Farewell to the architect Karim Amirfeiz, “Pioneer of renewable energy”

Genoa – «My father graduated in Florence with a thesis, of which he was proud, about a solar city, which drew energy from the sun. Renewable and solar energy have always been his great interest. Fifty years ago it was the study, the desire to look beyond a global and environmental problem, a need dictated by contingencies, as it is today “. Alex Amirfeiz he remembers with admiration his father, Karim Paolo Amirfeiz, who died at 79 years old, positive for the coronavirus. Karim Amirfeiz, father of Alex and Massimiliano, for fifty years has shared the life and profession of architect with his wife, Bruna Moresco. With whom he lived in Albaro and with whom he founded a studio in Genoa. City of which she is originally, while here Amirfeiz arrived after her studies in Florence. And childhood and adolescence in his hometown of Iran. “In October they had celebrated the golden wedding – says Alex – It was terrible for her and us not to be able to stay next to him in the hospital”.

Amirfeiz’s life was marked by passion for architecture and never stopping. “My father had told it in an autobiographical book – says Alex – It is called” A long journey: Tehran, Florence and Genoa “”. Amirfeiz lived in the Iranian capital for up to 18 years, and then went to study in Florence. “That’s where she met our mother, who is from Genoa but had gone to the Tuscan capital to become an architect – says the son -. From that moment on they started working together. For several years they have been in Milan with Gio Ponti. Then they decided to come to Genoa. For more than fifty years they have followed projects and works around Italy and also around the world “. Amirfeiz’s professional and personal history has been constantly linked.

«He loved his job and we have lived his profession and that of my mother since childhood – says Alex Amirfeiz – Inevitably they also talked about it at home, but always in a relaxed and peaceful way. Sometimes there was the fatigue of the construction site, but they still managed to convey calm. ” The same that the architect found in the countryside: “He was very attached to the land. For many years he cared for our house in the countryside, cultivated the vegetable garden. I was small and he woke up at 5 in the morning to water it. And so on. And we told him that there were automated systems, but he replied: “As I bathe it, nobody wets it”. He collected the olives and at 5 in the morning took them to the oil mill because he said: “If I bring them soon, they don’t mix with the others.” Until a few weeks ago, Amirfeiz was a peaceful existence. «He led a normal life, with my mother they went on trips, enjoyed their grandchildren. Then he had cardiological complications and had been operated on to install a pacemaker – his son explains – He had started having some breathing problems but the first swab was negative. So he had gone home. The situation had worsened and he had returned to the hospital in San Martino. And the swab was positive. We have received great support from the doctors, both from those who were treating my father but also from the others, we thank them all. We have never lacked the support of San Martino ». Amirfeiz was a very religious man: “A few years ago, without saying anything to anyone, he got baptized on Capraia Island. And he had taken the name of Paul. Here, not being able to celebrate the funeral was a displeasure for this too ».