tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57874372020315699072024-03-07T23:21:21.975-08:00B.LOGbrunotonellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09252118293890312055noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787437202031569907.post-38911132685171600172015-04-30T06:11:00.001-07:002015-04-30T06:13:10.060-07:00RESTORATION OF COMEZZANO’S CASTLE<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">The
Castle of Comezzano, set in the Po Valley near Brescia, was built in
the 15th Century around a preexistent tower. Entirely made of bricks
it has the typical plan of the Castles of the Italian plain, both in
dimensions and shape, with a flooded ditch all around the rectangular
complex of buildings, lift bridge, towers and a generous internal
court. Subsequent additions and demolitions deeply modified the
complex. The greater intervention, dated in the second half of the
19</span></span><sup><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">th</span></span></sup><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">
century, saw many secondary volumes demolished and a complete
redefinition of the main residence. During the 20</span></span><sup><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">th</span></span></sup><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">
century some volumes also collapsed, because of neglect.</span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">The
restoration of this castle is the most representative intervention on
heritage conservation designed by our studio to date. Besides, for
our studio and more generally, at least in Italy and Europe, it's
more and more frequent to operate on existing buildings instead of
starting from scratch.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">The
intervention on the complex focuses on three main areas, i.e. the
restoration of the remaining parts of the 15th century Castle, the
reconstruction of some volumes partially collapsed during the second
half of the 20th century and a few new additions to the existing
buildings. A new definition and use of the open spaces of the
internal court and the ditch is also detailed.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">Every
minute part of our work has been supervised by th</span></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">e
local </span></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">Commission
for the Architectural and Landscape Heritage</span></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">
(The Italian “Soprintendenza”).</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">For
each of the three main areas, restoration, recon</span></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">struction
and new additions, we adopted different strategies, nevertheless all
referred to the same theoretical approach to restoration and reuse of
ancient buildings, as here detailed.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">At
the basis of this approach there's the will to pursue a conceptual
clarity aimed at maintaining the peculiar state of the building and
therefore to avoid a disrespectful design path that would degrade its
meaning and its power.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">Thus
the restoration handles the theme of intervention on the ancient
volumes with the aim to keep as much as possible the original parts
of the building maintained to the present. This is pursued with
non-invasive and localized interventions, using traditional
materials. Conservation of the the physical matter is the main goal
we have tried to reach, often trying to maintain parts substantially
deteriorated when this could not be a harm for the preservation of
the building itself and for its usability.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">The
reconstruction of the collapsed volumes has probably witnessed the
most difficult choices. We think to have chosen a subtle solution,
which is at the same time effective, culturally sustainable and
understated. And we are very proud of this understatement.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">The
language used for the reconstruction of the fallen portions of the
historical buildings allows to clearly acknowledge the typology and
morphology of the original complex.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">We
pursued an autonomy of the rebuilt volumes and a balance of these
with the remaining ancient ones. This strategy can be likened to a
composition in a composition from which originates a good dialogue
between the different parts.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">Consequently,
the rebuilt portions are easily recognizable compared to the
historical ones, as they are slightly simpler than the original in
masonry detail, they adopt squared off timbers for the roofs and
horizontal structures and the treatment of their walls is uniform.
