Silent Architecture: Italian Architectural Beauty
Where: American Institute of Architects - Washington, DC Chapter
District Architecture Center 421 7th Street, NW Washington, DC 20004
Metro: Gallery Place-Chinatown (Red, Yellow and Green lines).
When: Tuesday, March 28, 2017 6:30-8:00 pm
Tickets: Students and Assoc. AIA members, $10; AIA, DAC and SMATCH members, $15; Non-members, $35. Register online at AIADC-calendar or purchase tickets at the door.
Noted Italian architect and urban designer Pier Carlo Bontempi will describe the classic beauty of Italian architecture, focusing on the serenity, robustness, economy and elegance of traditional buildings and their settings. He will present his views on how this beauty should have been reflected in the reconstruction of buildings in the decades following the Second World War and how it should be reflected in buildings today and in the future.
Mr. Bontempi will discuss concepts and show examples of how the continuation of Italian architectural traditions can be realized in new buildings through color, materials, form and design. He practices, and advocates for, an approach he says can be thought of in a larger way as a type of “silent architecture”: new buildings that respect and provide continuity with the past while accommodating modern needs.
Embodying the highest ideals of traditional classical and vernacular architecture in contemporary society can lead to positive cultural, environmental and artistic impacts. Buildings that are seamlessly woven into the urban fabric encourage conservation and continued investment rather than consumption and waste.
Bontempi, whose firm is located outside Parma, Italy, is widely recognized for his achievements in traditional architecture and urban design. He is the recipient of the 2014 Richard H. Driehaus Prize from the School of Architecture at the University of Notre Dame; a Palladio Award (2008); and a Charter Award from the Congress for New Urbanism (2001).
For more information about Mr. Bontempi visit Pier Carlo Bontempi
Sponsored by SMATCH-USA (Scientific Methodologies Applied to Cultural Heritage) (www.smatch-international.org) and hosted by the American Institute of Architects - Washington, DC Chapter (www.aiadc.com)
