Domus 1099 hits the schelves

Domus March arrives on newsstands, and the plan for the issues conceived by Bjarke Ingels, Guest Editor of Domus 2025, with editorial direction by Walter Mariotti, begins to take shape. This month's theme is concrete, the pariah of architecture that is making a comeback, as Ingels explains in his editorial, debunking many common myths.

“Invented by the ancient Romans, who used volcanic ash from Vesuvius, it is the material of the great Pantheon. Synonymous with social housing that turns into slums, boring architectural boxes that sacrifice beauty for budget, cement is now the symbol of the building industry's responsibility in the climate crisis, with global carbon emissions ranging from 4 to 8 percent."

"In reality, cement is the tireless hero of the 20th and perhaps even the 21st century. It is our roads, our bridges and tunnels. Our foundations and our sewers, basements and technical rooms, walls and pillars." Ingels cites his hometown, Copenhagen. “Although it looks entirely made of bricks, it is almost always made of prefabricated concrete elements. The carbon footprint resulting from its status as the handyman of architecture has made it the environmental scapegoat, but when you are part of the problem, you must also play a leading role in the solution."

In the March issue of Domus, among the many examples of 'cement architecture' – which, it should be remembered, originated in the 19th century, when a French gardener happened to invent reinforced concrete by experimenting with steel rods and chicken wire – eleven extraordinary projects are presented, taking a kind of world tour: from Kristian Kerz's Morocco to Alejandro Aravena's Lisbon, from Thomas Phifer's Warsaw to H Arquitects' Palma de Mallorca, from Tham & Videgård Arkitekter's Värmdö to Tony Chenchow and Stephanie Littl's Sydney, from Pezo von Ellrichshausen's Chile to Julien De Smedt's Brussels, from MBL Architectes' Bossy Le Chatel to Keisuke Oka's Tokyo, cement guides us in a charade that ignites the imagination and celebrates all styles, from the essential to brutalism. Redesigning a different, free and poetic vision of concrete.

In the dialectic of Domus 2025, after the architecture section comes the portfolio of Laurian Ghiniţoiu, which this month is dedicated to the Great Wall of Japan, a journey into the construction of an object that leaves many questions. The art section, on the other hand, is dedicated to Katja Schenker's Dreamer project, realized in Muttenz, in German-speaking Switzerland. Finally, the issue concludes with the section of oxymorons dedicated to the idea of 'massive lightness.' The authors, Antón García-Abril and Débora Mesa, the founders of Ensamble Studio and WoHo Lab, overturn a fundamental acquisition: if concrete was historically linked to solidity and durability, but released too much carbon, now that technology allows it to be decarbonized, it will be the key to sustainability and the future of architecture.

Going back, in the Diary section, which as always opens Domus, curated by Editorial Director Walter Mariotti, several reports, interviews and insights are highlighted this month. The story of the Jeddah Art Biennale by Antonio Armano; a dialogue between Paolo Crepet and Valentina Petrucci on the ideal city; Paul Smith's 'protected perspectives'; Roberto Battiston's carbon analysis; Erwan Borullec's elegance as told by Loredana Mascheroni; the relationship between literacy and progress by Alberto Mingardi; design for childhood neurodiversity analyzed by Elena Sommariva; the city as a living organism by Stefano Mancuso; the meeting with Sandra Häuplik-Meusburger by Valetina Sumini; the relationship between museums and territory by Marco Pierini; the critique of Greater Paris by Javier Arpa Hernandez; the ambitions of the new Palazzo Molteni that Giulia Molteni told Walter Mariotti. 

Finally, a real gem: the preview of the film Io sono ancora qui, directed by Brazilian director Walter Salles, based on the memoir of the same name by Marcelo Rubens Paiva. It tells the story of his family and his father, who was disappeared by the Brazilian military dictatorship in 1971. Domus critic Daniela Brogi had predicted that it would win the Oscar and had written it before the ceremony in Hollywood. She was right.