FS 2019 LECTURE
ETH Zurich
Massimo Faiferri
Tuesday, March 26, 2019 / 16:00 / ONA G23
Wide-ranging initiatives continue to rise awareness on the fact that the housing emergency (whether caused by natural disasters or socio-economic phenomena) is ever so relevant in contemporary design. We must yet again start from the theme of the residence in order to identify new forms and typologies of the living space. In recent years the ecourbanlab research laboratory directed by Massimo Faiferri has promoted a series of initiatives focused on the relationship between housing and city, organising meetings, workshops, conferences and design experiments to investigate the latent potential of the new forms of residence in developing contemporary urban landscapes. Sustainable and affordable housing is an international book series founded with the aim of conveying the studies, research and cultural initiatives developed within the international Master’s Degree of the same same set up at the Department of Architecture, Design and Urban planning of the University of Sassari, in cooperation with the Facultade de Arquitectura of the Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa, the Universidade Presbiteriana of Sao Paulo and the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, Departement of Labour, Vocational Training, Cooperation and Social Security. Re-invent is one of the books in this series that tries to investigate the theme of reuse and transformation in the work of Lacaton & Vassal. The underlying philosophy of their work is in fact the research of a low-cost, though generous in space, form and housing. The concept of reuse and re-invention becomes the driving principle of design with the aim of overlapping new intentions to pre-existing systems, while maintaining the right balance between past and future; in the certainty that the well-being, dreams and expectations of contemporary society can be met through these principles.