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Conceptual Devices* is a research-based interdisciplinary social design and architecture studio founded by Antonio Scarponi.

 

The studio investigates design as an aesthetic force shaping the built environment's ecological, political, cultural, and social future transformations.

 

The studio engages artistic forms with relational spatial knowledge to maximise the form and the impact of vision-driven agendas. In short, what Antonio Scarponi defines as "conceptual devices"

The studio developed participatory methodologies to engage communities through soilless urban farming at any scale, from micro to macro, as a way to "farm" resiliency.

As a design agency, Conceptual Devices engages with DIY aesthetics and methodologies to conceive an idea of design beyond products.

 

The studio is active in teaching and lecturing to disseminate design knowledge in form of courses, workshops, consulting and coaching. 

ANTONIO SCARPONI IS AN ARCHITECT, DESIGNER AND EDUCATOR.

 

HE STUDIED ARCHITECTURE AT COOPER UNION, NEW YORK AND AT IUAV, VENICE, FROM WHICH HE HOLDS A PHD IN URBAN DESIGN.

 

HE CONCEIVES ART, DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE AS A CULTURAL TOOL FOR SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT. 

 

HIS PROJECTS TAKE THE FORM OF NARRATIONS THAT ACTIVATE AND REPURPOSE OBJECTS AND SUBJECTS SUCH AS LOCAL COMMUNITIES, INDUSTRIES, AGENCIES, MUNICIPALITIES. IN ADDITION, HE HAS BEEN ACTIVE IN THE FIELD OF RESILIENT URBAN STRATEGIES WITH A STRONG FOCUS ON URBAN AGRICULTURE. 

 

CURRENTLY, HE IS CO_HEAD OF THE CERTIFICATE OF ADVANCED STUDIES KNOWING SPACE AT THE ZURICH UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS - ZHdK - WHERE HE IS ALSO TEACHING INTERDISCIPLINARY MODULES AT INTERACTION BA DESIGN AND EXHIBITION SCENOGRAPHY AT THE MASTER IN ART EDUCATION AND CURATORIAL STUDIES. 

 

ANTONIO SCARPONI'S - DESIGN PHILOSOPHY - KEYNOTE AT IKEA's DEMOCRATIC DESIGN DAY - ECAL, LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND, 2017. 

PARTNERS

MEDIA

Abitare

Architectural Review

Domus

DesignBoom

GQ Magazine

Vogue Italia

Wired IT

Wired UK

Inhabitat

UNIVERSITIES

Cottino Social Impact Campus

ECAL, Lausanne

ETH Zurich

ETH / Wohnforum

Fistic Bologna

FHNW Academy of Art and Design Basel

Harvard GSD MA - Design and Engineering

HSLU Hochschule Luzern

KTH Stockholm

IED Roma

NABA Milano

Politecnico di Milano

USI Università della Svizzera Italiana

UNIL ⎢Univesité de Lausanne

Zurich University

Zurich University of the Arts

COMPANIES

Arbos

Bulbo Light

Das Konzept

Doka

Frau Gerold Garten

Icona Srl

IKEA CH - IT - BE - AT

IKEA Stiftung, Switzerland

i2Grow

Impact Hub Zurich

Loro Piana

Moleskine Foundation

Molteni

Nike

Plus Value

Primvs

Prism

Sennheiser

Toqapu

Trampolines

Urban Farmers

Urban Think Tank

Urban Think Tank / Next

VEG and the City

Zingg-Lamprecht

CULTURE

Art for the World

Biennale di Venezia

Cabaret Voltaire

CID au Grand-Hornu

Curry Stone Foundation

EXPO Milan 2015

Farm Cultural Park

Galleria Martina Simeti

Galleria Contemporaneo

Gleis70

K11 Design Store- HongKong

Museum für Gestaltung Zurich

NAI Rotterdam

Pro Helvetia

PUSHousing

Suissa22

Theater Neumarkt

Triennale Design Museum

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONS

AOZ Zurich

Città di Cosenza

Città di Venezia

Kanton Zurich

Stadt Zürich

PUBLICATIONS

2021 A. Scarponi, L’Etica Laica e lo Spirito del Post-Capitalismo. L’Archivio Vivente di Adriano Olivetti, in course of publication, Quodlibet, Macerta 2021.

2019 A. Scarponi, Readykea, in Site, Vol. 40, Devices, pp. 69-73.

2019 A. Scarponi, The Knowledge of the Form. An Educational Program Proposal, in AA.VV. edited by Donatella Bernardi, Art, Self & System, SternbergPress, Berlin, 2019, pp. 37-58.

2018 A. Scarponi, ELIOOO, in AA.VV. Storie. Il Design Italiano. Catalogue of the Exhibition, Electa, Milano, p.505.

2018 R. Deluca, A. Scarponi, Hotello. Somnia et Labora, in AA.VV. 999. Una collezione di domande sull’abitare contemporaneo. Catalogue of the exhibition, pp.7-8.

