Containers came under spotlight of architecture and popular culture in the beginning of 2000s and they immediately gained wide media echo as a symbol of globalization, mobility and ecology, due to the possibility of recycling unused shipping containers. Though these characteristics describe well the characteristics of a contemporary man, people are still more conservative in their perception of housing. That is not bad at all, since we are mostly still not in a position that would require a mobile modular residence. I advocate the use of containers where their main characteristics can be used. Containers are best as temporal buildings, that can be set fast and moved away fast or to build on locations where permanent construction would not be allowed. Many famous companies therefore use them to represent their brands at the top locations in the world. In this segment container architecture is almost unbeatable, while in other fields architecture can still over more adequate answers to the current challenges.

2. Da li bi ovaj tip gradjenja mogao da zameni savremeni, globalni problem i nacin stanovanja? U kojoj meri je trosak proizvodnje kontejnera opravdan i koje su razlike zivljenja u istim?

Containers are merely a niche. I did a calculation in 2011, that If we would use all the existing containers in the world, that would, at that time, cover Chinas construction market for 78 days only. That shows that containers on a global scale do not represent any notable threat to the classic construction. However containers are very competitive in some segments as for example in low cost housing for motels and student housings. Demand for this type of use is growing despite the crisis in construction business. Containers are good answers so for several task but not to all. Architects are a bit obsessed by finding the universal answer for architecture in terms of modular and mobile structure and thousands of concepts were designed, almost every famous architect tried at least at one point to do a project like this. Majority of such projects failed due to two main factors, either being overdesigned or overpriced. And one of the reasons that containers came the furthest way is because they are not build for this and architects can borrow them like big legos and adapt them to their architectural vision.

3. Izdao si nekoliko knjiga koje su predstavile i dozivele znacajan uspeh. Najpoznatija nosi ime “CONTAINER ARCHITECTURE”. To je bila tvoja prva izdata knjiga, sa kojom si osvojio i Plecnikovu nagradu 2009. godine u Sloveniji. Izdata je od strane jedne izdavacke kuce u Barseloni. Sta mozes da nam kazes o tom opravdano zasluzenom uspehu, nakon evo vec nekoliko godina?

The first book was reprinted and sold-out several times in English and French language. It was already a good sign when 4 from 5 publishers offered me to publish it. I write books because I think writing helps me at my work. It helps to understand better other projects and I can better explain mine. That is the main reason, since writing architectural books is not very profitable activity.

5. Dosta istrazujes o decijim vrticima, pises i literaturu na tu temu; koliko ova tipologija moze biti fleksibilna i korisna u vreme danasnjih problema, narocito u kontekstu gradjevinske tehnologije?

Kindergartens today are facing big challenges, but not so much in terms of construction and technology, but rather in their content/program. The kindergarten typologies we have used for decades cannot develop all the potentials of the kids of today and kids of tomorrow, so the changes are inevitable. We can notice that contemporary kindergartens and schools are converting themselves from traditional institution structures to open learning landscapes where kids can learn more on their own, spaces where they can be active and influence more their educational process.

6. Vrtic KEKEC izgradio si 2010. godine. U njemu stavljas akcenat na citav kolorit panela, koji rotirajuci zadaju najrazlicitje scenarije, kako svojim delovanjem odlicno uticu na malisane. Koliko jedan ovakav simpatican i deciji gest moze da utice na tezinu jednog projekta ? 

The ability of children to change the appearance of their kindergarten and influent how it looks and the combination of bright colours we all associate with children have made a wide media echo all around the world. The project has been on the cover of several books and magazines around the world and was shown in several exhibitions. The idea itself came because of lack of money for new playground equipment and this was merely solution to do something in this direction from the construction budget. Still Kekec is the symbol of new kindergarten generation, since the kids can actively influence on kindergarten, they can change it, that is strong symbolical message though it is only a game and kindergarten functions as a big toy.

7. Momentalno zivis na relaciji izmedju Ljubljane i Pariza, a cesto boravis i u Rusiji. Na kom projektu trenutno radis?

I work a lot on consulting governments and international organizations on optimization of educational architecture. That means to increase the effectivity of the spaces and reduce the costs at the same time. Currently I work on The World Bank projects in several parts of Russia and for Council of Europe bank in Montenegro. I also have two kindergartens on my working desk in this moment and I continue writing books and articles.

8. Profesionalno si se formirao izmedju dve skole –  slovenacke i španjolske francuske (secam se da si neko vreme ucio i u Spaniji francuskoj na Ecole Speciale d’architecture). Mozes li da uporedis i ujedno nam predstavis razlike izmedju ova dva nacina ucenja?

In architecture there is especially big influence of the human factor at teaching architecture. And that also means that there is Gauss-line rule, having some very good professors, the average majority and some that are not good. So among the schools is the main difference the different environment and different challenges you can come across, which helps you understand different tasks. As for example in most of the Europe architects encourage the amount of the sun, while in southern Europe you seek protection of the sun and many similar details. So the main differences are the challenges you are faced with, being climate or culture or something else.

