Massimiliano Fuksas has always approached architecture as an act of exploration — a way of crossing the world without barriers, carrying with him ideas, encounters, and visions. Raised between Rome and Austria in a family of Lithuanian and Jewish origin, he learned early on the value of movement, change, and the breaking of boundaries.
Born in Rome in 1944, he graduated in Architecture from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” in 1969. As a young man, he seemed destined for painting: in the studio of Giorgio de Chirico, he observed, experimented, and sold his own paintings to support himself. But it was a maternal decree that changed his path — he had to attend university. Impulsively, almost by chance, he chose Architecture.
In Rome, fate introduced him to poet Giorgio Caproni, with whom he developed a deep connection. In London, working with the visionary group Archigram, he discovered a form of architecture free from academic and conventional constraints. Around the same time, the revolutionary spirit of 1968 took hold, and Fuksas was on the front lines: he took part in the clashes at Valle Giulia and supported the struggles of the shepherds in Pratobello against land expropriation.
From London to Copenhagen, where he worked with Jorn Utzon, to Paris, where he opened his own studio and taught at the École Spéciale d’Architecture with a radical approach — “to teach architecture, you must teach yourself” — his international career took off. Yet, nomadism remained his existential signature. For him, only those who are not anchored to a place can truly understand the world.
Since the 1980s, Fuksas has been one of the leading figures on the international architectural scene. He has held several prominent positions: from 1994 to 1997 he served on the Urban Planning Commissions of Berlin and Salzburg; from 1998 to 2000 he directed the “VII International Architecture Exhibition of Venice” titled Less Aesthetics, More Ethics. His work has been recognized with numerous honors, including the “Vitruvio International a la Trayectoria” in Buenos Aires (1998), the Grand Prix National d’Architecture Française (1999), the Honorary Fellowship of the AIA in Washington D.C. (2002), the RIBA Honorary Fellowship in London (2006), the Légion d’Honneur in France (2010), and the Global Lithuanian Award for Art and Culture in Vilnius (2012).
Fuksas is the author of iconic works such as La Nuvola in Rome’s EUR district and the Peres Center for Peace in Jaffa. His architecture is rooted in the encounter with the “other” — a personal philosophy that informs all of his work. For him, architecture is not just about form. It is lived space, a political gesture, a human relationship. Above all, it is an act of generosity.
In parallel with his design work, Fuksas has played a key role in promoting architectural culture. From 2000 to 2015, he wrote the architecture column for the Italian magazine L’Espresso, founded by Bruno Zevi, and from 2014 to 2015 he co-edited the design column for La Repubblica with his wife Doriana Fuksas. He has been a visiting professor at several prestigious institutions, including Columbia University in New York, the École Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris, the Akademie der Bildenden Kunste in Vienna, and the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Kunste in Stuttgart.
Over the years, he has devoted special attention to studying the urban challenges of large metropolitan areas, continuing to explore the world with the open-minded curiosity of someone who knows that architecture is, above all, a way of inhabiting change.