2017 M. Ernst, Doppelt Wirksam. Die Zürcher Hochschule der Künste liess Studierende und Asylsuchende clevere Lösungen erarbeiten. dafür erhält das Unterrischtsmodul ‹Hic et Nunc› den Hasen in Gold, in Hochparterre, N. 12, December 2017, pp. 34-39.

2016 A. Scarponi, Campo Libero, in AA.VV. Taking Care, Italian Pavilion at XV Biennale di Architettua di Venezia, Becco Giallo Editore, Padova, pp. 184-191.

2016 A. Scarponi, Interview with Catharine Rossi, in Burkhard Meltzer, Tido Von Oppeln, Re-Thinking the Modular. Adaptable System in Architecture and Design. Thames & Hudson, pp. 44-57.   

2016 A. Scarponi, Hotello, in AA.VV. Wheel and Deal, Ginko Press, pp. 82-87.

2016 A. Scarponi, ELIOOO, German, French and Russian Edition, 3rdO, Zurich.

2015 A. Scarponi, Aquaponic Farm in Basel, in Landscape Design Magazine China, June issue N.02, 2015, pp. 12-15.

2015 A. Scarponi, Profiled Designer, in Axis, Japan, issue July 2015, p. 110.

2014 A. Scarponi, Generic Architecture as Strategic Design for Rooftop Urban Farms, in Pasajes Arquitectura, n.135, November 2014, pp.38-41.

2014 A. Scarponi, ELIOOO, Japanese Edition. Edited by Kione Kochi, 3rdO, Zurich, 2014.

2013 A. Scarponi, ELIOOO. How to go to IKEA and Build a Device to Grow Food in your Apartment, 3rdO, Zurich, 2013.

2013 A. Scarponi, The Arduino Starter Kit, in Domus n. 698, April 2013, p. 9.

2013 A. Scarponi, TANTOOO, the fairy tale bean bag, in A. Filippini, Dalla Parte dei Bambini, INTERNI n. 71, April 2013.

2013 A. Scarponi, Tragbares Hotel Zimmer, in BIANCO, Alpine Lifestyle Magazine, Summer Issue, p.10.

2013 A. Scarponi, Hotello, Interiors of Tomorrow, in MD Magazine n.4, 2013, p.20.

2012 A. Scarponi, The Design of Eternal Youth, in Domus N. 959, June 2012.

2012 A. Scarponi, Trampolines Suite Hotel, in L. Ugge', Una Nave Tutta Bianca, in SUITE N. 161, October 2012.

2012 A. Scarponi, entry of Notes on the Synthesis of Form by Christopher Alexander in, M. Biraghi, A. Ferlenga, Architettura del Novecento. Teorie, scuole, eventi, Einaudi,

2012 A. Scarponi, The Dreaming Wall, in Architecture for Humanities, edited by, Design Like you Give a Damn 2. Building Change from the Ground Up. Abrams, New York, 2012, 290- 291.

2012 A. Scarponi, Hub Zurich, Prostor mednarodnih povezav in poslovnega turizma, in HISE, n.74, p. 51.

2012 A. Scarponi, The Seventh Continent, in DOMUS N. 962, October 2012.

2012 A. Scarponi, Just Undo It, in A. Hickey, edited by, A Guidebook of Alternative Nows, The Journal of Aesthetics and Protest Press, Zurich, 2012, pp.107-112.

2012 A. Scarponi, INTERVIEW, in URBAN N. 105, April 2012, pp. 36-37.

2011 A. Scarponi, Design Narrative. Phenomenology of Concrete Storytelling, in Conditions Architecture Magazine, N. 8, 2011.

2011   A. Scarponi, S. Massa, So You Want to Launch an Architectural Competition, in Conditions Architecture Magazine, N. 7, 2011.

2010 A. Scarponi, Just Undo It, in Revista EINA. Cultura Ecologica, N. 14, Valencia, 2010.

2010 A. Scarponi, Just Undo It, in Wired Magazine Italian Edition N. 3, 2010, pp. 118.

2009 A. Scarponi, Wired Unplugged. How to Destroy the First Issue of Wired UK and Make Something with It, in Wired Magazine UK Edition N. 2, 2009.

2009 A. Scarponi, The Last Market, in P. Guadanho, Beyond. Short Stories on the Contemporary N. 1, 2009.

2009 Paolo Tamborrini, Design Sostenibile. Oggetti, Sistemi e Comportamenti. Electa, Milano, 2009, pp. 114-115.

2009 A. Gurung, B. Mc Grath, J. Zha, China and India, Shifting Perspective on Urbanization and Globalization, India and China Institute, New School, New York, 2009, cover image.

