A tribute to the condition of their generation

We met in Greece during an architectural workshop about ten years ago. After graduating, we started our period of traineeship in different offices and ever since, we decided to do some competitions together in our spare time. We choose to be called ErranteArchitetture as a tribute and a critic of that condition. We were something like a nomadic studio - as many architects of our generation - and the choice of our name was also related to the necessity to be intellectually independent and to be able to find a personal way to the discipline through trials and mistakes.

An unexpected competition win!

Our approach to the project is very instinctive. We try to restart each time and we are strongly attracted by the things we’ve never done before. Once, within a competition, we decided to realize a huge terracotta structure as part of an installation but we didn’t know so much about the technique. When a friend of ours, a sculptor, heard about the project, he literally refused to help us because in his opinion it was too risky and an obvious failing plan because of our inexperience. Eventually we did it and we won the competition!

Short mornings and afternoons for meetings

One of the nicest parts of the game is that every day is rarely the same but of course there is a daily routine that starts at 6 o’clock in the morning. It’s the best time to concentrate on projects. Then the sun rises, our daughter has to go to the kindergarten, telephone rings…The morning ends early, especially if you have to visit a building site or to go to university. The afternoon is more for solving problems, bureaucratic stuff, meetings. Often we work on models or drawings at night.

Combining a creative space within the residence

Since we left Turin two years ago and moved to the countryside, we decided to combine home and office. The brightest part of the house is occupied by the studio. It’s a space with a high depicted ceiling, colorful tiles on the floor and a bow window. It’s a pretty lovely working space. We work side by side on two “Tavolo rettangolare” by Enzo Mari, we built it in pinewood and okumè. In the studio there is room for a couple of collaborators and a space dedicated to model making too. The walls are covered with bookshelves up to the ceiling and two plywood boards on which we hang drawings, texts and references