9. Poslednjih godina se oseca zatisje u sferi gradjevine u Sloveniji. Koji su razlozi sto se to desava i kakve su tvoje vizije i pogledi na jednu blisku buducnost?

Like in many countries before the crisis,  many people thought that construction business is the best way to earn money so they invested into it, regardless knowing a lot about it. The production was big, but not very good one in terms of quality. I think we can notice better projects in the last years, since offices can dedicate more time for the projects. For example in kindergarten architecture we can notice that established offices are joining the competitions, before that they were hardly able to do all the work by other clients. The architecture on general become at least more sober and even some star architects have limited themselves to unlimited spending and showing off. We can notice there fore the human scale trend, public and social infrastructure as parks and streets to become important again in the architecture. That is good for everyone. And as profession, some of my colleagues were forced to work on other non-architectural projects to survive and I think that benefits the creativity in total and might contribute to the quality of architecture on the longer run.

10. Da li si boravio u Makedoniji i kako gledas na slovenacke arhitekte koji su radili i stvarali u to nekadasnje vreme u Skoplju? (Jurij Princes sa Narodnim teatarom , Music unirvezitet Kiril i Metodije)

Those projects are legacy of one period in architectural and our common history. Personally I am glad that Slovenian architects took this chance to work in Macedonia, since such cultural exchange binds our cultures together. In any case I am in favour of open borders and open market. Working abroad is our reality – we are both small countries with limited resources and possibilities to work, so architects have to search bigger opportunities elsewhere.

1.You have studied architecture at the University of Ferrara (Italy), but now you’re working has a photographer. Why are you more interested in seeing than touching architecture?

It’s a good question. At the beginning I was delighted by the idea of seeing a project of mine being built… thinking about spaces and seeing the interaction of light, people, materials, becoming architecture. Later I understood that I would have to wait a long time before I could see one of my projects constructed. I am an impatient person, and I couldn’t wait! I chose then to play with the architectures of others, to offer my view about how these architectures are relating with the surroundings, with people, materials and light. Photography always enchanted me, it’s present in my family since generations, I’ve started to take pictures when I was ten years old…

2.Your first working experiences were in Barcelona: among them, the office of Carlos Ferrater. How did you get adapted to their routine?

Ten years have passed since then… The good thing about working in big offices is that you can work with different scales, jumping from a project which requires more details, to the planning of an entire neighborhood. But what I most appreciated of this experience, was the chance to meet young and well prepared architects from the whole Europe, most of whom have already a good reputation.

3. I remember very well a sentence from Mario Botta in a conference held in Milan Fair, while presenting his school: “Image is made to be consumed, architecture is made to last.”

It’s a catchphrase for sure, but I don’t believe that everything is black or white: there are beautiful architectures that aren’t made to last; at the same time, there are photographs which have marked the transition between two ages, which are the symbol of a generation, of a nation, of an historical moment. Maybe for Mario Botta such sentence reflects his own architecture, so solid and materic; but as I was saying, I think there are many ways of making an ephemeral, not-material based, light… ethereal architecture. On the other hand, I believe in this moment images have become a fundamental part of our society: in the age of Internet, we see huge amounts of images every day. We could say that they are, in a certain sense, “consumed”, but in another, they are an essential part of the representation of the society.

4.    Your photos remind me the work of Gabriele Basilico. In your case, in a colorful version. Clear objects, no people, wide-angle, perfect light and depth, very strong shades…

I really appreciate your comparison, Gabriele Basilico was for me a great master. His death was a great loss for all of us. He was to me one of the fathers of modern architectural photography. His interpretation of architecture in its context, his sensibility in understanding the cities, are some of the traits which have influenced photography for many generations. The presence of color is very important for me, it comes from my origins: my memories of Latin America are made of colors with maximum saturation, used in all their intensity: blue skies, yellows, reds, oranges… green and lush vegetation. If you take a closer look, the language of colors is extremely used in Latin American architecture: Niemeyer, Barragán, Clorindo Testa…Clear objects without persons, as you say… Actually, in my first years taking pictures, I was looking at photography as an architecture inside the architecture: the will to give a new interpretation of the building, playing with the geometry of shades, the interaction between light and materials, of the entire building with its surroundings, during the different times of the day. I thought about the human presence just as a reference of scale (like our sketches, sections, façades), as a dot, as the intuition of a presence. People are used to be photographed, they want protagonism… but I prefer that the building, the volumes, the pieces become the leading actors.More recently I’ve noticed, otherwise, that the presence of people inside an architecture can enrich a picture a lot… with a mood, the color of a dress, the explanation of its use, the livability of the spaces… we shouldn’t forget that architecture is made to be used by people, and not just as a pure and perfect volume claiming its own identity.

