Le ragioni di una ricerca

This book offers a collection of essays by various authors (all members of the research group coordinated by Francesco Cellini) on the theme of medium to high-density urban dwellings. The objective is that of documenting and offering a critical reflection on the incredibly rich amount of research, studies and experiments on this theme being made by contemporary international architectural and professional culture, in relation to the almost total lack of any significant commitment to this sector in Italy. This particularly evident gap is reflected in the incapacity of Italian architecture (and the country’s institutions) to offer any follow-up, through a critical and operative evolution, to the highly successful experiences tested during the 1920s and 40s (for example the work of the Icp romano Public Housing Institute), and during the 1950s and 60s. The introductory essay by Francesco Cellini (“Le ragioni di una ricerca” “The Reasons behind a Work of Research”) illustrates the general objectives of the research, the reasons behind the selection of the field of study and a synthesis of the results obtained. The book is structured in two parts: the first concerns contemporary residential research in various international fields. The essays, accompanied by a rich selection of documents and images, with a particular focus on the analysis and technical legibility of architectural and typological solutions, examine the situation in The Netherlands (M. Farina, “Frammenti di paessaggio e sistemi di soglia: sequenze spaziali tra pubblico e privato” - “Fragments of Landscape and Systems of Threshold: Spatial Sequences between Public and Private”); a number of interesting experiments in Japan (S. Battaglia, “Housing ibrido” – “Hybrid Housing”); once again in Holland, though in terms of dwelling typologies (M. Farina, “Articolazione tipologica ed immagine dell’unità abitativa: la dimensione individuale dell’abitare” – “Typological Articulation and the Image of the Dwelling Unit: The Individual Dimension of Dwelling”); and, finally, a selection of particularly significant international examples of innovation (S. Ferazzoli, “Nuovi modi di abitare: lo spazio dell’alloggio” – “New Ways of Dwelling: The Space of the Unit”). The first part concludes with a collection of analytical sample charts, edited by M. Farina (for The Netherlands) and S. Ferazzoli (the EMVS experience in Madrid). The second part of the book, which features an essay by G. De Pasquale and charts developed by the latter and J. Kuhnle, illustrates a number of Roman projects from the 1930s that, for many reasons, can still be considered exemplary. -