Massimiliano Fuksas: Italy's Architectural Black Sheep
Massimiliano Fuksas, the architect behind Rome's 'Nuvola' congress center, has been marginalized by the Italian architectural community, as highlighted by critic Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi in a 2017 article for Artribune. Notably, Fuksas did not participate in the 2014 Italian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, which showcased 85 firms. His 'Nuvola' project, which he won in 1998 and was inaugurated in 2016, remained non-operational as of January 2017. The project faced scrutiny due to cost overruns (€500 million instead of the €100 million budget) and delays. Puglisi defends Fuksas against claims of inflated costs and connections to global capital, stating that such issues are typical in Italian public projects. He believes a neo-academic group unfairly targets Fuksas to shape its own identity.
Key facts
- Massimiliano Fuksas was excluded from the 2014 Italian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, curated by Cino Zucchi.
- The Italian Pavilion featured 85 architecture firms under the theme 'Grafting'.
- Fuksas's 'Nuvola' congress center in Rome was won in 1998, inaugurated in 2016, and still non-operational as of January 2017.
- The 'Nuvola' budget escalated from €100 million to an estimated €500 million.
- Critic Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi defends Fuksas against accusations of cost overruns, obsequiousness to global capital, and artistic gesturalism.
- Fuksas completed the Milan fairgrounds in 18 months and has been efficient on international projects.
- The neo-academic faction in Italy, favoring the Tendenza of Aldo Rossi, uses Fuksas as a scapegoat.
- Renzo Piano was similarly ostracized in the 1970s for the Centre Pompidou but has since been rehabilitated.
Entities
Artists
- Massimiliano Fuksas
- Cino Zucchi
- Renzo Piano
- Aldo Rossi
- Maurizio Crozza
- Franco Purini
- Stefano Boeri
- Vittorio Gregotti
- Cherubino Gambardella
- Massimo Carmassi
- Adolfo Natalini
- Marco Casamonti
- Francesco Cellini
- Zaha Hadid
- Patrick Schumacher
- Odile Decq
- Peter Zumthor
- Herzog & de Meuron
- Alejandro Aravena
- Jean Nouvel
- Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi
- René Girard
- Manfredo Tafuri
Institutions
- Artribune
- Biennale di Venezia
- Studio Fuksas
- Centro Pompidou
- Associazione Italiana di Architettura e Critica
- presS/Tletter
- Compasses
- Edilizia e territorio
- The Plan
- A10
Locations
- Rome
- Italy
- Venice
- Milan
- Paris
- Catania