Casabella

Giuseppe Pagano (Pogatshnig) nacque a  Parenzo nel 1896 e morì il 22 aprile del 1945 nel campo di concentramento di Mauthausen. Figura di grande rilievo tra gli architetti moderni italiani che operarono nel Ventennio , coordinò dalle pagine di «Casabella» un'azione di ampio respiro e di altro impegno intellettuale e civile. Nel tentativo di spingere il regime ad un concreto impegno rinnovatore, Pagano instaurò con il fascismo un complesso legame che l'autore indaga in alcuni aspetti inediti. La prima parte del volume ripercorre i nodi e le indicazioni salienti dell'attività critica  di Pagano. Nella seconda parte è analizzata più specificamente  la sua opera progettale dall'Esposizione di Torino del 1928 al progetto della Casa della madre del fanciullo a Spalato del 1942.

En los años sesenta, Ernesto N. Rogers reclamó una nueva mirada sobre la tradición, las pre-existencias ambientales y la historia, como opción metodológica para enriquecer y contribuir al progreso la arquitectura moderna. El conocimiento de la historia se postulaba como una exigencia del aprendizaje del oficio de arquitecto, pues aportaba materiales todavía válidos para el proyecto. Sus obras son un correlato de la presencia de la “historia como amigo” y, también, de las dificultades para sustraerse de elementos o configuraciones historicistas. Nuestra cultura es heredera de esta conciencia de la continuidad de una tradición viva y de la necesidad de su enseñanza y reconocimiento.


In the 1960s, Ernesto N. Rogers called for a new consideration of tradition, environmental pre-existence, and history as methodological options to enrich and to contribute to the progress of modern architecture. Having a knowledge of history was posited as a necessity to learn how to become an architect as it provided materials that are valid for projects. His works run parallel with the presence of “history as a friend”, and, also, with the difficulties of escaping from historic elements or settings. Our culture is heir to this awareness regarding the continuity of a living tradition and the need for it to be taught and recognized.

Rather than surrendering the ideals of the Radical Design movement, the work of the Italian design groups Alchimia and Memphis attempted to radicalize by other means; to continue the battle over cultural and aesthetic values through the design of ugly, kitsch and ironic products for the marketplace. This approach, communicated in the Alchimia manifesto and Mendini’s 1979 essay ‘Per un’architettura banale,’ was influenced by the work of French communication theorist Abraham Moles. This essay revisits these texts and the previous debates in Italian design culture on kitsch and mass media and questions the role of media in formulating the aesthetic of Alchimia and Memphis and their characteristic kitsch style.

n 1973, Andrea Branzi, founder of Archizoom, wrote a short review of Ivan Illich’s book Deschooling Society. The review constituted the fourth of 27 “Radical Notes” he published in the journal Casabella between 1972 and 1976. While this was the only one explicitly to adopt the review format, Illich’s presence permeates the Radical Notes as a whole. They can be read as a coherent pedagogical theory, the practical output of which was Global Tools, a counter-school promoted by Branzi and other members of the Italian Radical Movement. Branzi approached the review as an opportunity to re-view, to look again at the theses of Archizoom. His review thus sheds light on an important moment in the story of the Radicals, adding a pedagogical component to the political, Marxist roots of their critique of the nexus of city, labor and capitalism.