BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Born in Thiene (Vicenza) in 1943, graduated at the University Institute of Architecture of Venice (IUAV) in 1968, with Giuseppe Samonà. From 1973 he was appointed, then associate professor of Architectural Composition at the IUAV, and  from 1990 ordinary professor of Architectural and Urban Design at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Genoa. In the first half of the seventies he participated in the research and teaching activities of the IUAV Architecture Group, founded by Aldo Rossi and Carlo Aymonino; in Genoa he directed a three-year research doctorate.
His projects and writings have been published in the main Italian and foreign architecture magazines, in collective books and monographs; the project for the Berlin Castle is the subject of numerous books, articles and interviews also in the main international newspapers and magazines..
His projects have been presented in exhibitions, such as:  the Clear and the AAM Gallery in Rome, the Revoltella Museum in Trieste, the Venice Biennale, the Milan Triennale, the  Center Pompidou in Paris; the project of the Berliner Schloss has been presented in numerous European and non-European cities.
He was a jury member of the two main competitions - "Spreebogen" (1993) and "Spreeinsel" (1994) - for the return of Berlin as Capital of the reunited Germany.
Since 1975 he has owned a professional studio in Vicenza and since 2009 also in Berlin, with the task of reconstruction / new construction of the Berlin Palace for the Humboldt Forum.

PROJECTS

Projects for competitions and exibitions

- Reconstruction of the central areas in Karlsruhe, 1970;

- Monument to the Resistance in Piazza Einaudi in Milan, 1971;

- Piazza in the centre of Ancona, 1978 (mentioned project);

- Halles district in Paris, 1979; - Lützowplatz in Berlin, 1981;

- Bastille Opera House in Paris, 1983 (awarded project);

- Natural History Museum in Rome,1983 (“Consultation on Rome”, by invitation);

- Monument for the Bicentenary of the French Revolution in Paris, 1987 (mentioned project);

- Carré, Rondell, Oktogon: three residential blocks for Berlin, 1988 (Exhibition “Berlin Denk-mal oder Denk-modell? ”, Kunsthalle Berlin);

- Hypogeum Museum of the Five Orders of Architecture in Paris, 1989 (Exhibition "Paris. Architecture et utopie", Pavillon de l'Arsenal);

- Nara Convention Hall, 1991;

- Projects for the Potsdam Center, 1991, (International Seminar);

- Town Hall and Piazza di Maserà di Padova, 1991(first prize);

- Bank and shopping mall in the Centre of Potsdam, 1994 (by invitation);

- New city on the outskirts of Milan, 1994 (Exibition “Il centro Altrove”,Triennale di Milano);

- Pappelallee district in Potsdam, 1994

- Chancellery of the FRG in Berlin, 1994;

- New city-suburb of Biesdorf-Süd in Berlin, 1994 (by invitation);

- Federal Labor Court in Erfurt, 1995;

- Expansion of the Costanza Hostel, 1996 (mentioned project);

- Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin, 1996;

- Reconstruction of a Palladian house in Potsdam, 1996 (second prize);

- Piazza and urban park in San Donato Milanese, 1997;

- EUR Congress Center in Rome, 1998;

- Arrangement and extension of the Padua Fair, 1998 (winner project);

- New urban center of Modena Nord, 2002;

- School complex in Capiago, 2003;

- Proposal for an archaeological square in Piazza Duomo in Vicenza, 2003;

- Central Library of the Humboldt University in Berlin, 2004;

- Center of Culture and Congresses in Regensburg, 2006;

- Piazza-Teatro facing the sea in Crotone, 2006 ( for the "10. Mostra di Architettura della Biennale di Venezia");

- Extension of the Asplund Public Library in Stockholm, 2006;

- Berliner Schloss / Humboldt Forum, 2008 (first prize);

- Townhouse and urban villa in the Centre of Potsdam, 2012 (first prize);

- Hospital and Campus in Padua, 2015 (for the "Workshop Internazionale Di Architettura, Padova 2015");

 

built projects

- Office buildings Estel in Thiene, 1972-1986;

- Middle school in Sarcedo, 1972-75;

- Middle school in Arzignano, 1976-79;

- Elementary school in Longare (partial construction), 1976-80;

- Elementary school in Valli del Pasubio (partial construction), 1977-81;

- Elementary school in Piovene, 1978-89;

- Urban villa in Thiene 1987-90;

- Multi-family House in Potsdam-Kirchsteigfeld, 1996;

- Renovation of a school and holiday house in Cortina d'Ampezzo, 2000-2003;

- Two exhibition Pavilions of the Padua Fair, 1998-2002;

- Townhouse and urban Villa in the centre of Potsdam, 2012-2020;

- Two houses in the centre of Thiene, 2017-20;

- Berlin Palace / Humboldt Forum, 2008-2020

 

Note: The names of any collaborators are indicated in the presentation of each individual project

BOOKS

by  Franco Stella

  • Un edificio scolastico, Clear, 1981;
  • Progetti per il Marktplatz di Weimar, Cluva, 1985;
  • Progetti di architettura 1970-1990, ed.by Francesco Moschini, Ed. Kappa, 1991;
  • L’architettura dell’isolato residenziale. Esperienze didattiche, E.r.s.u., 1994;
  • Progetti per la Fiera di Padova, ed. by Valter Balducci, Il Poligrafo, 2005;
  • Franco Stella, Motta Editore, 2005;
  • Progetti degli studenti. 10 tesi di laurea 1996-2006, Edizioni Kappa, 2007;
  • Ausgewählte Schriften und Entwürfe / Scritti e progetti scelti, DOM Publisher, Berlin 2010;
  • Progetti di piazze e strade. Progetti didattici 2011/2012, ed. by Tomaso Lanteri e Luciano Mazzone, Aracne editrice, 2013.

on the Berliner Schloss

  • Schloss Berlin/Humboldt-Forum. Realisierungswettbewerb 2008, ed. by the Ministry of Construction of the FRG, 2009;
  • Thomas Flierl, Hermann Parzinger, Humboldt Forum Berlin. Das Projekt, Theater der Zeit 2009;
  • Peter Stephan, Franco Stella. Das Humboldt-Forum als moderner Weiterbau des Berliner  Schlosses, DOM publisher, 2010;
  • AA.VV. Progetti italiani per il Castello di Berlino, Diabasis, 2010;
  • Stiftung Berliner Schloss, Rekonstruktion am Beispiel Berliner Schloss aus kunsthistorischer Sicht, ed. by Manfred Rettig, Steiner Verlag, 2011;
  • Rainer Haubrich, Das neue Berliner Schloss, Nicolai, 2012;
  • AA.VV. Das Humboldt-Forum im Berliner Schloss, ed. by Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Hirmer, 2013; 
  • Friedrich Dieckmann, Vom Schloß der Könige zum Forum der Republik, Theater der Zeit, 2015; 
  • Horst Bredekamp, Klaus Schuster, Das Humbolt-Forum. Die Wiedergewinnung der Idee, Wagenbach, 2016; 
  • Kitty Kleist-Heinrich, Das neue Berliner Schloss, berlin edition in be.bra verlag, 2020.