ITALIANS DO IT BETTER!
Italian architecture abroad
Projects by Park Associati (Dubai); piuarch (St Petersburg); Peia Associati and 5+1AA (Benin); Freyrie & Pestalozza and Architect Michele De Lucchi (Georgia)
curated by Luca Molinari and Simona Galateo
SpazioFMG per l’Architettura
Via Bergognone 27, Milan
24th September – 20th October 2009
Tuesday – Saturday 3.00 – 8.00 pm
No Entrance Charge
Information: +39 02 89.41.03.20
FMG Fabbrica Marmi e Graniti ‘s Spazio FMG per l’Architettura plays host to the ITALIANS DO IT BETTER! exhibition: Italian creativity and quality explored through projects by four Milan architecture firms working abroad, in foreign cultural contexts. “We chose recent works by leading young firms, which provide a basis for consideration of the works created abroad by contemporary Italian architects, increasingly in demand and popular with international clients due to their high quality standard”, comment Luca Molinari and Simona Galateo, curators of the gallery located on via Bergognone in Milan. “From the design for the I Hotel, the striking skyscraper that seems to hover on a cloud of steam above the rooftops of Dubai, designed by Park Associati, to the big commercial complex that fits perfectly into the imposing architecture of St Petersburg’s historic and artistic centre, by piuarch. The exhibition also features two projects in states not on the major international circuits: Georgia, where Freyrie & Pestalozza worked with David Chipperfield and Michele De Lucchi to produce the masterplan for a new university and a pedestrian bridge for the Black Sea University in Tbilisi, and the Marina Residence resort in Benin by Peia Associati with 5+1 AA, designed in complete harmony with the African architectural tradition”.
The I Hotel & Resort, built in Dubai in 2007 by Park Associati is a real tower on stilts, constructed for Saporiti Italia; it stands on a forest of pillars 60 metres tall that spray out misted water to create currents of cool air used to ventilate the building’s interior.
Peia Associati’s key feature is its focus on projects abroad; it is represented here by the design for the Marina Residence resort in Benin. The project concept springs from the need to express a clearly African identity by re-inventing the local architectural style and tradition in a contemporary, elegant way. The project is based on a street grid with a system of “walls” inspired by North African urban architecture, which separate the individual houses. A combination of innovation and tradition, luxury and low environmental impact, globalisation and local culture, modern lifestyle and respect for human dignity.
Freyrie & Pestalozza, with David Chipperfield and Michele De Lucchi, were responsible for the design of the new university and a pedestrian bridge, in the Black Sea University development in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Piuarch, on the other hand, presents a project from Russia: in 2006 it designed the Pochtamtskie Dvory Business Center, an important 7-floor complex in the historic centre of St Petersburg. The building comprises offices, retail areas, a luxurious lounge-bar and a large central hall. The design has maintained the building’s historic facade intact, and the complex also offers a stunning view of St Isaac’s Cathedral and the Hermitage.
