Current Issue: Domus 972

In this issue

Domus 972 on newsstands now

In September, for the first issue edited by Nicola Di Battista, Domus features – among other things – two ministries in The Hague by Hans Kollhoff, a journey into the world of lighting with the Meda-Rizzatto method and the work by Alfredo Pirri at the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna in Rome.

Architecture

Cover

Drawing based on a sketch (right) by Hans Kollhoff for two Dutch ministries in
The Hague, a project published in this issue. The sketch shows the architect’s interpretation
of the evolution of the city’s volumes, from the 19th-century block to modern skyscrapers, resulting in a physiognomy of architecture.

Editoriale: Domus, the human city

Towards an Agonistic Architecture

Beware Wet Paint

An idea in the palm of a hand

Crafting tiny architecture models teaches
students how to condense an idea into meticulously expressive form.

Manus et Intellectus

The translation from idea to the physical reality of matter and form is accomplished and ennobled by the human hand melding with the tools of the craft.

Between concept and design

Experimentation taking place at the Architectural Design workshop directed by András Pálffy at the Vienna University of Technology offers new avenues for architecture training today.

Reflections on the development of an educational programme: the Academy Architecture of Mendrisio

Almost 20 years after its inauguration, Mario Botta sums up the type of education offered at the Academy of Architecture of Mendrisio, and recounts the motivation behind its founding.

The “Wall Street” and the “United Nation” of the art system: Venice Biennale, Art Basel

The ultra-centenarian Venice Biennale and the dynamic Art Basel give an art critic the opportunity to compare museum-style exhibits with the trade-show approach.

Architecture in Montenegro

For ten years now, the gallery Architektur im Ringturm has been taking stock
of little-known 20th-century architectural developments in East and Southeast Europe.
Located on the Ringstrasse in Vienna, the gallery is currently preparing a publication
and exhibition on Montenegro

The ideal city

A cinquant’anni dalla scomparsa di Adalberto Libera (Villa Lagarina, 16 luglio 1903 – Roma, 17 marzo 1963), pubblichiamo un omaggio a uno dei più importanti architetti italiani del secolo scorso in occasione della mostra che il MART di Rovereto gli ha dedicato

Doors

An introduction to an interior-design theme based on an axiom by the great Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa: “Only make a door if you can’t do without it”

The visible origin of architecture

Invited to exhibit at the recent Venice Architecture Biennale titled “Common Ground”, the Swiss architect decked out a huge table with images he had requested from some of the leading figures in contemporary architecture. A few months later, this material has now been compiled into a book bringing together the imagery of these architects.

After the virtual, a new aesthetic of the real world?

After 20 years of virtual reality, we are cruising toward augmented reality. This new aesthetic paradigm could be a nice challenge for artists to give their take on a new conquest of spatiality in the real world.

A way of working

Michele De Lucchi practices the trades of architecture and design in subtle balance, blending and bending their distinct contours to suit his fancy for paradox.

Form matters

An architect’s work must be judged on the basis of its formal outcome, however complex the project and the number of problems may have been. With these words David Chipperfield introduces the essence of his work, summed up in masterly fashion by the motto “Form Matters”.

An unscientific autobiography

With an introspective portrayal of his early years of study and work, his friends and teachers, and his own approach to architecture, Eduardo Souto de Moura pays homage to Aldo Rossi and his book A Scientific Autobiography.

Two ministries in The Hague

A solid and compact urban base relates to the surrounding fabric and literally supports two monolithic towers in clinker and white granite.

For an architecture of the city

In defence of Europe’s urban culture and the art of building with a sense of balance and awareness. Hans Kollhoff writes of the disciplinary rigour needed to create architecture that promotes quality public space.

Civic Library in Belgium

A skilfully conceived extension gives new life to a dignified 19th-century building, handing it back to the dynamics of the current city as a repository of culture.

Etar de Alcântara

A large wastewater treatment plant in Lisbon is shaped according to conceptual layers contained within the site, where nature and humans have left inextricable marks throughout the course of history.

About a lamp: Otto Watt by Luceplan

Years of experience, in-depth research, knowledge of materials and manufacturing techniques make for a journey into the world of lighting, featuring the Meda-Rizzatto method. Final destination: their new lamp Otto Watt, produced by Luceplan.

Steps

At the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna in Rome, the artist put down a floor of cracked mirrors that occupies the entire Sala delle Colonne, where spectators can “experience the architectural space and, at the same time, demolish its image with their footsteps”.