The main topic of the second issue of Domus curated by David Chipperfield is housing, described in his editorial as “fundamental to the social structure of any town or city”. He also states that “only if we seriously address the issue of housing – and specifically social housing – can we really begin to confront the dual crises of social inequality and the environment”.
Domus 1043 on newsstands: “We need a vision for housing”
On the February issue: David Chipperfield meets Swiss architect Peter Märkli; the Lin’an History Museum in China; the Thonet No. 14, the most enduring chair ever designed. And more.
Text Lynsey Hanley. Photo © Alamy Stock Photo
Text Paolo Berdini. Photo ZA² (Emiliano Zandri, Lorenzo Zandri)
Text David Chipperfield. Photo Tom Haller
Text Amin Taha. Photo Sven Arnstein
Photo João Guimarães, Rui Cardoso
All photos and project materials © Ensamble Studio
Photo Maxime Delvaux
Text Austin Williams. Photo Iwan Baan
Text Manolo De Giorgi
Thonet NO.2. Collection Die Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum
Text Brendan Cormier. Photo Justus Hirvi / Bonzu, © MUJI
Text Tobias Zielony. Photo Tobias Zielony
Text Tony Fretton. Photo courtesy of Lisson Gallery
Text Ambra Fabi, Giovanni Piovene. Photo Photo Julian Salinas
Text Katrin Lompscher. Photo Markus Löffelhardt
Text Marwa Al-Sabouni. Photo Matthew Llyod / Getty Images News by Getty Images
Text Shantel Blakely. © Photographie Industrielle Sud Ouest, Bordeaux
Text Jonathan Griffin. Photo David Horan, Franz Hall II, the University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 2010 / The Paul R. Williams Project at the Art Museum of the University of Memphis
Author Thomas Demand
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- La redazione di Domus
- 04 February 2020
In Agenda, Lynsey Hanley and Paolo Berdini write about the cases of Britain and Italy respectively, describing the changes in low-cost housing. David Chipperfiled meets the Swiss architect Peter Märkli in his studio to discuss the role of the architect, while Amin Taha, founder of the Groupwork cooperative studio in London, presents the projects by Aires Mateus, Ensamble Studio and Christian Kerez. The Grand project of the month is the Lin’an History Museum by Amateur Architecture Studio in China.
The section Design and Art introduces the most enduring and intellingent chair ever designed: the Thonet, analysed by Jasper Morrison and Francesca Picchi. Then, the work by Tobias Zielony recording the social and physical environment at Le Vele di Scampia.
Ambra Fabi and Giovanni Piovene reflect on the chequered fortunes of ornament in architecture in the section Reflections and Senator Katrin Lompscher explains the housing policies to ensure the provision of affordable housing in Berlin.
The theme of this month’s agenda is housing, both as physical and social structure, and as a fundamental right and guarantee of our quality of life. Lynsey Hanley and Paolo Berdini write about the cases of Britain and Italy respectively, describing the qualitative and quantitative changes in low-cost housing: from the years of the welfare state to its crisis with the rise of neoliberal politics.
The theme of this month’s agenda is housing, both as physical and social structure, and as a fundamental right and guarantee of our quality of life. Lynsey Hanley and Paolo Berdini write about the cases of Britain and Italy respectively, describing the qualitative and quantitative changes in low-cost housing: from the years of the welfare state to its crisis with the rise of neoliberal politics.
“Our struggle is to make every time something good,’’ says the Swiss architect Peter Märkli when David Chipperfield visits him in his Zurich studio to discuss the role of the architect in this issue’s “Good practice” feature.
This month, the “Affinities” column is edited by Amin Taha, founder of the Groupwork cooperative studio in London. The three projects it presents – by Aires Mateus, Ensamble Studio and Christian Kerez – trace an experimental and innovative approach, in formal and material terms, to the expressive dimension of the structure above all.
House in Monsaraz, Alentejo, Portugal/ Aires Mateus.
Fabrica, Madrid, Spain/ Ensamble Studio.
Office building, Îlot A3, Lyon Confluence, Lyon, France/ Christian Kerez.
Finally, Austin Williams presents this month’s “Grand project”, the Lin’an History Museum by Amateur Architecture Studio in Hangzhou, China. The building enhances its bond with the history of the place by harmonising its mass with the landforms of the site and reinterpreting the traditional typology of local villages.
Considering the needs of contemporary society in terms of objects, this month Manolo De Giorgi questions the meaning of design today. His answer is: “A passepartout”.
Jasper Morrison and Francesca Picchi analyse the Thonet No. 14, the most enduring, profound and intelligent chair ever designed. To the point where, almost two centuries later, it is still a touchstone.
The Gacha bus from Muji is more a service than an object. Its future, as Brendan Cormier points out, will depend on the most fundamental of the design challenges for driverless vehicles, trust
Finally, German artist Tobias Zielony told Kimberly Bradley about his work recording the social and physical environment at La Vele di Scampia outside Naples in view of the decision to demolish all but one of the towers, a project that highlights the challenges of largescale social and architectural visions.
“I did this drawing to show myself that I knew everything about the project,” writes Tony Fretton, about the Lisson Gallery I building in London.
Ambra Fabi and Giovanni Piovene, on the other hand, reflect on the chequered fortunes of ornament in architecture and testify to its conscious and joyful return.
In Berlin, where the effects of gentrification are being seriously considered, Senator Katrin Lompscher explains the proposed innovative housing policies that will ensure the provision of affordable housing.
In Damascus, the writer and architect Marwa Al-Sabouni recounts the 1,400-year history of the Umayyad Mosque, a place that goes beyond religion, but whose future is now at risk.
Finally, through the Domus archive, Shantel Blakely considers the ongoing influence of Le Corbusier’s seminal social housing project, the Unité d’habitation, ever since Gio Ponti implored readers in 1948 to “go to Marseille”.
This month we present a series of solutions for outdoor environments that highlights the need for closer contact with nature that is increasingly evident in contemporary living. This trend translates into the definition of fluid transitions between inside and outside giving rise to multi-functional spaces where furniture acquires different possibilities for use and creates hybrid environments with a free approach to aesthetics. So chairs and tables define complete dining areas and move the fundamental ritual of conviviality outdoors. The heightened comfort of modular systems of soft furnishings moves beyond the walls of the home to transform metropolitan terraces into real open-air lounges, where pergolas, awnings and shading systems acquire a new central role.