5 + 1

5+1 (Paola Arboco, Pierluigi Feltri, Alfonso Femia, Gianluca Peluffo, Maurizio Vallino) is one of Italy's hottest young architectural studios. The 5+1 studio of associated architects was established in Genoa in 1995 by five graduates of the Faculty of Architecture at Genoa University where they worked on architectural design courses with Enrico D. Bona. After winning the first prize in a national competition regarding the signalling system at Campi industrial park in Genoa in 1996, since 1997 they have been part of the IFYA (International Forum of Young Architects), and in the same year they were commissioned by Spes spa to convert the former Bligny Barracks in Savona into a new university campus. In 1998 they were invited by the Italian Institute for Culture in Paris to expound on the creative process in an exhibition entitled 5+1 associati: progetti in gruppo. Fin qui tutto bene with a catalogue jointly published with Joshua. In 1999 they won a bid to design the new archaeological centre in Aquileia, which with the university campus in Savona is an important example of project based on existing sites. In the same year they took part in the Biennale dei Giovani Artisti dell'Europa e del Mediterraneo held in Rome (May-June) where they displayed their work in the exhibition Gerico and a portrait of the studio in 'grande et@gere'. They were invited to take part in the second phase of the international design competition for the expansion of the Palace of Justice (Law Courts) in Siena. In 2000 they were invited by INARCH to display their work at the Italian Institute of Culture in Prague and at the Venice Biennale, both of which were dedicated to young Italian architects. They won the competition to construct an office building at Vado Ligure and were invited to take part in the second phase of the international design competition for the new Congress Bridge in Rome.