Interview with Anna rita Emili
The activity of altro_studio mainly addresses the new ways of living the house: temporary, flexible, transformable, mobile ways of living the house.
Design Legend Interview
10 January 2025
I had two extraordinary Italian masters who made me understand and appreciate the architecture in its details and specificities even dealing with utopian architectures.
I’m talking about Alesandro Anselmi and Cristiano Toraldo from France (Superstudio ) then I got to know another teacher for whom I wrote a book and who taught me the importance of living nomadic and temporary architecture. I’m talking about Richard Buckminter Fuller
I’m talking about Alesandro Anselmi and Cristiano Toraldo from France (Superstudio ) then I got to know another teacher for whom I wrote a book and who taught me the importance of living nomadic and temporary architecture. I’m talking about Richard Buckminter Fuller
I have always loved architecture and building a space where people can live in an optimized way
I Did choose to become a designer-
I love designing houses, starting from small temporary homes to big urban projects. I also love working on the interior spaces of the house, considering also the elements of furniture. I have a total vision of the roles of the architect exactly as it happened in the past . A good architect covers wide fields of competence from urban planning to the element of design
be curious, to investigate the different disciplines of knowledge in order to then systematize them in an architectural project. It would be possible to build a theoretical thought in order to translate it into an architectural project
Culture in the broadest sense of the term. the ability to synthesis, genius . Because we remember that architecture is the perfect synthesis between art and science. Technology (science) is learned but art is integrated within us .
by the skills I have just mentioned
Good design is the one that brings together the triad of Vistruvius. that is firmitas, utilitas and venustas, but above all a design that takes into account the social aspect putting itself at the service of humanity
dream of designing a house among the olive trees
a house among olive trees with a large SPA
to know the past, to analyse the present and to project oneself into the future
I also like the architecture and culture of New Brutalism perche al contrario della temporaneità è una architettura essenziale e solida
I like very much Rietveld’s schroder house because it represents the first step towards fragmentation and decomposition of the architectural volume, towards lightness of construction and towards the use of flat color in architecture
I do not have a more beautiful design and I can never define my project perfect. to every completed work I am attacked by many doubts
I have known the past perfectly, I am very curious about the present and I investigate it in every detail but I am projected exclusively into the future
the nutritionist , I like very much the medicinal plants and their extraordinary properties or I would have studied chemistry because I love matter and organic and inorganic materials their properties and their beauty and perfection
design is the perfect synthesis between construction, functionality and beauty
Unfortunately I never had a supporter , my career has always been very hard . I can only say that I have worked tenaciously without ever giving up even in times of great uncertainty in the work
the tenacity and obstinacy, the will to create and see something that comes from your mind by your thought and that can be used and enjoyed by other people.
There are still many obstacles. In italy it is not easy to work in the first place because we have the office that massacres us and also we have a very low architectural culture compared to other countries. This is why innovation is a very difficult and complicated thing
I cannot answer this question. perhaps with conviction
I still don’t know what the future holds. Certainly I will continue to design focusing on the theme of movement extended to architecture, combining automation and smart home as fundamental elements to create spaces and flexible buildings and above all transformable and in line with nature
I don’t have a final goal. let’s say I work the day
the creation of comfortable, flexible and original spaces
Space affects the psychology of man. by reflection build functional spaces and architectures, comfortable and beautiful and in harmony with nature surely helps to improve men
I am working on the realisation of some projects for houses. In particular a small wooden house starting from an origami and a single-family residence starting from the analysis of an archaeological site located in its vicinity
more or less all of them, although as stated earlier, I am never fully satisfied when I complete a project.
I do not know perhaps a greater sense of awareness and responsibility. I think it is necessary to return to an ethics in architecture
towards the ephemeral and evanescent. architecture is increasingly dematerializing and lightening until it becomes inexistent
Italian times are always very long in the first place as mentioned because of bureaucracy and unnecessarily complicated regulations. For example, to build one of the last houses we lost two years
There is no beginning because the project is already complete and completed in my mind when I start to transform it into drawing
Have fun working and never give up
are the trends set the designs because design is the expression of society and man’s thinking
technology is very important because it is a tool that helps to express an idea
all the programs related to design , but never abandon the model because only that gives you the true sense of volume and construction
also the colors affect the psyche so they are very important. I work a lot on the color and colors represented by the different materials
I wouldn't know
I think how I could improve it.
