by Gianmaria Sforza Fogliani It would seem that in Italy architects in the “under 40” category do not exist, concealed by the nature of the academic structure and the mechanisms which determine the making of client contacts – and in architecture, new born professionals, even when defined as such by the state and registration bodies, must wait a good number of years before achieving recognition. Putting to one side the situation of monopoly in the city, where major projects are distributed amongst the famous names through the tried and tested formula of competitions, often with embarrassing results, it is perhaps in the provinces that young architects find more space in which to really make buildings. Are these isolated episodes? In a country in which public opinion generally puts little importance on architecture against the backdrop of other problems of contemporary life, there are however some young architects who are not just getting by in the market for interior design, nor spinning out their academic studies whilst waiting for a break.