MAR photo by Matteo Mezzetta • selected book for the exhibition “L’isola di Artura”, Elsa Morante

“CONTROCAMPO. Gli architetti italiani ci mettono la faccia” is an unusual event curated by Luca Molinari and Alessandro Benetti, a unique exhibition focusing not on the projects themselves but on the people who conceive, design and build them every day, making a significant contribution to improvement of the environment we all live in.

“’Controcampo’ is a provocation and at the same time a necessary act providing a simple, immediate representation of key figures in Italian architecture. We don’t think architects should be on the cover of all the magazines, but we do believe in the profound civic value of the work done by the best professionals in our discipline every day, behind the scenes of the architectural projects, which are in actual fact their everyday work, with all the resulting logistical complications, dialogue and mediation with the many other people involved in the project. And so we wish to inaugurate SpazioFMG per l’Architettura’s second decade with a different point of view, focusing, with curiosity and without modesty, on the “reverse angle” of our buildings, in an unprecedented group portrait made up of hundreds of faces, some well-known and others not so familiar, forming the backdrop for a series of meetings and round tables addressing the most relevant themes in architecture in our country today.”

Each photograph is matched with a book the person portrayed particularly likes, forming a second landscape, made up of the words and thoughts that nourish and stimulate reflection by Italian architects. The volumes are arranged on a nine metre long table in the middle of the gallery, forming the fulcrum and centre of gravity of the exhibition space. Made of an FMG MaxFine slab only 6mm thick, the long table-top looks like a thin blade suspended on four practically invisible supports.

As a tangible contribution to the education of tomorrow’s architects and designers, when the exhibition is over SpazioFMG will donate all the volumes to the library of the architecture faculty of an Italian university. With this group exhibition, SpazioFMG per l’Architettura celebrates the start of a new decade, once again confirming its role as a platform for communication, meeting and discussion for the best Italian architecture. A format that could perfectly well be exported to celebrate big names and new faces in architecture all over the world. Text by Fmg