The Basilica di Siponto by Edoardo Tresoldi was recently awarded with the Gold Medal for Italian Architecture – Special prize to Commission, the most important and prestigious Italian architecture award established by the Triennale di Milano in collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Culture.
The architectural sculpture in wire mesh, created by the Milanese artist and commissioned by the Italian Ministry of Culture, reinterprets the volumes of the ancient Early Christian basilica located close to the existing Romanesque church, which was erected 600 years later. Detached by strong visual and volumetric decompositions and cherished by the atmospheric factors, the installation outlines as a bridge towards the memory of the place and allows the public to relate with time and history.
The Basilica, which has been inaugurated on March 2016 and has captivated worldwide media attention, has become a cultural and tourist destination of excellence on an international scale and has opened up new scenarios for preservation and enhancement of historic and archaeological heritage.
The Gold Medal constitutes one more award for the Basilica, after the Riccardo Francovich Archaeological Prize in 2016, established by the Society of Italian Medieval Archaeologists, which acknowledges the site’s capacity to combine academic rigour with an effective communication to the non-specialised audience.
The Gold Medal for Italian Architecture offers an active reflection on the role of architects and their work, with the aim of introducing the public in Italy and abroad to a new heritage of buildings and ideas. It also provides a periodical overview of the state of Italian architectural production, illustrating its problems, trends, and new exponents. The prizes are awarded by an international jury composed by seven members.
About the artist
Born in 1987, Edoardo Tresoldi grew up in Milan where, at the age of 9, experimented different languages and techniques under the guidance of painter Mario Straforini. In 2009 he moved to Rome and started to work in various creative areas.
Cinema, music, scenography and sculpture gave him a heterogeneous vision of arts and became a platform for experimentation.
In his work, Tresoldi plays with the transparency of mesh and with industrial materials to transcend the time-space dimension and narrate a dialogue between Art and World, a visual summary which reveals itself in the fade-out of physical limitations. Mixing classical and modern language, he generates a third one, strongly contemporary.
More about Edoardo Tresoldi on website | facebook | instagram
Author: Fran
Founder and editor of Urbanite. Street Art lover who after the finishing her MA thesis on the Mexican and Norwegian muralist movement in the 1920-50s, developed a fascination for street art and graffiti that eventually led to collaborations with different art blogs, including the creation of this one.