5. Do you listen to music while you take pictures?

I love that you ask this to me. Music is fundamental in my life, it has always been by my side. But when I’m taking pictures, I love to listen to the sounds that surround that piece of architecture, because they are part of its reality.After some hours, I feel I can perceive the very voice of the building: it shouts, it falls silent, it conceals itself… or dialogues… the sensibility of capturing the essential of a work depends also on your capacity of listening to it. During the pauses of a working session, the musical nuances which I listen can vary a lot: from jazz to 70′s rock…When I’m portraying, I don’t like silence: music is a part of my dialog with the model. In this case I like the music to be energetic, and for me the pure energy is rock. I’ve been growing up with grunge, it is the music that reaches directly my heart, and represents a part of me that will always exist… I confess that time ago I was tempted by the idea of making a career as a rock star!

6. Which technique do you use? Are you usually editing photos for a final version?

At the beginning I was shooting with 35mm film. Since some years I’ve changed to digital photography. Actually I care a lot about the editing of my photos, since I want them to be an ideal representation, to underline as more as possible the characteristics of materials, spaces and volumes. Sometimes the building is not finished… in those cases one has to become in a certain way an “architect of the picture”, and to carry out the work that hasn’t been completed.

7. You have photographed architectural works from Miralles Tagliabue, Carlos Ferrater, BAAS Architecture, Ricardo Bofill, MAB Arquitectura, Battle i Roig…      Who among them impressed you the most?

I’m not going to answer this question! In each one of my works I always try to catch the best of each building, to give my own interpretation, even if I hadn’t take the same decision about the project. Each architecture needs it’s own vision: I think that a rational style can be enhanced by pictures that highlight its orthogonality and the spaces surrounding it. A more organic architecture is a challenge to the representation, because it demands that you alter your points of view, and understand how geometries, becoming sculptures, are interacting with the space.

8. Armin Linke is a photographer who looks at the architecture in a more critical way, but even so, he keeps the aesthetics and the beautifully surrealistic composition. Do you know his pictures of architectures from the Macedonian Socialism period?

Until today I didn’t know about the wonderful work of this artist, thanks for letting me know about that. The Macedonian socialist period created beautiful and amazing architectures, really fascinating and fantastic. They make me think about futuristic cities conceived, who knows, by Isaac Asimov… It would be interesting to get the chance of giving my interpretation about them.

9. How did you feel while photographing the work of Oscar Niemeyer in Niteroi, Brazil?

The journey to Rio de Janeiro was in 2007, right during the centenary of his birth. Photographing his work was for me an unbelievable emotion, but it also marked the moment when I decided to devote myself to photography. His architecture reflects the Brazilian culture: his organic forms remind the curves of nature, its vivid and pure colors, remind the tastes of the tropical fruits, his sloping accesses invite you to enjoy the landscape more slowly, almost dancing at the rhythm of samba…I deeply admire him, not only for the wonderful architecture he gave us (in this case Mario Botta is right, it is an architecture made to last…), but also for his vision of life and society. His loss created a great emptiness in the modern architecture, and especially in the ideology of a social architecture.

10.Which is the importance of the urban scene in the composition of the  photographed architecture?

As Gabriele Basilico taught us, I believe that the urban scenes are a fundamental part, if not in the design of a building, at least in its representation. I think that the relationship (dialogue or contrast) with the urban context is one of the bases of modern architecture.

11. You are born in Argentina, you have studied in Italy, and now you live in Spain. How all these phases influenced your creativity, maturity and success as a photographer?

It’s a very appropriate question. My multi-cultural formation was essential to define my identity as a photographer; every country where I lived provided my photographic interpretation with a different nuance, and a new tone.From my years in Argentina, as I said, I’ve conserved the strength of colors, the intensity and purity of the blue skies. On a human level, I conserved the idea of friendship as a deep, familiar, and eternal relation.From my years in Italy, apart from my studies, I’ve conserved the importance of context and history, the appreciation of the great masterpieces made by classical and Renaissance artists. I feel very lucky to have studied in depth the Italian art, which left us an immense cultural heritage.Now that I live in Barcelona, I can’t say that this city fully represents the Spanish culture… but I can say in which way it has influenced my photography: the great importance in the design of public spaces was a primary lesson to learn how to read the empty spaces of architecture: squares, streets, parks… you need a different point of view, to understand the essence of this kind of projects, and I continuously keep on understanding different nuances. Another aspect which I admire, respect to the Italian and Argentinian society, is the higher level of freedom and equality for the status of working women, even if there’s still much to do to reach the standards of northern Europe countries.

12.Barcelona is one of the three hotspots of architecture in Europe, together with Rotterdam and Basel. How much did this city enlarged your horizons on your work?

