Collection by Aaron Britt

Massimo Scolari's Drawings at Yale

Visit the website of the Italian architect, designer, and artist Massimo Scolari and you'll be surprised to see how many drawings and paintings are lumped in with his more three-dimensional work. Architects working as painters is nothing new, but Scolari pushes his work with the brush and pen to the fore of his practice of design. The state of drawing in architecture is just what he'll take up in a lecture entitled "Is Drawing Dead" at Yale University on February 9th. From February 6th through May 4th, Scolari's own output will make the case that the answer to the question posed in his lecture is a resounding "no." In the first American retrospective of his Scolari's work as a draftsman and painter since 1986, the Yale School of Architecture presents the show Massimo Scolari: The Representation of Architecture 1967-2012. Check out this slideshow of his work, imagery that is at once fantastic, strange, and singular.

This watercolor from 2008 called New York looks more like a scene of sun-baked antiquity than anything in the thrumming metropolis.
This watercolor from 2008 called New York looks more like a scene of sun-baked antiquity than anything in the thrumming metropolis.
Dream of a Shadow, the Man from 2011 looks more like the cover of some tattered Italo Calvino paperback than anything else to me. Truly strange.
Dream of a Shadow, the Man from 2011 looks more like the cover of some tattered Italo Calvino paperback than anything else to me. Truly strange.
This oil painting from 1979-1980 is called Gate for a Maritime City. I wonder what kind of vessel Scolari would have passing through this port.
This oil painting from 1979-1980 is called Gate for a Maritime City. I wonder what kind of vessel Scolari would have passing through this port.
The watercolor The Misleading Muses is from 1972.
The watercolor The Misleading Muses is from 1972.
A very consciously designed void dominates this 1978 watercolor, The Architecture of the Earth.
A very consciously designed void dominates this 1978 watercolor, The Architecture of the Earth.
The Pilot of the Labyrinth from 1978 seems more sci-fi than architectural representation, but I confess that I love it.
The Pilot of the Labyrinth from 1978 seems more sci-fi than architectural representation, but I confess that I love it.
Trippy stuff, bro. Hey will you lend me the new Frank Herbert novel? Beyond the Sky from 1982.
Trippy stuff, bro. Hey will you lend me the new Frank Herbert novel? Beyond the Sky from 1982.
Here is a reconstruction of the sculpture Wings on the roof of the School of Architecture IUAV, Università di Venezia, Santa Marta from 1992. The photo is by G. Basilico.
Here is a reconstruction of the sculpture Wings on the roof of the School of Architecture IUAV, Università di Venezia, Santa Marta from 1992. The photo is by G. Basilico.
This is the sculpture Wings on the Fondamenta della Tana at the Venice Biennale, 5th International Architecture Exhibition in 1991.
This is the sculpture Wings on the Fondamenta della Tana at the Venice Biennale, 5th International Architecture Exhibition in 1991.
This is the installation The Ark at the Milan Triennale in 1986.
This is the installation The Ark at the Milan Triennale in 1986.
I kinda can't get enough of Scolari's sci-fi brand of post-modernism. Here's The Last Known City II from 2002.
I kinda can't get enough of Scolari's sci-fi brand of post-modernism. Here's The Last Known City II from 2002.