Sacripanti Unbuilt. Icons of Modernity

Abstract

The figure of Maurizio Sacripanti has been one of the most interesting on the Italian architectural scene since the Second World War but, in the light of the events of the last 40 years, he is also a character who, in his own right, is a corner- stone of the varied architectural thought of the peninsula. The projects of the Roman architect, from the ‘60s, far from neo-religionism, neo-liberty, neo-rationalism and other architectural trends that unfolded in those years, show us a very particular way of doing architecture characterized by a sort of apparent linguistic contradiction that instead finds its structure in a unitary and coherent thought in which there are references to other artistic expressions and especially the temporal and motion components understood as real materials of architecture. Sacripanti was a revolutionary architect with such innovative ideas that they were not accepted by the culture of the time that, in its impassable enclosure, he locked up his certainties without taking risks. To fully grasp the architect’s thought and his contribution to architecture, not only Italian, it is necessary to observe his reflections which can be traced in numerous unbuilt projects rather than in the completed buildings.