Trailer Human matrix

Not eligible for AIA CES Credits

The lesson describes the design and research activity of Metrogramma through the words of the architect and founder Andrea Boschetti. The lesson starts with a biographical account of Andrea Boschetti. First, it oversees his studies at the IUAV University of Venice with masters such as Bernardo Secchi, Gino Valle, Manfredo Tafuri or Massimo Cacciari.

The lesson continues with an overview of his professional activity: his early experience at OMA in Rotterdam with Rem Koolhaas and the venture at Metrogramma. The lesson continues with a thorough examination of organization, practices, and methods. The studio has evolved through time in terms of organization and dimension, but its distinctive trait is still the multi-scalar and transversal approach to design: Metrogramma deals with cities and landscape, but also architecture, product, and interior design.

Grid, matrix, and unity constitute the foundations for all the studio's projects. The lesson follows a temporal sequence, presenting projects belonging to the past, present, and future. This account provides insights into urban experiments for the cities of Milan or New York, such as the 2007 PGT or Milan Future City, a strategic vision for Milan's sustainable future development. One of the best-known and early works of the studio, Domus Malles, is flanked by the narration about current construction sites in diverse contexts, from Budapest to Marbella. Specific insights are provided about works of interior and product design, thanks to the recent professional partnership with leading companies in the luxury interior sector.

The lesson highlights the role of the designer as an interpreter of complexity. Research and experimentation, determination and clarity of vision are central aspects in the design process: there is the need to leave behind the rigidity of traditional planning models in favor of a more flexible, experimental, open and participatory approach to planning. The objective is the design of development models which are sustainable and healthy for cities.

Educational objectives

• Know the educational and professional experience of the architect Andrea Boschetti. The lesson will focus in particular on the years of training at the IUAV of Venice, on the work experience with Rem Koolhaas at OMA in Rotterdam and his cultural and architectural references
• Deepen the knowledge of the production of Metrogramma with a multi-scalar and transversal point of view: the lesson provides an overview of works in product design, interior design, architecture, and urban planning. It focuses both on projects that marked the growth of the studio in the early 2000s and on present and future production
• Know and deepen the experience and the methodological approach for the urban design of the Arch. Boschetti. Environmental issues constitute the backbone of the new design process. The reflection on public space, technology, and urban viability is central, as well as the role of institutions and the opening to the citizen in the decision-making process concerning the future of cities
• Observing architecture as a multidisciplinary commitment involving a marked sensitivity, capacity for dialogue, listening and mediating between the client's wishes and the designer's objectives