Papers by Antonino Saggio
I think it could be useful to recall some fundamental aspects on the basis of Tirana Design Week ... more I think it could be useful to recall some fundamental aspects on the basis of Tirana Design Week 2019, and from that, we will move independently from the lecture that I delivered in Tirana on the 19th of September 2019. The title of speech had been (1919-2019) “FROM BAUHAUS TO A NEW PARADIGM IN ARCHITECTURE”. My idea was to celebrate the centenary of the birth of the Bauhaus particularly to underline the paradigm shift from an architectural symbol of the mechanical and industrial world to a new one based on information, which is what portraits these times we are living in. Despite these celebrations usually have a historical-philological character, my lecture was based on the idea that history is always written from a today perspective and by the will to stimulate critical thinking.
We believe that the new frontiers of Information Technology have to deal with the central role of... more We believe that the new frontiers of Information Technology have to deal with the central role of Infrastructures in the existing city. Indeed, this new generation of infrastructures will allow the ‘redirection’ of the development. To arrest developments in "Green felds" outside the cities and redirect developments towards "Brown areas" in the existing cities we need infrastructures of new generation. In this historical moment, a development phase has to focus on the use of urban voids in the existing city to stop the endless urban sprawl. As an example, here I present and discuss the urban project “Tevere Cavo“ in Rome.
eCAADe proceedings, 1998
The "Universale d'architettura" is a pocket book series which is now arrived at 40 titles. Printe... more The "Universale d'architettura" is a pocket book series which is now arrived at 40 titles. Printed by Testo&Immagine in Turin it is directed by Bruno Zevi. It has a very large public, being distributed in newstands, in bookstores and mailed to subscribers at a very convenient price (6 dollars each). Many of its titles will soon appear in English, French, Spanish and German. The book series is divided into different sections (monographs, essays, architectural guides, anthologies) and in April 1988 a new section has been introduced. "La rivoluzione informatica" ("The Information revolution") is the title and Antonino Saggio is the curator. Scope of this new section is to bring closer architecture and computers by providing intellectual and cultural tools to orient the reader in a fast growing filed. The first book (Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi, Hyperarchitecture. Spaces in the electronic era) is an essay that combines a critical overview of most recent projects by Ito, Arakama, Koolhaas, Libeskind with epistemological consideration and researches coming from conceptual art. Three key words organized the material: projection, mutation, simulation. The next book (Gerhard Schmitt, Information architecture) deals with foundation and future of Caad systems and it can be seen from one side as an extremely updated manual and from the other as the construction of the developing lines of Caad research. Other forthcoming titles include: Virtual Terragni, How works the Eisenman Office, Design and Build with Computers. "La rivoluzione informatica" is (not only in Italy but also, quite probably, anywhere) the only book series which addresses the theme of architectural design in the electronic era. To better understand its scope, character and goals, it follows the Afterward by Saggio to the first book. Figure 1: Book covers of the first two books of "La Rivoluzione Informatica" But the fluid, liquid, submarine, metaphorical, symbolic and interconnected spatiality of Kandinsky (and Mirò and Klee) is, without information technology, impossible to conceptualize in architecture. With information technology, on the other hand, this become almost vaguely intuitable. This is perhaps what we are attempting to do with this strange word: HyperArchitecture.
Lo scritto tratteggia la figura di Alfredo Lambertucci all’interno dell’architettura italiana del... more Lo scritto tratteggia la figura di Alfredo Lambertucci all’interno dell’architettura italiana del secondo dopoguerra. Alfredo Lambertucci in più di quaranta anni di attività ha firmato molte opere di rilievo, tanto di edilizia economica e popolare, per esempio il complesso di i 524 alloggi e servizi realizzati a partire dal 1972 per conto dell’Istituto Autonomo Case Popolari di Roma nel Piano di Zona Vigne Nuove, che per edifici per uffici, sedi universitarie rilevanti uffici pubblici
Turning over the catalogues' pages of the first show of rational architecture, the strongly contr... more Turning over the catalogues' pages of the first show of rational architecture, the strongly contrasting pictures of the model presented by Terragni remain impressive. The project for a <<Workshop for Gas Production>>, designed by the 23 year old architect from Como, reveals the presence of an early talent and the originality of his research. Although inspired by the contemporary European architecture, the work of Terragni does not attempt to academically repeat former precedents. Although Terragni's project and many among the other exhibited works share an analogy of forms, the syntax of the Como architect appears more mature and complex. This essay and the accompanying original drawings are dedicated to the de-constructivist nature of the design operations as well as to the clarification of the messages embodied in the specific program.
Quodlibet eBooks, Aug 29, 2018
Il testo propone un viaggio sulla bellezza diviso in tre argomenti ed un intermezzo. Il primo è l... more Il testo propone un viaggio sulla bellezza diviso in tre argomenti ed un intermezzo. Il primo è la negatività della bellezza e, viene usato Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio come esempio. A questa parte segue l’intermezzo. Si tratta della "Ode ad un’urna greca" di John Keats. Keats associa bellezza e verità e questa sconvolgente affermazione fa capire molto sulla bellezza e sul suo carattere rivelatore del mondo. Il secondo argomento riguarda l’Arte povera e la pop art, in particolare le sue declinazioni in architettura. Viene usata la casa che Frank Gehry ha costruito nel 1978 a Santa Monica come esempio, in un certo senso “classico”. Infine, vi è è il terzo argomento,che affronta il film La grande bellezza. In questo caso viene associato il concetto di "bellezza" a quello di "crisi"
From the Publisher: "Throughout history we have lived in different spaces and architects, us... more From the Publisher: "Throughout history we have lived in different spaces and architects, using different alphabets, have given them form: informal space, gestural and primitive, pre-Miletus (or pre-alphabet as de Kerckhove calls it); the space arterialized by the Greeks and Romans: the sacred and mystic space before Giotto; that perspective space of the Renaissance; the industrial and mechanical, analytical and non-perspective space after Cezanne. Each new space on arriving has required new principles and new alphabets that have been created through difficult, exhausting, rough but exciting processes. Today, the need for creating a new alphabet for the new information space is pressing. We can only begin to catch a glimpse of its characteristics. Like dolphins that take in oxygen to jump from the sea and follow ships and see the outlines of islands and coasts, a few pioneers are working in an attempt to define the possibilities and principles of precisely this new space. This book will help you join in this search."--BOOK JACKET.