As I said before, the lesson of Barcelona about public spaces was very important to me. In my opinion, the Catalan architecture school comes from a tradition which privileges the construction and the detailing, the honesty of materials; respect to it, the school of Madrid promotes research in architecture, and the exploration of new ideological and formal limits, maybe with a higher level of design freedom.The luck of living in a culturally dynamic city as Barcelona, with a strong identity connected to the design, is an opportunity to enrich continuously my vision of art and image, and to compare it with new vanguards. I live in a former industrial neighborhood, the area 22@, Poble Nou, which is under a constant evolution (sometimes coming close to the threat of speculation). The chance of living at short distances from new emblematic architectures brings you to think constantly about how to photograph, to read them, to listen to how they relate with each other; until you know them, as old friends.

In this context, Italian architecture seems to have gradually lost contact with that vocabulary of measure, sensitivity and appropriateness which defined its character. The architecture has become internationalized, more impersonal, and homogeneous. The nerve of expressive autonomy has been compressed and given up that so-called passionate attitude towards a place.

I firmly believe it is necessary to view this challenging moment not as fated condemnation, but as a crucial opportunity. Like Blumenberg’s hapless castaway who was crushed, humiliated, and assaulted but chose to resist the fury of the seas, we, too, live through traumas while simultaneously choosing opportunities to re-establish a new world, starting first with ideas.

This is an unprecedented metamorphosis. For Balkan architecture with its multi-cultural population, multiple drives and fragile structures, it has been undergoing an interesting process of “re-discussion” on the key character, purpose and content of contemporary architecture. The geographical and intellectual experiments executed by protagonists such as Njiric & Njiric, Studio UP, 3LHD, Randis & Turato, Reichenberg Architecture, Bevk Perović Architects, Pero Vuković and Tonči Žarnić have transformed the Balkan region into a kind of grand research lab. It is an interesting and innovative development, which is uniquely and positively independent of the international scene. And although current results are not yet crystal clear, they do point to a future architectural lexicon that has started to be stuttered.

2. You have been (and currently are) teaching architectural composition at the Faculty of Architecture in Ferrara. In your experience as a professor, what is the most important thing you feel you gave and you can still transmit to students?

I have to say I started very early. I was still a student when professors, who perhaps noticed something good in me, began to ask me to help them review academic projects submitted within their design courses. It was pretty embarrassing: I stood there dispensing critiques, hypothetical solutions, proposals and suggestions to students just like me, my peers! It was really hard at the beginning, but they slowly learned to appreciate the useful, practical advice I gave (well, this is the assumption I want to believe). I vividly remember my first official day as a teacher; it seems like yesterday. Now, almost a decade later, I have taught courses such as “Analysis of the City and the Territory”, “Theories and Techniques of Architectural Design”, ”Landscape Architecture”, and most recently “Architectural Composition”. I always desired to teach design and in 2010 that became possible. I call that period in my career the “time of anticipation”. Now I realize it was extremely helpful, essential even, because it enabled me to patiently, carefully and humbly formulate the character and substance of ideas that would become my personal contribution to the training of new generations of architects. The bottom line is that it is in the construction of thought, awareness and conscience where the seed of change is sown and where the foundations of the world to come are laid.

By nurturing young talent, we cultivate hope for future good, a dignified rehabilitation of our profession, and decisive emancipation from decades of speculative paralysis. The paralysis has condemned our country to mediocrity, to a vulgar provincialism that disguises itself as radical-chic, resulting in magazines full of foreign works, contributions and protagonists as if nothing good was detectable at home.

Thus through teaching I have a strong call to responsibility. Architecture is not a joke, not an instrument of narcissistic individual affirmation or a foolish pass to fifteen wicked minutes of fame. It is an extraordinary platform that records biographies and serves to shape human experiences, circumscribe emotions, ignite enthusiasm, arouse admiration, and nurture intellectual reflections that all result in a sense of protection, in value and dignity. All in all, I think balance, precision, and measure should be the underlying motivation for young architects in order to temper egoistic temptations and the many smart, indispensable tools for a more natural and intelligent architectural practice. If inhabiting means ‘dressing’ spaces with ourselves, as Heidegger suggested, and gaining happiness from that, then we could say that architecture is a good way to take care of the world. I am also reminded of Hölderlin who declared that “poetically man dwells on this earth”. If true, then architecture must primarily be lyric and emotional in substance.

Obviously no quarry stone, forest wood, or blasted furnace steel is itself poetic. Architecture is first of all an immaterial presence: it nestles in the magic of relationships, in the intersections of meaning, in the tension of the approaches or loving conflicts. In this way, even a musical score of Bartók is wonderful architecture. When I first meet my students and address things in this manner, many of them consider leaving my course. But then, in the end, they reconsider and change their mind. All of them.

The Italian educational system moves alongside the conflictive conditions generated by our profession. Europe as a whole is crossing an unprecedented crisis. Global competition is getting fiercer every day (work is scarce; thousands of students graduate every year while building constructions get reduced). What is your vision for the future? What do you think it is going to be decisive for the next generation of architects?

Well, I am pretty clear in saying my design course has always shown a certain impatience with the classical methods of teaching as well as an overtly “anti-academic” attitude both in the selection of the content and in the didactic transmission system. That is why it often sparked debates and interesting controversies of which, I must say, I am very proud!

