Simone Sfriso — TAMassociati: Architectures for a Fragile World

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Abstract
Through the mirror of recent global events (pandemic, wars, climate crisis), we can observe how the world economy is the most fragile it has been in recent memory. Many people who were already marginalized or living precariously are now at high risk of being completely left behind. As architects and designers, what does our profession mean in today's world?
Architecture concentrated on society can curb marginalization and exclusion and become a driving force for new visions, a powerful communication medium, and an instrument through which many boundaries can claim rights, progress, opportunity, and inclusion.
Biography
Simone Sfriso is an architect who graduated from IUAV Venice. From 2019 to 2020, he was a visiting professor at ENSTP Yaoundé Cameroon and at UTPL Loja–Ecuador. In 2019, he was appointed Italian Design Ambassador by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2020, he joined the University of Portsmouth–UK as Visiting Professor.
Sfriso is cofounder of TAMassociati, a team of architects and researchers whose building solutions worldwide improve lives, strengthen communities, and provide creative responses to climate change: combining high quality with affordability.
The firm has won widespread recognition and numerous prizes: in 2013, the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, the Ius-Capocchin Prize, and the Curry Stone Design Prize; in 2014, the Zumtobel Group Award and the Italian Architect of the Year Award; in 2017, the Lafarge-Holcim Acknowledgement Award. TAM has curated the Italian Pavilion at the 15th International Architecture Exhibition–La Biennale di Venezia 2016.
TAMassociati is currently working in Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Togo, Lebanon, Palestine, and Italy.