eCAADe proceedings
Turning over the catalogues' pages of the first show of rational architecture, the strongly contr... more Turning over the catalogues' pages of the first show of rational architecture, the strongly contrasting pictures of the model presented by Terragni remain impressive. The project for a <<Workshop for Gas Production>>, designed by the 23 year old architect from Como, reveals the presence of an early talent and the originality of his research. Although inspired by the contemporary European architecture, the work of Terragni does not attempt to academically repeat former precedents. Although Terragni's project and many among the other exhibited works share an analogy of forms, the syntax of the Como architect appears more mature and complex. This essay and the accompanying original drawings are dedicated to the de-constructivist nature of the design operations as well as to the clarification of the messages embodied in the specific program.
Proceedings of the 35th International Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe) [Volume 2]
Every city has under utilized spaces that create a series of serious negative effects. Waiting fo... more Every city has under utilized spaces that create a series of serious negative effects. Waiting for major interventions, those spaces can be reactivated and revitalized with soft temporary projects: micro interventions that light up the attention, give new meaning and add a new reading to abandoned spaces. We can call this kind of operations``plug-in design'', inheriting the term from computer architecture: interventions which aim to involve the citizens and activate the environment, engage multiple catalyst processes and civil actions. Plug-in design interventions are by all meanings experimental, they seek for interaction with the users, locally and globally. Information Technology-with its parametric and site-specific capabilities and interactive features-can be instrumental to create such designs and generate a new consciousness of the existing environment. With this paper we will illustrate how two low-budget interventions have reactivated a forgotten public space. Parametric design with a specific script allowing site-specific design, materials and structure optimization and a series of interactive features, will be presented through Reciprocal 1.0 and Reciprocal 2.0 projects which have been built in 2016 in Italy by the nITro group.
Prospettive Edizioni, 2015
Il testo propone un viaggio sulla bellezza diviso in tre argomenti ed un intermezzo. Il primo è l... more Il testo propone un viaggio sulla bellezza diviso in tre argomenti ed un intermezzo. Il primo è la negatività della bellezza e, viene usato Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio come esempio. A questa parte segue l’intermezzo. Si tratta della "Ode ad un’urna greca" di John Keats. Keats associa bellezza e verità e questa sconvolgente affermazione fa capire molto sulla bellezza e sul suo carattere rivelatore del mondo. Il secondo argomento riguarda l’Arte povera e la pop art, in particolare le sue declinazioni in architettura. Viene usata la casa che Frank Gehry ha costruito nel 1978 a Santa Monica come esempio, in un certo senso “classico”. Infine, vi è è il terzo argomento,che affronta il film La grande bellezza. In questo caso viene associato il concetto di "bellezza" a quello di "crisi"
Alfredo Lambertucci. 1928-1996, 2020
Lo scritto tratteggia la figura di Alfredo Lambertucci all’interno dell’architettura italiana del... more Lo scritto tratteggia la figura di Alfredo Lambertucci all’interno dell’architettura italiana del secondo dopoguerra. Alfredo Lambertucci in più di quaranta anni di attività ha firmato molte opere di rilievo, tanto di edilizia economica e popolare, per esempio il complesso di i 524 alloggi e servizi realizzati a partire dal 1972 per conto dell’Istituto Autonomo Case Popolari di Roma nel Piano di Zona Vigne Nuove, che per edifici per uffici, sedi universitarie rilevanti uffici pubblici
Capitolo che copre gli ultimo decennio degli sviluppi dell'architettura contemporanea in part... more Capitolo che copre gli ultimo decennio degli sviluppi dell'architettura contemporanea in particolare rapporto con la Rivoluzione Informatic
L'articolo si trova solo in lingua portoghese ed ha fondamentali implicazioni con l'ultim... more L'articolo si trova solo in lingua portoghese ed ha fondamentali implicazioni con l'ultima ricerca di Facolta su "gli architetti nel Bacino del mediterraneo
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Papers by Antonino Saggio
Frank Owen Gehry apre un efficiente studio di architettura nel 1962, ma sedici anni dopo, quasi improvvisamente, sovverte i canoni del suo quotidiano professionismo per una nuova e audace sperimentalità. Si apre una ricerca intensa che nel 1986 è presentata in una mostra monografica che lo lancia all’attenzione internazionale. Insieme ai più ambiti riconoscimenti cui un architetto possa ambire, decine di realizzazioni si susseguono ai due lati dell’Atlantico: il Centro americano a Parigi, il Museo Guggenheim a Bilbao, l’Auditorium Disney a Los Angeles sono opere simbolo di questa fine secolo.
Gehry riunisce di tanti compagni di strada la forza scultorea, il senso dello spazio cavo e frastagliato, un’estetica che guarda all’evolversi turbinoso della società. I progetti si costruiscono in un’incessante sperimentazione dei materiali più diversi, entrano in contatto con i luoghi in maniera provocatoria e coraggiosa, propongono una espressività dirompente, fluida e dinamica, dialogano, infine, con le forze che finanziano, promuovono, realizzano le opere. I tanti pragmatismi del nostro fare si muovono dentro la sintesi dell’architettura come arte e non viceversa.......