Architecture Alive presents Claudio Silvestrin, 16.11.2019
- Venue: Italian Cultural Institute, Valletta
- Date: Saturday 16 November 2019
- Doors: 6:30pm
- Talk: 7:00pm
- Drinks until: 9:00pm
Torino Outlet Village 
CASTLE OF ROCCA SINIBALDA Rieti 
NEUENDORF VILLA Mallorca 
Museum of Contemporary Art Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Torino
CLAUDIO SILVESTRIN
Despite his distinguished position in the architectural world, Claudio Silvestrin prefers to keep a low profile, avoiding the showiness preferred by many at the top of his profession. The same might be said about his projects which, rather than indulging in the spectacular and hyper-ornate, are understated affairs, serene and meditative. In his own words: “Architecture of contemplation and for our inner self – it is most of all for our soul.”
Highly creative, Claudio Silvestrin was born in 1954, studied under A.G. Fronzoni in Milan and at the Architectural Association in London. His interest in philosophy, his vision, his integrity, clarity of mind, inventiveness and concern for details are reflected in his distinctive architecture: austere but not extreme, contemporary yet timeless, calming but not ascetic, strong but not intimidating, elegant but not ostentatious, simple but not soulless.
Claudio Silvestrin has extensive experience as a visiting professor. In 2013 he was appointed Walton Critic and tutored at the Catholic University of America, in Washington DC.
Claudio Silvestrin is a man of vision, the vast as well as the minute. Creativity is never delegated, his artistic supervision is total. Claudio Silvestrin is not a mere creative: what he creates in his designs, in turn, creates. He stands for difference rather than uniformity, quality rather than quantity, fewer projects rather than many. He is not a business man nor a PR man. He cares, advises, invents, teaches; he inspires. Claudio Silvestrin’s golden touch always adds value to his clients’ projects.
“I do not get out of bed unless I am going to create something exceptionally beautiful.”
A WORD FROM THE ARCHITECT
I have been educated to believe that being an architect is a vocation, just as it is a vocation to be a priest. I have been educated to believe that architecture is the most complete form of art, bridging man and nature, earth and sky, god and mortals. I have believed, and still do, that architecture is composing poetry on earth in partnership with the earth, that architecture has the role of transmitting the emotion of matter, space, light and water. I have learned from, and been inspired by, the great Italian Masters: with superb style they teach us about the spiritual quality of the materials, and the emotion of solidity that a form or configuration must embody and express in order to transcend the ordinary and the temporary. I have learned to go beyond material boundaries in order to render the potential infinity of things. Creating forms that make us feel the lack of durability and inevitable dissolution of the matter that we ourselves are made of.
CLAUDIO SILVESTRIN ARCHITECTS
Claudio Silvestrin Architects was established in 1989 with offices in London and, since 2006, in Milan as well. The work of the practice encompasses real estate developments, newly built houses and resorts for private residence, art galleries and museums, restaurants, luxury retail stores and furniture design. Clients include Giorgio Armani, Calvin Klein, Giada, Anish Kapoor, Victoria Miro, Fondazione Sandretto Re-Rebaudengo, YTL Singapore, Illy Coffee, Princi, Rainer Becker of Zuma and internationally acclaimed hip hop artist and producer Kanye West. Claudio Silvestrin’s most recent project is a newly built fashion mall of 40,000 m2 in Turin which opened to the public in March 2017.
BOOKS
- 2017 Silvestrin, Claudio. Timeless Italian Style: Architecture, Design, Philosophy China-London: Design Media Publishing
- 2011 Silvestrin, Claudio. The non-materiality of the material. Introduction by Franco Bertoni and afterword by Germano Celant. Turin: Allemandi
- 2008 Silvestrin, Claudio. Eye Claudio. Preface by Clare Farrow and afterword by Francesco Alberoni. Milan: Viabizzuno
- 2006 Boisi, Antonella (edited by). ‘Architetture d’Interni: Claudio Silvestrin’, in Interni Magazine, vol. 567, issue 12, December 2006. Milan: Mondadori, pp.2-29
- 1999 Bertoni, Franco. Claudio Silvestrin. Basel: Birkhäuser
AWARDS
- 2018 Designer Kitchen and Bathroom Awards – Mark Wilkinson Award for Lifetime Achievement
- 2018 Designer Kitchen and Bathroom Awards – Editor’s Product of the Year Terra Bronze Kitchen by Claudio Silvestrin for Minotti Cucine
- 2016 LEAF Award (Leading European Architecture Forum) Cannon Lane House, London
- 2014 Chicago Athenaeum International Architectural Award Rocca Sinibalda Castle, Italy
- 2013 FIABCI Prix d’Excellence Awards Sandy Island Housing Development, Sentosa, Singapore
- 2011 South East Asia Property Awards, Best Architectural Design Sandy Island Housing Development, Sentosa, Singapore
- 2009 Chicago Athenaeum International Architectural Award Victoria Miro Private Collection Space, London
- 2009 CNBC Asia-Pacific Property Awards, Best Development Sandy Island Housing Development, Sentosa, Singapore
- 2008 Archip, Domus Russia Magazine Award P Penthouse, Montecarlo
- 2008 Best Communicator Award La Cava, a stone installation for Il Casone at Marmomacc, Verona
- 2005 Wallpaper Magazine Design Awards Terra Kitchen for Minotti Cucine
- 2005 Travel+Leisure Magazine Design Awards Princi Bakery XXV Aprile, Milan
- 2005 International Award Architecture in Stone Giorgio Armani Worldwide Image
- 2003 Gold Medal award for Italian Architecture at the Triennale in Milan Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin
CONTACT
Claudio Silvestrin Architects
UNIT 411, Kings Wharf
301 Kingsland Road
E8 4DS London
United Kingdom
T +44 (0)20 7241 9540
press@claudiosilvestrin.com
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