Atelier(s) Alfonso Femia

Although Alfonso Femia was born in Reggio Calabria, he spends his life "leaving and returning" between Genoa and Milan in a singular, ongoing trip. He graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Genoa and is a member of the Order of Architects of Genoa, Île-de-France and Swiss Architects.

He has been an architectural design professor at the Faculty of Architecture in Ferrara, the Faculty of Architecture in Genoa, and Kent State University in Florence. Established in 1995, he went on to found 5+1AA in 2005 and 5+1AA Paris in 2007.

His work has been published in national and international magazines, and he has won multiple international contests.

He has had visiting professorships in prestigious universities in Italy and other countries. In 2015, he founded 500×100 and created 500x100Talk "the city as an instrument of dialogue", a place for meeting and discussion on the topic of cities structured in two formats conducted with journalist Giorgio Tartaro: SetTalk, held in Milan, and CityTalk, held in major cities across Europe and the Mediterranean.

He creates "research around matter" to enable him to work on design projects with global firms, and he investigates subjects pertaining to light, wood, cardboard, ceramics, glass, and biodynamic cement with AF*design.

Recent residential projects in Paris, Brescia, and the new BNL/BNP Paribas offices in Rome are characterized by several products that are the result of the application of three-dimensional ceramic design to architecture. He creates a "Mediterranean bestiary" in ceramics with the help of artist Danilo Trogu and his wonderful poetics, which brings life to the Asnières-sur-Seine homes in Paris, the OGR in Turin, and the Docks in Marseilles.

In 2017, he renamed 5+1AA at Atelier(s) Alfonso Femia as AF517 and developed "L'Entre Deux," a format that examines the transformation of cities.

He enjoys odd numbers, the South, and a group of girls and boys who, since 1995, have shared his belief in this "voyage" to discover and learn about the globe via interactions with cities and architectural design, all while carrying a smile and a new traveling companion named "la balæna and its star".

The journey inside the journey