“The Superfluous and the Necessary. Architectures by Barreca & La Varra”: the new studio’s monography
Twelve years after “Matters of Facade,” Barreca & La Varra return to reflect on their work in a second monograph, edited by THE PLAN Editions. Find out the presentation schedule here.
The work of the architect as a constant oscillation between the temptations of the superfluous and the customs of the necessary, and the realization that the superfluous sometimes becomes necessary, and the necessary sometimes surprises itself superfluous. Even in the design of an architecture book.
Sixteen years after the founding of Barreca & La Varra in Milan – but on the strength of a now nearly 30-year collaboration – in the firm’s second monograph, Gianandrea Barreca and Giovanni La Varra “tidy up” their work by admitting the disorder, constructing an unexpected index of chapters, inspired by a text by Jorge Luis Borges. In three hours or three minutes, it is possible to start reading the registry, from the bottom, or to immerse oneself in the drawings and photographs of the projects and then return to the introductory essay, or to get lost among the posters introducing the various chapters. It is an uncluttered approach, similar to a walk through a city never visited, discovering unexpected surprises: what they would also like to happen with their buildings, once entrusted to the city.
Barreca & La Varra thank the volume’s sponsors: Bandalux, Coiver Group, Cospe, Duravit, Setten Genesio Spa, Fondamenta srl, Hi-Lite, Metalltech, LAS, VerdeProfilo, Lab23, Thema.
PRESENTATIONS CALENDAR
past
- 10/23/2024, Theatro HQ in Verano Brianza (MB) – The book was previewed at Theatro HQ, in a well-attended evening that included, in addition to the two architects, Nicola Leonardi, Co-founder and Director of THE PLAN, and Prof. Marco Biraghi of the Milan Polytechnic.
next
- 21/11/2024, 6 pm, Libreria Hoepli in Milan – Architects and Gianni Biondillo, architect and writer, will participate. Moderation by Alberto Saibene, Hoepli – free admission
- 5/12/2024, 4 pm, Como Order of Architects
- 23/01/2025, Lecco Order of Architects
- 31/01/2025, Napoli University
- more to come next