Nevertheless they do not 'appear' as 'modern', they just subtly and
not plainly denounce their modernity, and, while not seeming ancient
at all, they remain subsidiary to the historical structures.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">We'd
like that this intervention could be seen as pencil sketch that, with
its light lines, meaningful and identifiable, could help to enhance
the readability and the general substance of an enigmatic ancient ink
drawing.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">A
totally different approach has been chosen for the actual new parts
of the complex, which are just two and very limited in dimension. A
little recent and utilitarian addition, set to the north of the main
building, built in the 1950s and almost generally collapsed in the
last decades, is reconstructed with a wooden facade that aims to make
it appear secondary and at the same time definitely contemporary
compared to the ancient walls it stands close to. The same treatment
is used for the closure of a first floor loggia that is transformed
in an apartment. These new elements are designed with a modern use of
materials (wood and glass) and detail, counterpointing the historical
brick walls. The design of the wooden facade is inspired by Peter
Zumthor's 'Gugalun House', where vertical and horizontal planks are
intertwined determining so a plastic facade. Other sources of
inspiration are Frank Lloyd Wright's George C. Stewart House (the
first inspiration for Zumthor himself?) and the less known house Paul
Schweikher designed for himself in Illinois in 1937-38. While all
these sources of inspiration share a similar (but not equal)
juxtaposition of timber planks, our solution nevertheless differs in
detail from all these three houses both because the planks are
detached one-another and thus constitute a ventilated facade and
because all the planks are laterally confined by vertical ones, a
system that enhances the feeling of a facade applied to a hidden
masonry structure set behind.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">The
project gives again a proper spatial identity to the ditch, dried up
of water since the beginning of the 19th century, which is treated as
a grass lawn with no trees, with a hedge that encircles it and
mediates its relationship with the surrounding countryside.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">The
main court, treated as an internal garden serving the dwellings, is
rethought with a paving that underlines the geometry of the spaces
and the built volumes, leaving the great part of the spaces as a
meadow. A great oak is inserted in relationship with the buildings’
masses and integrates the garden.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">The
open spaces act as a catalyst for the many built volumes of the
complex, enhancing its unity as a whole.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">With
the end of 2010 the first phase of the realization was finished with
all the roofs and the facades completed, while the general completion
of the work with the finishing is scheduled for the next decade.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;"> Bruno
Tonelli</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;"> (civil
engineer, head of </span>
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;"> architecture
at Studioartec)</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;"> Matteo
Gorlani</span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;"> (architect,
Studioartec)</span></div>
brunotonellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09252118293890312055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787437202031569907.post-21467068048916361562015-02-06T01:10:00.000-08:002015-02-06T01:11:35.964-08:00DISCLOSING THE GENIUS LOCI<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.edgecondition.net/vol-5-placemaking.html" target="_blank">This
article is published on EDGEcondition Vol.05</a></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.edgecondition.net/vol-5-placemaking.html" target="_blank">Questo articolo è pubblicato su EDGEcondition Vol.05</a></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">The
first design steps in my practice always start with a reading of the
context, an</span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">d,
whenever this happens, we realiz</span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">e
that a proper perception of the place just comes while sketching it,
while putting on paper its values, both natural and man-made, through
hand-drawing.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">It
is actually renown among architects that the best way to know a place
or a building is to sketch it. Every time you perform that simple act
you discover details you hadn't noticed before.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">It's
perhaps not so well known that the relationship between the
perceptive values of a place and the ability of man to understand it
is primarily physical rather than just visual. The act of drawing is
both visual and physical, as Juhani Pallasmaa has deeply disserted in
the recent years, but the relation between the phisicality of a place
and man's ability to understand it goes far beyond the very act of
drawing.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">The
term 'drawing' derives from the proto Germanic 'dragan', which means
to pull, and in particular to pull an object in a p</span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">lace,
exactly like when we</span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">
pull a pencil on paper. The equal term in Neo-Latin languages derives
instead from the Latin 'designare', which means to mark with a sign,
to ch</span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">oose
through a mark. Toda</span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">y
we also say design, from designare, with the same meaning of choosing
between different possibilities.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">The
first architectural marks in his</span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">tory
were stones and timbers, that, </span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><i>pulled</i></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">
to the</span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">
right place could </span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><i>mark</i></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">
it with the sign of man and make it a chosen place. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">Thus
it's the making of things that makes us understand, feel the identity
of a place and feel it as 'ours'. The understanding of the natural
environment </span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><i>does
not</i></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">
precede building: it's the very act of building that makes us
completely understand a location, that makes us feel it as 'our place
in the world', and comprehend its realm among our deepest
psychological experiences.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">These
latter concepts have been first and systematically investigated by
Christian Norberg-Shulz in his 'Genius Lo</span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">ci',
where the author has developed a complete theory of a phenomenology
of architecture re</span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">lated
to the concept of pla</span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">ce.
