Italian Architecture

Part of ArchDaily’s mission to highlight the best Architecture in the world, we are frequently rounding up unbuilt projects submitted by our readers. In this feature, we are focusing on competition proposals, showcasing a vast variety of functions.

Rome: a city spanning over 3 millennia with one of the highest concentrations of architecture in the world, not to mention a transcendental influence on culture the world over. The city's crowning feature is the countless layers of history that have manifested here, all converging to become a fixture of modern life in The Eternal City. 

For its 2021 edition, the Venice Biennale appointed the chief curator of the High Line’s art program in New York, Cecilia Alemani as artistic director. Alemani will become the first Italian woman to organize the festival, running in Italy starting May of next year.

Wafai Architecture and Fragomeli+partners, two architecture practices based in Torino, Italy have imagined an Islamic cultural center in the Piedmont area. The project features a mosque and a center for cultural and social activities, a space that promotes constructive dialogues.

Bjarke Ingels Group have unveiled their design for The Portico, a 53,500-square-meter development on the last two remaining plots of the CityLife masterplan in Milan, Italy. CityLife presented the proposal with two individual buildings connected by a 140m long hanging roof structure to form a generous urban-scale entrance to the city.

Throughout November 2019, Venice has been inundated with the city's worst floods in half a century. Photographs and videos spread across the world showing the city’s iconic St Mark’s Square underwater, with a 2-meter-high surge threatening irreparable damage to historic sites such as Saint Mark’s Basilica. While the city has been battling rising water levels since the 5th century, the recent floods, set against the context of climate change, have spurred debate about how coastal cities are vulnerable to rising sea levels, and how the damage can be mitigated against.

On November 13th, 2019, a new train station was inaugurated in the city of Matera, Italy. The project, a new building and future park designed by Stefano Boeri Architetti, represents an important link between the city’s old town, post-war and modern districts and a key point of access to the city of Matera in the year that it’s set to become the European Capital of Culture.

Designed by MCA - Mario Cucinella Architects, engineered and built by WASP, TECLA is a prototype of an on-site 3D printed habitat, launched near Bologna, Italy. The innovative model creates future housing solutions and re-questions the idea of living in the city. It provides a shelter for everyone, through a sustainable, low-cost and efficient method.

Italy has just unveiled its national pavilion, conceived by CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati, Italo Rota Building Office, matteogatto&associati and F&M Ingegneria. In collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the U.A.E, the project is a metaphor for the journey from Italy to Dubai.

Stefano Boeri Architetti, Metrogramma Milano and Inside Outside have won the competition for the Parco del Ponte in Genoa, Italy. The urban project is located under the new bridge, designed by Renzo Piano to replace the Morandi Bridge that collapsed in August 2018.