The Academy of Architecture has always offered and exhibited annually to its public a show devoted to its curriculum and of the results achieved during the semesters of teaching activity and the work of its students.

With a completely new format compared to past editions, this year's exhibition once again aims to showcase the work produced collectively by the academic community during the period 2022/23. On the premises of the Teatro dell'architettura, the intent is to show the general public, and not just insiders, the range of teaching and activities conducted on the USI campus in Mendrisio. Here the purpose is to train new generations of architects with a specific and original educational imprint while transmitting knowledge of the discipline. This innovative and experimental project is a legacy of the founders of the Mendrisio school, who wisely judiciously laid the groundwork for it in 1996, the year when the Academy of Architecture was established.

At the same time, the exhibition is also an opportunity to reflect further on the nature of a school of architecture. In fact, after the withdrawal of its founders from teaching, the Academy of Architecture has the duty and the necessary task of continuing to rethink itself in order to plan its future in terms of its educational offering, while following in the path laid down 27 years ago by Mario Botta and Aurelio Galfetti.

The exhibition is interspersed with a series of interviews conducted with students, assistants and lecturers to represent the broad and varied community that animates the campus of the Mendrisio school.

The exhibition is the result of the collective work of students, assistants, lecturers and professors - who supplied the texts, projects, images, and models - as well as the organisational support of the staff of the USI Academy of Architecture.

On the occasion of the exhibition, the 2023 yearbook of the Academy, published by the Mendrisio Academy Press, will be presented.

The Academy of architecture in numbers

• 2346 graduated since 2002
• 1/7 teacher / student ratio
• 99 theoretical courses, 41 of which devoted to the humanities
• 97% work within 1 year of completing the Diploma
• 2.6 months average time taken to find employment
• 5000 sqm dedicated area to Design studio Atelier
• 450 annual hours of lessons devoted to design

Curatorship of the exhibition

• Marco Della Torre, Coordinator of the Dean’s Office of the Academy of Architecture since 2011, is responsible for the exhibitions and cultural activities of the Teatro dell’architettura Mendrisio.

• Manuel Orazi works for the publisher Quodlibet, as editor of the series devoted to architecture, landscape and urban planning. He is a contributor to the newspaper Il Foglio, the magazines Domus, Log, Volume and other periodicals. In 2021 he curated the exhibition Carlo Aymonino. Fedeltà al tradimento (catalogue Electa) at La Triennale di Milano. Since 2020 he has been a lecturer at the Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio, where he teaches the Master's level course on the ‘City and Territory’.

For further informations

• The School of Mendrisio. A Project
• February 23, 2024 – June 30, 2024 / Teatro dell’architettura Mendrisio
• Exhibition opening: Thursday February 22, 2024 at 6.30 p.m.