Giorgio Liverani, DSM Interview ellevuelle architetti | graduated from the Aldo Rossi faculty, the University of Bologna, Cesena with a thesis on the recovery of the old Caproni airplane factory in Predappio (FC); Subsequently obtained a PhD. With a thesis on Fernando Tavora and the importance of the “journey” in the composition of projects, from the best known to the least known. However, immediately started practicing the profession with two other classmates, in particular on residential design and building restoration. The studio is located in an old spinning mill (il filandone) in the center of Modigliana, the town in the province of Forlì where was born. GET THE INTERVIEW
MarLim: When did you start thinking about Architecture or any way your job? WATCH ON INSTAGRAM
Giorgio: I have always thought of architecture as a rationalization of the “shelter”, ever since I was organizing outings with the scout group, having been a scout leader for many years. We built huts, each time getting better and stronger. There I started thinking about being an architect: for the power of the meaning of “having a roof over your head”If You
MarLim: Could Change One Thing, What Would It Be? READ TODD VERWERS INTERVIEW
Giorgio Liverani, DSM Interview ellevuelle architetti
Giorgio: I would certainly streamline the bureaucracy: in Italy, too many documents, too much “paper” is required, the times are lengthened in the authorization phase and it is difficult to justify the long waits to clients both to leave and to close the works.
MarLim: That’s true, I understand! Agree perfectly. What is a good building for you?
Giorgio: A good building is able to create a feeling, good sensations between the client and the external and internal spaces, both public and private; it creates atmospheres of safety, comfort, functionality; it relates to its surroundings by dialoguing or (why not) denying it; enhances the use of the materials with which it is built, even if they are poor, with the use of natural and artificial light.
MarLim: I noticed that you have participated in many awards, how was it for you? how did it go? compliments!
Giorgio: Yes, many awards for heterogeneous topics: tile design, projects for commercial activities, restoration projects, and residences … It is a source of great pride for us to receive recognition not only from the client but also from professional, national, and international juries. It means that there is something in our way of understanding architecture that attracts general interest. The insolvency process often reaches a result of merit, and the level of the final outcome is raised: in fact, we are very much in favor of this as a tool of choice in the hands of local administrations. Alas often on the national territory it does not end as it should, or rather, it does not even start. It is therefore also an “investment” in professional terms: in the past we have participated in many, joining forces with other studies, but reaping the rewards is really difficult (think of the disappointment together with hundreds of other designers for the outcome of the first prizes of the “Innovative Schools”).
MarLim: I call architecture frozen music. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. WHAT MEAN? DO YOU AGREE?
Giorgio: “Music is liquid architecture and architecture is frozen music,” said Goethe. In the romantic idea of the German genius, I think it is a beautiful concept of how architecture in its solidity and heaviness, connects to the idea of making abstractness and lightness concrete, as well as the strength, of music.
Giorgio Liverani, DSM Interview ellevuelle architetti
MarLim: Say something you didn’t before READ ABOUT ELISA PARDINI
Giorgio: We hope for opportunities for beautiful and useful projects, never banal: thank you all for the opportunity to spread our work. Come and visit our office, so we can have a glass of red wine together!
MarLim: Great, I will for sure! When did you start your company Giorgio?
Giorgio: It is a collective that was founded in 2009 by students who worked together only in the last year; born from the desire to approach the profession in an experimental way and, if you like, ironic, with a nod to craftsmanship and continuous formal research. To date we are seven in the office: Giorgio Liverani, Luca Landi, Michele Vasumini, Matteo Cavina, Eleonora Festa, Andrea Cirillo and Giacomo Diolaiti, all architects from different Romagna provinces.
MarLim: How much does the location of where you live/work affect what kind of work you do?
Giorgio: We started the professional activity in a small provincial town, Modigliana, in any case, a short distance from the motorway and railway axis (20 km); this allows us to have a direct relationship with clients, to think of architecture in close contact with the landscape and to better follow the construction sites in the area. In Modigliana, as in all the realities of small villages, the relationship with the context is emphasized, the alternation of the seasons regulates the relationship between man and nature. It could recall a Swiss valley!
MarLim: This is a project I love: concorso internazionale scuola Scialoia Milano, progetto finalista 2019 ellevuelle architetti con arch. Enrico Bertozzi, arch. Michele Bostrenghi e Opera Visual, can you tell me more?
Giorgio Liverani, DSM Interview ellevuelle architetti
Giorgio: We opened the professional studio in a small provincial town, Modigliana, in any case, a short distance from the motorway and railway axis (20 km); this allows us to have a direct relationship with clients, to think of architecture in close contact with the landscape and to better follow the construction sites in the area. In Modigliana, as in all the realities of small villages, the relationship with the context is emphasized, the alternation of the seasons regulates the relationship between man and nature. It could recall a Swiss valley!
MarLim: Tell me about the project you’re most proud of and why. What was your role?
Giorgio: All the projects we carry out give satisfaction, especially if the same is reciprocated by the client. The ideational, authorizing, constructive path is long, concluding it is a functionally necessary act but the beauty lies in the fact that one could continue to think, draw details, experiment indefinitely. We think that the recovery of the Modigliana spinning mill, where today we have also inserted our studio, has given us all something more, also because the intervention was done for an entire community: from abandoned ruin to, among the various activities, home to a theater for the community, as well as post offices and offices… Giving impetus to an abandoned building, making it reborn for the city, dealing with the themes of recovery and transformation was really important for us. I was one of the designers and the construction manager, it was exciting because it was the first time that I was addressing such an important issue and for which the client was a city, not just a person or a company.
MarLim: What’s your creative process? show us different images of some works you have done.
Giorgio Liverani, DSM Interview ellevuelle architetti
Giorgio: A good photograph, a landscape, a drawing, a monument… maybe everything is an inspiration. In line with the path and sensitivity, we always test the potential of the composition and control the whole process, from conception to development to construction.
First example, Casa Esse: a house that was born linear because it fits into the design of the existing fields, next to a walnut grove.
Second example: the demolition and reconstruction of a house, with an irregular profile, becomes the starting point for thinking about a sequence of archetypal volumes, with skylights at the dividing points.
Giorgio Liverani, DSM Interview ellevuelle architetti
MarLim: What would you have done differently during your college years?
I will be boring: I am very satisfied with the university experience above all because, in addition to the ordinary exams, our course has traveled a lot: Rome, Zurich and Basel, a tour in Holland, Barcelona, Brasilia San Paolo, and Rio de Janeiro … these are trips that I formed; as well as the practical activities of model making and photography. I wouldn’t change anything.
MarLim: Do you have a question in mind that you would ask in this type of setting?
Giorgio: I really like this kind of interview. I would like to know from the other participants, how they live the professional experience in their countries, in particular, what they are inspired by, to know the relationship with the client and with the construction workers.
MarLim: Say a suggestive expression…
Giorgio: Dear all, we do not fear the current times of social restrictions: the world will always be saved by human thought and relationships, supported by Architecture.
MarLim: Many thanks for your time, Hope to hear from you soon.