From the presentation by Tobia Scarpa

My father's way of teaching was never academic — it simply wasn’t in his nature. His teaching was rooted in the experiences of his early years. It was, one could say, a personal unfolding around the topics proposed by his students, at times unrefined, often ironic and caustic. Many still remember it that way today.
The student’s work inspired his own, and unpacking their reasoning became his method of teaching — it was his subject matter. There were many digressions, many reflections that shed light on the reasons behind things — his own works or those of others.

This way of teaching, ephemeral by its very nature, was captured thanks to a wonderful idea by Franca Semi. Like a scientist, with quiet determination, she preserved his words, the drawings on the blackboard, and all the material — what we would today call content — for a more fitting time. She was a devoted guardian of this material for many years, never giving in to easy opportunities — and there were many. Until now, nothing had convinced her. It is thanks to this rigor that the material has been saved and gathered.

The debt of gratitude to Franca Semi is not mine alone, but belongs to all those who, turning the pages of this book, will be drawn into it. Something similar happened with the drawing archive: those who spent time there fell in love with it, and became deeply protective of it. I believe it will happen again.

It will surely happen to those who, like me, discover in these pages a resonance that isn't in the words themselves, but in the poetry they convey — and that is part of what makes it so compelling. If this happens, the credit goes to the one who, with calm conviction, brought to life that part of my father, especially his teaching, in a way so vivid that it can be fully sensed.

Year: 2022
Language: Italian
Pages: 358
Editor: Hoepli
Author: Franca Semi