BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Born in Thiene (Vicenza) in 1943, graduated at the University Institute of Architecture of Venice (IUAV) in 1968, with Giuseppe Samonà. From 1973 he was appointed, then associate professor of Architectural Composition at the IUAV, and  from 1990 ordinary professor of Architectural and Urban Design at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Genoa. In the first half of the seventies he participated in the research and teaching activities of the IUAV Architecture Group, founded by Aldo Rossi and Carlo Aymonino; in Genoa he directed a three-year research doctorate.
His projects and writings have been published in the main Italian and foreign architecture magazines, in collective books and monographs; the project for the Berlin Castle is the subject of numerous books, articles and interviews also in the main international newspapers and magazines..
His projects have been presented in exhibitions, such as:  the Clear and the AAM Gallery in Rome, the Revoltella Museum in Trieste, the Venice Biennale, the Milan Triennale, the  Center Pompidou in Paris; the project of the Berliner Schloss has been presented in numerous European and non-European cities.
He was a jury member of the two main competitions - "Spreebogen" (1993) and "Spreeinsel" (1994) - for the return of Berlin as Capital of the reunited Germany.
Since 1975 he has owned a professional studio in Vicenza and since 2009 also in Berlin, with the task of rebuilding / new construction of the Berlin Palace (Berliner Schloss) for the Humboldt Forum.

PROJECTS

competition projects for major public works in the European cities

  • in Paris: Bastille Opéra House, 1983 (awarded project); Monument for the Bicentenary of the French Revolution, 1987 (awarded project); 
  • in Padua: Arrangement and extension of the Padua Fair, 1998 (first prize);
  • in Stockholm: Extension of the Asplund Public Library, 2006;
  • in Berlin: Chancellery of the FRG, 1994; New town of Biesdorf-Süd, 1994; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1996; Central Library of Humboldt University, 2004; Berliner Schloss / Humboldt-Forum, 2008 (first prize).

other awarded competition projects

  • Town Hall of Maserà di Padova, 1991 (first prize);
  • reconstruction of a Palladian house in Potsdam, 1996 (second prize);
  • town house and urban villa in the historic centre of Potsdam, 2011 (first prize).

built projects

  • six schools in Veneto;
  • office buildings, a uban villa and town houses in Thiene;
  • holiday house and school in Cortina d'Ampezzo; 
  • town houses and urban villa in Potsdam;
  • exhibition Pavilions of the Padua Fair;
  • Berliner Schloss / Humboldt-Forum in Berlin.

BOOKS

by  Franco Stella

  • Un edificio scolastico, Clear, 1981;
  • Progetti per il Marktplatz di Weimar, Cluva, 1985;
  • Progetti di architettura 1970-1990, ed.by Francesco Moschini), Ed. Kappa, 1991;
  • L’architettura dell’isolato residenziale. Esperienze didattiche, E.r.s.u. 1994;
  • Progetti per la Fiera di Padova, ed. by Valter Balducci, Il Poligrafo, 2005;
  • Franco Stella, Motta Editore, 2005;
  • Progetti degli studenti. 10 tesi di laurea 1996-2006, Edizioni Kappa, 2007;
  • Ausgewählte Schriften und Entwürfe / Scritti e progetti scelti, DOM Publisher, Berlin 2010;
  • Progetti di piazze e strade. Progetti didattici 2011/2012, ed. by Tomaso Lanteri e Luciano Mazzone, Aracne editrice, 2013.

on the Berliner Schloss

  • Schloss Berlin/Humboldt-Forum. Realisierungswettbewerb 2008, ed. by the Ministry of Construction of the FRG, 2009;
  • Thomas Flierl, Hermann Parzinger, Humboldt Forum Berlin. Das Projekt, Theater der Zeit 2009;
  • Peter Stephan, Franco Stella. Das Humboldt-Forum als moderner Weiterbau des Berliner  Schlosses, DOM publisher, 2010;
  • AA.VV. Progetti italiani per il Castello di Berlino, Diabasis, 2010;
  • Stiftung Berliner Schloss, Rekonstruktion am Beispiel Berliner Schloss aus kunsthistorischer Sicht, ed. by Manfred Rettig, Steiner Verlag, 2011;
  • Rainer Haubrich, Das neue Berliner Schloss, Nicolai, 2012;
  • AA.VV. Das Humboldt-Forum im Berliner Schloss, ed. by Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Hirmer, 2013; 
  • Friedrich Dieckmann, Vom Schloß der Könige zum Forum der Republik, Theater der Zeit 2015; 
  • Horst Bredekamp, Klaus Schuster, Das Humbolt-Forum. Die Wiedergewinnung der Idee, Wagenbach, 2016; 
  • Kitty Kleist-Heinrich, Das neue Berliner Schloss, berlin edition in be.bra verlag, 2020.