Research

  • The Creation of the Kenneth Frampton Archives: Uncovering a New Narrative
  • GRANTEE
    Gregorio Carboni Maestri
    GRANT YEAR
    2015

"Notes on American Architectural Education: Kenneth Frampton, Bruno Latour," folder, 1971, Kenneth Frampton Archives, New York. Courtesy of Avery Drawings and Archives, Columbia University.

Kenneth Frampton (1930–present) is one of world's most influential architectural historians and critics. His archive—a showcase of lesser-known aspects of his work, such as political articles and poetry—contains letters, unpublished texts, books, drafts, lessons, and lecture notes. To date, this treasure has neither been consulted nor organized. The project's aim, in collaboration with Frampton, is to lay the foundation for the most exhaustive archival organization possible. This goal includes the preservation of damaged documents (through physical protection and digitization). The transcription and digitalization of certain texts and the diffusion of certain content will introduce new scholars to this information, laying the groundwork for future studies and innovative opportunities.

Gregorio Carboni Maestri is assistant chargé d'exercices at the Faculty of Architecture La Cambre Horta and architect at DIA Dialectique Architectures co-op (Brussels). He earned his PhD from the Università di Palermo and was visiting research scholar at Columbia University (2013–15). His doctoral research focused on the architectural journal Oppositions (1973–85) and Auschwitz's Italian Memorial. Carboni Maestri studied at La Cambre (Brussels, 1998), FAUP (Oporto, 2002–03), and earned his MArch at Politecnico di Milano with a thesis on the influences of Tendenza on Portuguese architecture (2007, codirected by Eduardo Souto de Moura). His awards include the Prizes Ermanno Piano (2004) and Bergamo d'Architettura (2010). He has worked at the Renzo Piano Building Workshop (Paris, 2005–06), architectural offices in Portugal and Italy, and as lecturer at Politecnico di Milano (2006–12). He writes for various publications on political, theoretical, architectural, and urban topics in Belgium, Brazil, Italy, Spain, Russia, and the United States.