Library, Palermo

For some years now the work of Italo Rota has been enjoying growing success in Palermo, the fascinating, sun-drenched and lazy capital of the island of Sicily. Rota's first work here was the redesign of the Foro Italico Park, a vast lawn in the heart of the city, directly in front of the sea. Public appreciation for this project is primarily the result of the unusual decision to fill the space with object-toys that belong more to the world of sculpture than to those of design or architecture: coloured 'bowling pins' separate the park from the street that runs along its edge; wooden portals alternate with multicoloured totems, some of which are topped with busts, a reference to traditional Sicilian vases; mosaic tile-clad chaise lounges for sun bathing, which in form, if not in colour, are reminiscent of monumental tombs and, in particular, that of the still-adored Frederic of Svevia, buried in the city's cathedral.

What most pleases the Palermian imagination is undoubtedly the baroque spirit of these objects, which manage to be both cultured and popular. The park's attributes quickly became an attraction for local children and, as further proof of their acceptance and notwithstanding their delicacy, they have not yet been vandalized – highly unusual for public spaces in Southern Italy and more especially in a city such as Palermo where a refined culture (the city was one of the capitals of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and home to the island's aristocracy) co-exists with troubling forms of social and urban decay.

Rota's second project in Palermo was the design of the Port Cities exhibition organized in collaboration with the 2006 Venice Biennale. This experience offered Rota another opportunity to demonstrate the potential of his object-oriented and post-baroque approach. It is an approach that combines, in a highly successful bouillabaisse, the lessons of Italian architect-designers of the 1970s and '80s, such as Mendini and Sottsass, while simultaneously drawing, in an entirely original manner, on the Italian tradition of a cultured professional background that, in his case, is not without its post-modernist temptations. It should be mentioned that, during the course of his lengthy career, Italo Rota has worked in the offices of Franco Albini and Vittorio Gregotti, in addition to assisting Gae Aulenti during the construction of the Gare d'Orsay Museum in Paris.

After the City and the Biennale, Rota's third client in Palermo, for the work presented here, was the Sicilian Regional Government. The region of Sicily is an autonomous entity and, compared with its mainland counterparts, boasts a greater degree of legislative and financial independence that is manifested in cultural initiatives and prestigious works of architecture. In this particular case the commission was for the Library and Historical Archives of the Sicilian Parliament, located in the monumental complex of S. Elena and Costantino. The project was divided into two phases, the first of which was recently completed.

The problem faced, and skilfully resolved, by Rota is one that has plagued Italian architects for centuries: how to intervene in an architecturally and artistically important context, without being marginalized and, at the same time, without running the risk of permanently ruining the site by introducing irreversible contemporary elements. It should be noted that the latter is usually rendered impossible by the overly severe cultural heritage officials, who have the last word when it comes to Italy's architectural patrimony. The solution proposed by Rota is, in its simplicity, nothing short of brilliant. It consists of the creation of space through the addition of sculptural elements. The result is an enchanted garden where the new and the old come together and confront one another, while clearly retaining their autonomy.

There is also a surprising co-existence of elements from different figurative genres:  curved and square forms, multi-coloured elements and opaque and reflective finishes. Architecture – Rota suggests – must free itself of its Modernist and functionalist inhibitions, losing in efficiency what it gains in ludic terms, sensorial interest and fantasy. Rota's suggestions remind us of the ideas of the Situationist Constant, or the artists of the Dada Movement and, if we wish to go further back in time, the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch. In the end, Rota's style cannot simply be called post-baroque; we need to invent another term: post-everything. This term would also explain why Sicilians, who have lived in a post-everything environment for centuries, uniting masterpieces with kitsch and mixing the past with the future, have decided to adopt Rota, offering him the possibility to implement his own, silent, post-cultural revolution.