{"id":6203,"date":"2014-05-06T14:15:06","date_gmt":"2014-05-06T12:15:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/?p=6203"},"modified":"2014-09-22T17:04:46","modified_gmt":"2014-09-22T15:04:46","slug":"dedicated-to-unit-now-in-residency-to-re-enact-operazione-arcevia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/2014\/05\/06\/dedicated-to-unit-now-in-residency-to-re-enact-operazione-arcevia\/","title":{"rendered":"A letter to Unit+ architects now in residency at San Settimio to re-enact the possible utopia once called Operazione Arcevia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-6203 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/2014\/05\/06\/dedicated-to-unit-now-in-residency-to-re-enact-operazione-arcevia\/dsc_4313\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"101\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/CFA-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC_4313.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-6205\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-6205'>\n\t\t\t\tUnit+ working on thier third intervention at Riserva Privata San Settimio, May 2014.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/2014\/05\/06\/dedicated-to-unit-now-in-residency-to-re-enact-operazione-arcevia\/dsc_4302\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"101\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/CFA-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC_4302.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-6207\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-6207'>\n\t\t\t\tUnit+ working on thier third intervention at Riserva Privata San Settimio, May 2014.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/2014\/05\/06\/dedicated-to-unit-now-in-residency-to-re-enact-operazione-arcevia\/dsc_4301\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"101\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/CFA-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC_4301.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-6208\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-6208'>\n\t\t\t\tUnit+ working on thier third intervention at Riserva Privata San Settimio, May 2014.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/2014\/05\/06\/dedicated-to-unit-now-in-residency-to-re-enact-operazione-arcevia\/dsc_4307-2\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"101\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/CFA-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC_43071.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-6219\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-6219'>\n\t\t\t\tUnit+ working on thier third intervention at Riserva Privata San Settimio, May 2014.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/2014\/05\/06\/dedicated-to-unit-now-in-residency-to-re-enact-operazione-arcevia\/ap-32-f-125-p18n8la1at16qaplp1be51nla1d6s\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"100\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/CFA-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/AP-32-F-125-p18n8la1at16qaplp1be51nla1d6s.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-6210\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-6210'>\n\t\t\t\tMeeting of Operazione Arcevia Comunit\u00e0 Esistenziale&#8217;s contributors, Riseva Privata San Settimio, July 1975.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/2014\/05\/06\/dedicated-to-unit-now-in-residency-to-re-enact-operazione-arcevia\/ap-32-f-30-p18n8la1au1aegvat1gfm8ka1mdv\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"100\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/CFA-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/AP-32-F-30-p18n8la1au1aegvat1gfm8ka1mdv.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-6209\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-6209'>\n\t\t\t\tFrom the left, Jesus Rafael Soto, Ico Parisi and Enrico Crispolti discussing Soto&#8217;s intervention, Riserva Privata San Settimio, July 1974.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/2014\/05\/06\/dedicated-to-unit-now-in-residency-to-re-enact-operazione-arcevia\/ap-32-f-133-p18n8la1at46i1jvv1l5f185dnpr\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"104\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/CFA-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/AP-32-F-133-p18n8la1at46i1jvv1l5f185dnpr.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-6211\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-6211'>\n\t\t\t\tMeeting of Operazione Arcevia Comunit\u00e0 Esistenziale&#8217;s contributors, Riseva Privata San Settimio, July 1975.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/2014\/05\/06\/dedicated-to-unit-now-in-residency-to-re-enact-operazione-arcevia\/ap-32-f-307-p18n8la1at17p8105l8vl1dlojdu\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"99\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/CFA-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/AP-32-F-307-p18n8la1at17p8105l8vl1dlojdu.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-6213\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-6213'>\n\t\t\t\tItalo Bartoletti during the press conference to announce Operazione Arcevia&#8217;s &#8220;Bullettin #1&#8221;, Arcevia,  January 1976. \n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl>\n\t\t\t<br style='clear: both' \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Dear <a href=\"http:\/\/unitplus.