Architecture and Vision

Architecture and Vision (AV) is an international and multidisciplinary team working in architecture and design, engaged in the development of innovative solutions and technology transfer between diverse fields for aerospace and terrestrial applications. Founded in 2003 by architects Arturo Vittori and Andreas Vogler, it is based in Bomarzo (Viterbo, Italy) and Munich (Germany), with communication offices in Toulouse (France) and Chicago (United States) entrusted to Céline Laurière and Cynthia Morgan. The name Architecture and Vision (AV) not only reflects the initials of the founders, but also their conviction that architecture needs a vision of the future to become a long lasting cultural contribution of its time.

The vision of AV is to improve the quality of life through a wise use of technologies and available resources to create a harmonious integration of humans, technology and nature, especially in addressing socially urgent challenges. By drawing inspiration from nature as a source of knowledge and beauty along with scientific progress, AV’s research and development efforts aim to translate this vision into architecture and the built environment. Mobility, eco-sustainability, the use of local resources and human factors are the primary focus of each of AV’s projects, along with its own particular aesthetic vision.

The many experiences and competences acquired by Vittori and Vogler in a wide variety of fields have carried AV to develop a human-centered approach, drawing on various disciplines in order to face a variety of diverse projects: from terrestrial to space architecture, from surface and marine transport to aeronautics, from furniture to personal electronics design, urban design to multimedia art installations. AV utilizes an innovative work method that takes advantage of modern Information Technology and the Internet to facilitate the exchange of information and the sharing of documents with partners and collaborators. Through coordinating teams of professionals and specialized consultants, some of AV’s most significant projects have been conceived. AV works for airlines and space agencies, governmental institutions, universities, research institutions, and foundations as well as commercial companies and private clients. Recent collaborations include projects with ESA (European Space Agency), Asiana Airlines (Korea), Aero Sekur (Italy), the BirdHouse Foundation (Japan), GVM Carrara (Italy), and EDA, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (Switzerland).

AV projects have received international recognition. In 2006, a prototype of the extreme environment tent, “DesertSeal” (2004), became part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, after being featured in SAFE: Design Takes on Risk (2005), curated by Paola Antonelli. In the same year, Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry selected Vittori and Vogler as ‘Modern-day Leonardos’ for its ‘’Leonardo da Vinci’’: Man, Inventor, Genius exhibition, and they collaborated with Roberto Vittori, ESA astronaut and brother of Arturo, on the BirdHouse Project. In 2007, a model of the inflatable habitat “MoonBaseTwo” (2007), developed to allow long-term exploration on the Moon, was acquired for the collection of the Museum of Science and Industry, while “MarsCruiserOne” (2007), the design for a pressurized laboratory rover for human Mars exploration, was shown at the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, as part of the exhibition Airs de Paris.

External links

References

Paola Antonelli (a cura di), Safe: Design Takes on Risk, The Museum of Modern Art, New York 2005, p. 64. ISBN 0870705806
Claudio Cerasa, Fratelli molto marziani, in Rolling Stones Magazine, Italy, August 2007, p. 26.
Valérie Guillaum, architecture + vision. Mars Cruiser One 2002-2006, in Airs de Paris, Diffusion Union-Distribution, Paris 2007, pp. 338-339. ISBN 978284426325
Namita Goel, The Beauty of the Extreme, Indian Architect & Builder, March 2006, pp. 82-83.
Arturo Vittori, Architecture and Vision, in L'Arca, October 2004, 196, pp. 26-38.
Arturo Vittori, Chicago Museum of Science and Technology. A Gathering of Modern Day Leonardos, in US Italia Weekly, May 2006, 21, p. 4.
Arturo Vittori & Andreas Vogler, in Design for Made in Italy from Roma to Lazio, Factory Laboratorio Design, Rome 2007, 224, p. 263.
Design estremo. The Desert Seal, in L'Arca, December 2005, 209, pp. 78-81.
Un veicolo per Marte. Mars Cruiser One, in L'Arca, April 2007, 224, p. 91.
Ruth Slavid, Micro: Very Small Buildings, Laurence King Publishing, London, pp. 102-106, ISBN 978-1856694957