Focus on | Amedeo Schiattarella
Amsterdam 04/03/2026
Architecture
is never neutral
On 4 March 2026, at the Italian Cultural Institute in Amsterdam, Listone Giordano, Seed Festival and IN/ARCH – the Italian National Institute of Architecture, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute, hosted a public lecture by architect Amedeo Schiattarella. The event marked one of the international milestones leading towards the fourth edition of Seed Festival, centred on the theme Humanity.
At the heart of the evening was a timely question: what responsibility does architecture have in shaping the future of our communities? For Schiattarella, architecture is never a neutral act. Every building, public space and design decision embodies a cultural, social and ethical position. Architecture therefore becomes a tool for creating relationships, preserving identity and contributing to the construction of peace.
Architecture is not a neutral act. It is not simply a technicality, nor is it an aesthetic exercise for its own sake. It is, first and foremost, an act of civic responsibility and a powerful language of peace. Designing means taking a stand: bringing to light an ethical vision of “making space” that rejects the standardisation of globalisation in favour of a profound compatibility with the genius loci.
Amedeo Schiattarella
Drawing on research, professional practice and international experience – from his reflections on the concept of emptiness to projects developed across Europe, South Korea and Saudi Arabia – Schiattarella demonstrated how meaningful design begins with listening: to places, to climate and to people, rather than reproducing standardised models or globalised architectural languages.
The Amsterdam event anticipated one of the central themes of Seed Festival 2026: reflecting on what it means to be human in an age shaped by artificial intelligence, environmental transformation and profound social change. In this context, the ethics of architecture concerns not only architects, but everyone involved in imagining cities, landscapes and ways of living that are more just, sustainable and conscious.
The lecture brought together architects, designers, students, researchers and citizens in an open dialogue, reaffirming Seed’s role as an international cultural platform where design, architecture and critical thinking become essential tools for understanding the present and shaping the future.
Amedeo Schiattarella
Amedeo Schiattarella graduated in Architecture from La Sapienza University in Rome in 1969.
From the outset of his career, he distinguished himself for his independence from the cultural context of research and architecture of those years, embarking on his own experimental path inspired by the Modern Movement. This research methodology is still one of the key elements that characterise his entire body of work: a project is born from the redefinition of content and its reorganisation into a programmatic design on which architectural choices are based. At the limit of the interactions between content and form, he carries out an almost artisanal experimentation which, with the easy dismantling of parts of building components and their reassembly, establishes new architectural complexes.
He has published numerous essays and books, including “Richard Neutra, 1892-1970”, in which he raises awareness of “Emptiness” and its centrality in architecture, the pause, the silence between sounds that give meaning, balance and unity to the composition as a whole. Functional and intermediate space becomes an architectural extension designed to encourage experiences, exchanges and relationships. Seeking constant integration with the context and people, Schiattarella’s architecture reveals an identity that stems from a sense of deep interaction with the territory, buildings and traditions of the place, in search of an experimental and contemporary design outcome.
He has always combined his professional commitments with equally intense research activity, participating in national and international competitions and working to spread architectural culture in the Italian and international community.