A new exhibition opening at the School of Architecture in February will showcase the work of the renowned Italian architect, artist, and designer Massimo Scolari.
“Massimo Scolari: The Representation of Architecture, 1967–2012,” the first U.S. retrospective of Scolari since 1986, will feature 160 paintings, watercolors, and drawings — most with architectural and urban subjects. Also on display will be a scaled-down version of a monumental sculpture created for the 1991 Venice Biennale as well as 10 architectural models. The objects on view “illuminate the complex, ongoing interaction in Scolari’s work between architecture and its methods and mediums of representation,” say the organizers of the exhibition.
Scolari himself, who is the Davenport Visiting Professor of Architecture, curated the exhibit, which includes 57 display panels, each devoted to a specific project or recurring theme within his lifetime of work. “The exhibition makes clear Scolari’s radical questioning of some of the most deeply rooted assumptions of architecture, especially those that link architectural representation to the physicality of its constructions,” add the organizers.
The retrospective highlights the diverse contexts in which his work has unfolded, ranging from his time as a student at the Politecnico di Milano in the late 1960s, to his collaboration with Aldo Rossi, from 1968 to 1972; his participation in the 1980 Venice Biennale, Strada Novissima; and his teaching at the Universitario di Architettura Venezia from 1973 to 2006.
“Massimo Scolari: The Representation of Architecture, 1967–2012” is on display Feb. 6–May 4 in the School of Architecture Gallery located in Paul Rudolph Hall, 180 York St., on the corner of York and Chapel streets. The exhibition is open to the public free of charge Monday–Friday 9 a.m.–5 p.m., and Saturday 10 a.m.–5 p.m.