I am convinced that the architect’s figure and professional activity may have initiated a process of irreversible transformation unlike what could be said about them even just a decade ago. The upheavals in the fields of communication, real-time interaction and technological sophistication, not infrequently associated with the parodoxal complications that have affected the sphere of project responsibilities, have radically reshaped the role of the architect in contemporary society, turning it ever more from manufacturer of buildings to producer of ideas, scenarios and strategic solutions.

The millennial bond, with its focus of doing and volume density, has gradually dissolved in favor of a more distinctly immaterial alliance to proactively and imaginatively solve complicated issues from not only a constructive perspective but, more importantly, from social, economic and cultural ones as well. The architect is becoming less of a builder, in the practical sense, and becoming more an interpreter of reality, reader and decoder of historical circumstances, anticipating trends and inventing innovative social panoramas even before developing urban scenes. So to use the technical jargon typical of strategic communication activities, we could say he is a problem solver.

If it is true that the profession’s dynamics and the role of the architect are not (and will not be) those of the past anymore, the same must necessarily hold true for teaching. From this assumption, my courses do not focus on the apparent certainties offered by traditional notions but rely instead on the unstable, fluid field of experience: lectures and operations by designers, landscape architects, artists, photographers, writers, filmmakers or even theater actors and graphic designers who build exciting, multi-faceted scenarios with unlimited potential. One can discover significant works with travel and architectural itineraries, however life experience provides the rest and delivers a strong sense of familiarity to sublime ingredients found in good architecture. The ingredients are palpable yet sometimes incommunicable: light, mass, weight, volume, transparency, color, lightness, balance, proportion and measure. All appear before the students’ eyes for their perceptual and interpretative experience. In this way, they are shielded from stagnant orthodoxies from the past and the magazines’ fleeting trends of the present.

The result is almost always a lighting rod that goes off in the minds of students. I can see their dreams of what they can do or become, of the influence they may have in determining reality. And most importantly, this spark catalyzes ideas, their points of view on things and helps me bring out their best. I intercept these ideas and make the most of their personal inclinations, nurturing fresh talent that is, more or less, in each of them.

3. In 2008, at the age of 30, you won two important competitions consecutively. Less than a year later you opened your own Studio. That rousing start moreover assigned you the role of being a highly-promising young architect within the Italian scene.

In 2008, after many experiences in Italy and abroad, I decided it was time to test the knowledge and skillset accumulated over the years. Thus, in a few months and working almost exclusively at night and on weekends while collaborating with large architectural firms, I participated in a couple of competitions focused on radical, yet compelling themes: a cemetery and a school. It was as if the cycles of birth and death in life “met”, so to speak, in a circular path in these two architectural projects. This was an irresistible challenge which I found very exciting. I tended the projects with passion, determination and dedication, in solitude, and in a kind of curious path of spiritual analysis. The victory came through both competitions, beating hundreds of other proposals and acclaimed architectural studios. That moment was so overwhelming, because it happened all at once at a relatively young age! I was in a state of disbelief and convinced I had consumed the “victory bonus” for the next ten years (we all know how difficult it is to win a competition)! It seemed to be the perfect time to open my own studio, and I ignored the voices that argued that contests were just ideas that ended up in a drawer or that live, at most, as long as an election campaign.

So I opened the Atelier of Architecture. It is like a “bottega” where now a group of architects, engineers, graphic designers and artists contribute to conceiving, researching, developing, and managing projects. We are definitely a “family” and every bit of content is produced and edited within the atelier, starting with the first sketch to the building’s construction documents, from conceptual renderings to the structural system that undergoes safety and technological analysis. Particular attention is always given to researching the environmental and economic sustainability of projects. Our sustainability guru and LEED accredited professional on the team straddles between the U.S. and Italy and evaluates proposals for LEED certification as well as scouts for projects abroad.

After the surprise of winning two consecutive first prizes, I was just as equally surprised with the fate of the projects: the national competitions led to the construction of both projects shortly thereafter! This was really against the odds, because it usually takes on average seven years to see a medium-sized public building get built. We subsequently won other important design and urban planning competitions, both public and private, all completed (incredibly) or currently in progress.

4. With the project for the primary school named “The Court of The Trees”, near Bergamo, you received the prestigious Renzo Piano Foundation Award. What were the building’s hallmarks that allowed you to gain this important prize?

The project has enjoyed widespread popularity: published on many occasions by the media, on nontraditional platforms and specialized magazines both in Italy and abroad. It has received numerous awards and several significant acknowledgments – the most important one being the one received recently from Renzo Piano’s hands, at the end of a long, unforgettable day spent at his Building Workshop in Genoa.