2008 L. Tozzi, Antonio Scarponi, Progetto 157, in Abitare N.488 December 2008, pp.  85- 87.

2007 A. Scarponi, The Hypothetical Revolution. Imagining New Forms of Symbolic Order. In Anarchitektur n.18 September 2007, p. 112-114.

2006 A. Branzi, Modernita' Debole e Diffusa. Il mondo del Progetto all'Inizio del XXI Secolo, Skira, Milano, 2006, pp-32-33.

2005 A. Scarponi, Reference Andrea Branzi La Ville Continue Entretien Avec Antonio Scarponi, in AMC Le Moniteur Architecture n. 150 March 2005, pp. 88-94.

2005 AA.VV. ADI Design Index, 2005. Editrice Compositori, Bologna, Italy, 2005, pp. 287.

2005 A. Scarponi, Dreaming Wall, in Architectural Design N. 6, 2005.

2005 A. Scarponi, Political Population World Map, in Grahame Shane, Recombinant Urbanism: Conceptual Modeling in Architecture, Urban Design, and City Design. Wiley & Sons Ltd. Ed., West Sussex, England.

2004 A. Scarponi, X-treme Europe, in Paola Viganó, edited by, New Territories, situations, projects, scenarios for the European city and territory”. Officina Edizioni, Roma, 2004.

2003 A. Scarponi, Political Population World Map, in Anna Daneri, Italian mapping:  cartographies and territories, in Version n .4, September 2003.

2002 A. Scarponi, Political Population World Map, in AA.VV., POLIS: Urban(e)motion, catalogue of the exhibition. Edizioni Palazzo Stella, Bologna, 2002.

1999 A. Scarponi, Rimini, in ARCHINT Architettura e Intersezioni, N. 7, October 1999.

1998 A. Scarponi, Manfredo Tafuri, Conversazione sulla Storia e Sulla Architettura, in APERTO, Arti e Mestieri, n. 3, March 1998, p.3.

EXHIBITIONS

2023 DAYS of ARCHITECTURE, Sarajevo, Bosinia and Herzigovina. 

2023 DETOUR, Saatchi and Saatchi Gallery London, UK. 

2023 COUNTLESS CITIES, Biennial of the City of the World, Favara Cultural Park, Favara, Sicily.  

2023 THE INNOCENT CHAIR, The Cube Gallery, Sihlcity, Zurich

2023 IN PIÚ D'ORA, Milano. Design Week, Stazione Garibaldi, Milano. 

2023 INCLUSIVE DESIGN, House of Switzerland, Milano Design Week, Casa degli Artisti. 

2023 VERDICHTUNG ODER VERDRÄNGUNG, ZAZ Museum Bellerive, Zurich.  

2022 THE RIGHT HUMANS, Zurich Human Right Film Festival, Zurich. 

2022 EDIBLE; OR THE ARCHITECTURE OF METABOLISM, Tallinn Architecture Biennale.

2022 DESIGNING URBAN IMAGINARIES, BI-CITY BIENNALE OF URBANISM / ARCHITECTURE, Shenzhen, China.

2022 THE INNOCENT CHAIR, Milano Design Week, Isola Design District. 

2022 THE INNOCENT CHAIR, Konzepthaus Laboratorium, Thun, Switzerland. 

2022 DETOUR 2.0. A JOURNEY TROUGH CREATIVE CATALYSTS, Palais de Tokyo, Paris. 

2021 PLANT FEVER, Museum für Gestaltung, Zurich.

2021 AIR_ WASTE_ HEALTH_ WATER_ENERGY_ SOIL, Genossenschaft Gleis70, Zurich, Switzerland. 

2021 VENICE ARCHITECTURE BIENNALE, German Pavillion, Contribution.

2021 VIENNA BIENNALE FOR CHANGE 2o21: PLANET LOVE. Climate Care in the Digital Age, Architekturzentrum, Vienna.

2021 CRITICAL CARE, Zentrum Architektur Zürich.

2021 HUMANPONICS, Training for the Future, Biennale of Architecture, Venice, Italy.

2020 SOCIAL DESIGN, Braunschweigischen Landesmuseum, Germany.

2020 PLANT FEVER, CID, Center for Design and Innovation Grand-Hornu, Belgium.

2019 SOCIAL DESIGN, MK&G, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany.

2018 SOCIAL DESIGN, Museum für Gestaltung, Zurich, Switzerland.

2018 SWISS ARTS AWARDS, Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland.

2018 STORIE. Il design Italiano, Triennale Design Museum, Milan, Italy.

2017 999 DOMANDE SULL’ABITARE, Triennale Design Museum, Milan, Italy.

