THE PIONEERS OF THE SUPERSTUDIO

  Adolfo Natalini  is an Italian architect, author and designer, who was born in Pistoia, in 1941. He is also

 one of the founders of the legendary 60s architecture firm Superstudio, which was one of major part of the Radical architecture movement of the late 1960s. Sede della Cassa Rurale e Artigiana dell'Alta Brianza (Sede Bcc dell'Alta Brianza) is an office building, designed by him. After dissolution of the group, he dedicated himself to designing furniture and objects inspired by classical forms.Since 1973 he is professor at the faculty of Architecture of Florence University. His oeuvre, that ranges from urban planning to furniture design, is diverse and thought-provoking. In the Netherlands he gained notoriety for his 'traditionalist' design for a building complex on the main square in the town of Groningen - a project which received massive popular support from the inhabitants in a public referendum, much to the discontent of a number of Dutch architectural critics. The complex was completed in 1996. Several projects by Natalini Architetti are currently under construction in the Netherlands. Adolfo Natalini is responsible for the architectural vision of the Muzenplein and the Clioplein in The Resident. Het designed 165 apartments (Andante, Adagio, Sonata, Allegro Odeon and Parnassus) and shops encircling the horseshoe-shaped heart of the Resident and the Clioplein.

Cristiano Toraldo di Francia was born in Florence in 1941. After attending the High School he enrolled at the University where he graduated in Architecture.In December 1966 he founded the Superstudio with his colleague, Adolfo Natalini and participated in the first exhibition of Superarchitecture, which was published by Domus Architectural Design and was repeated in April 2007 in Milan at Galleria Carla Sozzoni. His research work and re-establishment of the language of architecture has been documented by numerous international publications and has been presented in major museums and art exhibitions. In 1972 Superstudio is invited to the exhibition "Italy: The New Domestic Landscape" at the MOMA in New York.  After this experiences, in 1980 he continued his career on his own. Toraldo di Francia has always worked in different fields of design, from industrial design to architecture. He designed among others for Anonima Castelli, Zanotta, Poltronova, Flos, Calzolari, Giovannetti, Breda, the palace, Pica; for industry we can mention series of table "Quaderna" for Zanotta, the Integrated System for Anonima Castelli wall, the body and interior for the train "Circumvesuviana" train to Breda, then the modular seating "Franny" for Fasem, the sessions "Circus" for Calzolari The ventilated wall tiles "Earth" to the palace, the Dolfi ceramics, silverware for Pampaloni, system installations for pharmacies to Ataena. He participated in national and international design competitions.In 1974 he was invited by the Faculty of Architecture Australia to take part in the National Congress of itinerant students, during which he lectures in several cities. Since 1974 he teaches and lectures at various universities in Europe, Japan and the United States (Paris La Villette, Architectural Association, Nihon University, the Berlage Institute , Rietveld Academy, Cornell University, Syracuse University, Rhode Island School of Design, Kent State University, San Luis Obispo Polytechnic,Polytechnic Pomona, California State University). In 1992 he was invited to take part in the founding of the first Faculty of Architecture of the Marches for the University of Camerino, Ascoli Piceno in the seat, for which he is currently Associate Professor of Architectural Design.

-Hidden Architecture, Superstudio. Design Quarterly, No.  78/79, Conceptual Architecture (1970), pp. 54-58.

-Superstudio. 8 Feb. 2012. <http://designmuseum.org/design/superstudio>