According to the touching and motivating words spoken by the great architect, the elements that enabled us to earn the award are mainly found in a range of small great field-choices: the special attention given to respecting the delicate contextual conditions (the school stands in front of the historic cemetery of the small town!); the inclusion of unconventional uses of common construction techniques and humble building materials found locally (perforated walls and volumetric conformations lightly reinterpret the expressive vocabulary of the magnificent farmstead courts punctuating the Bergamo area); the detailed study of the perceptual and atmospheric quality of spaces (a detailed plan of the inside colors gives the interior, here and there, an almost dreamy ambience); the custom-made tailored approach in the construction of the building’s skin (its architectural details), and we were even tasked with integrating the interiors with the creation of child-friendly ergonomic furniture and play equipment.

But perhaps even more revealing was the innovative and rebellious re-interpretation of environmental and sustainable design solutions. We eschewed the banal and technologically sophisticated, preferring instead simple and integrated solutions. A three-dimensional grid of “invisible” wind chimneys eliminated the need to install a complicated and expensive indoor air forced replacement system. It saved money, brought beauty, and also allowed the building to validate one of the oldest techniques known in architecture as passive design: natural, slow ventilation belongs to many of the pre-industrial Western civilizations and, more specifically, is an extraordinary knowledge asset within Mediterranean architecture.

5.With a competition project for Bologna you offered an interesting vision for the rehabilitation of the historic city through micro-surgery actions. Do you think this strategy could be properly applied to all other Italian cities?

The project, which was awarded an Honorable Mention in a major international design and urban strategy competition, was titled: Urban Micro-surgery: Five Non-invasive Surgeries for the New Ruralcity. Starting from an interesting interpretation of the city as a physical and organic entity, the project contemplates the idea of spreading swarms of non-invasive microsurgical interventions, completely or partially reversible, as a “proactive care” to many points of suffering within the urban body.

Cities are complicated social, symbolic and political bodies. Urban projects, today more than ever, need the ability to claim that sophisticated esprit de corps between unity and fragment, between continuous and discontinuous, of the identical and the nonidentical that exist in juxtaposition. Very often urban and especially environmental planning are seen as isolated pieces of territories tampered in time and handed back to nature; this seems inappropriate, because the value and quality of a place needs both the presence of natural features and a wise integration of man-made infrastructure for an optimal experience. Likewise, every piece of architecture in an urban landscape becomes an instrument in the process of controlling the metropolitan scenario as well as a study of hierarchical relationships, dimensions and quality.

Cities are bodies, we said. In the case of Bologna we detected five main organic diseases affecting the urban body at that time. We proposed specific micro-surgical treatments for each “urban illness”, which were carried out with non-invasive techniques, strictly localized, limited action, considering that each operation had to be performed repeatedly for every “point of affection” across the area. This would result in a conglomerated system of diffused curative measures. These specific approaches aimed to heal and remove obstacles to a contemporary alliance between urban and country, i.e. the birth of the new “rural city”. Just as a medical practice depends on the crucial interaction between doctor and patient, likewise urban policies and cities need to relate. To treat an area so it cures, improves, and stimulates positive chain-reactions in communities, it is essential to recognize the need to take action and have courage. Graphically, these were visible as spots placed on urban and rural territories that served to promote a global action on a slow but progressive urban awakening.

We think this may represent one of the few opportunities contemporary cities have to recover their lost integrity. Minor surgery – diffusive, non-invasive and mostly reversible – seems to be one of the few means available to solve problems. Town and country get the chance to live and blend together if unusual relationships of interdependence are preserved. This seems to be achievable with the creation of new connections that are based on real ecological preservation, on the development and use of alternative energy sources, and on the (re)design of a mobility infrastructure. Moving the country to the city, not in a physical way, but connecting it efficiently to the fabric of the city and consciously enriching it with social deals and identity shares, gives substance to a new way to think about living rurally in an urban landscape. It is not just built for action. Sometimes, it is introducing a new costume or a new custom, to create positive conditions for transformation. Many times it is human intervention, without premises, planning or execution of a material work, that ends up being significant micro-surgery for the future city.

6. For the Malga Fosse’s rehabilitation competition project, among the Dolomites, you proposed an almost “metaphysic” settlement in the formidable landscape of the Alps. What is the reason why?

The competition announcement explicitly invited designers to think about the renovation in terms of landscape and architectural regeneration. The conversion of the historic Malga inn, whose structural integrity was fatally compromised due to long-term deterioration, into an excellent tourist destination would be attracting visitors, residents and tourists to a very high altitude site. The competition also served to ignite new ways to promote this remote mountain territory with its small neighboring towns in the wider regional circuit of urban marketing.

In our opinion, an iconic and highly evocative design would also have to consider re-establishing the image, the ways and customs of living on a mountain at high altitudes. By articulating around a strong, radical and uncompromising design, we aimed at making a positive impact on the inhabitants’ collective imagination, while avoiding violations to the site’s sacredness and natural heritage. Doing so would prevent the proposed design from succumbing to the whimsical nature of architectural trends.

