Announcements

The Scientific Directorate is pleased to inform the Academic and Scientific Community that AGATHÓN has been indexed by SCOPUS starting from 2023 and has been included in the ANVUR list of A Class Journals for area 08 (sectors 08C1, 08D1, 08E1 and 08E2), and in the ANVUR list of Scientific Journals for area 08 (sectors 08C1, 08D1, 08E1, 08E2, and 08F1) starting from January 2017.
For the achievement of this prestigious goal, we would like to thank the Members of the Scientific Committee and the Editorial Board, the Authors who have published their essays and research, the Referees for their rigorous reviewing activities and all the editorial, secretarial and production Staff for their professionalism and daily work.
posted 2023-06-07

 

NetScientificJournals.com is online and for free
NetScientificJournals.com is the Smart Scientific Journals Portal, a virtual international Library with a wide (and continuously growing) collection of scientific journals, publishing essays, research and experimentation on Architecture, Civil Engineering, Design, Energy Systems, Hisstory of Architecture, Representation, Restoration, Technology, and Urban Planning.
NetScientificJournals.com is a smart new tool useful for
– Editors and Publishers interested in promoting their Journals, Calls for Papers and Events/Conferences in a wide international scientific Community;
– Scholars and Researchers interested in finding – through its constantly updated database – useful information on their research subjects and in identifying Journals and Events/Conferences on which publish the results of their research, experimentation, and essays, and best planning and managing the various editorial deadlines through regular alerts set by the user.
posted 2022-07-09

 

The new Publishing series in "PROJECT | Essays and Researches" is online
The Publishing series is open access, therefore the DEMETRA Ce.Ri.Med. (Promoter) and the Palermo University Press (Publisher) invite Users to read and/or download the published volumes free of charge.
vol. 1)  Sposito, C. and Violano, A. (2018), Technological Design – The innovation in the method, Palermo University Press, Palermo. [Online] Available for free at: https://unipapress.com/book/technological-design/
vol. 2) De Giovanni, G. and Scalisi, F. (eds) (2019), Pro-Innovation – Process Production Product, Palermo University Press, Palermo. [Online] Available for free at: https://unipapress.com/book/pro-innovation/
vol. 3) Tucci, F. and Sposito, C. (eds) (2020), Resilience between Mitigation and Adaptation, Palermo University Press, Palermo. [Online] Available for free at: https://unipapress.com/book/resilience-ao-between-mitigation-and-adaptation/
vol. 4) Scalisi, F. (ed.) (2020), From Mega to Nano – The Complexity of a Multiscalar Project, Palermo University Press, Palermo. [Online] Available for free at: https://unipapress.com/book/from-mega-to-nano/
vol. 5) Sposito, C. (ed.) (2021), Possible and Preferable Scenarios of a Sustainable Future, Palermo University Press, Palermo. [Online] Available for free at: unipapress.com/book/possible-and-preferable-scenarios-of-a-sustainable-future/
vol. 6 Scalisi, F. (ed.) (2021), A new life for Landscape, Architecture and Design, Palermo University Press, Palermo. [Online] Available for free at: https://unipapress.com/book/a-new-life/
posted 2022-07-09
vol. 7 Scalisi, F., Sposito, C. and De Giovanni, G. (eds) (2022), On Sustainable Built Environment – Between Connections and Greenery, Palermo University Press, Palermo. [Online] Available for free at: https://unipapress.com/book/on-sustainable-built-environment-beetwwn-connections-and-greenery/
posted 2022-09-30

info to submit a publication | direzione.project.er.series@gmail.com

 

 

Referring to the article “Environmental design multisensory experience. Integrated space for simulation activities”, published on Agathon 07 | 2020, the authors (Prof. Mario Bisson, Prof. Stefania Palmieri, Dr. Alessandro Ianniello del Politecnico di Milano) specify that: the immersive multisensory solution, installed in Novara at the Università del Piemonte Orientale (Eastern Piedmont University, Italy), had been designed and installed by the company Logos Centro Studi Srl, and registered under the trade mark e-Real®; among the innovative features of this solution there are the integrated use of capacitive walls, proximity sensors and ultra-short-throw projectors—all combined into a layout designed by Logos and running with its software, which reflects a specific andragogic and psycho-pedagogical model. The same kind of immersive multisensory solution was installed by Logos within the EDME lab at the Politecnico di Milano, Italy.
posted 2021-03-23

 

 

THE GREAT VORTEX EXODUS | AI DREAMS IN THE GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH

A critical investigation crossing Artificial Intelligence & Post-Environmental Design in Architecture curated by Giuseppe Ridolfi.
MAD Murate Art District | Piazza delle Murate, 50122 Firenze (IT)
From 04.10.24 to 18.10.24
Information: www.mailab.biz/thegreatvortex
posted 2024-09-29

 

Call for Papers | Submission deadline 31 July 2020
Design to connect – People / Assets / Processes
Palermo (ITA), 2021 – date to be defined
info | http://www.societaitalianadesign.it/?bandi=call-sid2020-2

posted 2020-07-01

 

Call for Abstract | submission deadline 25 November 2019
International Conference | DESIGN IN THE DIGITAL AGE. TECHNOLOGY, NATURE, CULTURE
Naples (ITA), 1-2 July 2021
info | http://www.sitda.net/naples2020/

posted 2019-11-17

 

VIII Forum ProArch | The architectural project as an intersection of knowledge
Naples (ITA), 21-23 November 2019
info | https://progettazionearchitettonica.eu/

posted 2019-11-16

 

International Conference | ARCHi_Cottura: atelier for domestic space between food, architecture and design
Castellammare del Golfo (ITA) | 18-20 October 2019
info | http://archicottura.it/

posted 2019-10-15

 

