ABOUT
His dissertation was on aesthetics and urban planning. He has lectured at the School of Architecture of the University of Florence, and currently teaches in the Town Planning Department of the University of Naples. He is the author of several books on regional planning and has published numerous articles on architectural subjects in Italian and English journals.
— excerpt from www.saci-florence.org
IDEAS
Presentation
- Introduction of Vignozzi at the Saci institute
- Discussion of Florence and its history
- Walking tour of various new developments throughout the city
Main Points
- Florence has a large English population stemming from the Medici
- Medici and economic power of bankers has had large impact on Florence's identity
- The importance of the public space
- The facade gives form and quality of the urban space
- People in florence have a buy-in, a quality of life that is shared, that many others dont have
HERE IS WHAT WE LEARNED
From Vignozzi's knowledge of town planning, we learned about how Florence is different than other cities. Through our guided tour throughout the city, we witnessed a juxtaposition of the old with the new. Vignozzi brought us to the site of several new and upcoming developments and explained how projects were just starting to move in the last 10 years; in the past, it was quite difficult to start the process of planning and building that is associated with city planning. One of the main ideas we learned from this interview was how city planning has such a great affect on the area, and how the tiniest of details can inform the usage of the space and facilitate movement through it.
KEY QUOTES
Mix Between Project Scales [clip 1]
One important thing is that we don't have a favourite scale. We design everything, from the land to urban plan. And even if they ask us to design the urban plan, maybe in that project we design furniture or stuff for that town, or even if they ask for a lamp we consider it in relation to that big scale. And this mix between scales is a fundamental part of our job. Now in this moment, we are making a competition on a new tunnel. We are going to make it out of Venice, because out of Venice there is a big traffic jam everyday. Normally like wall against noise, we are trying to make a kind of new town on that project. So every time we try to understand what there is behind the answers just because they don't know really know what they want.
Passion Over Training [clip 1]
The thing is that what seems to matter more is that people who apply [for a job at Metrogramma] have something to show, that they don't necessarily have to be architects, finished, trained architects. They have to be passionate, and they have to have ideas of their own. I don't know if it's a sensible thing to say, but you can work as an architect without being one, quite well actually, if you have ideas of your own, if you are passionate about it.
