Here, of all place

In 1959, the year of Fidel Castro and the Barbie doll, a satirical investigation into architectural styles came to light. The book, signed by the London illustrator O. Lancaster, retraced time, baptizing, through his drawings, every exemplary moment of architecture and with it also its lifestyles. Although the book emphasizes the architectural scenery, the artist's eye has also captured the lifestyle associated with it. The elegant couple in the Rococo interior would have considered sunbathing on the roof of the house unbecoming, and the great-great-grandchildren of the 20th century would have thought the same thing about wearing powdered wigs. These two illustrations do not serve to emphasize the contrasting interpretations of the phenomenon of style, but we derive from them the ability to detect a diagnostic attitude of what has been and of connection with today's notion of style.

The house reflects those who live there, the era in which we live affects us in our choices and above all highlights man and his modus vivendi.

Today is 2016, the time of "I have no time" and "compulsive periodism". Now direct contact with our needs is even more important. In fifty years they will certainly represent an architecture of this time, perhaps with a man inside.

Maura Mantelli.