#books #architecture | Architecture of Pica Ciamarra Associati : from urban fragments to ecological systems

Architecture of Pica Ciamarra Associati : from urban fragments to ecological systems / Antonietta Iolanda Lima.
Stuttgart [etc.] : Axel Menges, 2019.
354 p. : il.
ISBN 9783869050201
/ EN / Libros / Arquitectura – Siglo XX – Italia / Pica Ciamarra Associati
ehuBiblioteka BCG A-72PICA ARC
https://ehu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1107989225

[.en] This monograph is the result of an intensive period of work and consists of two interacting parts which reveal the origins and development of the architectural work of Pica Ciamarra Associati in different ways, underpinned by an approach that shows great awareness of environmental issues and problems. It contains an extensive general bibliography and a bibliography for the individual designs. The final part combines many different aspects as they evolved year after year: the development of the work of the studio -designs, architecture, participation in competitions, writings, publications- critical interest, awards, monographic exhibitions in Italy and abroad.

Since 1970, based in an isolated building situated on the peninsula of Posillipo, Pica Ciamarra Associati has acted as a laboratory of architectural and urban design which has gradually incorporated new members and new energies over the time: using a multidisciplinary approach, the roots of the architectural practice lie in the intensive theoretical and practical work begun in the early 1960s by Massimo Pica Ciamarra. Since then the practice has been marked by a continuous relationship with Le Carre Bleu Feuille internationale darchitecture and leading members of the cultural milieu of Team 10: this has led to constant attention to everything that lies beyond form, to the relation ship with contexts that also include non-spatial contexts, and to high levels of integration and dialectical discussion. According to Pica Ciamarra Associati, a design transcends the approaches of a single sector, providing simultaneous solutions to contradictory requirements, combining utopia and practicality. The poetics of the fragment: it mediates between architecture and the urban dimension; some designs also have the aim of becoming absorbed within a context as 'informed fragments'. This monograph is the result of an intensive period of work and consists of two interacting parts. It stems from research into the archive of the studio Pica Ciamarra and conversation with the members of the architectural practice. Organised diachronically, the book tells the long story, unfolding over a period of over fifty years of a team of Neapolitan architects and designers, who have maintained the lively spirit of the practice which is still geared towards the future. The textual and iconographic account tells a story and offers an interpretation that highlight the vibrant atmosphere of the studio, based on a consistency of thought and action, and fuelled by an interest in many different forms of knowledge. The contextualisation of the events related to the studio, as they unfolded over time, is wide-ranging, coherent and connotative. Antonietta Iolanda Lima, professor of history of architecture at the University of Palermo, has always tried, through theory, teaching and design, to disseminate the importance of history which can embracing innovation and tradition to an equal degree, forming a new architectural language. According to her view of architecture, history and design are closely connected, a 'single entity' as is reflected by her career. Since the 1980s, her academic work has gained increasing importance, a way of avoiding narrow sectoral approaches in the training of future architects, offering a holistic stance of the history of architecture and an architecture that contributes to shaping critical thought and a thriving cultural life.