Gianni Pettena was a founding member of the radical Florentine architecture movement in the 1960s and 1970s, together with Archizoom, Remo Buti, 9999, Superstudio, UFO and Zziggurat, albeit always maintaining an independent position. As well as critiquing modernist functionalism, he frequented galleries, artists, and critics of the day, and became noted for his purposeful reluctance to actually design. He may lay claim to being “the anarchitect,” to borrow the title from his first book. Pettena’s youthful work in the United States and assiduous frequentation of (an)architects such as Buckminster Fuller and James Wines, who early on paid attention to ecology, the suburbs and “to making insignificant places significant,” may be interpreted in this light. More generally, the uniqueness of his long career is informed by his rejection of discipline-based roles and methodologies, creating temporary works while constantly seeking alliances with conceptual art, Austrian radical design, Land Art and experimental music. This book documents (almost) all of his works, backed up by an extensive anthology of his writings.

Gianni Pettena was a founding member of the radical Florentine architecture movement in the 1960s and 1970s, together with Archizoom, Remo Buti, 9999, Superstudio, UFO and Zziggurat, albeit always maintaining an independent position. As well as critiquing modernist functionalism, he frequented galleries, artists, and critics of the day, and became noted for his purposeful reluctance to actually design. He may lay claim to being “the anarchitect,” to borrow the title from his first book. Pettena’s youthful work in the United States and assiduous frequentation of (an)architects such as Buckminster Fuller and James Wines, who early on paid attention to ecology, the suburbs and “to making insignificant places significant,” may be interpreted in this light. More generally, the uniqueness of his long career is informed by his rejection of discipline-based roles and methodologies, creating temporary works while constantly seeking alliances with conceptual art, Austrian radical design, Land Art and experimental music. This book documents (almost) all of his works, backed up by an extensive anthology of his writings.