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exist that are capable of changing from high insulation to Iow, from opaque to transparent, that can react organically to the environment, respond to the daily en-vironmental cyde and transform themselves through the seasons. The futurę is here, but its impaa on architecture is only just beginning."⁴¹

The Milanese architect Aldo Rossi, born in 1931, and known for his rather radical political views and for a certain Post-Modern taste, built two notable structures in recent years. His Maastricht Museum is a large exhibition hall located in a former faaory area on the banks of the Maas River. Its central, metallic element has been compared in form by critics to a coffee pot, but the essential inspiration of this structure comes from the early twentieth century industrial architecture of the area, which has been for the most part razed. His Palazzo Hotel, located in Fukuoka,

Japan, is a different matter. Here. amidst the typical visual chaos of the Japanese urban environment, in the Haruyoshi area, he has erected a seven-story hotel whose facade, covered in marble and copper, contains no apparent Windows. This unex-pected, almost funerary design gives the structure a kind of calm, imposing pres-ence. Initially intended as the starting point for the renewal of a larger area, the Palazzo Hotel is a fascinating attempt at collaborative design. Within Rossi's architecture. Caetano Pesce, Ettore Sottsass, Shiro Kuramata and Alfredo Arribas have designed bars and discoth&ques. Unfortunately the promoter Matsuhiro Kuzuwa, who had the vision to cali on this exceptional group of creators, was not able to pursue his larger plans, but the Palazzo remains a witness to the openness of some Japanese clients and the inventiveness of European architecture and design.

Whereas Rossi's Palazzo bears the evident signs of ample construction and

218 Outlook