Domus 1017 on newsstands

In his editorial, Nicola Di Battista asks himself how much effort are we keen to give to lift up the destiny of architecture. We need a cultural movement capable of bringing together people engaged in different professions, but united by the will to determine the future of living.

The political commitment of the Brazilian master Mendes da Rocha together with MMBB Arquitetos has taken on architectural form in an exemplary public building in São Paulo’s busy downtown area: a civic piece of work where every storey features great structural and spatial invention.

Looking to how monastic building types combine places for individual study with areas for community gatherings, the firm Herzog & de Meuron has designed a campus for an American research institute with a broad scope. The crisp architectural solution was accompanied by careful consideration of the natural surroundings. Andrea Cavani e Giulio Orsini raccontano l’avventura progettuale e la poliedrica figura di Cesare Leonardi. Nell’Elzeviro, Riccardo Petrella osserva come le regole imposte dalla globalizzazione dell’economia dominante di mercato, finanziaria e produttivista abbiano disintegrato il vivere insieme a livello planetario.

Ispirandosi alla tipologia dei monasteri che coniuga con equilibrio spazi per la riflessione individuale e luoghi per gli incontri comunitari, lo studio Herzog & de Meuron ha disegnato per il Berggruen Institute un campus di grande respiro, dove la rigorosa soluzione architettonica si unisce a un attento studio paesaggistico. Andrea Cavani and Giulio talk about Cesare Leonardi’s design adventure and eclectic personality. In the Elzeviro, Riccardo Petrella observes how the rules imposed by the globalization of the dominating economy (made up of market, finance and production) have disintegrated our living together on this planet.