Massimiliano Fuksas (Contemporary World Architects)

There is neither a singular point of view, nor any preferred direction for viewing the architecture of Italian-born Massimiliano Fuksas. Always attentive to materials, Fuksas chooses those that, while classic, are rediscovered, used differently, and rendered unconventional in his hands. One such material is the tuff, an ancient volcanic stone discovered by the Etruscans. At the Fuksas-designed Cemetery in Orvieto, Italy, the tuff is cut at 45-degree angles and used "dry," without cement between each block. Zinc can be found in several projects: prelacquered black for his Media Library in Reze, all white for Saint-Exupery College in Noisy-le-Grand, or natural for the large "wave" of housing in Candie Saint-Bernard, a stone's throw from the Bastille. Other examples include the pre-oxidized copper for the Arts Center in Bordeaux and the Cor-ten steel for the great wings of that strange prehistoric animal at the entrance of the Cave Painting Museum in Niaux, in the Pyrenees. The projects shown in this collection of Fuksas's European work represent a diversity of styles, colors, and perspectives always mindful of context, yet unique in their own individual ways.-Aaron Betsky