2015 – 2016 _ EXHIBITION
Stefano Pujatti , Beniamino Servino: Form Matters
Italian Cultural Institute in Toronto 496 Huron St., Toronto, ON
Photographs: Elisabetta Crovato
The Istituto Italiano di Cultura is pleased to present the exhibition Stefano Pujatti (ELASTICOFarm) Beniamino Servino: Form Matters, the first exhibition of the new series Italy under Construction. Through the work of the two Italian architects, the exhibition explores the building’s role as a cultural and artistic artifact, against two contemporary popular trends: the performative and the minimal. The first one puts emphasis on the technical aspects of the building -for example energy-, while the second trend retreats from expressing specificity and rhetoric.
Stefano Pujatti (ELASTICOFarm, Turin) and Beniamino Servino (Caserta) share an understanding of architecture as an artistic practice linking design and local culture. This notion of practice focuses on buildings’ role as both a space maker and means of communication. Whereas the articulation of architectural form in Stefano Pujatti’s buildings suggests a work in progress, reflecting the dialogue between the designer’s ambitions, client’s dreams, and local conditions, Beniamino Servino’s architecture focuses on exploring the potential monumentalism hidden in the ordinariness of the abandoned urban landscape of Caserta, his hometown.
By drawing new forms and techniques from as found architectural elements and materials, their work discloses the marvelous within the ordinary, and suggests how small scale interventions can improve the space of everyday life. Stefano Pujatti and Beniamino Servino worked together to envision a room. In between the intimate atmosphere of a studiolo and the surprise of entering in a wunderkammer, visitors will experience a fictional Italian landscape assembled from the architects built and unbuilt work.
Stefano Pujatti (ELASTICOFarm), Beniamino Servino: Form Matters opens on November 20th, 2015 at 6.30 pm, followed by a talk with two guest architects on November 21st, at 11.00 am at John H. Daniels, Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, Room 103.
website: www.iuctoronto.it, media partner: Azure Magazine