 

BOOK REVIEWS

Rispoli, Micol (2024), Architecture in crisis – Experiments with more-than-human participation, Cratèra, Napoli.

by Dario Russo

In Architecture in Crisis, Micol Rispoli delves into contemporary architecture’s systemic challenges, questioning its modernist foundations and advocating for a shift from user-centred design towards a more holistic, humanity-centred approach, as articulated by Donald Norman (2023). This critical work emerges from a profound dissatisfaction with self-referential architectural practices; it proposes a reimagining of participation to encompass diverse actors, both human and non-human, acknowledging their agency. From the outset, Rispoli encourages readers to envision an architecture that engages with the complex, interdependent context, critiques the often detached academic and professional approaches, and presents examples of participatory practices that challenge modernist conventions.
In the first chapter (The Who and How of Participation), Rispoli critiques the modernist model that entrusts architecture solely to experts, often disconnected from real-world contexts. She examines a critical movement that emerged in the 1960s, viewing architecture as a tool for social transformation in response to climate crises and inequalities. Notably, she discusses Giancarlo De Carlo’s open approach, exemplified by the Matteotti neighbourhood in Terni, where future residents were actively involved in the design process, emphasising dialogue and rejecting top-down imposition. Rispoli warns against superficial participation and advocates for a model that includes marginalised voices and recognises the agency of non-human actors, fostering a dialogue with the environment we share.
The second chapter (The Way in Which Architects Are Trained) explores how Western architectural pedagogy has constructed the architect as an ‘expert subject’, steering future professionals towards a normative approach that often overlooks historical and social contexts. Rispoli analyses the Bauhaus as a symbol of this tradition, initially aimed at merging art and craftsmanship to develop designs suitable for mass production, but which evolved into a model that standardised aesthetics and spatial language, reducing architecture to a universal schema devoid of cultural and social considerations. This legacy, solidified in architectural manuals, has reinforced a technical and detached approach that continues to dominate architectural education, often at the expense of more inclusive models.
In the third chapter (The Things of Architecture), Rispoli introduces the contributions of Science and Technology Studies (STS) and Actor-Network Theory (ANT) in redefining participation in architecture by including non-human actors in the design process. STS, emerged in the 1970s to explore the power and political value of material objects, and ANT expand the concept of ‘society’ to networks of human and non-human elements, challenging traditional dichotomies such as nature/culture and human/non-human. In architecture, this approach describes design as ‘heterogeneous engineering’, where objects and practices mutually influence each other. Scholars like Isabelle Stengers and María Puig de la Bellacasa highlight the value of ethical and inclusive participation, urging consideration of non-human actors as part of the process. This perspective transforms the city into an evolving ‘ecological process’, proposing a design that not only solves problems but democratises technical knowledge, making design objects true ‘political actors’.
The fourth chapter (Transforming and Re-learning Architecture) examines the intersection between design and ‘more-than-human’ relationships, including non-human elements such as nature and atmospheric materials. Through STS, Rispoli proposes a collaborative architecture open to transformation, moving beyond the traditional view of constructing static objects. She emphasises the need for methods that consider dynamic processes and heterogeneous actors (both human and non-human) in building the environment. Examples like the Office for Political Innovation and Albena Yaneva’s Controversy Mapping demonstrate how involving diverse actors fosters sustainable spatial ‘assemblages’. Participation and adaptation thus redefine architecture as a continuous learning process, inviting multisensory and multispecies experimentation.
In the fifth chapter (Participatory Architectural Design Beyond the ‘Capacity Contract?), Rispoli explores the potential of neurodiversity and bodily differences to transform conventional design practices. Drawing from her experience at the Stadtlabor in Berlin and her relationship with Moritz, a neurodivergent individual, she redefines the role of the user and the concept of architectural participation. The chapter critiques the ‘capacity contract’ – which, according to Simplican, excludes those unable to express themselves according to common norms – and proposes neurodiversity as a resource to challenge this paradigm. Citing examples like Deligny, Rispoli suggests an ‘open recipe’ that encourages inclusive participatory design, sensitive to sensory and bodily diversity. ‘Guidelines’ thus become flexible and dynamic tools, capable of adapting to the needs of users with different sensitivities, evolving beyond the rigid standards of normative architecture.
The volume concludes with an interlude emphasising the importance of documenting the design process as an act of ‘mutual love’ and understanding. Contrary to the traditional model, where the designer is seen as the expert imposing a final vision, here documentation becomes a means to share uncertainties and vulnerabilities, opening the creative process to a collective dimension. Rispoli recounts her attempt to ‘learn to be affected’ by Moritz through a self-pedagogical process aimed at understanding his unique perceptions, even designing tools to enrich her spatial sensitivity. This phase of urban exploration highlights the limitations of traditional design tools in representing subjective experiences, proposing instead flexible guidelines that promote inclusive design, open to the diversity of human and non-human needs.
At a time when design is redefining its social role, Architecture in Crisis offers a compelling contribution to the discourse on social innovation and the capacity of design to address emerging community needs. Rispoli’s humanity-centred approach responds to the urgency for architecture to engage with diversity, inclusive participation, and sustainability. Moving beyond user-centred design, she explores practices that embrace multisensory and multicultural experiences, proposing a design that not only adapts to differences but integrates them into a shared co-design process. In an era marked by environmental and social crises, this book embodies the pursuit of a design capable of cultivating new forms of coexistence and collective resilience, emphasising the importance of flexible, participatory guidelines over rigid normative standards. Architecture in Crisis thus becomes a resource for those seeking to design with and for communities, giving voice to non-human actors and encouraging a shift towards truly inclusive and humane design.
posted 2024-12-31