This theory is also an architectural explanation of Heidegger's
writings on the inhabiting, throug</span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">h
which the philosopher expresses the idea that man's fundamental need
is to experience his existence as meaningful. The act of settling,
says Norberg-Schulz, is not just the making of a physical refuge, but
the act of entering an existential dimension and need, from which man
finds his </span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><i>place</i></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">
in the world. Architecture </span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><i>is</i></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">
the existential foothold of man.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><i>Placemaking</i></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">
is thus an ancestral experience, through which man identifies himself
as belonging to a greater whole that constitutes an understandable
realm and thus that let man himself experience his acts as
meaningful.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">Is
every later experience of place a repetition of this primeval
emotion, related to our mood and to what we are performing? Related
also to our level of understanding of the place and of our role in
it? What is the role of place regarding our self-awareness?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">Architecture
is a framework of meaning, the physical structure of our minds in the
world. Building is for bodies. Architecture for souls. Buildings and
architecture should be inseparable, as our beings are. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">The
role of rite is attributed to architecture from the beginning of
time. The most ancient architecture of history is Göbleki Tepe, a
stone-age sanctuary up to twelve thousand years old, made before the
invention of agriculture. The most important lesson that Göbleki
Tepe tells us, says K. Schmidt, its discoverer, is that "First
came the temple, then the city". First came architecture, then
building.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">It
is difficult to operate with these concepts today, after so many
decades of urban sprawl. Architecture seems a lost art, at least
regarding common building. The spontaneous quality of vernacular
settlements seems almost anymore reachable. Nevertheless a
re-appropriation of historical approaches to d</span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">esign
could be the only way out alienation and a good way to take back man
to feel the place he lives in as his own so to experience life as
meaningful.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">I
like to define what I try to do with my practice as an act of
disclosing. Both with new buildings or on existing ones, both in
natural or urban</span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">
places. Disclosing means designing something that enhances the
existing quality of a place, or, paraphrasing Kahn's sentence 'what a
building wants to be', disclosing means, through the act of building,
revealing what a </span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><i>place</i></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">
wants to be.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">When
architecture realizes itself it gives us "an instant of beauty",
wherein we perceive a place as a complete whole. In this moment we
lose the perception of ourselves, while at the same time our feelings
get enhanced, thus architecture is revealed to us as a world in
itself, a world complete. When this happens we feel the </span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><i>genius
loci</i></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">,
the spirit of the place, and what we call </span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><i>placemaking</i></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">
happens.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">When
this happens, adds Peter Zumthor, our observation embraces a
</span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><i>presentiment
</i></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">of
the entire world, because there is nothing that cannot be understood.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">There
are no fixed recipes to start again t</span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">o
</span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><i>disclose
places</i></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">.
Within my practice I have nevertheless discovered that you begin
having a design strategy directed to placemaking, instead to
designing 'objects', when it's placemaking that you care for. It's
also an act of humility, a way to say something with your
surroundings and not to them. This act is very similar to what Robert
Venturi calls </span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><i>inflection</i></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">,
i.e. a design device not strictly related to the single building but
to a greater urban whole, with the building becoming </span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><i>de
facto</i></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">
part of it. As I have already and better detailed in the article
published on Edge Condition Vol#01, my design method uses paths near
to critical regionalism, to the use of local/natural materials, to
shape a proper atmosphere for each function of the building/place and
to reinvigorate the civic values of the site.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">An
approach like this can favour the appropriation of the place in
personal and collective memory and ease both the conscious and
unconscious perception of it as a part of personal experience; it can
foster relationships and social interaction as well as casual
encounters.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">Everybody
knows that climbing to a high point with a great view gives pleasure.
