A "minor" and alternative history of architecture.
Initially founded as a Facebook group in May 2019,
Forgotten Architecture's goal is to research and unearth not well known modern architecture worldwide. The idea behind it is simple: to recover projects by little-known architects and works left in the shadows of the masters, to delve into the work of "minor" figures, and to unite alternative takes on the History of Architecture as a complement to university courses.
The book maintains its distinctive features of a collective, dynamic, and horizontal experience born on a social network. The publication uses the architectural categories most frequently featured in the group as guiding themes, providing for each project a collection of photographic materials, documents, and drawings from prominent professional firms, institutions, and private archives—such as Fornasetti,
Gaetano Pesce, Nanda Vigo, Vitra. Ephemeral architecture, gas stations, night clubs, playgrounds, houses, vacation resorts,
cemeteries, churches, architectures in music videos.
Several forgotten projects by well renowned architects, such as the house designed for Arnaldo Pomodoro by
Ettore Sottsass Jr. and the avant-garde Binishells by Dante Bini, are published exclusively in the book, alongside drive-in churches, flying houses, psychedelic inflatable architectures, etc.
At the end of the book, a series of critical essays reflect on its characteristics as a collective and pedagogical experience, considering the repercussions of this experience on the discipline of architecture through different points of view.
Bianca Felicori is an architect, author, curator, and PhD researcher at UCLouvain, Bruxelles (FNRS Research Fellow). Her research aims to demonstrate the convergence of artistic and architectural experimentation that emerged in Europe and America during the 1960s and 1970s. Felicori has curated exhibitions and cultural programs, collaborating with institutions such as Triennale Milano and La Biennale di Venezia. Her articles have been featured in magazines such as Domus and AD, and she currently serves as a guest curator for the Elle Decor Italia architectural section. In 2019, she founded the Forgotten Architecture Facebook group, about less-known modern architecture worldwide. In 2021, she co-founded the cultural center DOPO? in Milan.
