The building is a tree

CYCLE: Ideas and Figures. Stories of innovative strategies for architecture
SPEAKER: Massimo Alvisi
DATE: Thursday, July 10, 6 p.m.

A building must be like a tree, whose surface development is much greater than its mass and is thus able to adapt, follow the wind, lie down, even to find safe support, next to something else and flex slowly. We need to design architecture like this, capable of approaching those who pass in front of us, letting light pass through, welcoming and protecting, sensitive to the wind. Details like leaves and structures like branches, recalling the Japanese concept of beauty in imperfection: each building becomes perfect not because it is flawless or “symmetrical,” but because it is able to dialogue with the observer, welcoming different points of view and creating a unique relationship with each individual. Architecture is not a static object to be admired, but an entity that evolves with those who experience it, and its beauty comes from its ability to accommodate differences and adapt to changes in time and space

Alvisi Kirimoto, founded in 2002 by Massimo Alvisi and Junko Kirimoto, is dedicated to architecture, urban planning and design, combining a sartorial approach, the sensitive use of technology and the control of space through the manipulation of “sheets of paper”-The Hands Works. The firm, attentive to dialogue with nature, urban regeneration, and social engagement, has completed major projects in Italy and abroad, including Medlac Pharma in Hanoi, Vietnam (2011); the Podernuovo Winery in Palazzone (2013) a finalist for the Gold Medal for Italian Architecture and winner of awards such as The Plan International (2015), the Tuscany Architecture Prize (2017), and the Fassa Bortolo International Prize for Sustainable Architecture (2017); the executive offices in Chicago (2018), winner of Interior Design Magazine's Best of Year Awards, the International Interior Design Association's Award and the Global Design & Architecture Design Award; the ABF “Franco Corelli” Academy of Music in Camerino (2020), winner of The Chicago Athenaeum's International Architecture Award 2021; the new University Pavilion “The Dome” (2022) on the LUISS Guido Carli campus in Rome, thanks to which it won the IN/ARCH Lazio and IN/ARCH Nazionale awards in 2023, among other recognitions. It has participated in cultural initiatives such as the International Architecture Exhibition- La Biennale di Venezia in 2012, 2016 and 2018, the Pisa Architecture Biennale in 2019 and 2023, and TEDx Barletta in 2024. The firm's work is collected in three monographs published by Forma Edizioni (2024), The Plan/Maggioli (2023) and Hachette (2020) and widely published in national and international publications, including Architectural Record and The Plan, which dedicated their September and December 2018 covers, respectively, to the design of a private client's headquarters in Chicago, as well as magazines such as Abitare, AD, Casabella, Domus, ELLE Decor, INTERNI, Living, Surface, YAPI, Il Corriere della Sera, Il Messaggero, L'Espresso and La Repubblica.

Free admission while seats last.

Reservations at link.