So we believed the best way to address the special charm inherit in “mountain design” was by re-interpreting the quintessential mountain archetype: stylizing the wooden hut with a steep slope to echo the surrounding peaks with a nod to the “conquest” metaphor. A slim, sharp, tapered body affords extraordinary views of the landscape with the insertion of triple-height glass walls on the ends, strategically placed windows on the sides, and glass railings on the balconies for unobstructed bedside views! The triple-height glass wall and exposed staircase recreate the exhilarating experience of mountain trekking or climbing. (If you are afraid of heights, do not look down!) At the top, one gets a memorable view of the whole complex, which by itself is worthy of a postcard. The materials chosen are vernacular and contextual. Despite the large expanse of glass and extreme cold temperatures, the building is highly energy efficient as sustainable design best practices, quality materials with high insulation ratings, and renewable energy solutions for on-site power generation were used. It is a self-sufficient structure that enables the inhabitants (guests and residents alike) to live autonomously and comfortably year round. This also translates to a viable business model where the property owners can keep their doors open and take advantage of all four seasons. The best part about our design is that it mimics the vernacular and surroundings so well that it looks like it was always there and as if it was supposed to be there! This structure anywhere else would simply be unthinkable!

Indeed, this new contemporary hut is reminiscent of high altitude rock formations. Perhaps we all have a memory of these old structures in our subconscious. For this reason we named it Tip Top, to remind one of the tops between mountain tops, rocks between stone peaks, and huts between cabins. Although this project only received an honorable mention, I find it interesting that we found ourselves on a higher mountain several months later to receive another award elsewhere.

7.You won the international competition for the new Ferrara city morgue and public facilities complex with a project named Domus Vitae. What is the meaning of this interesting motto?

Very often, almost without realizing it, we have found ourselves planning and designing heretically in order to break from traditional norms. This is easy to do because handed-down buildings inevitably have flaws, and we always start with examining them first. From this starting point, it becomes less about what the project wants to be and more about what that it absolutely must not be! I call this phenomenon “rebel composition”, and it was evident early on that this was one of those projects. The challenge was to create a new city morgue with adjoining public facilities for the city of Ferrara in a former 15th century citadel. The site is in a highly dense, urban location adjacent to the city’s beautiful Renaissance walls.

Spaces traditionally dedicated to the death industry are among the most disturbing, desolate and impersonal ones ever witnessed in western architectural history. One can clearly see a demarcated process (with direct correlations) of degradation within this sector. As value systems changed and respect for the sacred and unknown deteriorated, modern society’s structures adopted and mirrored those attitudes. Disdain for death and decay consequently relegated places for the dead to the peripheries, making them vulnerable to neglect, abandonment and carelessness. The life-affirming craving for production and infinite progress redefined life and those alive in terms of worth. Only life was worthy of attention, beauty and care, while death was perceived as an unacceptable interruption and disruptive element within the natural order of things. The revulsion associated with the cessation of existence is fully expressed in the gloomy places that were once home to a collective sharing, a celebratory and architectural magnificence, and a condolent spirit.

Thus, pushed by the need and desire to rethink these places and drawing on the sensitivity of our forefathers, we broke away from common practice. We proposed the idea of “porous” spaces that allow guests to express themselves in any given moment or mood. There are rooms with different amounts of intimacy, vertical gardens, secret patios, rooms with warm colors, and natural light is ubiquitous and palpable. Together, they contribute towards bringing comfort, closure and protection. Compositional choices and unconventional materials are combined to outline a kind of grand house where different cultures and faiths co-exist in mutual peace and respect. It is an emotionally familiar place where mourning the end is replaced with dignifying the cycles of life. Domus Vitae, a home for life.

8.You are also widely active with the cultural group named Cluster Theory. What does it deal with exactly?

Cluster Theory is an innovative young multi-disciplinary research group established in 2011 by Giovanni Avosani and Elisa Poli that addresses theoretical approaches in contemporary architectural practices. The group has bases in Venice, Ferrara, Bologna, Florence, Bari and Milan and develops critical proposals for public spaces, produces architectural critiques and organizes lectures on the current state of affairs in architecture.

Formed by architects, philosophers, sociologists, economists and art critics, Cluster Theory investigates issues of theory and criticism in the contemporary architectural realm through different approaches, evaluation systems and methodologies.

The landscape always changes, following social and physical mutations of contemporary society. Critical thinking, however, should point how our networks work as an information conveyor. Physical proximity is not essential for making public landscapes work, as these have been subrogated with the virtual spaces created by social networks. Therefore, in response to the request for shared information and content, the public landscape should revert to a main physical place for social interactions. Cluster Theory demonstrates how the quality of urban spaces affects their use (past and present) in daily affairs, both socially and culturally. An interesting research tool used by the group is their “integrated encounters” approach. For example, a recent international workshop titled, Passenger in a Landscape, gave a selected group of students the opportunity to participate in a unique experience inside the spaces of Wunderkammer and at the University of Ferrara’s Department of Architecture.

