l'ArcaWeb January 2021

As of this exclusively on-line edition, l’Arca International’s publishing staff provides monthly news and updates about new projects worthy of a briefly and succinct mention. All readers can contribute by sending projects and images to redaction@groupep.mc redazione@groupep.mc.

Oceanbird, Wallenius Marine

House of Wisdom, Emirate of Sharjah, UAE, project: Foster + Partners

RESPONSIBILITY

by Carmelo Strano. Vitruvius laid the foundations for designing and building in a people-friendly manner. Those were the days (first century BC) when everything was done rather spontaneously but his teachings set down the rational guidelines for building and living better.

He did this by looking at the various disciplines synergically involved in good living: engineering, of course, but also medicine, astronomy, etc.

Mario Cucinella Architect, Iperceramica Headquarters, Fiorano Modenese, Italy. ©Giovanni De Sandre

Indeed, his design philosophy was focused around finding a healthy setting (good health) for his building work. A construction had to be carefully positioned in relation to the cardinal points and sun.

Aurelien Chen, Dragon Mountain Pavilion, Rizhao, China

Lunar Cruiser, Jaxa, Toyota Motor Corporation

Back then speed was not of the essence and there were no problems associated with pollution or space. Nevertheless, his teaching is still of vital important even now due to the fact that those natural living conditions no longer exist and so the architect’s job (particular the tasks specified by the Roman writer) is more central than ever in society. Read hall