«Alfonso Femia, is the co-founder of 5+1 agency in 1995, in 2005 changes name and shape into 5+1AA srl and in 2017 turned into Atelier(s) Alfonso Femia. In 2007, with the creation of the agency in Paris, he develops the project themes in an “atelier” gathering three places characteristic of the identity of the three cities, Genoa, Milan and Paris, where a multidisciplinay team animates it as a unique place for project and thought, being feeded by the different characteristics and experiences of the three cities.
The Ateliers (s) address the theme of contemporaryity in the relationship between city, territory and architecture, building this relationship as a representation of reality. A visionary pragmatism that feeds reality with its own imaginary and asks the imaginary to come into contact with reality.
The perception and transformation of reality are the cornerstones of an idea of architecture as a body and aenigma, which is both realistic and emotional, pragmatic and sensual, shared and capable of creating wonder as a mechanism of knowledge. The research on the matter, characteristic of the latest projects made in Italy and France, is a fundamental part of a reaffirmation of matter as an empathetic dimension of architecture in the encounter with those who live or inhabit the architecture and the city. At the same time it is the generous will to reaffirm the importance of a close dialogue in the project chain, from the client to the craftsman. The Marseille Docks are a manifestation of the main themes of the Atelier(s) AF517: the Public/Private Relationship, the project as a place of destination, the dialogue as a project tool and the project as a tool of dialogue is the action that distinguishes the thought of the ‘Atelier(s) Femia, who believes in the project as a moment of encounter and confrontation, which is measured with time and in time and which makes the cronotopic dimension one of the objectives of the research.»
Among the most famous projects: the University Campus of Savona, the Ice Palace and the Ice Factory in Milan, and the Horizontal Tower, directional centre of Fieramilano in Rho.
In 2006 they opened an atelier in Milan, dedicated to the study and experimentation on the contemporary city. In the same year, Simonetta Cenci becomes partner of 5+1AA. In 2007 they developed the Master Plan for the Expo 2015 in Milan and opened an architectural office in Paris. In 2010 they completed the Toys and Arts Museum in Milan.
Atelier(s) Alfonso Femia won numerous awards and the Docks of Marseille in the year 2016 has been awarded with the Mipim Awards in Cannes, at the ULI Awards in Dallas, TX, USA, at the FX Awards and Leaf Awards who both took place in London, UK. Recently it has been officially opened their project of the New Headquarters of BNL-BNP Paribas, in viale Altiero Spinelli, in Rome, right next to Tiburtina station.