Carlo Ratti's 'Objectify' Series Spotlights Italy's Autogrill Bridges
Architect Carlo Ratti delves into Italy's culture through commonplace items in a summer series for Wallpaper*. He begins with the Autogrill bridge, a well-known motorway restaurant chain emblematic of rest areas. This bridge, which connects Milan and Naples over the Autostrada del Sole, has drawn the attention of prominent architects such as Pier Luigi Nervi and Angelo Bianchetti. Ratti refers to it as a 'suspended gallery' that links the northern and southern parts of Italy. Featuring a T-shaped Corten-steel beam and a cantilevered staircase, the bridge stands out. Ratti urges the restoration of decaying structures like the Montepulciano bridge, demolished in 2021, viewing them as 'the manifesto of an optimistic country.' The series appears in Il Sole 24 Ore, showcasing Italy's less celebrated objects. Ratti heads CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and directs MIT's Senseable City Lab.
Key facts
- Carlo Ratti launches 'Objectify' summer series in Wallpaper*.
- The series focuses on ordinary Italian objects, starting with the Autogrill bridge.
- Autogrill is Italy's ubiquitous motorway restaurant chain.
- The Autogrill bridge spans the Autostrada del Sole between Milan and Naples.
- Architects Angelo Bianchetti and Pier Luigi Nervi were involved in these structures.
- The Montepulciano bridge Autogrill (1968) was demolished in 2021.
- The Fiano Romano bridge near Rome has been closed for years and risks demolition.
- Ratti teaches at Politecnico di Milano and MIT, and directed the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale.
Entities
Artists
- Carlo Ratti
- Angelo Bianchetti
- Pier Luigi Nervi
- Carlo Mollino
- Buckminster Fuller
- Achille Castiglioni
- Marcel Proust
Institutions
- Wallpaper*
- Il Sole 24 Ore
- CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Senseable City Lab
- Politecnico di Milano
- La Biennale di Venezia
Locations
- Italy
- Milan
- Naples
- Montepulciano
- Fiano Romano
- Rome
- Osio Sopra
- Singapore
- Osaka
- Venice