Do not believe in a collective project. The project is like a book born from your mind and can not be shared. It would become a hybrid
I would say none
the books are many from authors such as Frampton to Bruno Zevi , from Banham to Aldo Rossi, from Purini to Bob Venturi
obviously I am very very happy
My hard work is rewarded
My hard work is rewarded
the color is black, the place is my city Rome, the food is pizza , the season is autumn, the object is the bag the brand is Kartell
I remember that at some awards I have made mistakes for example once to the appointment I did not show up because I did not hear my name mentioned . a terrible figure
Do a site survey during the works and everything is fine
absolutely not
In a thousand years maybe there will be no more our planet and humans will have moved to other worlds
that I enjoy it when I design
Designer Interview
10 January 2025
First of all, I can say that I have always been an enthusiast of architecture and design. I have had the opportunity to have as two important and enthusiastic Italian architects who taught me to know architecture also and especially from a theoretical point of view . I speak of Alessandro Anselmi and Cristiano Toraldo from France, exponent of the superstudio. Both wise innovators . Finally I got to know indirectly another fundamental figure of the architectural panorama for which I also wrote a book entitled Rochard Buckminster Fuller and the Neoavanguardie. Fuller...great character, projected into the future but with awareness. Of him I appreciated the nomadic architecture, the respect for nature and men his studies on biology and science and how these aspects have then extended to the Hippy culture of the sixties seventies.
altro_studio was founded in 1998 by a group of people prepared to work in an interdisciplinary environment. From the very start, altro_studio began to research "movement" as applied to the home, ranging from temporary housing to major urban projects. We work on the new concepts of flexible, transformable, eco living space, in order to understand the new, functional and structural needs of the individual. For this and other reasons, altro_studio focused its research on new technologies (mainly linked to automated systems) and innovative materials, and investigated the problems of environmental sustainability.
Our aspirations
Whereas architecture is considered a perfect synthesis between art and science, we aspire on the one hand to facts and phenomena close to the real world surrounding us (expressed by new techniques and materials) and, on the other, to interdisciplinary studies involving music, philosophy, literature and, above all, the figurative arts. Art has always expressed political, cultural and social thought and has always been considered as avant-garde compared to architecture. Figurative art has always been an essential part of architecture. This is the tool, which distinguishes a true architect from a simple technician of architecture. This has been proved by the research of Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Frank Gerhy and Zaha Hadid, in which the artistic aspect becomes the matrix for their architectural works. Our ambitions come from closely observing the world around us and projecting it into the future. Our objective is to offer concrete answers to the numerous problems, which affect the real world in which we live. We are speaking of phenomena, which involve the entire planet, such as immigration, mobility and complexity, or of natural phenomena due to climate change, such as desertification, hurricanes and the rise in water levels, or even events, such as virtual communication via the creation of networks, computerisation and the computer. Lastly, we aim to concentrate our observations on the transformations produced by social change in recent decades, and on new ways of living public and private, collective and individual space.
Our aspirations
Whereas architecture is considered a perfect synthesis between art and science, we aspire on the one hand to facts and phenomena close to the real world surrounding us (expressed by new techniques and materials) and, on the other, to interdisciplinary studies involving music, philosophy, literature and, above all, the figurative arts. Art has always expressed political, cultural and social thought and has always been considered as avant-garde compared to architecture. Figurative art has always been an essential part of architecture. This is the tool, which distinguishes a true architect from a simple technician of architecture. This has been proved by the research of Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Frank Gerhy and Zaha Hadid, in which the artistic aspect becomes the matrix for their architectural works. Our ambitions come from closely observing the world around us and projecting it into the future. Our objective is to offer concrete answers to the numerous problems, which affect the real world in which we live. We are speaking of phenomena, which involve the entire planet, such as immigration, mobility and complexity, or of natural phenomena due to climate change, such as desertification, hurricanes and the rise in water levels, or even events, such as virtual communication via the creation of networks, computerisation and the computer. Lastly, we aim to concentrate our observations on the transformations produced by social change in recent decades, and on new ways of living public and private, collective and individual space.
