Cursed architecture, digital influencers, Star Wars, brutalism, inflatable structures... Domusweb’s editorial team has covered many and diverse topics this year. In case you missed them, here’s a list of the 20 most interesting stories to read and share with your friends and family during the holidays. Browse the gallery to find out more.
20 stories to read this summer
In order to keep you entertained during the summer break, we hereby present a selection of articles published on Domusweb in 2021.
Basements vs. garages, the enlightment of the underground
The most neglected part of the house is also the place where dreams and obsessions come true, from garage bands to murders. But building underground today has a whole new ecological meaning.
By Mark Mack
Cursed Architecture
The curious cases of the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles and the Ansonia Hotel in New York.
By Mark Mack
Brutalism and post-punk: a story of architecture and rebellion
From being disregarded by the post-WWII rebellious youth to becoming the symbol of the utopias of social housing, Brutalism, starting from the Seventies, has witnessed an aesthetic resurgence mostly linked to the post-punk counterculture.
By Lorenzo Ottone
If theatre is the art that most lucidly represents our future present
A mosaic of site-specific performances, chasing each other in the creation of a broader narration, mark the fiftieth anniversary of Santarcangelo. Here the art made “in presence”, the one we forgot about, becomes essential once again.
By Alessandro Scarano
The architecture of Star Wars
An exploration into the design of one of the most ambitious fictional universes, inextricably linked to reality, with brutalist inspirations, influenced by “spaghetti westerns” and the involvement of a key figure, Ralph McQuarrie.
By Gabriele Niola
Are private commissions the future of authorial photography?
Many private companies are still among the main promoters of authorial photography, a trend that could become consolidated despite the economic crisis.
By Raffaele Vertaldi
Nice, the new garden city of the Mediterranean
By 2026, the French city's aim is to have completed its sustainable regeneration. A fourth tram line, cycle paths in place of buses, a park designed with an eye to biodiversity. It is the grand finale of a radical repositioning begun twelve years ago.
By Enrico Ratto
Virtual influencers: how digital popstars conquered the masses
In 2018, Instagram sets the stage for the feud between Brazilian influencer Lil Miquela and blonde, Trumpian Bermuda. But neither of them actually exists: it’s just the latest frontier in influencer marketing, i.e. using people created from scratch.
By Silvia Dal Dosso
The shorts for the Triennale commissioned to Tinto Brass by Umberto Eco
The Italian director took part in the XIII Milan Triennale in 1964, invited by Umberto Eco and Vittorio Gregotti, with two experimental short films interpreting the concept of leisure in modern times
Di Cristina Moro
A pool house for Philip Roth
An indoor swimming pool designed for the late American novelist’s Connecticut home by Anne Valentino and George Ranalli, but never built, is revealed.
By Jessica Mairs
Piazzale Loreto will be no more
The project for the renovation of one of Milan’s major squares is a dangerous precedent of alienation of a collective asset, the outcome of a negotiation between public and private actors based on controversial criteria.
By Alessandro Benetti
Iconic architecture for sale, from Richard Neutra to Le Corbusier
Milestones of architectural history and hidden gems conceived by the most relevant designers of last century, several iconic houses are on the market for sale now. And they might be even cheaper than you think.
By Giovanni Comoglio
The pains of the young internet. Design dilemmas from the Yahoo Answers era
As the life of the legendary q&a website comes to an end, Domus bids farewell to what in a sense could be considered as an epistemological competitor.
By Giovanni Comoglio
Aerodream, the spectacular history of inflatables
Frederic Migayrou, curator of the exhibition “Aerodream” at the Centre Pompidou-Metz, tells us the aesthetic and social evolution of these majestic inflatable structures, from Second World War until today.
By Emanuele Quinz
A futuristic simulation of Notre-Dame to power its real-world resurrection
Architects, coders and designers worked together to craft a digital twin, as recounted by Livio De Luca, the “cyber-architect” who’s leading the reconstruction team.
By Kevin Holden Platt
The “Sun Motorway” is 65 years old: a short history of an extraordinary infrastructure
May 19 1956 marked the laying of the first stone of the A1 Milan-Naples. How was the backbone of the Italian highway network built, and how has it evolved over time?
By Alessandro Benetti
Why the future will be jobless but not bad, short, and brutal
The pandemic has triggered a process of overhauling the way we work in a way that hasn't happened since the industrial revolution. What will its effects be?
By Walter Mariotti
Soviet cars beyond the ugly duckling stereotype
In 1989, the spectacle of Trabant fleeing East Berlin gave the West a way too simplified impression of the communist bloc’s car production. Time has come to question a few commonplaces.
By Alessandro Benetti
Unapologetic spaces. Interiors by Vico Magistretti
In its third episode, the narration of Vico Magistretti through the Domus archive explores the interiors designed by the Milanese master, spatial devices instigating and questioning the act of dwelling.
