Building a European Architecture Culture: Vittorio Gregotti's Critical Internationalism

Vittorio Gregotti was one of the few contemporary architects to define a European architecture discourse in terms of 'critical internationalism'. With this definition he marked the search for a European common ground against the threats of the increasing financial globalization, which reduced architecture to a mere profession at the service of the economy. Gregotti discussed and disseminated his ideas through his editorial policy, particularly as editor-in-chief of Casabella from 1982 to 1996. He also applied 'critical internationalism' to the design of buildings, with the IBA Lützowstrasse housing block in Berlin (1984-1986) and the Bélem Cultural Centre in Lisbon (1988-1993) as two seminal examples.