Steven Holl and Toshiko Mori will be the 2023 guest editors of Domus as part of the 10 x 10 x 10 initiative leading up to the magazine’s 100th anniversary. Their joint manifesto “Blurred Boundaries” argues for rhizomatic connections rather than categorization that separates architecture, art, and design. The manifesto is included in the December special issue of Domus, followed by the first issue of the guest-editorship in January titled “The Oceanic.” Read the full press release from Domus below.
Milan, 1 December 2022 – An important milestone has been reached at Domus. The editorial formula 10 x 10 x 10 – by which 10 internationally famous architects succeed one another as guest editors for 10 issues each in the 10 years leading up to the magazine’s 100th anniversary – has now arrived at its midway point. This inspiring voyage involves exceptional personalities from all over the world. The road continues for 2023 in a new iteration with a twist.
The itinerary began in Italy with Michele De Lucchi (2018), travelled to The Netherlands with Winy Maas (2019), the United Kingdom with David Chipperfield (2020), Japan with Tadao Ando (2021), and France with Jean Nouvel (2022), who is now passing the baton to the United States with an important, novel aspect: the year 2023 will feature two guest editors, Steven Holl and Toshiko Mori, both prominent figures not only in architecture, but in the pantheon of global culture.
Both are American, both teach at prestigious universities (Columbia and Harvard). They will lead Domus through the evolution of architecture and design in 2023, and illustrate how these disciplines are being redefined and transformed into platforms of conceptual connection, in addition to their physical and social implications.
“The invention of the double curatorship duly celebrates this intermediate arrival point at the end of a five-year challenge tackled with gusto. We imagined putting into play a kind of associated aptitude that we had not yet attempted, but that would be useful at this precise moment in history with its many pressing issues on all fronts. We set out to search for two architects working at different firms, with different mindsets and views, but both with a passion for their profession. They would be practitioners on non-aligned roads,” says Maria Giovanni Mazzocchi, the president of Editoriale Domus, and the recipient of an Order of Merit for Labour.
Holl and Mori are the first two architects to receive the guest editorship as a pair. This non-couple will follow a single programmatic manifesto and work together behind the scenes intellectually while each pursues their individual sensibility. Their manifesto of intent accompanies the Domus December issue, which, as it does each year, presents and introduces the new guests in a special monograph offered as a supplement.
“Architecture is a discipline of broad knowledge. It establishes moments of connectivity in civilisation, between nature and humans, and through time. We are all individuals on this fragile planet, and we are all connected. As architects, we serve the planet and community,” they write, stating their great spirit of service and their acute attention for the delicate ecosystem, placing human connection above all else. “As two individuals with independent interests, we share common knowledge, beliefs and the intention to collectively challenge and advance the state of architecture of our time. We want to steer our dialogue away from extreme polarisation and instead aspire to form a community that can promote the informed and nuanced exchange of ideas.”
As happens each year, the international guest editors will be accompanied on their exciting and demanding voyage by Walter Mariotti, the editorial director of the entire Domus platform and the continuity manager of the 10 x 10 x 10 initiative. “We wish to extend a heartfelt welcome to this extraordinary pair of new guest editors. Theirs is an exercise of absolute dexterity, because their diverse personalities will converge in one unique concept for Domus. In their academic and architectural work they demonstrate how classic elements can be taken as the basis for a critical dimension toward society. Thanks to their thought, Domus will continue to be the important outpost of research and analysis it has always been. The magazine will propose previously unconsidered reflections and exceptional perspectives with which to look to the future.”
The first issue of Domus 2023 edited by Steven Holl and Toshiko Mori will be out in early January.
The monograph on Holl and Mori, along with their manifesto of intent, will be printed as a supplement to the December issue of Domus (at newsstands from 6 December), which continues to be a special tribute edition dedicated to instances of Italian expertise
Visit Domus for more information: https://www.domusweb.it/en/speciali/guest-editor/steven-holl-toshiko-mori/2022/11/29/two-domus-guest-editors-in-2023-a-turning-point-year.html