By Giovanni Comoglio
The Mediterranean islands: a journey through Domus’ archives
Elba, Sicily, Ibiza: Domus has illustrated, throughout its history, the interest in building on islands and spontaneous architecture. But the “idea of island” can also enter the walls of a house in the city.
By Cristina Moro
Basements vs. garages, the enlightment of the underground
The most neglected part of the house is also the place where dreams and obsessions come true, from garage bands to murders. But building underground today has a whole new ecological meaning.
By Mark Mack
Cursed Architecture
The curious cases of the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles and the Ansonia Hotel in New York.
By Mark Mack
Brutalism and post-punk: a story of architecture and rebellion
From being disregarded by the post-WWII rebellious youth to becoming the symbol of the utopias of social housing, Brutalism, starting from the Seventies, has witnessed an aesthetic resurgence mostly linked to the post-punk counterculture.
By Lorenzo Ottone
If theatre is the art that most lucidly represents our future present
A mosaic of site-specific performances, chasing each other in the creation of a broader narration, mark the fiftieth anniversary of Santarcangelo. Here the art made “in presence”, the one we forgot about, becomes essential once again.
By Alessandro Scarano
The architecture of Star Wars
An exploration into the design of one of the most ambitious fictional universes, inextricably linked to reality, with brutalist inspirations, influenced by “spaghetti westerns” and the involvement of a key figure, Ralph McQuarrie.
By Gabriele Niola
Are private commissions the future of authorial photography?
Many private companies are still among the main promoters of authorial photography, a trend that could become consolidated despite the economic crisis.
By Raffaele Vertaldi
Nice, the new garden city of the Mediterranean
By 2026, the French city's aim is to have completed its sustainable regeneration. A fourth tram line, cycle paths in place of buses, a park designed with an eye to biodiversity. It is the grand finale of a radical repositioning begun twelve years ago.
By Enrico Ratto
Virtual influencers: how digital popstars conquered the masses
In 2018, Instagram sets the stage for the feud between Brazilian influencer Lil Miquela and blonde, Trumpian Bermuda. But neither of them actually exists: it’s just the latest frontier in influencer marketing, i.e. using people created from scratch.
By Silvia Dal Dosso
The shorts for the Triennale commissioned to Tinto Brass by Umberto Eco
The Italian director took part in the XIII Milan Triennale in 1964, invited by Umberto Eco and Vittorio Gregotti, with two experimental short films interpreting the concept of leisure in modern times
Di Cristina Moro
A pool house for Philip Roth
An indoor swimming pool designed for the late American novelist’s Connecticut home by Anne Valentino and George Ranalli, but never built, is revealed.
By Jessica Mairs
Piazzale Loreto will be no more
The project for the renovation of one of Milan’s major squares is a dangerous precedent of alienation of a collective asset, the outcome of a negotiation between public and private actors based on controversial criteria.
By Alessandro Benetti
Iconic architecture for sale, from Richard Neutra to Le Corbusier
Milestones of architectural history and hidden gems conceived by the most relevant designers of last century, several iconic houses are on the market for sale now. And they might be even cheaper than you think.
By Giovanni Comoglio
The pains of the young internet. Design dilemmas from the Yahoo Answers era
As the life of the legendary q&a website comes to an end, Domus bids farewell to what in a sense could be considered as an epistemological competitor.
By Giovanni Comoglio
Aerodream, the spectacular history of inflatables
Frederic Migayrou, curator of the exhibition “Aerodream” at the Centre Pompidou-Metz, tells us the aesthetic and social evolution of these majestic inflatable structures, from Second World War until today.
By Emanuele Quinz
A futuristic simulation of Notre-Dame to power its real-world resurrection
Architects, coders and designers worked together to craft a digital twin, as recounted by Livio De Luca, the “cyber-architect” who’s leading the reconstruction team.
By Kevin Holden Platt
The “Sun Motorway” is 65 years old: a short history of an extraordinary infrastructure
May 19 1956 marked the laying of the first stone of the A1 Milan-Naples. How was the backbone of the Italian highway network built, and how has it evolved over time?
By Alessandro Benetti
Why the future will be jobless but not bad, short, and brutal
The pandemic has triggered a process of overhauling the way we work in a way that hasn't happened since the industrial revolution. What will its effects be?
By Walter Mariotti
Soviet cars beyond the ugly duckling stereotype
In 1989, the spectacle of Trabant fleeing East Berlin gave the West a way too simplified impression of the communist bloc’s car production. Time has come to question a few commonplaces.
By Alessandro Benetti
Unapologetic spaces. Interiors by Vico Magistretti
In its third episode, the narration of Vico Magistretti through the Domus archive explores the interiors designed by the Milanese master, spatial devices instigating and questioning the act of dwelling.
By Giovanni Comoglio
The Mediterranean islands: a journey through Domus’ archives
Elba, Sicily, Ibiza: Domus has illustrated, throughout its history, the interest in building on islands and spontaneous architecture. But the “idea of island” can also enter the walls of a house in the city.
By Cristina Moro
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