Five easy pieces dedicated to Ludovico Quaroni

Download or read book Five easy pieces dedicated to Ludovico Quaroni written by Lucio Valerio Barbera and published by Edizioni Nuova Cultura. This book was released on 2014-05-01 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first edition of this book was published in Italian in 1989, about two years after the death of Ludovico Quaroni; this edition in English is addressed mainly to non-Italian scholars with an interest in modern architecture in Italy. Given the imperfect parallel between musical and literary composition, therefore, in this book an intimate intellectual atmosphere prevails, which reveals the author’s skill in creating a narrative and also in engaging in a type of critical writing that is rarely undertaken by architect-intellectuals. The five episodes in the book cover almost thirty years, from 1958 to 1987, which were years that remained deeply preserved in the author’s memory. The literary form of the pieces gives all of them a common structure: they are dialogues; usually consisting of brief exchanges of few words, spoken or written, between the author (Lucio Barbera) and Quaroni. In one of them – Charisma – the dialogue takes place between Quaroni and a larger chorus. In another – Elective Misunderstanding – we have a double dialogue at a distance, a trio, if we return to the musical metaphor, between Quaroni, Lodovico Barbiano di Belgiojoso and Barbera. The last piece is a longer conversation by Quaroni on himself; a taking stock and a valediction. On the frontispiece, Barbera gives a clear indication of his intentions: “For students of Architecture who are well-educated and for architects interested in getting to know better a Master of their trade”.