Open Building Research

Architectural work in dialogue with different disciplines

Founded by Paolo Brescia and Tommaso Principi as a design network between Milan, London and Mumbai, OBR explores new modes of contemporary living, developing an architecture that responds sensitively to and stimulates interaction with its environment, while adapting to the changing needs of society. OBR’s work strives to promote a sense of community enhancing individual identities. In this book, the architects present their work as a communal endeavor. They engage influential people in transdisciplinary dialogues that extend beyond architecture itself, questioning its autonomy and offering new perspectives on its potential and relevance. The monograph showcases a selection of twenty-four international projects by OBR that address key social issues through the medium of architecture.

• The first monograph on OBR’s work
• Selection of 24 international projects presented in texts, plans and photographs
• Transdisciplinary dialogues with Roni Horn, Michel Desvigne, Giovanna Borasi, and Georges Amar

Paolo Brescia and Tommaso Principi, architects and founding partners of OBR Open Building Research, Milan

Among the best-known works: Pythagoras Museum, the New Galleria Sabauda in Turin, the Milanofiori Residential Complex, the Children Hospital in Parma, the Galliera Hospital in Genoa, the Lido of Genoa, the Ex Cinema Roma, the Triennale di Milano Terrace, Lehariya Cluster in Jaipur, the Jafza Traders Market in Dubai and the Multiuse Complex Ahmad Qasir in Teheran.

OBR’s projects have been featured in Venice Biennale of Architecture, Royal Institute of British Architects in London, Bienal de Arquitetura of Brasilia, MAXXI in Rome and Triennale di Milano.

OBR has been awarded the AR Award for Emerging Architecture at RIBA, the Plusform under 40, the Urbanpromo at the 11° Biennale di Venezia, the honourable mention for the Medaglia d’Oro all’Architettura Italiana, the Europe 40 Under 40 in Madrid, the Leaf Award overall winner in London, the WAN Residential Award, the Building Healthcare Award, the Inarch Award for Italian Architecture and the American Architecture Prize in New York.