BIBLIOTECHE PUBBLICHE: SPAZI DI LIBERTA’ | Marco Muscogiuri | TEDxReggioEmilia

Marco Muscogiuri is an architect and associate professor at the Polytechnic University of Milan. Twenty years ago, he developed a passion for designing libraries and cultural spaces. His new public library model is conceived, first and foremost, as an innovative place for cultural sociability, inclusion, and social cohesion. Does it still make sense to continue building, or even keeping, public libraries open in a country like Italy that doesn't read? Where all the statistics tell us that nearly 70% of the population neither buys nor reads books, and that only 9% read more than three books a year? What is your vision for libraries? --- Marco Muscogiuri is an architect and associate professor at the Polytechnic University of Milan. Twenty years ago, he discovered a passion for designing libraries and cultural spaces. His new public library model is, first and foremost, conceived as an innovative place for cultural sociability, inclusion, and social cohesion. Does it make sense to continue to build or even maintain open civic libraries in a country like Italy that doesn't read? Where all the statistics tell us that almost 70% of the population never buys or reads books, and only 9% of the population reads more than three books a year? What's his vision for libraries? Marco Muscogiuri is an architect and associate professor at the Polytechnic University of Milan, in the School of Architecture, Urban Planning, and Construction Engineering. Originally from Lecce, he studied architecture in Milan, where in 1995, at the age of 23, he founded the design firm Alterstudio Partners (www.alterstudiopartners.com) with three other young colleagues. Over the years, he has completed projects for public and private clients and participated in national and international competitions, earning awards and recognition. Twenty years ago, he became passionate about the design of libraries and cultural venues and began to explore these themes both in terms of design and theory, publishing books and articles on the subject and promoting a new model of public library, conceived primarily as an innovative place for cultural sociality, inclusion, and social cohesion. He has authored projects, consultancies, feasibility studies, guidelines, and functional programs for dozens of libraries and cultural centers throughout Italy, including: the MedaTeca in Meda (MB), a finalist for the 2012 Gold Medal for Italian Architecture; the Libraries of Melzo (MI), Pergine Valsugana, and Comano Terme (TN); the Library of the University of Pavia; the Formentini Publishing Laboratory in Milan; and the Museum of Peoples and Cultures in Milan; as well as the design of the Museum of Games and Toys in Rome. He is the author of numerous publications on the design of cultural venues and architectural design. Most of his publications are freely downloadable from the websites www.academia.edu, www.researchgate.net, and https://re.public.polimi.it. He loves drawing, books, comics, cinema, and the sea. Marco Muscogiuri is an architect and associate professor at the Politecnico Milano University, in the School of Architecture, Urban Planning, and Construction Engineering. Originally from Lecce, he studied architecture in Milan where, in 1995, at the age of 23, he founded, with three other young colleagues, the Alterstudio (www.alterstudiopartners.com), a design partnership. Over the years, he has carried out projects for public and private clients and participated in national and international competitions, receiving awards and mentions. Twenty years ago he discovered a passion for designing libraries and cultural venues, and began to study these themes both at a project and theoretical level, publishing books and articles on the theme, and promoting a new model of the public library conceived, first of all, as an innovative space of cultural sociability, inclusion and social cohesion. He's the author of projects, consultancy, feasibility studies, guidelines and functional programs for dozens of libraries and cultural centers throughout Italy, including: MedaTeca in Meda (MB), finalist for the Golden Medal for Italian Architecture 2012; the Libraries of Melzo (MI), Pergine Valsugana and Comano Terme (TN); the Library of the University of Pavia; the Formentini Laboratory for Publishing in Milan and the Museo dei Popoli e delle Culture (Museum of Peoples and Cultures) in Milan; the Museum of Games and Toys project in Rome. He's the author of numerous publications on the design of cultural places and architectural design. Most of the publications are freely downloadable on the following websites: www.academia.edu, www.researchgate.net and https://re.public.polimi.it. He loves drawings, books, comics, the cinema and the sea. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx