, generating a fertile debate on design’s potential and
the requirements of a suitable education. Louise Schouwenberg examines
the current state of affairs in light of the last 20 years of design history.
Network: Colony
a77 is creating a colony inMoMA ps1’s courtyard in
which artists, architects
and other cultural agents
are invited to live and
work communally.
Against the extermination of space
For AAU Anastas, the design of the Edward SaidNational Conservatory of Music offers an opportunity to engage the question of public
space in the city of Bethlehem, and reconsider its value.
Activist architecture
Convinced that responsible design means focusing on the political and social context, the founders ofsaya have launched Is Peace Possible?, a project to find a solution to the territorial problems of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The project provides an interactive map that enables users to propose ideas
for the border between Israel and the West Bank, based on the 1967 “Green Line”.