Current Issue: Domus 980

In this issue

Domus 980 on newsstands

Domus presents the extension of the Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl, Smiljan Radic’s intervention in the Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art in Santiago, Chile, and the Friendship Centre by Kashef Chowdhury. Analizes the Salone del Mobile and visits Bill Viola’s exhibition in Paris.

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Cover

Sketch taken from a study by Steven Holl for the Seona Reid Building at the Glasgow School of Art.

Editorial: On architecture criticism in Domus

Ettore Spalletti times three

In a hypothetical grand tour of Italy, three important public museums of contemporary art are joining forces in offering a large retrospective of Ettore Spalletti’s work, divided over three specific exhibitions, one in each museum, and a single weighty catalogue. It is a pleasure to underline the strong civic character of this event in the panorama of contemporary cultural offerings.

Urban design

The designing of individual buildings and public spaces is reapproached in the teaching proposed by the chair of Urban Design held by Paolo Fusi at the new HefenCity University in Hamburg.

The Oslo School of Architecture and Design

From respect for the Scandinavian architectural tradition of Sverre Fehn and Christian Norberg-Schulz, to the recent opening of the research centre, the rector of the Oslo school outlines the salient points of a didactic approach that focuses on close collaboration between teachers of the humanities and sciences.

Making form

In the book accompanying the exhibition dedicated to the research and works of Archizoom/École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, Patrick Berger considers the subject of form in architecture. In the text published here, he looks at the relation between ideas, drawings and projects.

Everything is architecture

Two exhibitions, one in Mönchengladbach and a second in Vienna, pay tribute to the work of Hans Hollein. Domus is marking these events by publishing the text of the Austrian master’s most ground-breaking and far-sighted manifesto, accompanied by archive material and unpublished drawings.

Where is architecture heading?

In 1948, Giulio Minoletti demonstrated his civil commitment by launching an appeal to the press of the time to give more space to architecture criticism. The Milanese architect has recently been rediscovered thanks to in-depth archive research, a teaching workshop and an exhibition currently on view.

The tectonic facade by Hans Kollhoff

Hans Kollhoff has developed an innovative facade construction technique that, while using traditional materials such as brick and stone, makes it possible to minimise or conceal the joints, conveying the impression of great solidity in the finished building. Two members of the German architect’s team describe the details of this construction process.

Lella Vignelli

We are pleased to publish Massimo Vignelli’s passionate and moving homage to his beloved Lella at this special moment in their life. His comment includes profound reflection on the relationship between women and men in the workplace and a call for new generations to make a difference.

Ultratextile

Fibres derived from the aerospace industry, obtained through a process of blended minerals and polymers, configure a new type of textile which Marco Ferreri has ‘translated’ into carpets. The fibres follow the ground space by superimposition without intertwining, to recount the physical and aesthetic qualities of an innovative material.

Travelling companions

Reminiscing about their first unexpected and exceptional encounter in Medellín, Luigi Snozzi offers us an impassioned and personal portrait of the Brazilian master architect and friend Paulo Mendes da Rocha, whose work is also the focus of a monographic exhibition at the Milan Triennale

Public facilities, Iztapalapa, México DF

For the Spanish architect, architecture is a living organism conditioned by time imparting qualities to the space. It is at once communication, aesthetic values, self-expression and the impression of an era or culture. But it’s also about having fun and a sense of humour.

An interior journey: Bill Viola at the Grand Palais

The exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris offers a non-chronological cross-section of Bill Viola’s work from the past 40 years, transmitting the gist of his interests. Visitors of this trip through the American artist’s visions of the world are invited to an exercise in contemplation.

Extension of the Glasgow School of Art

Measuring up to a landmark building in the history of modern architecture – the Glasgow School of Art by Charles Rennie Mackintosh – Steven Holl breathes life into a new building whose spaces, like those of its illustrious predecessor, are constructed around the theme of light.

Extension of the Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art

In the historic centre of Santiago de Chile, Smiljan Radic has carried out a measured intervention on a 19th-century building, creating the main exhibition hall below ground as a sort of large archaeological space adapted to the display of valuable artworks.

Friendship Centre, Gaibandha, Bangladesh

In a predominantly agricultural landscape under the constant threat of floods, a Bengali architect has conceived an outstanding complex like a small town for an NGO. The poor local economy, site morphology and choice of skilfully applied local materials have produced spaces suitable for domestic and public life.

Apartment building, Basel

On a small lot belonging to a historical urban block, the Swiss office designed a slim residential building that is strongly shaped by the use of material, creating unexpected spatial relations between the interiors and their surroundings.

Design matters

Milan’s Design Week has just ended, and although the results are still in the balance, we think it crucial to present our readers with a number of issues that we find particularly important for contemporary times.