The reason, as here explained, is that a panorama gives knowledge,
and with knowledge self-awareness and thus meaning. Good architecture
can act exactly like that panorama, and tell us that our lifes are
meaningful.</span></div>
brunotonellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09252118293890312055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787437202031569907.post-32202890678029795792015-01-13T06:38:00.000-08:002015-01-13T06:38:15.590-08:00Ci sono due case Farnsworth a Plano, Illinois....<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>Ci
sono due case Farnsworth</b> a Plano, Illinois. Una è l'eterea
scatola di vetro e acciaio a cui siamo abituati e che ci è tanto
familiare, sospesa sul terreno e di purezza cristallina: quella che
abbiamo sempre visto nelle fotografie.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">L'altra
è fatta da tutto ciò che tocchiamo: il marmo dei pavimenti, i
tendaggi, la pelle delle sedie e dei divani, il legno dei mobili, la
legna del camino, le foglie cadute nel giardino, l'erba, i tronchi
degli alberi e il vento che li muove. E la pioggia, e il sole che ci
scalda.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">La
casa Farnsworth non è una casa. E' un cottage americano, un luogo
dove ci si ritira nel weekend dimenticando Chicago e il lavoro, dove
ci si porta l'essenziale in una 24 ore e dove ci sono pochi mobili. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">La
prima casa, quella di vetro, ci protegge dalle intemperie e si fa
'quasi nulla': nella sua astrazione e nella sua purezza misura lo
spazio e lo rende dell'uomo.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">La
seconda casa, quella con cui entriamo in contatto, quella con cui
conviviamo, ci rivela chi siamo davvero. E, insieme alla prima, ci
regala la libertà di esserlo.</span></div>
brunotonellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09252118293890312055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787437202031569907.post-91780813549628059912015-01-13T06:31:00.000-08:002015-01-13T08:41:57.288-08:00BEYOND GESAMTKUNSTWERK<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Questo articolo è in relazione al <a href="http://www.edgecondition.net/vol-3-art-and-arch.html" target="_blank">Vol. 3 di Edge Condition</a>, che ha come tema conduttore l'Arte e l'Architettura. L'articolo <i><b>non</b></i> è pubblicato sulla rivista.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">---------</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Today
architecture seems to be on everyone's mouth. The number of web sites
specialized </span></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">in
this matter keeps growing as much as the interest of people in the
discipline or in the related disciplines such as product and interior
design. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">At
least when for 'architecture' we mean houses or, to say it better,
our home. And at least when the word </span></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">'architecture'
can be easily accompanied with such words as 'fancy', 'cool',
'luxury' and so on. Maybe most people have stopped asking themselves
if architecture is still a kind of art.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">It's
been more than a century since Adolf Loos stated that architecture as
an art is limited to the tomb and the monument, as "</span></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The
house has to please everyone, contrary to the work of art which does
not. The work is a private matter for the artist. The house is not."</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Dandy,
intellectual and really snob he's probably not been completely
understood to date, due to his sometimes criptic and contradictory
writings and behaviour. He's long been considered a proto-modernist
or even a father of modernism. At the same time in his late years he
rejected modernism (Corbu's one, just to be clear) as 'just another
language among others' and he never really abandoned classical
architecture, using with abundance cornices or basements and
designing his Chicago Tribune building proposal as a giant doric
column.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">But
what was he really saying regarding art and architecture? Is there a
relationship between his new way of seeing architecture and the
almost contemporary birth of psychology in Vienna, where he lived and
worked? What was for him architecture then, if not an art?</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Maybe
the real innovation of Loos was his real attempt to avoid a language,
that is to avoid to conceive architecture as a means to transmit a
message. A message is precisely what all art is instead created for,
so maybe it's actually since Loos that architecture can be something
different. He said that "Architecture arouses sentiments in man.
