The fifth issue of DomusAir arrives at a rather dramatic moment – to put it lightly. As Europe watches the war in Ukraine, with no end in sight after more than one hundred days, markets are paralysed by rise and spread of inflation, which has reached levels in the United States not seen for decades. Faced with all of this, European governments, who found unity imposing sanctions on Russia, are struggling to develop an effective solution against skyrocketing raw materials prices, which are only partly due to the war, and to assert a distinct unified political identity. The United States, on the other hand, has given a clear and strong response to the events in Ukraine and decided, via the Fed, to raise the price of money. It was a foreseeable and expected choice, but it has caused panic in world stock markets, already reeling from the effects of the war, the steep rise in the cost of raw materials, and the slow recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, which still threatens another autumn wave.
Milan, the city where DomusAir was conceived, has recently concluded another Design Week, which again – after the pandemic and the trials of the past year – attracted people from all over the world to the capital of design. This shows that only a new architecture of spaces, functions, and relations can truly help communities – whether social, cultural, or entrepreneurial – to find a new dimension of hope for the future.
This is the line of thought that DomusAir has long been developing regards to global infrastructure, which again in this issue is examined from New York to Doha, to understand how free circulation by air, land, and sea is the only solution for getting beyond clichés and narrowmindedness, increasing the capacity of infrastructure to serve the needs of citizens, boosting respect for the environment, relaunching the economy, and keeping the focus on people. Especially in times of war and crisis, infrastructures not only provide the means for exchange, but they are the very heart of our world, making peaceful dialogue possible between states and societies, and producers and consumers, who, before anything else, are human beings who bring different conceptions of life and the world to the table.
Infrastructure proves that life takes on meaning only if it is free to circulate and express itself. The impact of lack of investment in infrastructure is not measured only in terms of GDP, but also on civilization and democracy. In Italy, for example, the cost of lack of investment in the period 2008-2013 has been estimated at €86 billion in lost GDP, but the human cost, both social and individual, is at least three times higher.
It is thus vital for Italy that at least a part of the Recovery Fund be used to reach the 200 billion euros needed to complete the 130 priority works in the “Italia Veloce” plan. Not simply for the circulation of passengers and goods, but essentially for the growth and realization of people’s lives in a context of democracy and peace. Beyond the themes and vocabularies that define DomusAir’s core business and are shared with the community of readers, we works to ensure that the magazine can continue to define a new vision, break down stereotypes, and provide effective instruments for using time and space in a new and better way.
Opening image: UNStudio, Doha Metro Network, Doha, Qatar
