(Ab)Normal: Architects Turn Graphic Novelists at Milan Arch Week

Four former Politecnico di Milano students and OMA alumni—Luigi Savio, Mattia Inselvini, Marcello Carpino, and Davide Masserini—have launched (Ab)Normal, a graphic novel project that repurposes obsolete 3D models, contemporary myths, and news fragments into architectural capriccios. The project, presented at Milan Arch Week as part of the We Need to Talk program curated by Parasite 2.0, functions as a cathartic diary free from professional constraints. The founders emphasize non-linear narrative as a tool to colonize digital space, rejecting Instagram's imposed chronology. They cite 18th-century precedents like Piranesi, Canaletto, and Watteau, and contemporary influences such as Brodsky & Utkin and Jean Jacques Lequeu. (Ab)Normal critiques the rejection of rendering as a mere sales tool, instead showcasing its expressive potential. The group plans to translate their 2D works into evocative installations and design objects, with an upcoming London exhibition that will transform the gallery space.