This new book by Labics, one of Italy’s leading architectural firms, is devoted to the country’s architecture of public space. Squares, galleries, loggias, porticoes, and courtyards are the elements that characterise Italy's historic towns and cities — and that make the experience of these public spaces intense and attractive. Labics sets out to explore these enchanting spaces, to analyse their history and typologies, and to document and describe them through newly produced photographs, plans, and diagrams. They offer a taxonomy of solutions that, as a whole, forms a timeless theory for the design of public spaces. The Architecture of Public Space features a captivating collection of image material that visually decodes these characteristic core elements of Italian architecture and specifies their role in the definition of public space. The volume highlights the architectural solutions from the 13th to the 20th centuries that produce the particular spatial quality of these urban structures and sets out how they were originally established for and are continuing to be used by the people.

Labics, based in Rome, is a leader among Italy's up-and-coming architecture firms and has gained great international acclaim for submissions to competitions and a number of realised projects. This first-ever monograph on Labic's fast growing, impressive body of work features some twenty of their designs, representing the entire range of the firm's achievements. The selection comprises housing and office buildings, museums and cultural centres, schools, public spaces, and subway stations, located in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, Iran, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, and the UK. All are documented with atmospheric photographs and a wealth of plans and diagrams to illustrate the concept and many details of each project. Structure, in a variety of notions of the term, is guiding Labic's approach. Consequently, the book is arranged in five chapters exploring geometric, bearing, circulation, public space, and urban and territorial structures in topical essays. This provides the frame for the featured projects, all of which exemplify the importance of the respective type of structure for Labic's work.