Davide Apolloni

Biography

Born in Como, Italy in 1996 at the age of 7 went to live in New York City, where he studied at the United Nation International School (UNIS) and La Scuola D'Italia. He moved back to Italy, Milan at the age of 10, where he finished elementary school and started Middle School at the Gonzaga. During High School he attended Liceo Parini for the first two years, and then moved to Liceo De Amicis. Finished his studies in Italy he started studying Architecture at the [Architectural Association] in London in 2015. He is now currently an AA student.

Interests

Physics biology maths Philosophy

Research Focus

Ephemeral Arhitecture.

In a fast changing society, why do we still build with heavy weight materials?

Let’s make architecture fast

I started thinking of architecture of the past, architecture made of big and heavy stones, one made for a society that was stable, not fast changing, and was looking at its future and its growth. The perception of space and time was different.

If we think of nomad architecture we think of tents, light and transportable. But if we think of the Greeks or the Romans we think of stones, bricks, bridges made to last and in the city we can see engineering that transforms the city for its comfortable survival.

In today’s world - since the industrial revolution and the birth of capitalism- even more after the cold war, I see politics has lost its social strength in favour of industrial and economical interests. If we think of international agreements between states they usually revolve around economical decisions, and political choices are made in the interest of economical growth. In a strong capitalistic society, where some may argue the birth of a new religion: capitalism. [Walter Benjamin] This new religion has changed are values and changed our perception of time (sometimes I walk around the city and feel like I’m surrounded by _spoilt_ children, lost in an imaginary world of games and fantasies. Some play on there iPhones, others only think about shopping and nightlife. You want something, you get it. Right here, right now. Everything is ready for us to buy. There is no need to control our primordial instinct, and our behaviour has become unconscious of our actions as a community. We lost our ability to plan for the future because we live in cities designed to live in the present. Capitalism has designed our lifestyle and the tools we use also changed our perception of time. The iPhones and the invention of portable screens with the connection to internet has generate a distortion of space and time, where by this I mean there is no more a space dedicated to a specific activity, or at least activities that where first related strictly to a specific location are now free to move and happen where you desire. - listening to music, making phone calls, checking office mails, buying groceries- all of these activities can be done from your iPhone where ever you are if you wanted to. This changes the way we perceive space and the way we perceive boundaries. Another aspect of iPhones or the portable screen is the way it cuts our continuous vision. By this I mean that when we look at an iPhone we take our sight away from what is the world surrounding us and fracture it with the view of the screen. I say fracture because everything we see is visually connected: background, foreground, and the only thing that stops this connection is a blink of our eyes. When we introduce the screen of an iPhone our visual space changes. Things start to appear and dissolve out of nowhere, in the same place, in-between our hands, different things appear and we do different tasks. Different things happen, and it’s almost as if they weare happening in our head and the screen were only a tool to transfer them to reality. This is why I personally believe that space and time when using a screen transforms and becomes to feel more similar to the one we experience in dreams, where events are not concatenated or connected in any logical way, they just happens and that is alright for us. Our time deletes and we loose track of it, because we are almost living a dream.

In this way I think the invention of iPhones (or any touch-screen phone which can connect to the internet) has changed our perception of space but most uniquely of time due to the apps -and speeds of the apps- we use these tools for.

This fast and instant tool, allowed us to be more connected in the present moment, but also, because of its nature but also because of economical desire of companies which found a fast and direct way of marketing, starting from clothing companies that started to amplified their seasons so to be able to have more fashions and sell more clothings, changed are perception of time, and leveraging on our richness and instincts, our desire for buying. )

Dignity also lost its place and importance in the fake appearance of “freedom of expression”. We have reached a high level of richness and comfort but we are forgetting our origins and our past. The wars can today be considered history, and not far past anymore.

[recently I think we are going in favour of a more social conscious future, I think the desire of being part of the habitat rather then subdue it. This is becoming a common social desire and it might change the way we live. I say so because our economy has modelled the way we interact in between people and the way we live our lives: in the city, paying a rent, working for someone -the majority- and using services provided by others. In general a single individual doesn’t think of the future of it’s city, the future of its nation, the future for his children -which he might yet not have- and act on such desire of what he would like as common future. Ancient Greeks would define us with one word: ἰδιώτης - idiot(es) - : one who cares only of his personal private interest. I think this is an important detail.]

. The corporation . Prosperity