Conversations on Architecture – Swiss Talks – About and Beyond

The richness of cultural exchanges between Italy and Switzerland, especially in terms of architectural culture, is the framework within which this publication was conceived and structured. The editorial project retraces and expands some of the themes addressed during the first seven years of the Swiss Talks, born in 2017 as a cultural partnership between the Istituto Svizzero and the architecture magazine Casabella. Based in Rome, Milan and Palermo, Istituto Svizzero is an interdisciplinary platform bringing together artistic and scientific research and maintaining a residency program for emerging young artists and researchers. The series Swiss Talks is part of the public program of Istituto Svizzero. This publication is intended to provide a significant fragment of the cultural project Swiss Talks, born from the collaboration between Istituto Svizzero and Casabella Formazione. Since 2017, it has been promoting Swiss architectural culture in Italy through the organisation of public meetings in Milan, Rome, Palermo, and Venice. The topics, each forming a chapter of the book (Zurich-Milan and return; Architecture in the Age of Tourism; A new life; Architecture as a cultural crossover; Experimental architecture; Art and architecture), are addressed by the invited authors through emblematic projects and short explanatory texts. The diversity, including generational, of the personalities involved reflects and enhances the multiplicity of points of view that is intrinsic to Swiss culture. Avariety of attitudes that also characterises contemporary architectural discourse, reflected in an inclusive and plural book form. Francesca Chiorino (born 1978 in Biella) is an architect, an author and a curator. She studied at Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia and ETSAB Barcelona. She published books and critical texts in magazines and monographic volumes and she has been invited lecturer in conferences. Since 2005 she is member of Casabella magazine editorial board. In 2011 she opened her own architecture studio, and since 2013 she has been involved in conceiving a national architecture award aimed at young architects. Federico Tranfa (born 1966 in Milan) is an architect, an author and a curator. He studied at the Polytechnic of Milan and in Denmark, at the Aarhus Arkitektskolen. In 2002 he opened his own architecture studio with Laura Pasquini, with whom he shares the main professional assignments. Invited lecturer in seminars, conferences, institutions and universities, he published critical texts and essays in magazines and monographic volumes. Since 2013 he has been editor of Casabella and since 2016 member of the editorial board.