Superarchitettura is a theoretical & conceptual framework, whose physical definition has been given at the homonymous 1966 exhibition, held at Jolly2, an art gallery of

Pistoia Pistoia (, is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typi ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. According to the

Radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

Manifesto, "Superarchitettura is the architecture of superproduction, superconsumption, superinduction to consume, the supermarket, the superman, super gas". Superarchitettura is the overcoming of centuries of constant and consistent art vision. It is the overtaking of ancient artistic pratiques in favour of new

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

s, the Sixties so-called " neo avant-gardes". Superarchitettura's movement combined the inventiveness of Pop Art with the dynamics of

mass production Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and batch ...

(for the latter, see its definition according to

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' ideas and conceptions).

Archizoom and Superstudio

The Superarchitettura theoretical framework, part of the Radical Design movement, after its beginning, got split up in two main philosophical entities and interpretations, the first incarnated by

Archizoom Associati Archizoom Associati was a design studio from Florence, Italy founded in 1966. The group that founded the studio consists of Andrea Branzi Andrea Branzi (, born November 30, 1938) is a Florence-born Italian architect and designer. He currently li ...

, the second by

Superstudio Superstudio was an architectural firm, founded in 1966 in Florence, Italy by Adolfo Natalini and Cristiano Toraldo di Francia, later joined by Gian Piero Frassinelli, Alessandro and Roberto Magris, Alessandro Poli. Superstudio was a major part of ...

. Archizoom and Superstudio held the Exhibition. Such event represented a milestone in the Italian Radical Design. According to the first group (to which belonged "free thinkers" -architects and designers- like

Andrea Branzi Andrea Branzi (, born November 30, 1938) is a Florence-born Italian architect and designer. He currently lives and works in Milan and was a professor and chairman of the School of Interior Design at the Polytechnic University of Milan until 2009. ...

, Gilberto Corretti, Paolo Deganello, Massimo Morozzi, Dario Bartolini and Lucia Bartolini), in order to get away from Tradition, men must overturn conventions and exalt everything kitsch as a statement of aesthetic and ideological challenge. On the other side, according to the second group (to which belonged Adolfo Natalini, Cristiano Toraldo di Francia, Piero Frassinelli, Alessandro Magris and

Roberto Magris Roberto Magris (born 19 June 1959) is an Italian jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Early life Magris was born in Trieste, Italy, on 19 June 1959. He had piano lessons between the ages of four and sixteen. He became interested in jazz after h ...

), to run away from Tradition, a new architecture must be imagined and created, which must be based on rejecting the impositions of production in favour of symbolic, dreamy values, which can ideologically fit into the landscape.

Anti-Design as the Sinthesis

These two philosophical interpretations of the Radical Design being conceivable as

Socrates Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no te ...

' "

Thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

" and "

Antithesis Antithesis (Greek for "setting opposite", from "against" and "placing") is used in writing or speech either as a proposition that contrasts with or reverses some previously mentioned proposition, or when two opposites are introduced together f ...

", its overcoming brought to a very peculiar "

Synthesis Synthesis or synthesize may refer to: Science Chemistry and biochemistry *Chemical synthesis, the execution of chemical reactions to form a more complex molecule from chemical precursors ** Organic synthesis, the chemical synthesis of organ ...

". Such was the Anti-Design framework, son of such dispute.{{Clarify, date=September 2009 Archizoom in particular is today considered the initiator of Anti-Design. Its members questioned from the ground the traditional status-function and basic-nature of design, as well as that of the architectural production.

References

*Lang, Peter and Menking, William: "Superstudio. Life Without Objects", ''Skira'', Milan, 2003 *Fiell, Charlotte and Peter, "Design of the 20th Century", ''TASCHEN Icons Series - Turtleback'', 2001 *Branzi, Andrea: "Radical Notes", ''Casabella'', n. 399, March 1975. *Tafuri, Manfredo and Dal Co, Francesco: "Internazionale dell'utopia, Architettura contemporanea", ''Electa'', Milan, 1976. *Rouillard,Dominique: "Radical architettura", in "Tschumi, une architecture en projet: Le Fresnoy", ''Ed. Centre Georges Pompidou'', Paris, 1993. *Pettena, Gianni: "Archipelago, architettura sperimentale 1959-99", ''Maschietto&musolino'', Florence, 1999. * Prestinenza Puglisi,Luigi: "This is tomorrow. Avanguardie e architettura contemporanea", ''Testo&Immagine'', Turin, 1999. * Patrizia Mello, "Neoavanguardie e controcultura a Firenze. Il movimento Radical e i protagonisti di un cambiamento storico internazionale", Angelo Pontecorboli, Firenze, 2017. Italian art movements