Ctrl+Z by Gianluca Stasi
Ctrl+Z architectural studio is an initiative by Gianluca Stasi, graduated in Architecture at the Università la Sapienza de Roma (2005), and Ph.D. for the Universidad de Sevilla (2018).
Since its foundation, in Seville (Spain) in 2010, Ctrl+Z has supported, contributed and developed collaborative, participatory, self-construction and low-tech initiatives and processes in various parts of the world: South America, Central America and of course numerous locations in Europe. These initiatives have been recognized at institutional level and, more importantly, by the communities they serve.
Working formulas such as collective work, self-construction, mutual aid and barter are often used to structure new initiatives. These schemes, rather than specific forms or the use of unorthodox materials, are the factor that draw the continuity and coherence of Ctrl+Z’s work and constitute the core of its proposal.
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In professional practice, research, experimentation and the construction of social projects on a real scale are combined with dissemination and teaching activities.
One of the lines of educational dissemination is structured in the form of a project workshop to present and share with the participants the working methods and approach communities that are used: we believe that sustainability and the social nature of architecture are not found in the volumes or materials, but rather, in its focus, in its approach and interaction with the communities and in the work schemes it employs.
Also specific courses, aimed at both adults and children, are realized on constructive techniques such as superadobe, thanks to the long-term apprenticeship course, a period of training studied directly at the CalEarth Institute in California, or the geodesic structures that have been researched for a long time during the doctorate and that have been the protagonists of numerous projects and courses.
Lectures are also given on different topics related to professional activity, starting from participatory architecture and bottom-up architectural processes related to social processes, up to residual or disused spaces, interventions in public spaces, and the implementation of community spaces and facilities.
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Ctrl+Z’s proposals have been part of architectural exhibitions, among which the official exhibitions of the Italian Pavilion of the XV Biennale d’Architettura di Venezia (2016) and of the I Biennale d’Architecture de Lyon (2017) stand out, as well as mathematics exhibitions such as the Mathematical Art Galleries of the 2018 Joint Mathematics Meetings organized by the Mathematical Association of America in San Diego, USA.
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In 2017 his professional career has been recognized by the Curry Stone Design Prize, an international award that seeks to “highlight, honor and reward the professional careers of those who work architecture from a social approach to contribute to the improvement of daily living conditions of communities around the world“.