There's time until 10 June to visit the exhibition 'Imagine a Sustainable World. Architecture and Design by Mario Cucinella Architects', which was inaugurated last 24 February at the Nur Alem Museum of Future Energy in Astana. Emerging from an initiative by the Italian Embassy in Kazakhstan and supported by the Italian Trade Agency, the exhibition is part of larger-scale action connected with Italian Design Day, established to draw attention to Italian excellence in spatial redevelopment.
It is a unique opportunity because the exhibition looks at the various facets of sustainability ‒ one of the most pressing issues in our current era. It does so by guiding visitors to understand the need to act ‒ through a regenerative approach ‒ to cut emissions and, as a consequence, our impact on the planet. Architecture and design play a decisive role in such a context, and the challenges designers face spotlight the need for dialogue between humankind and nature, so that a new development model for society and urban areas can firmly take root.
>> Find out more about Mario Cucinella in the Viaggio in Italia regular feature by Valerio Paolo Mosco, published in THE PLAN 143
The exhibition aims to encourage awareness in Central Asia of sustainability excellence in the architecture sector, showcasing the work, projects and concepts of the studio Mario Cucinella Architects ‒ a sector pioneer in Italy and worldwide. Thanks to the architect Dario Curatolo as curator, the exhibition visit starts with a semi-circular backdrop, picking up on the idea of the virtuous circle development model. Using a sustainability timeline projected into the future, it touches on ground-breaking past moments that could provide future inspiration, by chronicling architecture stories, events, and environmental and cultural trends that may be seen as pillars of sustainable thinking.
The featured projects by the Mario Cucinella Architects team include the Unipol Headquarter tower, the ARPAE offices in Ferrara and the new Museum of Art - Fondazione Luigi Rovati, all for their capacity to narrate the potential of an approach starting out from lessons of the past to create architecture respecting the climate and the environment. Sustainable architecture that explores the future by setting out from tangible and inviting examples.
All images courtesy of Embassy of Italy in Astana