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\">Unit+<\/a>,<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>it was a pleasure meeting you at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sansettimio.it\/index.php\" target=\"_blank\">Riserva Privata San Settimio<\/a>, and experiencing the making of your new project, the \u201cCamera Obscura\u201d. We are sure that it will be a success and that the lucky visitors of this observatory for looking at clouds will effectively grasp the energy that you and your supporters are giving to re-enact Operazione Arcevia Comunit\u00e0 Esistenziale.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It may help you to know that when the real estate developer Italo Bartoletti asked architect Ico Parisi to conceive a new village to be built on the top of the hill behind Palazzo d&#8217;Arcevia \u2013 exactly where you are working these days \u2013 Italy was a very different country from what it has become during the \u201cmedia\u201d dictatorship. It was the end of 1971 and one of the main social problems in Italy was the depopulation of the countryside due to the economic boom occurred after the Second World War. Just to give you some numbers, between 1951 and 1961 more that two million of people moved from the rural south to the big industrial cities. In that period Milan&#8217;s population increased up to 25%, Rome to 30% and Turin to 43%.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Also in this country, violence was one of the main consequences. According to official data 271 terroristic attacks using dynamite took place in 1972 in Italy, 287 in 1977. Was that enough to make a real estate developer thinking about a new kind of rural town involving art critics, psychologists, artists, poets, film makers, composers? Yes, it was, also considering that Italy at that time was still an emerging country with a Pil growing around 3,5 % per year, and an inflation rate between 15% and 18%.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It is also to be said that, thanks to politicians like Giovanni Spadolini, at the end of the 1960s Italy started to invest, with a long term strategy, in its cultural heritage. After the Summer of Love many influential people thought that culture was the best way to face the social crisis. In 1969 the so called \u201cCommissione Franceschini\u201d, promoted by the government, asserted that \u201cevery material evidence proving civilization\u201d was to be considered as part of the cultural heritage, and hence to be protected.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A specific \u201cMinistero dei Beni Culturali\u201d was founded in 1972 to manage the cultural heritage, and the art historian Giulio Carlo Argan was elected major of Rome in 1971. The first Istituto dei Beni Culturali was founded in 1974 in Emilia Romagna thanks to art historian Andrea Emiliani (you ought to read his \u201cPer una politica dei beni culturali\u201d, 1971!) to provide politicians with reliable and precise information regarding the cultural heritage they had to regulate.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The movement of the \u201cparticipated architecture\u201d was part of this scenery too, that was a new way of planning buildings, involving their future inhabitants. Look at the cases of the \u201cQuartiere Corviale\u201d in Roma, the \u201cZen\u201d in Palermo, or \u201cGibellina Nuova\u201d in the Valle del Belice, Sicily, and the works of architects such as Vittorio Gregotti, Giancarlo De Carlo or Paolo Soleri.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As you already know, despite the great effort made by Bartoletti and Parisi \u2013 helped by two extraordinary art critics such as Enrico Crispolti and Pierre Restany \u2013 the Arcevia&#8217;s \u201cComunit\u00e0 Esistenziale\u201d (Existentialist Community) has never become real. The village with the streets named by the poet Tonino Guerra, the parking area where films especially conceived by Michelangelo Antonioni for this place were to be projected, or the stairs playing a different sound at each step, today lives only in the documentation left of the projecting process, that is to say photos, drawings, recordings and a couple of books. But as you have probably experienced, the architecture made of ideas can last even longer than the one made in reinforced concrete. What really makes the difference in the end is the quality of the ingredients.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Enjoy your work!<\/p>\n<p>Yours sincerely<\/p>\n<p>Conceptual Fine Arts<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Dear Unit+, &nbsp; it was a pleasure meeting you at the Riserva Privata San Settimio, and experiencing the making of your new project, the \u201cCamera Obscura\u201d. We are sure [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6214,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1796],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mapping-the-artscape"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}