Microcities and Socks: Architecture as Research at Lisbon Triennale

Mariabruna Fabrizi and Fosco Lucarelli, founders of the architecture studio Microcities and the research blog Socks, were invited to curate the main exhibition of the 2016 Lisbon Architecture Triennale, titled "The Form of Form." The duo, who left Rome after graduating to work abroad, now teach at the École spéciale d'architecture in Paris and the Politecnico di Losanna. Socks, launched in 2006 as a blog, has evolved into an explorable atlas of topics, inspired by Lucy Lippard's Number Shows from 1969–1974. Microcities, founded in Paris in 2012, integrates theoretical research with architectural practice. For the Triennale, they collaborated with three architecture studios—Office KGDVS, Johnston Marklee, and Nuno Brandao Costa—to create an exhibition that treats curatorial choices as architectural projects. The installation features a regular, orderly visual display across over 1,000 square meters, with rooms dedicated to formal themes, allowing visitors to create their own narrative. The exhibition is dedicated to the late Diogo Seixas Lopes, co-director of the Triennale, who entrusted them with the curatorial role.