In honor of the centenary of the birth of Giancarlo De Carlo, a lecture by Stefano Boeri, held in Genoa within series of conferences named Big November 5 – Space and Society, which recounts the master’s passionate bond with the port city and with social relations between individuals, users and historical and contemporary buildings. A journey through the urban realities and main intellectuals of the last century, between international and national movements, in relation to the ability of Gancarlo De Carlo to read Architecture as a process that acquires meaning only if measured with respect to the social relations of the community in which it is itself the protagonist. Radical movements, thoughts on the urban issue and great names of the past – among others Vittorio Gregotti, Carlo Aymonino and Aldo Rossi – are mixed with the bibliographic complexity of De Carlo, in a narrative that highlights its richness and complexity.