Federico Italiano Profile picture
Poet & curator | Professor at @SapienzaRoma | Books by @DonzelliEditore @hanserliteratur @routledgebooks
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Oct 19 22 tweets 11 min read
Vernacular architecture

1. Bedouin tents in Morocco Image Drawings by Spanish anthropologist, historian, linguist Julio Caro Baroja (1914–1995), from his book 'Estudios saharianos' (1955) Image
Oct 14 10 tweets 4 min read
The accidental dystopian beauty of oil rigs

1. Brage oil field, located in the North Sea 120 km northwest of the city of Bergen. Photo by David Hecker Image 2. The Cormorant Alpha platform, located 161 kilometres north east of Lerwick, Shetland, Scotland Image
Oct 5 4 tweets 2 min read
A deer-maid from the Tsaatan tribe in Mongolia as photographed by explorer, photographer and filmmaker Hamid Sardar-Afkhami Image “We exist in relation to three things,” a Duhalar shaman told Hamid Sardar, “the forest, wild animals, and our ancestor spirits. Once we lose the connection to these things, we invite demons to take hold of our destiny” doorofperception.com/2019/10/hamid-…
Sep 21 4 tweets 3 min read
Just a reminder that Hariton Pushwagner's visual novel ‘Soft City’ (1969–1975) is one of the most astounding depictions of dystopian, alienating reiteration


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The narrative of Soft City is deeply rooted in traditional dystopian science fiction. While it recalls the societal divide of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and the aesthetic of Blade Runner, as well as Hilberseimer’s imagery in Großstadt, Terje Brofos (Pushwagner’s birth name) drew his primary inspiration from the dystopian visions of novelist Axel Jensen, whose works he illustratedImage
Aug 17 10 tweets 8 min read
Here are my ten current favourite landscape painters from the 1950s to the present (not exactly in order of preference, but close...)

1. Jean-Pierre Ugarte (born 1950)


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2. Nigerian painter Abiodun Olaku (born 1958)


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Apr 21 13 tweets 5 min read
The unintentional dystopia of dams, sluices, and watergates

1. The Hoover Dam, Black Canyon (1934)

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2. Xiluodu Dam, Yangtze River, Yunnan Province, China (2012) as photographed by Edward Burtynsky Image
Apr 15 9 tweets 8 min read
These are my twelve favourite landscape painters from the 1950s to the present (not entirely in order of preference, but almost...)

1. Jean-Pierre Ugarte (born 1950)


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2. Nigerian painter Abiodun Olaku (born 1958)


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Apr 14 4 tweets 2 min read
Beautiful relics from the future past: 1980s ex-Yugoslavian 'Modularni kiosk'


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Sources: @/rememberingyugoslavia and @/leksikonyumitologije
Apr 4 22 tweets 11 min read
Just a reminder that the Mazda MX-81 Aria has the most incredible steering wheel I've ever seen


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Design by Bertone, of course Image
Mar 26 37 tweets 19 min read
Vernacular architecture

1. Bedouin tents in MoroccoImage Drawings by Spanish anthropologist, historian, linguist Julio Caro Baroja (1914–1995), from his book 'Estudios saharianos' (1955) Image
Feb 29 10 tweets 5 min read
Interpretation of Calvino's Le città invisibili, published in Italy in 1972 and two year later in English as Invisible Cities

1. Gérard Trignac’s wondrous illustrationsImage
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2. Illustrations by David Fleck

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Feb 28 15 tweets 8 min read
Interpretation of Jorge Luis Borges's 'La biblioteca de Babel' (1941)

1. Andrew DeGraff
(from 'Plotted: A Literary Atlas', 2015)


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2. Concept by brother-sister duo Kate Bernheimer (writer) and Andrew Bernheimer (architect). Illustration by Rice+Lipka Architects (2013). More here placesjournal.org/article/fairy-…



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Feb 28 6 tweets 4 min read
In a galaxy far, far away...

between J. M. W. Turner's sky studies and the overlapping planes of Analytical Cubism

The gorgeous space art of John Berkey (1932–2008)Image
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I probably should have added that they are oil paintings—to be precise, a combination of oil and casein typical of Berkey's art Image
Feb 25 4 tweets 2 min read
Hyperbolic dystopias in the paintings of Michael Kerbow


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Feb 16 5 tweets 2 min read
Regarding cinematic quality avant la lettre, 150 years ago, Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847–1915) began crafting woodblock compositions that profoundly influenced filmmakers of the 20th century


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Feb 14 8 tweets 3 min read
Augustus Knapp's illustrations for the science fiction novel 'Etidorhpa; or, The End of the Earth' (1895) by John Uri Lloyd

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The title, 'Etidorhpa', is the backward spelling of the name 'Aphrodite' Image
Feb 3 10 tweets 4 min read
Utsuro-bune, a mysterious ship-like object that appeared on the Japanese coast in 1803.

According to legend, a young & attractive woman came aboard this ship. Fisherman questioned her, but she was shy and did not speak Japanese—so they returned her and her vessel to the sea


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'Utsuro' derives from the Japanese term meaning 'hollow' and combines with '-bune', which translates to 'boat.' So: the hollow-boat... Records of this incident can be found in four texts: Oushuku Zakki (1815), Toen Shōsetsu (1825), Hyōryū Kishū (1835), and Ume-no-chiri (1844). Image
Feb 1 9 tweets 3 min read
The Sibley breaker, Pennsylvania, as captured in 1886, destroyed by fire on June 23, 1906 Image William A. colliery, Lackawanna, Pennsylvania Image
Aug 30, 2023 12 tweets 4 min read
Alternative thread of cities seen from above

1. Ronda, Spain, as photographed by James Relf-Dyer

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2. Grammichele, Catania, Sicily Image
May 31, 2023 16 tweets 6 min read
The Ambiguous Aesthetics of Factories

1. Factories by Japanese photographer Tetsurou Kobayashi. A few more here instagram.com/p/Cs54QcNqUpu/… ImageImageImage Photograph by Tetsurou Kobayashi Image
Apr 25, 2023 15 tweets 6 min read
The unintentional dystopian beauty of oil rigs

1. Brage oil field, located in the North Sea 120 km northwest of the city of Bergen Image 2. The Cormorant Alpha platform, located 161 kilometres north east of Lerwick, Shetland, Scotland Image