The chickens have come home to roost
In September’editorial Nicola Di Battista underlines the Italian’s state incapability, and the architects one, of taking care of the territory, faced with the not new but more frequent natural disasters.
In this issue
Domus 1016
Cover: a graphic rendering
of an Enzo Cucchi drawing. In the centenary
of Ettore Sottsass’ birth, the
artist and friend pays tribute
to him in his Domus with the
drawing “Sottsass”, 2017
(biro on paper, 5,5 x 4,5 cm),
and a thought: “We are born
with the word” which continues
inside the magazine.
Editorial: The chickens have come home to roost
This “hot” summer now over leaves us with an overriding sense of
malaise: that of living in Italy, our extremely fragile and defenceless
country now incapable of meeting with dignity even the most
elementary needs of an advanced society such as that of the West
in which we live. We shall come back to this later.
Breathing colour
The Design Museum Director explains to Domus the idea behind an exhibition commissioned to Hella Jongerius by the London museum that, through a number of studies and experiences, makes us look differently at colour “one of the most elemental aspects of design”. The aim? “to pit the power of colour against the power of form.”
The design of continuity
In our perusal of higher education, we have spoken
mainly of architectural design. This time, we take a look at architectural drawing and the way it is taught
by Professor Paolo Giordano at the Università della
Campania, who uses the discipline as a design-related tool of utmost use to the architect.
I don’t want a happy cannibal
After our monthly coverage on the teaching of architecture, and our overviews of the most important and prestigious schools worldwide, we asked the authoritative Carlo Olmo for his opinion on the situation in Italy.
Ivrea: a great industrial heritage to be protected and promoted
The extraordinary Olivetti utopia created in Ivrea has left Italy and beyond a portion of modern city where public and private, together, have constructed “the city of man.” The protection and promotion of this immense heritage is the focus of the nomination of “Ivrea Industrial City of the 20th Century” as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, championed by the Adriano Olivetti Foundation, the City of Ivrea and MIBACT.
So near, so far
At a time when we are so overwhelmed by the production of images, Michael Kenna’s work on Abruzzo is an exemplary and fascinating illustration of the experience of “re-discerning” ourselves and this land, so familiar yet so alien.
Capitalising on the old centre of Naples
A former 16th-century cloister in a densely populated
context suffering from serious building, social and economic decline is the focus of an ambitious urban-regeneration programme by the Made in Cloister Foundation centred on protecting and upgrading the site via culture, art and ageold craft skills.
Tadashi Kawamata: The Shower
Ahead of the “milanese school”
Domus readers are given a fresh take on the work of Carlo Mollino. Ahead of the “Milanese School” with his 1930s’ development of the bedroom-study-living room, he soon came to epitomise Italian design in 1950s’ America.
Obama Presidential Center, Chicago
A project for a special client housing a museum, library
and forum becomes the accomplished architectural
expression of an all-encompassing design thought centred on environmental sustainability and interpersonal exchange. The progressive ideas of the former Presidential couple translated into the constructed form.
Soul-searching
Against the Italian scourge of ill-advised investments in new public works: an ethical call to responsibility on the part of administrators responsible for public affairs and designers, urging them to work on improving living conditions by using or reusing what is already present in the territory.
Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
Phase one of a complex project in the centre of
Budapest showcases the Irish duo’s talent for surgical
interventions in a historic fabric. Traditional materials
are coupled with contemporary spaces in a successful
attempt to turn an architectural interior into an
authentic part of the city.
Lubango Centre, Lubango, Angola
A recent mixed-use complex in Africa by Portuguese architects shows it is possible to impact on a chaotic existing fabric with rigorous architecture that forges continuity with public space.
Apartment building Wannenholz, Affoltern, Switzerland
An exemplary building is the outcome of a decade’s research into timber construction methods by the famous Zurich office. A critical take on Swiss building tradition and the technology of working with this material generate a new approach that sees stratification dictating a building’s character.
Prayer Chapel, Fortezza da Basso, Florence
The encounter between existing architecture and the Franciscan image of the journey generate a design in the old Fortezza da Basso gunpowder magazine centred on the space, the light and symbols
carefully arranged to produce a timeless sense of holiness that brings the whole together.
Ettore Sottsass: Trattato di Architettura
It is not easy to write about Ettore Sottsass in Domus, after he contributed for decades to the conception and creation of our magazine.
But we could hardly fail to pay homage to him on the centenary of his birth. Fortune came to our aid, and when Enzo Cucchi – his great friend and
companion on his travels – introduced me to Alfredo Taroni, lithographer in Como, a whole new world opened up before me. In the pages that follow we reveal it to our readers, again saying,
“Thank you Ettore.” ndb
Arper: my widespread factory towards 4.0
Arper’s president tells his company’s story and philosophy “of life”: from its beginnings in leather to the contract sector and the decision to become
“editors”, light and with few limitations.
A choice that has given them the freedom to work with any material, thanks to a “widespread factory” across Friuli, combining the skills of the best artisans
with cutting-edge technologies.
Vincenzo Melluso’s Palermo
Elzeviro: “The walls of Sana’a”
What I cared most about on these trips was just the kind of city, the layout of the city, the roads, gates, low walls, the little houses built in defence of small vineyards, normally inhabited by poor people.
