Massimiliano Fuksas

"A real architect, a real town planner must not get away from the chaos. He must dive into it ”
I am interested in modern architecture, but the Italian Massimiliano Fuksas (° 1944) did not really ring a bell to me; that was until I picked up this booklet in the shop of the Cartier Foundation in Paris. From page 1, Fuksas makes a plea for acknowledging chaos and complexity in reality, a message which immediately appealed to me. The book itself is a chaotic collection of thoughts, ideas and conversation fragments, which of course mainly revolve around architecture and urbanism. It also contains autobiographical elements, so to a certain extent it is a bit apologetic. Not everything is interesting, of course, but Fuksas' constant emphasis on respecting the complexity of cities and environments is very inspiring; no wonder he expressly distances himself from drastic urbanist interventions: “Sublime chaos is an integral part of the urban process. We must accept the chaos against any authoritarian form of urban or architectural intervention and get used to seeing in the ‘context’ a source of obstacles and difficulties. Or, borrowing medical terminology, one must live with a consolidated metastasis. The alleged order can only generate disorder.” As a striking example, he refers to the transformation of Brasilia, where the functions of squares and buildings within the straitjacket of Oscar Niemeyer were changed in practice in no time. I doubt whether all designs and realizations by Fuksas themselves were equally successful, but his motto is inspiring: "Whoever imposes his own vision of the world, destroys it. Anyone who wants to give the world an identity uses and respects what he finds."… (meer)