Monica Prencipe

«Inscape» (Indoor landscape) is a word coined on the pages of Architectural Review magazine in 1966, ironically reviewed by Zevi, but frequently used aft er that to revive the idea of a non-linear continuity between architecture and design. The definition of «Urbatecture» belongs to the same period (thanks to architect Jan Lubicz-Nycz) and was used by Zevi in turn to synthesize and re-connect the two sectors of architecture and urban planning, and as a guideline to use to gradually recompose controversy, references and attempts at interpretation. The goal Zevi sought to achieve was to merge architecture and urban planning, as well as industrial and interior design, into the realm of architecture alone, de facto doing away with the two pillars of Rogers’ well-known slogan «from the spoon to the city».
This mission, which he pursued throughout his life as a militant critic,
sometimes concerned the design and the production of objects, especially
furniture, though almost exclusively in his contributions to non-specialist
publications. Here, the need for stringent topicality also led him to follow
celebrations of design, such as awards, exhibitions and conferences, and
to use this framework – though he took every opportunity to criticize it,
sometimes violently – to illustrate his position, exploiting the growing success of design and its appeal to the generalist public.