SASSUOLO, ITALY -- Eleven episodes of Small Talks aired during the first lockdown back in the Spring of 2020, a time when the whole world was forced to slow down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But despite the restrictions, everyone continued to work from home and develop their ideas. As an international trade fair held in Bologna each year, Cersaie is accustomed to bringing together people from all over the world. With Small Talks it was able to overcome the limits imposed by the lockdown, reaching out to architects who continued to work on new ideas and projects, either at home or in their temporarily empty offices, and connecting them with a global audience.
In the company of ProViaggi Architettura, Cersaie visited architects who -- like all of us -- found themselves in lockdown: Simone Sfriso TAMassociati, • Alfonso Femia, Atelier(s) Alfonso Femia AF517 • Fiorenzo Valbonesi, asv3 officina di architettura • Maria Claudia Clemente & Francesco Isidori, Labics • Filippo Bricolo, Bricolo Falsarella • Simone Gheduzzi, Diverserighestudio • Werner Tscholl • Iotti + Pavarani Architetti • Orizzontale • Francesco Magnani & Traudy Pelzel, MAP studio • Cino Zucchi, CZA - Cino Zucchi Architetti.
Eighteen months later, the architects who took part in this series of conversations are meeting at Cersaie in Bologna, the first major trade fair to be held in person since the onset of the pandemic, to discuss the theme of “traveling again,” with particular reference to the architectural journey, since -- in the words of Carlo Aymonino -- “to travel is to study.” On Thursday, September 30 at 3 p.m. in the Palazzo dei Congressi in Bologna, representatives of the 11 acclaimed Italian architectural firms involved in the initiative will be asked by Roberto Bosi to share with the public not only their most important and educational travel experiences, but also the places of memory and of dreams. As Alvar Aalto wrote in “Viaggio in Italia” (Casabella Continuità, n° 200, 1954), “I do not wish to speak of any specific journey. It may be a past journey that still lives on in my memory; it may be a journey I am making or perhaps a journey I am planning. Such a journey is probably necessary, a “conditio sine qua non” for my work as an architect.”
This initiative is part of Cersaie’s “Building, Dwelling, Thinking” cultural program dedicated to the world of architecture. Participating architects qualify for three professional training credits from CNAPPC (Italian National Council of Architects, Planners, Landscapers and Conservationists).
