Both this and the next issue of Compasses will take a look at emerging new architectural talents around the globe. Though it is unlikely they will replace the protagonists of the Star System any time soon, it is impossible not to notice three things. The first is that, from multiple directions there appears to be a growing dissatisfaction with the buildings of the many Frank O. Gehry’s, Zaha Hadid’s, Daniel Libeskind’s and Rem Koolhaas’s. Dissatisfaction with a repetitive and iconic architecture that, for many, is always the same and above all incapable of dialoguing with local context. The second observation is generational. Various architects of the Star System have surpassed or are on the threshold of the eighty-year mark. Frank O. Gehry was born in 1929, Peter Eisenman in 1932, Alvaro Siza in 1933, Renzo Piano in 1937. What is more, the younger ones are close to seventy: in fact, with the exception of Zaha Hadid, born in 1950 and thus sixty-two, the others were all born in the early 1940s: Rem Koolhaas, Bernard Tschumi, Massimiliano Fuksas and Thom Mayne were all born in 1944. The third item is economic: we live in a period of crisis and it is increasingly less possible that the near future will provide the funds necessary to realise big budget architectural dreams. Furthermore, a growing number of corporations, independent of their available economic resources, prefer to insert themselves within an urban context in low profile situations. One response to these observations could be that the great stars have infinite capacities to renew themselves and their repertory and that in architecture, as Frank Lloyd Wright demonstrated by designing masterpieces at the age of 92, age doesn't count and the crisis is not affecting every country in the world and that, what is more, there are some - China, India and Brazil, to mention only three – with economies in rapid expansion. What is certain is that a new and younger generation of protagonists is making its way to centre stage. Some were trained in the offices of the great stars. Others identified their own individual path of research, though always with a base education in those select schools that have become the source of so much new talent in recent years: Architectural Association in London, the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam, Columbia University in New York, the ETH in Zurich and Sci-Arch in Los Angeles. What characterises the work of these new talents? A stylistic plurality. Even more than in the research of the stars that preceded them, the new protagonists avoid becoming trapped by precise formulas. There is also a tendency to test all possible lines of research. Some work with the new technologies of so-called parametric architecture; others with poor technologies and recycled materials. Others still pursue the poetic of simplicity. Some are influenced by minimalism. Each, in his or her own way, seeks to create sustainable and ecologically responsible architecture. All of them create an unmistakable sense of place, presented as non- place: in fact, they wish to become the new stars, though without making it too obvious. This does not mean they do not share common traits. Moving past the differences, one discovers that many of their design techniques are similar. For example, today it is more common to work with paratactic unions, that is, comprised of the sum of different objects, than to pursue syntactic criteria. A number of compositional schemes are recurring: for example the union of elementary geometric figures, each with its own iconic allusions. Finally, there is no shortage of references to the work of the Star System. While some of the latter – for example Peter Eisenman or Rem Koolhaas – live in a mannerist condition, each of these new talents plays in an eclectic one. And yes, eclecticism is a lack of precise rules, but it is also a continuous reference, with freedom and without the anxieties of mannerism, to the rules to those who came before them. Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi and Anna Baldini

COMPASSES HOTEL ROOM - Compasses Architecture and Design is the official media partner of the Hotel Show 2012 in Dubai. For this event we are looking for innovative projects of hotel rooms that will characterize next generation hotels.

The Hotel Show is the only exhibition for the hospitality industry, providing a unique networking and sourcing platform within the region. The event gathers over 14,800 hospitality professionals for 3 days of intensive business networking, industry awards, conferences and hospitality functions. With its proven track record of delivery, spanning 13 years, The Hotel Show is the largest hospitality supplies event for the Middle East and North Africa region.

Qatar opens the GCC countries gates to the "Made in Italy". With the first edition of the exhibition dedicated exclusively to the Italian interior and exterior design for any kind of space or environment, Qatar opens to Italian manufacturers a preferential lane to widen the propagation of the "Made in Italy" style.