ARCHITETTURE RESISTENTI. Per una bellezza civile e democratica (RESISTANT ARCHITECTURES. For a civil and democratic beauty) tells the journey of young journalist Beni Ponti through some icon buildings of Italian architecture through the apparently light medium of comics.
Summoned to interview architecture as if it were a person, Beni develops her research supported by two special friends, architect Zò and professor Luca Donato, that help her to enjoy and understand a selection of sustainable and “resistant” architectures that represent more than a construction artifact. The buildings are the shape of Italian stories against violence and territory waste, monuments and everlasting chances to build a culture of living and of living together.
Protagonists say, “Resistant Architectures are like water, earth and air, we breathe them, they’re part of our daily life and help us to live better. They’re militant, brave, visionary, they enable us to withstand fascistic attitudes, speculation, aggressive economies, injustices and environmental destruction […]. They refuse sensationalism, blind monetising and archistars. Resistant architectures unveil ethics, innovation, creativity, rights, beauty, future, consciousness, architecture as a medium and not as a result, maybe just by answering the common good.”
Among selected projects: Olivetti plant in Pozzuoli (project: Luigi Cosenza, 1951-1954), Holocaust Museum in Risiera di San Sabba, Trieste (Romano Boico, 1975), Selinunte Archaeological Park (Minissi, Porcinai, Arena, 1966-71), Itavia Museum in Bologna (Boltanski, 2001-2007), Aquila Auditorium (Renzo Piano, 2009-2012), Giardino degli Incontri in Solliciano prison, Florence (Giovanni Michelucci, 1999-2007) and Collegi del Colle in Urbino (Giancarlo De Carlo, 1962-1966).