CITYSCAPE AWARDs 2019 →

Cristiano Luchetti is among the jurors for the 2019 edition of Cityscape Awards in Dubai.

The theme for this year’s Cityscape Global is Adapting to Change. This theme is highlighting the ways in which the real estate market is adapting to change in terms of new technology, sustainability and changes within consumer and commercial patterns.

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Italian Design Day 2019 →

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ON THE OCCASION OF THE ITALIAN DESIGN DAY 2019 THE EMBASSY OF ITALY HAS PARTNERED WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF NICOSIA AND WITH THE POINT CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART TO ORGANIZE TWO CONFERENCES FEATURING PROMINENT ITALIAN SPEAKERS: WEDNESDAY 20 MARCH @ 18:00 AT THE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NICOSIA
MASSIMO CATALANI AND CRISTIANO LUCHETTI

"AUS academic Cristiano Luchetti examines Snohetta’s fish market in Oman" →

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Muttrah’s fish market has always been more than just a place for trading. It’s a cultural emblem that anchors the northern end of the old town’s corniche in Muscat. A neighbourhood staple of the everyday life of the local community, the vendors roll out what seems to be the entire ocean each morning.

The first time I visited the Muttrah fish market was in 2010, and while observing the movements and faces of the sellers, I realised the historical importance of the place. As vendors laid out the morning catch on counters hoping to attract potential customers, they told stories to one another – it was a scene I felt would one day become a part of history as there were no young people within sight. Was this to be the last generation keeping the Muttrah fish market alive? Would the market soon disappear, remembered via a nice memorial plate placed at the end of the path along the corniche? Luckily not…..

"Cristiano Luchetti on using OMA’s Concrete building in Dubai as an architectural metaphor" →

In 1977 Peter Blake wrote “Forms follows fiasco: Why modern architecture does not work”. His skepticism towards the dominant architectural thinking of the twentieth century was expressed through a series of chapters in which he cynically commented on the dominant themes of “modern” architectural research. In the chapter “The fantasy of the open plan”, the main topic is the functional flexibility……..

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"Cristiano Luchetti interviews MEA Awards Architect of the Year Farshad Mehdizadeh" →

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What does it mean to be an outsider? For one, the word refers to a person who does not belong to any specific group, and it’s often associated with someone not likely considered to win or succeed. It has negative connotations – to be an outsider is to be an outcast in some way. But what happens when the outsider does succeed? Do they become a central standard that has magnetic pull? Does it become a positive term?

"Cristiano Luchetti in conversation with Iranian architect Kourosh Hajizadeh" →

Last year was my third time as member of the jury for the Middle East Architect Awards, Luchetti writes.

This event is indicative of the state of the art in urban design, current trends, and achievements in the region, so projects and architects’ profiles submitted are disciplinarily interesting for a scholar like me. In 2015, I witnessed a lack of projects that one could define as “iconic”. It seemed that the architectural language of the submissions was adapting more and more to the economic conditions of these ambiguous times and avoiding unnecessary risks. In 2016 I noticed an even further drift toward safer and familiar languages.

In a sort of a reversed-brutalist process the language expressed through Euclidean geometries and rational architectural composition of spatial layouts gets polished and beautified through the use of the latest fashionable materials and high-tech building components. It seems that if space still remains within the boundaries of accustomed typologies, its finishing, performance, and detailing acquire more value…

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"The legacy of Zaha Hadid: The thoughts of Cristiano Luchetti" →

Tributes have been paid to Zaha Hadid from across the world, following her recent untimely death. Here Cristiano Luchetti Assistant Professor, College of Architecture, Art and Design at the American University of Sharjah offers his personal thoughts on her legacy.