The architect's task, therefore, is to make those sentiments more
precise". Making a sentiment more precise can also be giving it
a home. An apt and different place for each sentiment.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">He
gave counsels, he helped his clients, but he let them choose the
furniture and the pieces of art they liked, in clear opposition to
his Viennese colleagues of the Secession, who instead preached the
total work of art.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The
Germans know it all. They have always the right word:
gesamtkunstwerk. An architecture that is completely fused with
sculpture, paintings and even furniture to give a single unified and
complete impression. That is to transmit a message. As a real work of
art.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">This
was the Secession but this had also been gothic cathedrals or Greek
temples. Or palladian villas or..maybe all architecture before Adolf
Loos? (Fig. 1 and 2)</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Thus
Loos' was a new way of conceiving architecture: </span></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>beyond
gesamkunswerk.</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">
So new that's been misunderstood by his contemporaries and even by
modern masters, who instead sometimes were deeply attracted by the
fusion of the arts. Think of Le Corbusier and some of his buildings
filled with his paintings or murales.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Another
reason for the misunderstanding was Loos' insistence with the use of
classical details, for which he has never been considered really
</span></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>modern</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">.
We can now, after modernism, understand that that was due to his
desire to avoid a new language, so classical devices were just his
way to use something everyone was used to.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">What
kind of art can then architecture be? What does it mean "to make
sentiments more precise"? To give an apt and proper place for
each sentiment and activity of the human beings?</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">I
see Adolf Loos thoughts and buildings as an anticipation of some of
the theories of phenomenology. As Gaston Bachelard has sublimely
evidenced in his 'The poetics of space', the relationship between our
feelings and architecture are so vast and deep that architecture can
be with no doubt be considered the most influential of the arts for
our lives or, to say it with Ernest Dimnet, "Architecture, of
all the arts, is the one which acts the most slowly, but the most
surely, on the soul".</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Peter
Zumthor is considered among the greatest architects that today
explicitly refer to phenomenology. I find a strong correspondence
between his concept of architecture as an art and what Loos stated
architecture had to be. Zumthor says, above all in his 'Thinking
Architecture', that architecture is neither message nor sign, but a
sensible recipient for the passing of life. A recipient that has to
be differently sensible to the different activities of men. He also
says that maybe art is the unexpected truth and the role of
architecture should be that of revealing to us something that we
never previously understood in that way.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Could
we live or work constantly listening to Beethoven 5</span></span><sup><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">th</span></span></sup><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">
simphony or to Let it be? We all like them but we surely couldn't.
Architecture is not music or sculpture, and what it has to reveal to
us is a possibility we have to fully live our lives, or to say it
again with Loos, to make our sentiments more precise.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Another
parallel between Zumthor and Loos is the absence of language, that
meant the use of classical details for the Austrian and the use of
modernist and minimal details for the Swiss one century later.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The
aim of the present article is to introduce an idea trying to see its
evolution in history of architecture and trying to develop a
discourse around it. The argument is so vast that of course a single
and short article can't be exhaustive, but, trying to make it more
complete, I add a final line of reasoning that regards buildings when
they are conceived as recipients for other arts.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">What
can </span></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>beyond
gesamtkunstwerk</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">
be when we have to display sculpture or contemporary pieces of art?
What can be a true and authentic relationship between architecture
and other visual arts?</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">I
think the recipe should be the same: a sensible recipient that
creates the right atmosphere, the right mood for people to let them
fully understand the works of art displayed.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">I
have recently visited 'La Congiunta', the tiny building in Giornico,
Switzerland, designed by Peter Märkli to host the sculptures of Hans
Josephsohn (Fig. 3 and 4). The way this building defines 'a world
apart' to display art is so exemplar that it seems to me the most
proper example as a case study for what I'm saying. The atmosphere is
so powerful that the visitor can forget the entire world outside the
entrance door but at the same time so unobstrusive that Josephsohn
sculpures can be experienced as in a blank space.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">And
give you feelings you didn't know before.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
brunotonellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09252118293890312055noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787437202031569907.post-25268989537704814612015-01-13T06:23:00.002-08:002015-01-13T06:26:31.467-08:00Being on the Edge<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="http://www.edgecondition.net/vol-2-presenting-architecture.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Questo articolo è pubblicato su Edge Condition Vol. 2</span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="http://www.edgecondition.net/vol-2-presenting-architecture.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This article is published on Edge Condition Vol.2</span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear Edge Condition,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">when I was asked to write an essay for
Edge Condition about my practice and about the theoretical basis that
stands at the origin of<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"> it I
consciously bypassed the theme of a possible relation between what I
was going to say and the condition of 'being on the edge'.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">In
other words in my article I never directly</span>
detailed anything
related
to
'the
vocation and activity of those positioned on the fringe of the formal
architecture sector
', as Twitter bio of Edge Condition says, or, to say it better, at
least in my opinion, I draw a picture of a theory and a practice of a
designer that tries to be exactly <span style="font-size: small;"><i>in
the middle</i></span>
of 'the formal architecture sector'.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Consciously.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But
as Thomas Hardy well knew, any written piece says many things more
than what the conscious will of the writer thinks.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
thought has inhabited my mind in all these weeks after the issue of
the magazine, till the moment when I realized that all the
architecture sector is <span style="font-size: small;"><i>permanently</i></span>
and <span style="font-size: small;"><i>definitely</i></span>
'on the edge', as an inner and even constituent 'condition' of the
discipline.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
say this because more and more architecture is a multi-related
discipline, due to technology, engineering, sustainability and more,
but also because architecture, since the beginning of time, has
always been related to psychology, memory, behaviour, rite, even more
than knowledge of materials or geometry.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
are all in an edge condition because it is towards all the edges of
the discipline that we have to look to find a more poignant reason
for architecture itself, to find a true basis for our buildings and
societies, and to put together in a dignified way all this 'mess'
that is always related to architecture and that is just
faintly defined by
a great series of related, parallel and bordering disciplines.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
think the idea that is at the basis of the magazine is thus
fundamental for the future of architecture as it explicitly (and
consciously) highlights that we have, as designers, to care for all
the edges of our main field to reach an authentic result in what we
design and do.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe
architecture is not only interrelated to a myriad of other
disciplines but more and more less definite as a field of knowledge.
Maybe architects today can be web designers, virtual designers, movie
makers and more.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But
even <span style="font-size: small;"><i>in
the middle</i></span>
of 'the formal architecture sector' it's paying attention to all
these <span style="font-size: small;"><i>edges</i></span>
that makes our discipline true and authentic, human-related and truly
life-enhancing.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being
on an edge condition is a good starting point for the architect of
the 21<sup><span style="font-size: small;">st</span></sup>
century</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bruno
Tonelli</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
brunotonellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09252118293890312055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787437202031569907.post-52335119509744725032015-01-13T06:21:00.000-08:002015-01-13T06:21:27.524-08:00Studioartec<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.edgecondition.net/vol-1-seams.html" target="_blank">Questo articolo è pubblicato su Edge Condition Vol. 1</a></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.edgecondition.net/vol-1-seams.html" target="_blank">This article is published on Edge Condition Vol. 1</a></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">Studioartec
was born in 2005, when four designers with different skills met to
accomplish the entire process of building design, regarding both
architecture and engineering. The author of the present article is
head of architectural design in the studio. Artec means architecture
and technique, a name that highlights design as a series of processes
that require different skills and knowledge. We aim at a high design
quality with great care for sustainability and for a balance with the
landscape and preexistences.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">We'd
like to design authentic architectures for the 21</span><sup><span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">st</span></sup><span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">
century, architectures that go beyond both modernism and
post-modernism, defining a new approach to design that tries to
transcend and include all the lessons of the past, while remaining
absolutely contemporary.</span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">The
main theoretical basis of this approach are Peter Zumthor's buildings
and thoughts, the concept of critical regionalism as defined by
Kenneth Frampton, the contemporary research on sustainability, the
work of Juhani Pallasmaa on architecture and perception and of Peter
Buchanan on the need to redefine the discipline as a whole.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">I
like to say that "Architecture is the name we give to all the
physical and mental feelings we have for being in a man-made place".
