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Engraving by Louis Poyet. “La Nature”, March 12th, 1910
mission
super-positions is a research laboratory which operates within the complexity between architecture, the city and the territory.
The laboratory adopts history and analysis as the basis for research and design, by combining theoretical knowledge with technical know-how. From reading to writing, it critically crosses the design cultures that have shaped, and will continue to shape, the contemporary city.
super refers to the projection towards the future, towards the beyond.
positions refers to the multiplicity of views, articulating their interactions, complementarities, contradictions.
statements
super-positions defends a deep understanding of architecture and the city as a representation of their material and immaterial histories. History and analysis are to be considered both as a methodological support and as an operational tool, at all scales, from architecture to the city.
super-positions studies architecture and the city through multiple research tools. Written and drawn sources (theoretical texts or archival materials) and physical traces (that allow the reading of both the archaeology of the built environment and the territory as palimpsest) testify to the breadth and richness of the means employed.
super-positions tests the significance of ideas, built objects and unbuilt spaces in the longue durée, from their genesis, via their construction, to their reception. The perspective is open to the international community and rejects any cultural compartmentalisation.
super-positions reveals the stratification of the built environment and of the territory, through a process of decomposition and recomposition, using a multiplicity of writing and representation tools –drawing, surveying, cartography. The new knowledge thus produced wishes to nourish reflections on architectural and territorial projects.
super-positions develops project strategies in the existing built environment by identifying cultural values specific to architecture, the city and the territory. These intrinsic values, appropriately selected, ordered and prioritized, are the true fil rouge of future interventions.
Four academics,
Four research fields
Aldo Rossi, collage, 1968 © Aldo Rossi Heirs
Aldo Rossi, collage, 1968 © Aldo Rossi Heirs
Headed by Beatrice Lampariello, this group within Super-Positions is dedicated to the analysis and history of architecture of the 19th and 20th centuries. The focus is on a kind of architecture that can be understood as the expression of a vision. This vision is directed either towards the creation of a specific type of structure or construction, or towards the generation of innovative projects on the scale of both the building and the city. Utilizing archival research, the group delves into structural visions, poetics, and ideals that have played a pivotal role in shaping the conceptualization of novel ways of living.
R. Lopez, M. Holley, CAF Building, Paris, 1953-1959 © H. Longepierre
R. Lopez, M. Holley, CAF Building, Paris, 1953-1959 © H. Longepierre
Headed by Giulia Marino, this group focuses on the preservation project, departing from its material history and a comprehensive analysis of the built environment. The scientific activities are based on two complementary and strongly intertwined fields of research: the history of materials, construction techniques and comfort equipment of the 20th century, as well as project strategies for preserving modern and contemporary heritage, with regard to current environmental issues.
Palazzo della Cancelleria in Rome © Flavia Rossi
Palazzo della Cancelleria in Rome © Flavia Rossi
Headed by Nele De Raedt, this group employs analysis and history to study theories and practices of architecture in the late medieval and early modern period (1400-1700). The focus is mainly on the built environment of the city, which the group studies from diverse angles. Using a wide variety of sources (such political poems, ethical treatises, legal contracts, city maps) this group of researchers studies how various actors have shaped (ideas on) the city and its buildings.
Chiara Cavalieri, Studio Paola Viganò, Le parc bleu, 2016 © Chiara Cavalieri, Studio Paola Viganò
Chiara Cavalieri, Studio Paola Viganò, Le parc bleu, 2016 © Chiara Cavalieri, Studio Paola Viganò
Headed by Chiara Cavalieri, this groups explores the city and the territory through analysis and design. The main focus is on environmental urbanism, with research ranging from collective and institutional resource management to community-based practices and a systemic understanding of (water)infrastructure. By merging open-source data with fieldwork-collected information, this group extensively employs thick cartographies, descriptions, atlases, prototypes, and scenarios as research tools.
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