I think that architecture is considered a perfect synthesis between art and science, I aspire on the one hand to facts and phenomena close to the real world surrounding us (expressed by new techniques and materials) and, on the other, to interdisciplinary studies involving music, philosophy, literature and, above all, the figurative arts. Art has always expressed political, cultural and social thought and has always been considered as avant-garde compared to architecture. Figurative art has always been an essential part of architecture. This is the tool, which distinguishes a true architect from a simple technician of architecture. My ambitions come from closely observing the world around us and projecting it into the future. Our objective is to offer concrete answers to the numerous problems, which affect the real world in which we live. We are speaking of phenomena, which involve the entire planet, such as immigration, mobility and complexity, or of natural phenomena due to climate change, such as desertification, hurricanes and the rise in water levels, or even events, such as virtual communication via the creation of networks, computerisation and the computer. Lastly, we aim to concentrate our observations on the transformations produced by social change in recent decades, and on new ways of living public and private, collective and individual space. I think they are the way you can produce a conscious and meaningful architectural design
My work focuses on the home and living in all its aspects and I like to work on this important typology that has developed over the centuries of real architectural jewels . Having said that I would like to design a Mediterranean house among the olive trees with a special SPA space
There is no design that I like. I love everything from living space to the detail design
A cardboard house that later became Absolute Box. A very small house of about 15sqm designed to the detail and furniture specially designed for its small measures
Technology focused on the nomadic home, light, flexible and convertible
The idea of the project is coming out and it gets better as I go but it focuses more when I am in the car or during the trip
the aspect of innovation, originality and high functionality. It is important to me to work on spatial perception and how it can affect the psyche of the individual. The aim is also to achieve comfort in living
Many emotions because I am already inside the space at the moment when I design it
emotions related to space, colors, light, materials, movements that the project can perform and the noise it may emit
originality and feasibility
if is original and feasible
we have very important responsabilities for society and enviroment, expecially in this particular time.
Paris, Palais de Tokyo, next Biennal of Venice
Being firmly convinced that architecture is a perfect synthesis of science and art, my inspirations are, on one hand, as I said before, the facts determining the reality around us (this finds expression in the use of new techniques and materials), and, on the other hand, the study of the various arts: music, philosophy, literature, but above all the figurative arts. Art has always been the utmost expression of political, cultural and social thought and is typically expressed and developed long before architecture. The knowledge of art as well as an artist’s mindset are essential components of the spirit of an architect. It is this “artist’s mindset” that distinguishes a real architect from a mere technician of architecture.
Our ambitions are to look constantly ahead, at the world around us and project it into the future. Our goal is to offer real answers to the kind of problems that increasingly affect the reality we live in. What we are talking about are events affecting the entire planet such immigration, mobility, complexity, etc., or natural phenomena such as desertification, hurricanes, floods, etc., or even computerization, an increasingly fast communication, etc. … Our purpose is to discern, based on social, anthropological, political experience, what will be the developments of future society without omitting near-future scenarios that might be not so optimistic. In that case, our message becomes a warning that cannot be ignored
Our ambitions are to look constantly ahead, at the world around us and project it into the future. Our goal is to offer real answers to the kind of problems that increasingly affect the reality we live in. What we are talking about are events affecting the entire planet such immigration, mobility, complexity, etc., or natural phenomena such as desertification, hurricanes, floods, etc., or even computerization, an increasingly fast communication, etc. … Our purpose is to discern, based on social, anthropological, political experience, what will be the developments of future society without omitting near-future scenarios that might be not so optimistic. In that case, our message becomes a warning that cannot be ignored
I live in Rome but in Italy is big ancient country this for an architect that think to future is very difficult
continuous confrontation
they have to consider origiality and at the same time techonogical capability
I think for new idea and after first thought I alweis search for perfect detail resolution. When idea becomes detail project it means that is a good project
small objects
In the morning we carry out all the bureaucratic operations related to the project , or we go on site. In the afternoon, we design and make models or three-dimensional checks of the project. My studio is first of all a creative workshop then a technical studio
to know the past, to look forward and project oneself into the future. In this context, curiosity cannot be lacking for everything that surrounds us and in the broadest sense of the term
The positive aspects are creativity and the possibility of engaging others. the negative ones are related to the extreme effort that develops in the realization of a project . We have too many unnecessary constraints in Italy
Imagine a different future and work towards good sustainability
All skills. I have an old vision of the profession. that of the architect’s profession seen as entities able to play all roles, from urban planning to architectural detail to furniture to the design object
I can say that I work a lot with the first three-dimensional verification and for this reason I need the model. For me it is the only tool that allows you to know in depth the construction and the architectural volume
As I said the project is formed gradually. For this reason, the time required for its implementation is fragmented and this also with tight delivery deadlines
if we also consider the implementation I would say minimum six months
I am often asked if what I have planned can be realized. I answer that there are no limits to the new technology
the design of 6000 square metres in Rome
I would say large private or small industrial
All about the type of residence
I do not know what the future holds but surely I will continue to work on the same theme of the "movement "applied to the type of residence
I think that I design by myself and after a work with a team
I have several but to talk about it would be too long we feel their realization. They will speak themselves
Through knowledge and many times also on-line requests
They seemed perfect questions to which nothing is added