Spanning over 3 millennia with one of the highest concentrations of architecture in the world, Rome is a transcendental influence on the world's culture. A city rich in history, academia, and arts, the Italian capital is considered as one of the oldest continuously-occupied cities in Europe, and has maintained its countless layers of history to become a perfect depiction of old meets new, earning its nickname of "The Eternal City".
Various cities have been experimenting with wavering fees for public transport in an effort to promote sustainable mobility, alleviate traffic congestion and decrease social inequality. This past February, Salt Lake City has paused fare collection for a month to reduce carbon emissions in the region. At the end of March, the Italian city of Genoa extended free access to some of its public transport networks, following a successful experiment which began at the end of 2021 and in an ambitious plan to become the first Italian city with free transportation. Meanwhile, the small duchy of Luxembourg became the world’s first country with free public transit in 2020.
The 59th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia has officially opened its doors to the public on the 23rd of April, 2022. Titled "The Milk of Dreams”. the exhibition is welcoming more than 210 artists from 58 countries, to showcase over a thousand artworks and installations that promote art, science, research, and ecological transition from the environmental humanities.
Under the theme Unknown Unknowns. An Introduction to Mysteries, the 23rd Triennale Milano International Exhibition will open to the public on July 15th until December 11th, 2022, with installations, interventions, and special projects that "question what we don’t know we don’t know". This year's exhibition will display an array of artwork and installations designed by notable architects and designers hailing from 40 countries, such as Francis Kéré, winner of the 2022 Pritzker Architecture Prize, who will design an installation that brings together the voices of Africa and its diaspora.
After an extensive five-year restoration carried out by David Chipperfield Architects and Generali, the iconic Procuratie Vecchie in St. Mark's Square has opened again to the city, with an installation by Italian artist Edoardo Tresoldi. Titled "Monumento", the artwork responds to the new socially-driven functions presented by the vast space, "renewing the language of the monumental column and the values to which society aspires in order to reflect its own epoch".
After a prolonged period known as the Dark Ages, Europe was in dire need of a rebirth. A growing desire to both study and mimic nature itself began to emerge, with an inclination to discover and explore the world. Between 1400-1600 Europe was to witness a significant revival of the fine arts, painting, sculpture and Architecture.
The 60th edition of Salone del Mobile.Milano 2022, which will take place from the 7th till the 12th of June 2022 at the Fiera Milano Rho, is reflecting on the ongoing ecological transition of the design world, with a mission to "demonstrate that it is both possible and crucial to start embedding sustainability and environmental awareness into furniture production". More than 2,000 exhibitors, including over 600 young designers under the age of 35, will express their own identities and creative freedom, using the exhibition space as both an architectural and communication element with sustainability and ecology as main criteria.
David Chipperfield Architects Berlin and Arup have unveiled the design of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games arena. The structure will sit in the core of Milano Santa Giulia, a new urban district currently under redevelopment in the south-east of Milan. The new arena will house sports and cultural events with up to 16,000 visitors, and offer individuals of all demographics a vast outdoor area that promotes social gatherings and recreational activities.
The European Commission and the Mies van der Rohe Foundation have announced the 7 finalists that will compete for the 2022 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award. The finalists include 5 projects in the Architecture category and 2 in the Emerging Architecture category, all of which "encourage and become models and references for local city policies". The winners will be announced in April 2022 and the Award ceremony will take place in May 2022.
Architect Cino Zucchi (b. 1955) grew up and practices in Milan, Italy. He was trained at MIT in Cambridge and the Politecnico di Milano, but claims to be largely self-taught, although influenced by such of his countrymen as Aldo Rossi and Manfredo Tafuri. He is internationally known for diverse projects across Europe. Many are both abstracted and contextual residential complexes in Italy, particularly in Milan, Bologna, Parma, Ravenna, and, most notably, in Venice. Zucchi’s D residential building in Giudecca, attracted international attention and praise when it was completed in 2003. I met Cino Zucchi last year during the Venice Architecture Biennale; that meeting led to an extensive interview that we recently engaged in over Zoom between New York and the architect’s sunlight and books-filled Milan studio.
