Each year, thousands of tourists flock to the Italian region of Tuscany to view works of architectural mastery. Renowned architectural figures such as Michelangelo and Brunelleschi transformed Tuscan cities to be stages of cultural rebirth during the 14th-17th century. These times, however, have passed. Today, Tuscany is faced with problems such as the decline of suburbs, abandoned buildings, and property speculation. The modern Italian architecture scene is in decline, and the country is experiencing an oversupply of architects, requiring many to emigrate in search of work.
Can the spirits of these Renaissance architectural masterminds be emulated today in modern Tuscany? This is exactly the topic that cultural association 120g explores in their new documentary, Tuscanyness. The film depicts how this nature of cultural rebirth is alive today through the architects born and educated in the Tuscan region. Here, emerging architects have the unique opportunity to listen to the teachings of the past to inform the architecture of the future.
Tuscanyness will premiere on September 14 in Pisa, Italy at the Cinema essai Arsenale. The documentary will then tour around Europe, showing at the Sweden Architecture Film Festival on October 6 and in Lisbon, Portugal at the Lisbon Architecture Triennale on October 14.