The editorial by director Nicola Di Battista is a reflection on the last two decades. Starting from an idea of a constantly expanding and evolving progress, to wonder about the needs of our times and the meaning of a new cultural movement.
A new museum conceived not as a building but as an actual piece of city is the extraordinary project given to us by Jean Nouvel in Abu Dhabi. Hosting the story of humanity, this small citadel constructed with buildings, squares and alleys is umbrellaed for comfort by a magnificent dome that forms and creates a layer of artificial nature on top.
Junya Ishigami + Associates and Studio Maks design the Vijversburg Park, in The Netherlands. A decade of research into the boundary line between rarefaction and architecture fell perfectly into place with this brief. Intervening carefully on a protected park allowed the Japanese architect to renew his reflection on space and structure – the true substance of architecture.
Free from external impositions and interested in the more experimental side of design, the Cypriot designer Michael Anastassiades opens the doors of his new London studio for Domus. He speaks of his love for materials that show themselves for what they are, age well and change over time, which brings him to his ultimate aim in design: timelessness.
Elzeviro: Home and roots. Living in a house means entering into the soul of the walls, listening to everything that comes to us in the form of smells, voices, sounds and memories. Then we move and put down roots elsewhere but nothing is lost because everything has been absorbed by our skin. Text by Giuseppe Lupo
Inside the Contract supplement: synergistic workspaces, functional islands, the art of the computer and smart seating.