Sergio Los (born 1934 in

Marostica Marostica (; vec, Maròstega ), is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, northern Italy. It is mostly famous for its live chess event and for the local cherry variety. History Between the 11th and 13th centuries, the l ...

Veneto it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

) is an Italian architect and thinker. He is considered one of the main interpreters of the Regional Bioclimatic Architecture, a design philosophy developed during the seventies (1972–1979) at the

University Iuav of Venice A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which r ...

under the pressure of the

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

and

energy crisis An energy crisis or energy shortage is any significant bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In literature, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particular, those that supply n ...

. He developed a locally rooted architecture that adapts to the regional circumstances and uses the natural energetic potentials, especially

solar energy Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture. It is an ...

. Already in 1980 he was extensively contributing to the organisation PLEA (Passive and Low Energy Architecture ), that promotes

sustainable architecture Sustainable architecture is architecture that seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings through improved efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, development space and the ecosystem at large. Sustainable ...

on a worldwide scale. Through his longtime educational work he has shown many young architects his innovative ideas and many more architecture students with his landmark publications so that there is hope that even more architects and urban planners will use his ideas in the future.

Biography

The early years

His artistic formation took place at the

with

Carlo Scarpa Carlo Scarpa (2 June 1906 – 28 November 1978) was an Italian architect, influenced by the materials, landscape and the history of Venetian culture, and by Japan. Scarpa translated his interests in history, regionalism, invention, and the te ...

. Between 1964 and 1971 he was involved in a collaboration with

, working at the

and following many projects in his office.
He wrote ''Carlo Scarpa Architetto Poeta'', published in 1967, which was at that time the first book about Scarpa’s architecture. Involved in the

Design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

Process Theories, he introduced in Italy the ideas of

Christopher Alexander Christopher Wolfgang John Alexander (4 October 1936 – 17 March 2022) was an Austrian-born British-American architect and design theorist. He was an emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley. His theories about the nature o ...

translating his ''Notes on the Synthesis of Form'' 1967, and the searches of the

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Martin Centre, editing and translating the book of L. March and P. Steadman ''The Geometry of Environment'', 1974.

The Regional Architecture Experience

Between 1972 and 1979, he develops a regional bioclimatic approach to multi-scale architecture that drives him into designing and constructing some buildings and city plans. Through an experimental design and building activity, he deepen the concept of a sustainable resilient urban fabric, which is based on the network of civic architecture, aimed to produce a local

microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few squa ...

in the open outdoor spaces. Having tested some realized projects his design solutions were confirmed and transferred through handbooks. He is involved in the development of lectures and a contribution to ''The Geography of Architecture'' (''The Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture'').

A Knowledge Civic Architecture

In the last twenty years, he is involved in increasing the city’s communicative action, compared to the prevailing instrumental action of the actual metropolises. In his view the city is considered as a communicative system, analogous to the language and to other symbolic systems. The city operates for composing a common world, it becomes for its citizens a way of knowing, but sharing the construction of such knowledge. He is pursuing some cooperative design processes that deal with city plans aimed to activate a learning community. He thinks that only communities of citizens can pursue resilient, sustainable cities.

The Academic Career

• Sergio Los is professor of Architectural Composition at the

, now retired.
• Between 1965 and 1971 he taught Interior Architecture at the

in Italy.
• Between 1972 and 1978 he taught Town Design in the Department of

Giancarlo De Carlo Giancarlo De Carlo (12 December 1919 − 4 June 2005) was an Italian architect. Biography Giancarlo De Carlo was born in Genoa, Liguria, in 1919. In 1939, he enrolled at the Milan Polytechnic, where he graduated in engineering in 1943. Duri ...

at the

, later between 1979 and 2000 he taught Architectural Composition, showing his main interest in Multi-Scale Architecture.
• From 1970 up to 2000 he is responsible of many research activities for MURST ( :it:Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca), CNR/

ENEA (Italy) The Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l'energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile (ENEA) (''Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development'') is an Italian Government-sponsored research and dev ...

PFE, EU,

International Energy Agency The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a Paris-based autonomous Intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation, established in 1974, that provides policy recommendations, analysis and data on the entire global energy sector, wit ...

, on the design of a sustainable multi-scale architecture, published in various books and magazines.

Awards

• In 1996 at Louvain la Neuve, he received the 13° PLEA (Passive and Low Energy Architecture) INTERNATIONAL AWARD with Natasha F. Pulitzer, having pursued in research, teaching, and professional activity the integration of the art and the science of architecture.
• In 1998 at Florence, he received the WREN PIONEER AWARD, for his contribution in the design of a renewable energy architecture.
• In 2003 at Berlin he received the European EUROSOLAS PRIZE, for his career in Solar Architecture.

Works

*Sergio Los (1967). ''Carlo Scarpa Architetto Poeta''. CLUVA, Venice *Sergio Los (2009). ''SCARPA''. Taschen, Koln. *Sergio Los (1993). ''Carlo Scarpa''. Benedict Taschen, Cologne, *Sergio Los (1995). ''Carlo Scarpa, guida all’architettura''. Arsenale Editrice, Venice. *Sergio Los, (edited by) (1985). ''VERUM IPSUM FACTUM, Il progetto di Carlo Scarpa per l’ingresso dell’Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia''. CLUVA, Venice *Sergio Los, (edited by) (1990). ''Regionalismo dell’Architettura''. Franco Muzzio editore, Padova. *Jeffrey Cook and Sergio Los (1981), ''Un approccio bioclimatico al regionalismo architettonico'' *Italian translations of essay of

''Note sulla Sintesi della Forma'', Milan, (1967) *Italian translations of the book of L. March and P. Steadman ''La Geometria dell’Ambiente'', Milan, (1974) *Venice, ''Regionalism and Architecture'', (1985) *Trento, ''Caratteri Ambientali dell’Architettura'', (1998) *Sergio Los ''Geografia dell'architettura'' (Il Poligrafo, Padova. ) *Vicenza, ''A Knowledge Civic Architecture'', (2007)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Los, Sergio 1934 births Living people People from Marostica Architects from Veneto Academic staff of the Università Iuav di Venezia