Federico DE MATTEIS: “Architecture should help people live better while interacting with others”
Federico De Matteis is an architect, a researcher and teacher at the CITERA research centre in Rome. He represents the Lead Partner university in the HOPUS Working Group, and he hopes to rethink how public decision makers and private developers cooperate through the development of “design codes”. He sees this tool for promoting quality urban development as a way to guarantee sustainable development.
Federico De Matteis approaches architecture like a science of the living. For him, you cannot have sustainable constructions if you do not have an approach that focuses on people. “Energy performance objectives for buildings should not be separated from what has an impact on the daily lives of residents. For me, architecture should not only improve places where people live, but also help people to live better while interacting with others.”
In his area of research—social housing—he applies this philosophy by constantly seeking quality in all its dimensions (town planning, design, materials, etc.), using a participative approach that involves public and private stakeholders and that calls on discussions and work done abroad. Federico De Matteis is involved and passionate about his subject, and contributes to numerous publications and conferences, in addition to being a member of the European Network for Housing Research.
In 2007, the municipality of Rome gave Federico De Matteis the opportunity to study in detail the factors and processes that determine the quality of urban housing. He and about twenty other researchers at CITERA developed a code of practice for new public housing developments in Rome. The goal is to provide private construction contractors with a document that imposes the quality standards to be respected and that gives recommendations.
“This is an innovative project, not only for Italy, but also for Europe, where these types of guidelines have only been limited to isolated initiatives.” For eight months, the team worked day and night to deliver a 500-page manual with both practical and flexible indications concerning town planning, building construction, spatial organisation and energy performance. The municipality of Rome approved the specifications at the end of 2007 and work began in February 2009.
Different cultures, different quality
Armed with this first successful experience, the CITERA team wanted to dig deeper into the methodology for developing this kind of tool. When URBACT launched a call for proposals in December 2007, the team grabbed the chance. CITERA is project leader for HOPUS and set up a cross-disciplinary working group made up of four other university and two local governance structures.
“It is really fascinating to be able to compare the work and research done in different countries.” Based on the observation that the idea of quality differs with one’s culture, HOPUS focuses on the beginning of the standards development process, notably on governance and mechanisms to get private businesses to approve such a tool. “One of the main hesitations developers have is the fear that construction will cost more. In order to provide them with tangible benefits, we are working on quality labelling systems. Our goal is for the buyer to be able to refer to precise criteria that guarantee quality.”
The Good Green Safe Affordable Housing study collects the first results of the HOPUS Working Group. In April, the group’s work will also be the object of a conference focussing on beauty and energy. We can certainly wager that Federico De Matteis’ communicative energy and the commitment of his partners will generate very high quality final results!