Domus 1065 is on newsstands and is dedicated to the connection between architecture and art

In this month’s editorial, Jean Nouvel writes about how the architect is the only figure whose goal is to offer small, permanent pleasures with their architecture. “We urgently need to decree that from now on all sensitive decisions involving the growth of our cities and neighbourhoods must be taken, in the interests of living well, by architect- poets endowed with empathy”.

The dual impact of the civic pressure placed on architects and the commercial and social pressure placed on artists has resulted in a kind of separation. Architecture and art can then be extended and more closely interlinked so that they make everyone’s lives more beautiful.

We look back at the work of the master Aurelio Galfetti: his “proud modesty”,14 his ability to view reality without nostalgia or regret, driven by his lucid optimism, aware of the problems but at the same time convinced that they could be solved by “doing one’s job properly”.  

Hervé Chandès, Director General of the Fondation Cartier, talks about Junya Ishigami’s architecture on display during the “Freeing Architecture” exhibition. On this occasion, the Japanese architect demonstrated his capacity for imagination beyond the confines of the architectural scale, with the subtle touch of an almost naïve spirit.

The first project recounted is the house for the Japanese architect’s mother, located on the site of her grandparents’ home, where he spent the first years of her life. The building was part of an old farming village surrounded by rice fields stretching westwards, with mountains in the distance.

The client wanted to combine a restaurant and his private home in a single architecture. The boundary between the two destinations was not to be clear-cut: the liveliness of the restaurant and the everyday life of the home were to meet in a space as solid as a cave. In order to translate this request into a building, he therefore thought of going back to the basics of the construction process.

For this cultural centre in Shandong, water penetrates the structure, underneath the glass panels that act as outer walls to create a subtle inner course, turning the passage into a fine strip of beach stretching into the distance.

The Chapel of the Valley is an ecumenical chapel located at the bottom of a small valley in Shandong, China. The project takes advantage of the terrain’s natural ruggedness. Accentuating the depth of the crevices by approximately 20 metres, the chapel seems to surge from the ground.

The project intends to create an architecture like a forest that will connect children with their surrounding natural environment, offering the possibility of outdoor education while reflecting their perspective of the world. The spatial composition of the building was planned as little as possible in order to allow freedom in the children’s play and activities.

To remember Richard Rogers, we report in this issue on the Drawing Gallery at Luberon Nature Park, a long museum promenade in the clear void: it connects artists with the earth and the cosmos at the same time.

The Grotto della Roccia is a small building dating from the early 20th century embedded in the cliff face at the start of the Gandria Trail on Lake Lugano. Despite the dire condition of the building, which had been lying derelict for almost a century, the decision was made to undertake a conservative restoration and preserve its original appearance as far as possible.

The Leftover Synthesis series of chairs is an exploration that aims to find a way to make the most of leftover wood. It works above all with the waste produced from the furniture sector, by combining leftovers using using computational design methods.

Architect Mardine Bedin recalls the design process of Zaha Hadid's Seyun chair. “This chair, as well as all the objects produced by Karimoku, was perhaps for her an expression of something more intimate, the opposite of her architecture”.

What is an urban centre and how can it contribute to the debate on urban transformations? From its functions to its spaces, what makes it effective in the interaction between different players? These are the questions discussed here by Giacomo Ardesio of Fosbury Architecture and Matteo Ghidoni, creators of the urban centers at the Centro Luigi Pecci in Prato.

Francesco Franchi tells us about the role of graphic designers in representing society, and the resulting potential to be transformative and inclusive when created by people with different identities, backgrounds and skills.

The double life of the German company: founded in 1919 by the engineer Curt Fischer and reborn in 2014-2015 thanks to the passion of David Einsiedler and Joke Rasch.

The writer Andrea Bajani recounts his stays in Kiel – two brief periods of ten days each – sojourning in what he describes as “little more than a large room, but everything about it made it feel like a house.” His aim was to go and write a novel at the edge of Europe.

Walter Mariotti, Editorial Director of Domus, closes the issue by writing about his meeting with Judith Wade, founder of Grandi Giardini Italiani, which went international in 2010 with Gardens of Switzerland, followed nine years later by Great Gardens of the world.