ABSTRACT
Some moments in history are critical stages in which, for different reasons, the contemporary reality is unable to be read, making the world not capable of being projected in a modern way, and asking humanity what modernity is.
This difficulty arises from an assumption: being contemporary reality continuously referred to the ceaseless transformation of the present, it is challenging to define a concept of modernity, which is able not to become obsolete. Many designers have tried to postpone the ageing process by attempting to realise futuristic buildings. However, eventually, these buildings will necessarily become obsolete.
Two design experiences by the Roman architect Maurizio Sacripanti (the one of the Cagliari Opera House, 1965, and that of the Osaka Expo Pavilion, 1970) show that it is possible to theorize a way of modernity not only through a building but also through a design ‘formula’, which gives up formal pretexts, rather embracing the idea of a continuous update both in terms of formal variations and typological flexibility.
