a+t architecture publishers

“Clinker brick, which had been used by the Arts & Crafts movement, one of the styles most censured by Modernism, was chosen by Ignazio Gardella as the material to clad the walls of Borsalino housing, in a very clear gesture to place a continuous skin in front of the envelope. With the passage of time, it is difficult to perceive the rupture which such a decision meant. It is necessary to return to the works of the time to be able to realize the complete predominance of white architecture in collective housing from the 1930s on and to calculate the effects on this panorama spreading out over Europe of the vision of a volume, which despite its evidently being part of contemporary architecture, had decided to use a traditional element such as brickwork to modulate the facade.” a+t research group

Illustrations and text from the book 10 Stories of Collective Housing