Lezioni di architettura

From the seventeenth century to the present day, caricatures, cartoons, and comic strips published in newspapers, magazines, and now also on social media channels, convey an unconventional image of the architectural profession, far removed from the more familiar celebratory portraits. As Gabriele Neri writes, "it is an altered image: caricature distorts, exaggerates, and deforms its subject. But it is precisely from this exaggeration that interesting features emerge: between personal attacks and clichés extended to the entire category, the countless variations of graphic satire show us the architect from unconventional perspectives that are rarely explored by official historiography." The original gallery of illustrations published The original gallery of illustrations published in this volume undoubtedly demonstrates what Neri states from the outset: the great attention paid by satire to architecture attests to the importance of the public and social role of this extraordinary profession.

How has architecture changed in Japan in recent years? How have architects responded to the major socio-economic issues that have arisen in the 2000s? As curator Yuma Shinohara writes in the introduction to this slim volume, which is as agile as it is rich in conceptual, cultural and visual ideas, the “new” Japanese architects seem little interested in the refined geometries of their predecessors; Instead, they opt for rough finishes and approach the act of building from a practical and pragmatic perspective. Pointing the way towards original approaches and alternative design methods are a number of architects who prefer restoration and reuse to building from scratch, who are attentive to environmental issues and aware of the fragility of the world we live in.