Architectural space makes materials the protagonists of living

Architectural space is never neutral. It is a dimension in constant movement, taking shape and meaning depending on the scale at which it is viewed. It can be the detail of a product or a finish that defines the identity of a room, it can be the flat understood as an interweaving of different functions and environments that dialogue with each other, it can be the condominium as a place of relationship between private and common spaces, or the building inserted in the city and in the landscape, called upon to confront nature, the surrounding environment and the urban plot. In each of these levels ceramics is confirmed as a central material, capable of adapting and giving identity to spaces, of characterising interiors and terraces, of accompanying passages in common spaces, in gardens, along pavements and even in exterior façades.

 What "intimacy" of living can we talk about today?
The architectural historian Fulvio Irace, Professor emeritus of History of Architecture and Design at the Politecnico di Milano and former visiting professor at Princeton University, has placed the theme of the intimacy of the home and how this concept has changed over time and continues to do so in the age of social media at the centre of his critical reflection. This moves along a problematic axis oscillating between conquest and loss: if in the past the 'room of one's own' represented a private and inviolable refuge, nowadays the domestic dimension tends increasingly to expose itself. On the one hand there is growing attention to the protection of privacy, on the other there is a progressive opening up of family intimacy to public scrutiny, a sign of a profound change in the way we experience inhabited space. This is what Irace himself will talk about at the Lezione alla Rovescia, a meeting dedicated to high school students to be held on Friday 26 September at 10.00 a.m. inside Cersaie, the International Exhibition of Ceramic Tile and Bathroom Furnishings to be held at the Bologna Exhibition Centre from 22 to 26 September 2025.

Social space is relational
Architecture, understood as the physical manifestation of social relations, also transcends the boundaries of buildings. This is the focus, for example, of the work of the DS+R studio of Elisabeth Diller in New York. Visionary and pioneering, Diller was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world in 2018 and in 1999 was the first recipient of the MacArthur Foundation's prestigious fellowship for architecture and environmental design. DS+R's works have rethought the role of public space and challenged architectural and social conventions, with projects ranging from the famous High Line elevated park in New York to the renovation of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, from The Shed with its mobile, transformable structure to the renovation of the Museum of Modern Art, and the Broad in Los Angeles.Visions on the architectural space of the future meet in Bologna
Elisabeth Diller will be the protagonist of the Lectio Magistrale of the 42nd edition of Cersaie, to be held on 23 September at 11 a.m. Ceramic is not just a building material but becomes a language and interpretative key to living. It is a compositional element that lends character to rooms, a flexible tool that lends itself to different functions, from residential to urban design, and at the same time the support of a cultural and educational vision that reflects the transformations of society. Cersaie is the most representative trade fair for ceramics and bathroom furnishings where sector operators, including world-famous names, and the general public meet on the themes of architecture, design and town planning.