2017 FORM FOLGT PARAGRAPH, Architekturzentrum, Wien, Austria.

2017 WASTEWATER BOTTLE ART EXHIBITION, K11 Design Store, Honk Kong.

2016 XV Biennale di Architettura di Venezia, Italian Pavilion.

2015 Art Container 2015, Steffisburg, Switzerland.

2015 KIDSROOMZOOM 2015, Super Studio Piu', Milano, Salone Del Mobile, Italy.

2014 HOTELLO MATRIMONIALE (separati in casa), Design Saturday, Langenthal, Switzerland.

2014 ARCHITECTURE. WHAT ELSE? Kulturtankstelle Döttingen, Switzerland.  

2014 BRIGHT IDEAS AT PRIESTMANGOODE, London Design Week, UK.  

2014 MY PROTOTYPE. Ex Fabbrica del Vapore, Milano Salone del Mobile, Milan, Italy.

2014 KIDSROOMZOOM, Milano Salone del Mobile, Italy.

2013 HOTELLO. SOMNIA ET LABORA, DOCVA via Farini, Fuori Salone 2013, Milano, Italy.

2013 DEGNI DI NOTA. Design Week, Berlin, Germany.

2012 FOSTER CARE, Fuori Salone 2013, Milan, Italy,

2011 EDGE PARK, Parco del Contemporaneo, Venice, Italy.

2011 READYKEA, Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich, Switzerland.

2011 POWER LANDSCAPE, Ness Conference (Nordic Environmental Social Science) Stockholm, Sweden.

2011 DESIGN ROYALE, Mediateca S. Cecilia, Milano, Italy.

2011 HOW TO SURVIVE? Recycle design festival, Soho Factory, Warsaw, Poland.

2010 ITALY UP IN SMOKE, Milano Design Week, Milan, Italy.

2010 TERRA INFIRMA, ISCP, Brooklyn, New York, USA.

2009 INTERNATIONAL BIENNAL OF ARCHITECTURE, NAI, Rotterdam, Netherland.

2009 FAMA FAME, Hauptbahnhof, Solothurn, Switzerland.

2008 TORINO GEODESIGN, Palafucsas, Turin, Italy.

2007 ANTONIO SCARPONI / CONCEPTUAL DEVICES, (Solo Show) Galleria Contemporaneo, Venezia Mestre, Italy.

2006 ITALIA IN FUMO, Assab One, Milano, Solo Show curated by Art for the World, Italy.

2003 EMPOWERMENT, Museo Villa Croce, Genova, Italy.

2003 MEDITERRANEA - 11th Biennal of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, Athens, Greece. 

2002 POLIS URBAN [e]Motion, Chiesa di San Mattia, Bologna, Italy.  

AWARDS

2022 FUORI SALONE, Milano Design Week, Best Installation, Nomination. 

2018 SWISS ARTS AWARDS, nomination.

2017 HOCHPARTERRE GOLDEN RABBIT, best of the year 2017 in category design (for Hic et Nunc, with Karin Seiler and Martin Bölsterli).

2012 KATERVA SUSTAINABILITY AWARD, finalist recipient.

2009 ROTTERDAM BIENNALE OF ARCHITECTURE, third prize.

2008 CURRY STONE DESIGN PRIZE.

2008 NEW ITALIAN OXYGEN, Nomination.

2008 TORINO GEODESIGN, design competition, first prize.

2005 ADI Compasso d’Oro, nomination.

GRANTS

2019 IKEA Stiftung.

2019 HERA (Humanities in the European Reseach Area), partner, with ETH Wohn Forum and University of Copenhagen (project leader).

2015 Pro Helvetia

2005 Mouving Up

2004 Fondazione Bevilacqua la Masa

[onceptual)evices Triangolar Design Manifesto (2008)

00_ DESIGN SHOULD NOT BE BASED ON FORMAL PRINCIPLES – BUT ALWAYS ON AN IDEA OF SOCIETY.

01_ DESIGNED FORMS REPRESENT POSSIBLE SOCIAL ORDERS AND A LOT OF THEIR CONTRADICTIONS.

02_ DESIGN IS EVERYTHING. ANYTHING COULD BE DESIGNED. EVERYONE IS A DESIGNER.

03_ DESIGN ALLOWS SOCIAL INNOVATIONS. OFTEN IT IS NOT MADE BY DESIGNERS.

04_ DESIGN HAS NOT SCALE. IT COULD BE SMALL AND HAVE GREAT IMPACT.

05_ DESIGN IS NOT AN INNOCENT PRACTICE. DESIGNERS ARE WICKED.

06_ DESIGN SHOULD ENGAGE PEOPLE AND INTERACT WITH THEM.

07_ DESIGN IS AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPLIED SCIENCE.

08_ DESIGN IS A FRAGMENT OF A CONCRETE UTOPIA.

09_ DESIGN PRODUCES CRITICAL AWARENESS.

10_ DESIGN MAKES YOU THINK.

11_ DESIGN EMPOWERS.

12_ DESIGN!

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