For centuries, the reflection on art has held that architecture is notonly a product of technique, but has shown an aesthetic dimension thatis properly artistic. Ever more explicitly, contemporary cities alsocompete on this front in the global market, generating real forms ofarchitectural collectionism, in which artistic quality and mediavisibility are not purposes themselves, but immaterial competitivefactors.And this is the thesis on which the research is centred, research thathas been awarded a study grant for the Economy of contemporary art,promoted by UniCredit Private Banking and the Giovanni AgnelliFoundation, whose goals are to encourage young students to carry outresearch in the field of the economy, organisation and markets ofcontemporary art. The research project proposes the study of the economic and politicalrationale adopted by three different global collector-cities {AbuDhabi, Paris and New York}, to generate and treat common goods incontemporary economic competition. In general, the research intends toshow the economic, political and civil importance of collectionism {notjust architectural} in contemporary cities.

Davide Ponzini – PhD, Milan Polytechnic, Department ofArchitecture and Planning, winner of the study grant, illustrates thearchitecture and research objectives on UniNews.
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