Italian architect Umberto Riva (1928-2021) was also an accomplished designer and painter. A student of Carlo Scarpa, he inherited an artistic and artisanal attitude, a taste for open forms, and a sensitivity for an operational scale that extends from the material detail to the landscape. His work ranges from designing objects and lamps to urban housing projects and exhibition installations.
This book is conceived as an anthology with an elucidating series of critical essays taken from out-of-print books. A collaboration with the architect’s personal archive and with the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal allowed the retrieval and presentation of his sketches and drawings.
Maria Bottero (born 1932), architect, was a full professor at the Polytechnic of Milan. From 1963 to 1974, she was editor-in-chief of the international architecture magazine Zodiac, founded by Adriano Olivetti.
Umberto Riva (1928), is one of the masters of Italian architecture. He graduated in 1959 at IUAV—Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia—with Carlo Scarpa. From Scarpa he inherited the artist-craftsman attitude towards the project, the taste for open form and the sensitivity for an operational scale that extends from the material detail to the landscape. His work (which also includes painting for a long time) ranges from the design of objects and lamps where light becomes the protagonist, to urban accommodation projects, passing through residential buildings, schools, churches, interior architecture, exhibition installations. In 2018 he received the Triennale di Milano Gold Medal for Lifetime Achievement. In April 2019, the Sozzani gallery in Milan, on the occasion of the Salone del mobile, dedicated to him the exhibition Umberto Riva—Forme. In 2020 Umberto Riva was awarded the INARCH lifetime achievement award.
Italian architect Umberto Riva (1928-2021) was also an accomplished designer and painter. A student of Carlo Scarpa, he inherited an artistic and artisanal attitude, a taste for open forms, and a sensitivity for an operational scale that extends from the material detail to the landscape. His work ranges from designing objects and lamps to urban housing projects and exhibition installations.
This book is conceived as an anthology with an elucidating series of critical essays taken from out-of-print books. A collaboration with the architect’s personal archive and with the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal allowed the retrieval and presentation of his sketches and drawings.
Maria Bottero (born 1932), architect, was a full professor at the Polytechnic of Milan. From 1963 to 1974, she was editor-in-chief of the international architecture magazine Zodiac, founded by Adriano Olivetti.
Umberto Riva (1928), is one of the masters of Italian architecture. He graduated in 1959 at IUAV—Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia—with Carlo Scarpa. From Scarpa he inherited the artist-craftsman attitude towards the project, the taste for open form and the sensitivity for an operational scale that extends from the material detail to the landscape. His work (which also includes painting for a long time) ranges from the design of objects and lamps where light becomes the protagonist, to urban accommodation projects, passing through residential buildings, schools, churches, interior architecture, exhibition installations. In 2018 he received the Triennale di Milano Gold Medal for Lifetime Achievement. In April 2019, the Sozzani gallery in Milan, on the occasion of the Salone del mobile, dedicated to him the exhibition Umberto Riva—Forme. In 2020 Umberto Riva was awarded the INARCH lifetime achievement award.
