Last October 11th we had the pleasure of hosting Massimiliano Fuksas, founder and principal architect of Studio Fuksas, for the Opening Lecture of this year’s IAAC Lecture Series.

Opening the lecture Mathilde Marengo, IAAC Head of Studies, who gave some words of welcome and then invited Areti Markopoulou, IAAC Academic Director, whom officially kicked of the Opening Ceremony, welcoming the 300 people present in the audience, among which the 170 new students from over 40 different countries, representatives of the local architecture community, both professional and academic, and the IAAC faculty and staff. She then gave some words of welcome to our guest Massimiliano Fuksas.

In his inaugural speech, Massimiliano Fuksas mentioned the main challenges of the profession in our days: the mutability of contemporary Architecture and Sustainability. According to Fuksas, Architecture must propose environmentally friendly solutions by making use of the most advanced technology to affect the less possible the planet creating buildings with the lowest possible energy consumption and the best possible indoor climate.

The Italian multi-awarded Architect firmly believes that we can improve the sustainability of our cities with acts, design and planning that integrate environmental, politic, social, intellectual and economic aspects. The aim is to create a built geography that combines landscape, economy and humanity.

The latest Studio Fuksas projects are conceived, from initial stages, with systems that intend to reach the highest energetic efficiency levels by using geothermal science and cogeneration: there’s no future without innovations.

The event that saw the participation of Actar Publishers Director Ramon Prat, and IAAC Alumni Daniele Fiore and Jayant Khanuja, currently working at Studio Fuksas in Rome.

Of Lithuanian descent, Massimiliano Fuksas was born in Rome in 1944. He graduated in Architecture from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” in 1969. Since the Eighties he has been one of the main protagonists of the contemporary architectural scene. Today Studio Fuksas, led by Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas, is an international architecture practice with offices in Rome, Paris and Shenzhen with built projects across Europe, Asia and North America. The firm is characterised by an innovative approach as well as interdisciplinary skills and experience consolidated over four decades and awarded by several international prizes.