Domus 999 on newsstands

In February’s editorial Nicola Di Battista sees in the young generations in dialogue with the masters the possibility of a radical change.

Among the projects featured this month: a complex intervention in the centre of London which reaffirms the great ability of David Chipperfield to respond to a highly distinctive historic fabric; a residential building in a suburban area of Lugano by SPBR Arquitetos e Baserga & Mozzetti Architetti; the extension of a 20th-century mansion in the Belgian countryside by Baukunst; and the extraordinary exhibition design by Lina Bo Bardi, now re-created in masterly fashion, thanks to the scrupulously detailed reconstruction by Metro Arquitetos Associados.

Confetti: Werner Oechslin addresses a heartfelt and categorical invitation to contemporary architects, while Hans Kollhoff revisits Le Corbusier’s famous Acropolis sketches to reminds us that architecture is a tectonic fact; Valerio Olgiati reveals his own pragmatic and rigorous method, through which he invites his students at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio to ponder the fundamentals of architecture; Souto de Moura visits the the Bordeaux stadium by Herzog & de Meuron reflecting on the importance of addressing history; Achille Bonito Oliva tells about the exhibition “L’albero della cuccagna. I nutrimenti dell’arte”, around theme of nourishment and its social implications; and Peter Russel, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at TU Delft, explains how the school today puts the focus on research and experimentation, training professionals and experts with sophisticated specialisations who are able to tackle the future problems of architecture and the built environment.

Jasper Morrison and Michael Young are told through two major solo exhibitions, respectively at Museum fur Gestaltung in Zurch and at the Grand-Hornu Centre of Innovation and Design. About design is also Chiara Alessi new book, where she reflects on the figure of the designer post-2010s and on the need for a holistic approach.

Paolo Fantoni, president of a company from Friuli, speaks to Domus about production strategies in the wood-processing and furniture industry, particularly in Northeastern Italy, which he calls the “Silicon Valley of furniture”.

In the Feedback Rachid Andaloussi narrates Casablanca trying to capture its soul, while the Elzeviro signed by Ivano Dionigi tasked the architect,  called upon to “lend form to the primal elements”, with finding new paths to not lose the fundamental nexuses: between craft (téchne) and thought (lògos), between big and small, between name and thing.