Italian Architecture

As part of our 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale coverage, we present the Unfolding Pavilion. Below, curators Daniel Tudor Munteanu, Davide Tommaso Ferrando, Sara Favargiotti describe the exhibition in their own words.

The ‘Unfolding Pavilion’ is an exhibition and editorial project that pops up at major architecture events in previously inaccessible but architecturally significant buildings. 

Above a steep canyon cut by the fast flowing water of the River Gravina lies one of the oldest communities in the world, whose architecture is defined by the rocks among which it sits. Matera, found in the southern Italian region of Basilicata, is a picture-perfect, white-stone city that originates from a prehistoric troglodyte settlement. The area’s special caves were used as a natural shelter from the harsh climate as early as 10,000 BC and, while the city has developed a unique, more modern personality alongside its cave-dwelling past, its success and perception has always be tied to its historic core—giving Matera a long and storied history that will culminate in a stint next year as a European Capital of Culture. Through the photos Federico Scarchillii, we can see the uncommon beauty and opportunity in this settlement. 

Eight sites from the World Monuments Fund’s 2018 World Monuments Watch list have been awarded $1 million in funding from American Express to support much-needed preservation and restoration initiatives. The sites were selected based on their vulnerability to specific threats like natural disasters, climate change or social forces like urbanization that have left them neglected.

Stefano Boeri Architetti has released images of their proposed renovation of Matera Central Station in Southern Italy. Matera Central FAL railway station will be structurally altered through an “aesthetic and functional redevelopment together with technological upgrading of the railway itself.”

There is no female pronoun for architect in Italian, so a new project, Architette, was born aiming to professionally promote the female title in Italian. The project's objective consists of monitoring all-male juries and conferences, mentoring young generations on the ground to advocate for a more heterogeneous and fair professional landscape, where women can be an inspirational reference in architecture. 

The 2018 Milan Design Week is now underway, a festival which this year is expected to attract over 300,000 visitors. Every year, the festival brings together a wide range of practitioners and design companies resulting in unusual yet fascinating collaborations and installations. 

In his latest photographic collection, Federico Scarchilli captures Cistercian order in the form of Abbazia di Fossanova, Casamari, and Valvisciolo. Simple and utilitarian, Cistercian architecture reflects the transition between the Romanesque and Gothic periods. During this time, many religious authorities felt excessive ornamentation was a distraction to spiritual studies.

Throughout the spring and summer of 2018, the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, Italy will host a new site-specific project seeking to further our understanding of ecology, and the relationship between humans and the natural world. “The Florence Experiment” will connect internal and external spaces of the famed Renaissance palace through two separate experiences: an intertwined set of 65-foot-high (20-meter-high) slides, and a “live analysis” of the impact of human emotion on plant growth.

Research is the key to Andrea Oliva’s project for Shed #19—not only because this old factory was turned into a technopole for industrial investigation, but also because the architect’s proposal used research as a way of identifying the building’s possible transformations. In this case, the rich industrial history of the plant and the area is deemed essential for its refurbishment; its recovery depends on understanding its significance.

The Vatican has released details of the Holy See Pavilion for the 2018 Venice Biennale, marking the Vatican’s first ever entry to the architectural exhibition. Situated on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, the Holy See Pavilion will lead visitors on a journey through ten chapels designed by ten architects.