Beyond endurance. Toward transformation.
What does it mean to build today?
What does it mean to design when the climate is changing, cities are transforming, materials must reinvent themselves and architecture can no longer merely occupy space but must generate meaning, energy, responsibility?
Perspectives on Resilient Architecture arises from the urgency to interrogate the present through the lens of contemporary Italian architecture. In a time marked by the climate crisis, land consumption, energy instability and the profound transformation of the ways in which we inhabit, work and experience the city, architecture is called upon to redefine its cultural, social and environmental role. No longer merely a constructive discipline, but a critical apparatus capable of interpreting complexity and generating new equilibria.
The project unfolds through six interconnected documentary films, conceived as a single narrative that traverses visions, research trajectories and operational practices of Italian architects and scholars active on the international stage. It establishes a field of confrontation in which differing visions are placed side by side in order to render the complexity of ongoing transformations.
Studio Fuksas, represented in the film by architect Podestà, reasserts the idea of a new humanism for architecture, rethinking the relationship between dwelling, work and leisure as an integrated and flexible system. Stefano Boeri redefines the relationship between building and nature through the Bosco Verticale and strategies of urban forestation, proposing a model of architecture that breathes and integrates biodiversity into the urban fabric. Carla Langella explores bio-inspired design and the integration between design and the life sciences, moving beyond formal imitation of nature towards an understanding of its deeper mechanisms. Consuelo Nava and Martino Milardi demonstrate how university research can be translated into concrete experimentation in materials, seismic safety, energy autonomy and ecological transition. Alessandro Melis articulates resilience in its systemic dimension, intertwining environment, health and the social question. Benedetta Tagliabue presents architecture as a living practice, capable of adapting to place, people and time.
These films do not merely present works. They illuminate a way of thinking — an Italian approach to architectural research and production that brings together idealism and technique, memory and innovation, vision and responsibility.
The world première of the project takes place in Beirut, at a moment when the transformation of the built environment is not a theoretical exercise but an urgent necessity. Here, speaking of resilience means speaking of a tangible future: debris management, sustainable processes, the quality of public space, and conscious reconstruction.
Perspectives on Resilient Architecture is conceived as a cultural dispositif intended to generate debate, open dialogue and create connections between universities, professionals and stakeholders. It is an invitation to rethink architecture not as a closed form, but as an organism capable of evolving.
Concept development of the cycle: Angelo Gioè
Curatorship: Arch. Santina Di Salvo