In the digital era, architecture has become a global communication tool with wide scope and reach. No longer resting solely in the hands of the experts, nowadays architecture draws on its tangibility and concreteness to become an, expression of general culture at all levels and a collective argument for debates. As a temple devoted to 360-degree diffusion of architectural culture, PRESS BOX, the installation by SET Architects, encompasses a selection of international publications curated by mint LIST.

Designed to accommodate the reading area of the New Generations Festival, the international architecture event that will take place from September 24th to 26th, 2017, the box stands out within the suggestive Eighteenth-century frame of the Acquario Romano - Casa dell’Architettura in Rome.

The archetype of the street newsstand is translated into a lightweight reticular structure, which embodies the concept of networking. Versatile and flexible, the 4x4x4m modular structure has been designed for assembly in under four hours thanks to its quick mounting system. The elements are made of affordable building materials: from the main framework and furnishing, in plasterboard and 50x55x50mm stainless steel C profiles, to shelves and magazine supports, in bent and shaped 40x150x40mm stainless steel U guide profiles. To fill the weave, spatially and metaphorically, magazines and books at the public’s fingertips, bring consistency to the framework. Displayed at the perimeter, publications play a crucial role in the composition, defining the elevations of PRESS BOX and creating real "paper walls".

To complete the installation, a 4x5mm white liner mesh wraps around the entire box as an impalpable veil that breathes evocative transparency games. The installation, both ethereal and solid, embodies the information spread, which runs in parallel between the virtual and physical worlds, and across printed and digital media, drawing upon the foundations of the architectural discourse and the ethos of shared knowledge.

Credits:

Type: Temporary installation

Location: Casa dell’Architettura - Piazza Manfredo Fanti 47, Rome

Dates: 24-26th September, 2017

Design: SET Architects (Lorenzo Catena, Onorato Di Manno, Andrea Tanci)

Curated by: mint LIST (Giulia Milza, Maria Azzurra Rossi)

Organised within the program of: New Generations Festival 2017 - Architects VS Rest of the World

Structural engineering / metalwork: Macchi - Componenti modulari per l'architettura

Technical Sponsors: Car.Per Appalti, Diciannovedieci, LAGO, Macchi - Componenti modulari per l'architettura, Maglianella 80

Media Supporters: AA Publications, Abitare, Actar, AR-Architetti Roma, Arquitectura Viva, Casabella, dérive, Domus, INTERNI, L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui, Lars Müller Publishers, Living, NAi Publishers, OPENHOUSE, Phaidon, PLATFORM Architecture and Design, Real Review, Volume

Photography: © Marco Cappelletti

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