This is a phenomenological approach which highlights that it is not
form for form's sake that engage us more, but the ability of
architecture to create a place with a strong identity, to house our
lives in beauty, in the most proper and most apt atmosphere for our
gestures. This is the aim of architecture and in this way
architecture is the art of life. A complete art (not just visual)
that expresses itself through light, forms and materials reinforcing
our deepest feelings and gestures and giving them a home. An art
which enhances our awareness of the present moment and of our
actions.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">A
good way to find a new way to define architecture is to start from
scratch for every idea or task, to ask ourselves why we build and how
we associate functions (physical and psychological) with forms. I'd
like to think each new building as an archetype that hosts human
activities and define functions.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">Archetype
also as a way to interrogate ourselves on the deepest meanings of
architecture.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">Archetype
as a way to build a new architecture without mimicking the past
(ancient or recent) but transcending and including it.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">The
relationship between architecture and place is not just about
perception and social</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">interactions
but also cultural. A good building must be able to measure with local
culture. A correct</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">approach
to the use of materials, the critical re-invention of typologies,
development and</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">enhancement
of ancient building tecniques in a contemporary way are elements
which add</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">deepness
to a new building and that radicate it more in the cultural fabric
where it is located.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">Architecture
is always related to a specific site, it is born in a place and is in
relationship with an</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">environment,
with other buildings, with the landscape. A good and simple rule is
to enhance the</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">quality
of a place with the new building. Like all simple rules it's
difficult to put in practice. Being</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">able
to put himself in discussion, being patient and perseverant are
essential qualities for the architect.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">Both
the words city and civilization originate from the latin word
civitas. Is it really possible to</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">separate
the civic values of a community from the urban quality of the cities
where it lives? Or the</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">two
things are inextricably bound and inter-dependant? One of the roles
of architecture is to build</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">and
reinvigorate the civic values of human life through a strong
influence on the quality of the</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">spaces
where human actions take place. Good architecture has to try to
integrate with the</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">exixting
city, to build it, to connect and phisically interrelate with it.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">It's
been too a long time that urbanism has actually forgotten the art of
designing places, as it's too a long time that we limit ourselves to
planning different areas in our cities instead of designing in detail
our urban realms, thus we have lost the ability to create pleasurable
public spaces comparable with the urban quality of historic cores of
our towns and cities. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">A
new approach is needed for architecture and for governance systems
that regulate architecture. Without mimicking the past we should try
to learn from the great lessons of urbanism the past teaches us.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">To
transmit a culture to the next generations essentially means to
transmit them all we know about</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">what
it means to be human. It is therefore not possible to think to give
them a know-how and a</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">culture
unless this is sustainable, for present and future times.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">The
years we are living in and the next ones will be crucial for a
radical re-thinking of an approach</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">to
architectural design which has to be sustainable, and not just in
terms of energy efficiency.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">To
fall in love with the place we live in is a necessary condition to
desire that this place endures in</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">the
future.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: CenturyGothic, sans-serif;">The
role of architecture can be a role of resistance. Good architecture
has still the possibility to tell the importance of mantaining a
value. Good medieval buildings, or of the reinassance, of the XIX
century, post-bellic or contemporary will remain such forever.</span></div>
brunotonellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09252118293890312055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787437202031569907.post-77013850300842295272015-01-13T06:14:00.002-08:002015-01-13T06:27:03.777-08:00Dodici pensieri sull’architettura: approccio ad una teoria per il XXI secolo.<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">In
questo scritto sono condensati in dodici brevi punti il ‘nocciolo
duro’ di ciò che penso dell’architettura e la ricerca di una
sintesi attorno ai valori di questa disciplina e alla sua essenza: il
nocciolo di ciò che a me interessa e colpisce dell’architettura,
con l'obiettivo di definire una base teorica per la costruzione di un
modo di fare architettura che possa essere consono al secolo che
stiamo vivendo. Questa (pur brevissima) 'teoria dell'architettura' è
elaborata soprattutto a partire dal pensiero di Peter Zumthor, dal
concetto di ‘Regionalismo Critico’ così come sviluppato da
Kenneth Frampton a partire dagli anni 70, dalle tematiche della
sostenibilità ambientale, dalla necessità di un ripensamento
dell'architettura così come espressa da Peter Buchanan dal 2012
sulle pagine dell'Architectural Review con il saggio 'The big
Rethink' (il grande ripensamento) e dagli scritti teorici di Juhani
Pallasmaa su architettura e percezione.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">Bastano
poco più di dodici minuti per leggerli: un minuto ciascuno. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">Molto
di più per interiorizzarli. Un'intera vita può non bastare per
applicarli.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>1-
Lo scopo dell’architettura</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic', sans-serif;">'Architettura'
è il nome che diamo all'insieme delle sensazioni fisiche e psichiche
che proviamo per il fatto di essere in un luogo costruito dall'uomo.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">L’architettura
è quindi un'arte, che pur si esprime con la pratica dell'edilizia</span></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">.