The workshop was organized around the Michelangelo Antonioni exhibit with the goal of building paths of inquiry focused on landscape design. Unconventional tools such as film, video art, mapping, viral marketing and communication were used. In addition to guests and tutors, others who joined me for this workshop were Alterazioni Video, Marco Brizzi, [im]possible living, Guido Incerti and Carlorattiassociati. The workshop was addressed to undergraduate, graduate, and post doctoral students from all disciplines who wished to explore design solutions using an unconventional language.

9.From July your work will be exposed at MoMA New York within an important international exhibition. This is maybe the first and most important presentation beyond the Italian frontiers so far. What are your personal expectations in this regard?

For the Cut’n'Paste exhibit at MoMA, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, we were contacted directly (and unexpectedly) by the curator, Pedro Gadanho, who had been tracking (and appreciating) our work on several online publications. We readily accepted the offer to participate and collaborated with their team on the exhibit’s logistics. It officially opened July 10th inside the MoMA’s Gallery of Architecture and Design and will be on view until December 1st.

The surprise invitation to get featured in one of the most prestigious museums in the world was exhilarating! I can still remember the evening when I first saw the incoming mail. Considering it highly unlikely and mistaking it for junk mail (especially since it was April Fool’s day in the U.S.), I initially eliminated the message! Fortunately the next day, I recovered it from the trash (thank God) and finally opened that incredible communication. It launched this new, exciting adventure I am now experiencing!

The exhibit comes at a significant moment when our relations with the United States are thickening considerably because of some very interesting professional opportunities and collaborations. There may soon be important news for our studio overseas…

It is pretty interesting that you are also involved with photography. What is the difference between photographing your architecture and that of someone else’s?

One of the most common misconceptions about photography is that it constitutes an instrument of objective representation of reality. Anyone with even minimal notions about the photographic expressive language knows that this is absolutely false. If it is undisputed that the camera lens captures exactly all that is included inside the frame border, it is equally true that the operation of inclusion, through which the one who takes the picture individually selects what and how to include (or comprehend, we could say), is in fact a precise act of critical synthesis. Photography does not reproduce reality, but rather furnishes a particular, partial and independent interpretation that the author gives us. A simple movement of the camera can be sufficient to eliminate or add elements whose existence or absence can radically change the “spiritual” effect that the image can exert on the viewer. Strategic alignments or slight misalignments can effectively influence the construction of a narrative tension, strictly functional to the carrying out of a story. The poetics of color, the conscious choice of black and white or a secondary use of natural or artificial light, as well we know, can give the picture an emotionally significant character.

What has been said until now seems to be worth even more, and especially, if we talk about architectural photography, for which the use of shooting authorship is now more than ever required in the construction of the image through which the work shows itself to the world. Architecture, more so than other subjects, cannot be described but represented only. The need to give a reading of architecture by images forces you, anyway, to make a proper exercise of reduction to communication essentials, investigating the will and ideas of the designer to trace their actual physical manifestation. When you discover a glimpse, a detail or a particularly interesting atmosphere, you need to crystallize it in the image as something to be treasured. I learned in time that architecture is nourished by memory, experience, strong intensity and those unforgettable moments of passion.

I often photograph my work a bit proactively. The idea is to test, with a click, the effective substance in the built architectural body, the “spirit” that had animated the project. When, in astonishment, I see within the picture a kind of reproduction, so to speak a mise en scène, of the visual fascination that had already been in me since the preliminary design phase, this serves as an affirmation that perhaps I did do a good job, or at least I did not betray the seed that originated the idea.

10.You were born in and live and work in Ferrara, a city in constant evolution in the field of architecture. How much has the rebirth of the city influenced your work as an architect?

I like to think that somehow, even minimally, our work and research had a role in stimulating the city’s rebirth that we have experienced lately. Even regionally relevant projects will change the face of the contemporary Ferrara, launching it in a network of the future’s most dynamic metropolises relative to architecture, innovation, and urban regeneration. Besides our Domus Vitae, which will effectively redraw a significant portion of downtown near the most fascinating parts of the city’s walls, other experimental urban projects will also be realized. There is, for example, the new National Museum of Italian Judaism and of the Shoah, designed by a close friend, that we all have been waiting decades for. There is also the advanced shoe research and production facility being designed by a famous French firm.

The city has always demonstrated the ability to identify and achieve those goals really important for its social and economic long-term growth. When a formidable group of professionals established the School of Architecture in 1993 (my alma mater and employer), few were ready to bet on its future. Now, twenty years later, it is one of the most important and prestigious departments in the country, always topping national evaluations for its quality service and curriculum programs. The same is true for other initiatives around town, such as the infamous Space Grisù. All are contributing to the socio-cultural fabric and creating job and training opportunities.

We hope our efforts are seen as positive contributions to the city’s future; we dream of making it better and attractive where even you would want to live. We definitely work from this premise and thus work hard to bring new light.