"A TERRIBLE BEAUTY IS BORN": TOP 5

Edited by: Riccardo Del Fabbro  riccardodelfabbro@gmail.com

Where: ?

SILENTARCHITECTURE

the adventures of Oliver Twist
Among other public buildings in a certain town, which for many
reasons it will be prudent to refrain from mentioning, and to which I
will assign no fictitious name, there is one anciently common to most
towns, great or small: to wit, a workhouse;
“… *

Well this is another story, the story of the “famous” Oliver Twist,
and I don’t want to talk about this.
But.
Reading the first few lines I start to wonder about a possible idea
for the so called “Silent architecture” category.
It is not a reportage.
It is not a research.
It is not a critique on architecture.
Well, it’s just a top five.
Of course is not a top five about workhouses.
From Charles Dickens I’ ll just take the format, it will not be a
series of chapters, just a countdown, from number 5 to number 1,
right?
The category of this countdown will be called, once again with no deep
reasons, “a terrible beauty is born”.
And it will talk about the 5 most awful, tremendous, disgusting
buildings of this city, once again, “which for many reasons it will be
prudent to refrain from mentioning…” *

Next week: number 5.

 

* Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist; or, the Parish Boy’s Progress, February 1837-April 1839, Bentley’s Miscellany, London

 

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About the Author

My career started studying classic literature and humanities, after that, I chose to attend the college of Architecture in the University of Trieste, Italy, my hometown and the Escuela Superior de Arquitectura in the Politecnico of Valencia, Spain.
When I came back to Italy, I collaborated as tutor in the IUAV (University IUAV of Venezia) and in the University of Trieste.
In 2011, I started working as architect in London, meanwhile I joined the Posi+tive Magazine's architectural department as editor.
In 2012 I began a new activity, as co-founder of zero40lab, an architecture laboratory in Italy.

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