At the Literature Festival we also talk about design and architecture

According to Molinari, the Mantua Literature Festival knows how to use its tools well and is open to unusual practices in a beautiful and welcoming city.

“My latest books started from two off-the-cuff lessons I did in Mantua during the Festival: it's a way to test new topics and see the audience's reactions.

Let's talk about books that talk about design. How do you write about projects today?

Luca Molinari: “In recent years there has been a strange black moon over publishing. The public, the students, the architects themselves no longer read much. Once it was important to have a library, not anymore.

There is a plethora of texts, books, booklets published against a few hundred copies sold. On the other hand, there is the mania of architects and designers to self-publish. A habit that removes responsibility from publishers”.

But his books sell: The houses we are (Nottetempo, 2016) is in its twelfth edition…

Luca Molinari: “Because in reality it doesn't talk about architecture. It is a book that fascinates easily, which deals with contemporary topics with a non-academic or specialized slant.

The monographs on the work of architects seem to be made by press offices, a practice which is fine, but which greatly increases the filters and the risk of making self-referential publications that speak only to themselves.

On the other hand, there is a theme of lack of aesthetic education , an absence of narration: we do not see the beauty that we produce and sell abroad, we are unable to systematize it around us. But Mantova proves that a true author always has something to tell, he has a thought. So it is right to focus attention on quality”.

Designers and architects have often written a lot and well. What books are useful for those who do design today?

Luca Molinari: “The writings of Sottsass published by Adelphi. Spazio di Luigi Moretti, published by Marinotti: it is the extraordinary collection of his editorial writings. And Scientific autobiography by Aldo Rossi, which is a book of crisis, an almost sentimental account of his relationship with architecture.

These three are already a good example of beautiful writing. I am thinking of the Italian literature of those years: it was a system, a quality in the use of language that was poured into the projects. The impoverishment of vocabulary is translating into a low level of thought and, therefore, of design".

How do you make a book on design today?

Luca Molinari: “There is a technical dimension that hardly reaches the general public. However, if we talk about space, dimensions, light and matter, everyone understands. To enhance the qualities of a project you need to have a universal gaze, link it to other stories, be it cinema, photography, novels.

It's nice to bring the narrative of the project into the human, physical, emotional dimension. And then clarity is needed: when we talk about sustainability, we need to explain what it is.

We are a little too accustomed to the words of the press offices (against which I have nothing to say), more humanity is needed".