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Futuro Antico. Interview with Studio Labics
5 dic 2023
Ludovico Pratesi
Public space, environment, and social equity. Three aspirations for building a new shared sensibility expressed by the architecture firm Labics.
What are your inspirational references in art?
Over time and with patience — Labics was founded over 20 years ago — we have built a constellation of references, an imaginary world made up of texts, drawings, photographs, films, and works of art that constantly feed into our projects and are in turn nourished by our curiosities. It is a constantly evolving world, yet one that revolves around recurring obsessions: true cores around which even very different things revolve, united by the broad and polysemic concept of Structure. We think of research on geometric structures from Matila Ghyka to Le Corbusier, from Palladio and Piero della Francesca, from Mondrian to Rietveld; we think of spatial structures, from Sol LeWitt to Pierluigi Nervi, from Richard Serra to Mendes da Rocha; or even the open structures of Escher and Robert Smithson.
What is the common thread that connects these explorations?
There is actually something underlying this entire world that holds everything together: it is the search for the public dimension of form, as Rosalind Krauss insightfully understood when she described the distinctive character of American minimalists in the 1960s. After all, this is how our interest in the concept of structure was born out of the need to understand the formative processes of design and define its boundaries. This was to figure out how and with what tools to avoid the arbitrariness of an approach based solely on instinct and instead seek principles capable of making every design choice necessary. This would give the form a logical foundation that would make its motivations clear, its result understandable, and therefore shareable.
What project best represents you? Can you tell us about its origins?
There isn’t just one; there are certainly some projects that are more representative than others, such as the Mast in Bologna, Città del Sole in Rome, Piazza Fontana in Rozzano, Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara, or the very recent Campus Bio-Medico in Rome. The importance doesn't stem from the size of the project but from the coherence and precision between the initial theoretical assumptions and the final form—coherence that is not always easy to achieve. Speaking of structures, a project we are particularly fond of isn’t a building, but a research project conducted after we were invited to a solo exhibition at Studio Stefania Miscetti in Rome. The work is called Structures, and it’s a research project that materialized in 50 small models, which are now part of the collection at the MAXXI Museum.
Could you explain more?
Together, the models form a landscape in which the relationship between structure and space is explored iteratively. It is a landscape where architecture is not described or prefigured in an allusive or analogical way, as it happens in drawings, but is immanently simulated: the models are architecture in themselves. Lastly, a recent work that certainly represents us significantly today because it synthesizes our entire research on design is The Architecture of Public Space, an essay recently published by Park Books. The book was born from the desire to understand the role of architecture in the construction of the public dimension of the city, the form of its spaces, and therefore its quality.
How important is the Genius Loci in your work?
We never think of working on a theoretical or physical tabula rasa; architecture transforms places and, in turn, creates places. Designing and building is a constant operation of rewriting, transforming a pre-existing condition, whether it’s a natural landscape or a built environment. For this reason, it is always necessary to know the place well, study it, feel it, and visit it physically, in order to establish a dialogue and comparison with it.
How important is the past for imagining and building the future? Do you believe the future can have an ancient heart?
The future not only can but, in our opinion, must have an ancient heart; this point is central to our work and thinking. Just consider the research behind the book The Architecture of Public Space, which is the result of a study on Italian architectures of the past to identify possible design strategies for the future. We don’t believe in innovation that erases the past but in one that rewrites and, if necessary, borrows from the past, reinventing it to continue writing history on top of history, thought upon the thoughts that came before us. We believe these are the true innovations, the ones that endure over time. After all, Piero della Francesca wouldn’t have existed without Beato Angelico, nor Mies van der Rohe without Karl Friedrich Schinkel. This world of references also applies in fields outside of strict discipline: for example, Alighiero Boetti’s relationship with the ancient art of weaving, or Le Corbusier’s fascination with the vernacular architecture of the Mediterranean. Today's art and architecture are the result of a millennia-old history.b
What advice would you give to a young person who wants to follow your path?
Study a lot, travel the world, visit architecture in person and not just on Instagram, and train your eye before your hand. Then, be strong and steadfast in finding your own point of view and pursuing your obsession. Architecture is beautiful, but it also has a certain harshness when confronting reality, for which a lot of strength is needed.
In an era defined by post-truth, does the concept of the sacred still hold importance and strength?
Yes, very much so, but obviously with a different meaning than it had during the era of grand narratives. The sacred is not about the search for truth but rather a tension toward a dimension that transcends the concrete and material aspects of life. Especially in this historical moment, where everything seems to be driven by economic interests, we need to return to cultivating the mystery of the sacred that surrounds life and every creative act.
How do you imagine the future? Could you give us three ideas that you think will guide the coming years?
Unfortunately, we fear that the ideas guiding the next few years may not be the ones we hope for. Today, more than in the past, economic interests, partisanship, and power are driving the decisions—even for the future—of institutions and national governments. So rather than predicting the future, we can express some wishes; the ideas we would like to guide us.
The first is a renewed awareness of the fragility of our planetary system. This idea must start with rediscovering the beauty of the natural environment in its entirety and the inescapable imperative of its protection. The second is the need for greater social equity. The disparities between rich and poor nations, and within nations themselves, between wealthy and impoverished people, continue to grow rather than diminish. The third is the need to rebuild a sense of shared community through the creation of public and communal spaces, where we can fully realize the idea of community that is fundamental to social life. We believe that both art and architecture can contribute greatly to all three of these aspects.