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Natalini Superstudio collection

 Collection
Call Number: GEN MSS 796

Scope and Contents

The Natalini Superstudio Collection documents the career of Adolfo Natalini and the experimental group Superstudio. There is also abundant material relating to other radical architectural groups and projects of the 1960s and 1970s, including Archigram, Archizoom, 9999, and Global Tools. The collection consists of both manuscript and printed material. The former includes original drawings, collages, photographs, and artwork as well as typescript or mimeographed circulars and documents relating to Superstudio's activities and conceptual projects from 1967, as well as Natalini's individual development and architectural work continuing after the group's dissolution in 1986. Printed material includes exhibition catalogs, manifestos, posters, and articles published in avant-garde architectural and design journals as well as interviews, conference proceedings, and monographs about the work of Natalini and Superstudio through the mid-2000s.

Dates

  • 1967 - 2012

Creator

Language of Materials

Chiefly in Italian; some materials in English and German.

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Natalini Superstudio Collection is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased from Argenario Studio Bibliografico on the Edwin J. Beinecke Book Fund, 2011, 2012.

Arrangement

Organized into two groupings: March 2011 Acquisition; September 2012 Acquisition.

Extent

4.09 Linear Feet ((6 boxes) + 11 broadsides)

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.superstudio

Abstract

The Natalini Superstudio Collection documents the career of Adolfo Natalini and the experimental group Superstudio. There is also abundant material relating to other radical architectural groups and projects of the 1960s and 1970s, including Archigram, Archizoom, 9999, and Global Tools. The collection consists of both manuscript and printed material. The former includes original drawings, collages, photographs, and artwork as well as typescript or mimeographed circulars and documents relating to Superstudio's activities and conceptual projects from 1967, as well as Natalini's individual development and architectural work continuing after the group's dissolution in 1986. Printed material includes exhibition catalogs, manifestos, posters, and articles published in avant-garde architectural and design journals as well as interviews, conference proceedings, and monographs about the work of Natalini and Superstudio through the mid-2000s.

Superstudio

Superstudio was an experimental Italian architecture collective founded by Adolfo Natalini and Cristiano Toraldo di Francia in Florence and active from 1966-1978.

Adolfo Natalini

Adolfo Natalini (1941-2020) was an Italian architect, artist, and designer. He co-founded the experimental group Superstudio with Cristiano Toraldo di Francia and others in Florence in 1966.

Processing Information

Descriptions of printed items in the collection are derived from and linked to individual records in the library catalog. Descriptions of non-print items are adapted from the dealer catalog and are are not cataloged separately. Items from the March 2011 Acquisition are identified by the number assigned in the dealer catalog created by Argenario Studio Bibliografico, which is included in Box 1, Folder 1.

Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections as they are acquired, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.

This collection received a basic level of processing, including rehousing and minimal organization. Various acquisitions associated with the collection have not been merged and organized as a whole. Each acquisition is described separately in the contents list below and titled according to month and year of acquisition.

This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.

Title
Guide to the Natalini Superstudio Collection
Status
Under Revision
Date
May 2014
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository

Contact:
P. O. Box 208330
New Haven CT 06520-8330 US
(203) 432-2977

Location

121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Opening Hours

Access Information

The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.