Luigi Rosselli Explained

Luigi Rosselli is an Italian born[1] architect who practices in Australia. He was born in Milan in 1957.[2] Coming from a long line of engineers,[3] he studied architecture at the Ecole Politechnique Federale in Lausanne, where he met Alvaro Siza and Mario Botta, who offered Rosselli a job in 1979.[2] He left the next year to work for Mitchell/Giurgola in their New York office at the age of 23.[4] That firm won a commission to design the Australian Parliament House, and Rosselli moved to Canberra in 1981 to work on that project.[2] He met his wife there, and the two of them moved to Sydney in 1984.[2] A year later he joined Furio Valich's firm, then opened his practice a year later. When he founded his Sydney practice in 1985, he developed a ritual of showing his freehand design concept sketches using black felt pens and white Tipp Ex (correcting fluid) on translucent yellow tracing paper, torn from small rolls.[5]

In 1989, two musicians from INXS contacted him to design their houses. One was a bush house on the Hawkesbury River, the other was an addition to a 1930s brick duplex. They were published in 1191 in Vogue Living and Architect Australia.[6]

His work has primarily been residential, but in the 1990s he worked on a series of restaurants.[2] His approach to architecture is "humanist, where people and environment take precedence over preconceived design dogmas"[7] and his main concern is designing for the humans: for their daily lives, for the human senses, for the psychology of the users, to create a sense of comfort and satisfaction and aiming for the "Architecture of Happiness"[8]

Family homes like The Books House, which is a series of stacked terrace platforms following the steep sandstone topography of Sydney's northern shore. Or the five-bedroom Curraghbeena House that languors along the serpentine shoreline of Mosman Bay and sold at auction in 2016 for a reported $12 million.[9] To this end, many of the projects exhibit a seamless transition between old and new, achieving balance so the outcome is simply a better version of what it once was.[10]

The Great Wall of WA[11] an ambitious structure featuring 12 musterers' quarters built into a sand dune in the Pilbara region,[12] won several awards such as the Terra Awards i[13] Architizer A+ Awards[14] & Archdaily Building of the Year.[15]

In 2004, a house he designed in Mosman won a commendation from the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (AIA),[16] and in 2006, he shared the AIA's NSW Wilkinson residential award for a farmhouse in Mount Minderoo, near Mittagong.[17] [18]

The Luigi Rosselli Architects team work out of The Beehive[19] Design Studio in the Sydney suburb of Surry Hills.[20] Its honeycomb facade was a joint effort with his architect son Raffaello Rosselli, who is also interested in sustainability and re-use.[21] [22] Luigi Rosselli Architects is a carbon neutral practice applying sustainable building practises, as demonstrated by their expertise in rammed earth, air-conditioning-free spaces and energy efficiency.

Other award winning projects include, the Triplex Apartments,[23] Homage to Oscar,[24] [25] [26] Heritage Treasure Chest[27]

In 2015, Luigi Rosselli published a compilation of his hand drawn designs. Titled 'A Perspective: 30-year of Sketches by Luigi Rosselli Architect', the exhibition features more than 1,000 of Rosselli's translucent yellow illustrations as a veil of 'windswept leaves' layered through a sculpted and internally lit portal that visitors may walk through.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: In conversation with... Italian journalist Rossella Venturi – Il Globo. 2020-08-14. ilglobo.com.
  2. Helen Greenwood for Domain. 9 September 2004 Luigi's list
  3. Web site: 2018-06-14. Interview with Architect Luigi Rosselli Australian Design est living. 2020-08-14. Est Living Free Digital Design Magazine.
  4. Web site: Luigi Rosselli: from Malcolm Turnbull’s gate to Sydney’s best houses and apartments - realestate.com.au. 2020-08-14. www.realestate.com.au.
  5. Web site: Construction & Architecture News. 2020-08-14. Architecture & Design.
  6. Web site: Luigi Rosselli & Raffaello Rosselli: The two of us. 2020-08-14. Sparkkle.
  7. Web site: 2012-03-26. 5 Minutes With... Luigi Rosselli Indesignlive – Architecture & Design. 2020-08-14. Indesignlive Daily Connection to Australian Architecture and Design.
  8. Web site: 2018-10-29. Luigi Rosselli Interview. 2020-08-14. Fanuli Furniture.
  9. Web site: 2018-05-22. Luigi Rosselli: the A-listers' architect who works magic with Tipp-Ex and a pen. 2020-08-14. Australian Financial Review.
  10. Web site: 2019-07-24. Luigi Rosselli And His Approach To Residential Design Habitus Living. 2020-08-14. Habitusliving.com.
  11. Web site: Brown. Jenny. Luigi Rosselli's WA rammed earth project one of 40 finalists in world. 2020-08-14. Domain.
  12. Web site: 2016-08-31. The Great Wall of WA - Luigi Rosselli Architects Habitus Living. 2020-08-14. Habitusliving.com.
  13. Web site: LAUREATE COLLECTIVE HOUSING // The Great Wall of Western Australia. 2020-08-14. TERRA Award.
  14. Web site: 2018-06-21. Architectural Details: The Great Wall of WA - Architizer Journal. 2020-08-14. Journal.
  15. Web site: 2016-06-29. Material Focus: The Great Wall of WA by Luigi Rosselli. 2020-08-14. ArchDaily.
  16. Australian Institute of Architects 2004 1 Bayview Ave, Mosman
  17. Anne Susskind for the Sydney Morning Herald. 29 June 2006 Split decision
  18. Australian Institute of Architects 2006 Single Housing New - Wilkinson Award: Mt Minderoo House, Mittagong
  19. Web site: 2018-06-14. The Beehive in Surry Hills by Luigi Rosselli + Raffaello Rosselli.. 2020-08-14. Yellowtrace.
  20. Web site: Luigi Rosselli Architects Studio Profile Surry Hills, NSW, Australia. 2020-08-14. The Local Project.
  21. Web site: Shaw. Karen McCartney, Rob. Designer profile: Luigi Rosselli. 2020-08-14. Homes To Love.
  22. Web site: 2018-07-10. NSW architecture awards stars sustainability and innovation. 2020-08-14. The Fifth Estate.
  23. Web site: 2018-07-07. 2018 NSW Architecture Award winners announced. 2020-08-14. News & Media.
  24. Web site: Awards 2019. Woollahra Design Excellence. 2019-08-29. Luigi Rosselli Architects - Homage to Oscar. 2020-08-14. www.woollahra.nsw.gov.au.
  25. Web site: 2019-08-20. A Voluminous And Organic Home Set in a Subtropical Garden. 2020-08-14. Habitusliving.com.
  26. Web site: 2020-02-06. Homage to Oscar by Luigi Rosselli Architects Renovation of a Classic Modernist Home. 2020-08-14. The Local Project.
  27. Web site: Luigi Rosselli Architects - Address withheld Woollahra Design Excellence Awards 2015. 2020-08-14. www.woollahra.nsw.gov.au.