Derossi Associati. Racconti di architettura

At Derossi Associati architecture is the result of continuous research aimed at interpreting the relationship between inherent functions, sense of place and the demands of the client.
Research starts from the specificity of context reaching out towards the references and the relationships that the context itself suggests. In this investigative process from the particular to the general (and vice versa) choices in design take on a narrative character: an architecture that tells of its dialogue with the reality of a city.

This monograph, published for the exhibition in Turin, is subdivided into five "investigations" into five different themes: "Shows and events", "Designing interiors", "Design", "Experiencing the city" and "the great projects".
The first investigation deals with "shows and events" when the architect addresses his public directly, bringing them together and playing with space. It is a matter of finding a good balance between symbols and flexibility.
The second investigation is into interiors, when architecture becomes more minute, enters into homes, anticipates the movements of the inhabitants when they do things, when they use space.
The third investigation deals with "design", single objects that occupy space with their prestige. They can convey relevant messages about the users that have chosen them, communicate features of their identity.
The fourth investigation deals with houses. Cities are made of houses where people live. These houses are on streets; they are of different heights and have different facades. They create sequences which tell us their history as we walk by. In the history of the modern age much has been said about the relationship between houses and streets. Attempts have often been made to separate them breaking ancient familiarity. The street is like a text for us where houses lend life and sense, each house is a paragraph of the great book that makes up a city.
The last investigation has a presumptuous title: "great projects". The adjective "great" speaks of large quantity and the need for representation. Universities, stations, libraries, theatres, great urban complexes... These constitute exceptional elements which provide a momentary interruption in the chaotic flow of a city. They offer a unity of intentions, they propose choice. These are monuments because they remind us of a collective privilege and duty, they support broad references.

The result is an original voyage through the long, effortful and enthusiastic process of creating architecture. The inventiveness of architecture runs side by side with the vicissitudes of life, loves, successes and efforts (which means culture) in a flux of suggestions, regrets and new beginnings.
The volume is prefaced with a text by Francesco Poli (the tale of narrative architecture).