Like Arte Povera, Radical Architecture was a movement that came about in Italy in the late 1960s, born from a desire to question already established concepts and from a rejection of hitherto hermetic boundaries between disciplines. Several artists who were forerunners of Arte Povera maintained a close relation with this field and, in return, Radical Architecture established connections with the art world. Gianni Pettena, who was one of its leading figures, illustrates that new porous phenomenon in a climactic way. An architect by training, as well as a critic, teacher, and co-founder of “Global Tools” (1973–75), the Anarchitetto (Guaraldi, 1972) was influenced by post-minimal, conceptual, and land art. His radical practice, which resists being pigeonholed, is close to these movements, even though it refers explicitly to the architectural field.
