AT L A S
of emerging practices being an architect in the 21st century
ATLAS of emerging practices is a publication that provides an overview of the state of the architect’s profession, analysing themes, trends, projects, and methods that characterise the professional practice, and understanding this discipline through the research carried out with a selection of emerging architectural practices in the European territory.
A project by ITINERANT OFFICE Within the cultural agenda of NEW GENERATIONS Edited and curated by Gianpiero Venturini
THE ATLAS New Generations is a project conceived by Itinerant Office that investigates the changes in the architectural profession since the economic crisis. Since 2012 New Generations has been able to identify and involve some of the most interesting emerging studios in the European scene, gathering more than 300 emerging architectural firms and a variety of experts of other fields. Through international architecture festivals, workshops, installations, video-interviews and much more, New Generations has been positioning itself as one of the most active and independent organisations in the analysis, research, and development of activities for and by young architects taking their first steps in the working field of architecture. "ATLAS of emerging practices: being an architect in the 21st century" is the first print publication analysing the state of the current architectural profession from a new perspective: data, graphic visualisation and diagrams, interviews, critical texts and images of unreleased projects, are providing a fresh and positive perspective on the profession of architecture at the european scale.
Cover page, selection of pages and back cover of 'ATLAS of emerging practices'. ŠItinerantOffice
THE RESEARCH ATLAS involved 95 emerging practices from 22 European countries in an online survey. Their responses were collected and further analysed in this publication. The first part of the investigation was developed as an analysis of the approximately 80 video interviews performed over a six year period by New Generations. Through this analysis, what surfaced were four key themes that, in order to be understood, were further studied through an online survey that saw the participation of a new selection of groups, representing the diversity of the geographic area that New Generations encompasses.
Introduction section of 'ATLAS of emerging practices'. ©ItinerantOffice
The online survey was based on the four main themes that emerged from the compilation of the interviews: "Organisation", "Business", "Media", and "Projects" - laid out in this order in the publication. The 'Organisation' section analyses different organisational structures, with diagrams and data highlighting the huge variety of configurations that reflect the array of different approaches used by the various firms. The section 'Business' highlights various types of commissions —public, private, and unsolicited— ranging in budgets, scale, and program. 'Media' introduces the potential of digital tools, not only for the online communication of the office’s activities, but also for the development of projects such as encouraging participation through social media, or managing the organisational aspects of the studio. The section 'Projects' collects a selection of the most significant interventions by some of the participants of the ATLAS.
THE PARTICIPANTS This publication gathers the work of a selection of 95 emerging practices in Europe, with the aim of providing useful tools and insight for architecture students, new graduates, and emerging practices in the early stages of their careers. The participants represent the great variety of ways to practice the profession of architecture. From those who are involved in participatory projects, such as Collectif ETC (Marseille, FR), orizzontale (Rome, IT), or Colectivo Warehouse (Lisbon, PT), to those who are exploring innovative business models based on cooperation and community building, such as Marc Koehler Architects and Space&Matter (Amsterdam, NL); from those who are working in the boundaries between art and architecture, such as Diogo Aguiar Studio (Porto, PT), or aparicioeeraerts (Antwerp, BE), to those who are practicing the profession in a more traditional way, such as 05AM (Gerona, ES).
Detail of the map showcasing the practices that took part in the online survey. 'ATLAS of emerging practices'. ŠItinerantOffice
A project by
Within the cultural agenda of
NEW GENERATIONS
About the author Gianpiero Venturini, Master of Science in Architecture at the Politecnico di Milano, founded Itinerant Office in 2011. Before establishing Itinerant Office, Gianpiero worked in the Netherlands, Japan, Brazil, and Spain for internationally-renowned offices such as FABRICations in Amsterdam and Kengo Kuma and Associates (KKAA) in Tokyo. Gianpiero is the curator of the Festival New Generations, and has contributed to a wide array of both online and printed architectural magazine such as Abitare, Domus, Interni Magazine, and urbanNext.
‘ATLAS of Emerging practices: being an architect in the 21st century’ was made possible thanks to the generous support of: Funder35, an initiative supported by 18 Foundations (17 banking foundations and Fondazione CON IL SUD), adhering to Acri, which includes Fondazione Cariplo; the Creative Industries Fund NL; the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Italy.
PRESS OFFICE The images in this document, available for press purposes, and their captions, are at this Dropbox link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s7jvv4lsm53wlsi/ AAB5wgvAcvbnhVpPtXHcIDT3a?dl=0. The images are protected by copyright. Please refer to the captions indicated in the PDF. file before proceeding with your publication. Feel free to contact us if you require any additional information. Please inform us if you intend to publish an article following this dossier by contacting Leonor MartĂn at leonor@itinerantoffice.com, so that we are updated about all pending publications. Thank you in advance.