Parliamo di architettura quando un edificio muove le nostre emozioni:
ci commuove e ci colpisce. Per questo motivo non sono le forme o
l’arditezza dell'opera che ci coinvolgono maggiormente, ma la
capacità dell’architettura di creare un luogo dalla forte
identità, dall’atmosfera che ci cattura e che ci regala un istante
di intensità, nel quale siamo un tutt’uno con con noi stessi e con
ciò che stiamo facendo. Scopo dell’architettura è accogliere le
nostre vite nella bellezza, nell’atmosfera più propria e più
adatta ai nostri gesti. In questo senso l’architettura è l’arte
del vivere. Non è un’ar</span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">te
visiva che si esprime attraverso le forme o i materiali, ma un’arte
completa (non solo visiva), che ha come scopo il rafforzamento delle
nostre più profonde sensazioni, e il dar loro una ‘casa’ dove
crescere.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>2-
Il rapporto con la storia</b></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">La
magnificenza e la grazia degli edifici del passato non finiscono mai
di stupirci. La patina che il tempo e l’uso donano loro sono una
ricchezza inestimabile. Non è pensabile riprodurre le forme e le
proporzioni del passato per cercarne le sensazioni. La buona
architettura contemporanea esprime se stessa e i valori e i bisogni
dell’uomo di oggi: senza rinunciare ad un ‘dialogo’ con
l’architettura antica da questa si distacca facendosi autonoma e
per questo autentica. Una architettura della contem</span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">poraneità
deve riuscire ad includere i temi architettonici della storia e a
ricomprenderne i valori fondanti ma a trascenderli linguisticamente
allo stesso tempo</span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">.
Un buon approccio è quello di ripartire dagli archetipi del
costruire interrogandosi sul loro significato primario, traendo forza
espressiva proprio da esso.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>3-
Il senso della costruzione</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">Una
delle cose che ci fa innamorare di un luogo è il senso di ‘ben
fatto’, una sensazione tutta particolare che ci comunica
compiutezza, ordine, senso delle cose. Come quando guardiamo un
piccolo oggetto ben costruito, che ha dentro di sé sia la
comprensione della natura dei materiali sia la capacità costruttiva
dell’uomo. Pensate a una macchina fotografica, a una giacca di
pelle, a un mobile di legno ben lavorato, a una scarpa elegante. La
buona architettura ben costruita ci dà la stessa sensazione: le cose
sono dove pensiamo che siano, gli spazi e la luce sono giusti, i
materiali ci accompagnano con i loro profumi e la loro tattilità. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>4-
Hapticity – la multisensorialità.</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">La
buona architettura si rivolge contemporaneamente a tutti i sensi e
'parla' alla percezione umana nella sua complessità. Recenti studi
di neurobiologia hanno evidenziato che i sensi umani sono molteplici
e vengono elaborati dal cervello contemporaneamente, in un modo non
davvero separabile. Il valore di uno spazio dipende anche dalle sue
qualità tattili, dal calore, da come riverberano il suono e le
parole, da come camminando lo sentiamo con i nostri piedi, da come ci
'stringe la mano' quando lo tocchiamo. Da come si relaziona con la
nostra corporeità e la nostra sensibilità di esseri umani
complessi.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>5-
Il dettaglio</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">E’
la cura del dettaglio a determinare la qualità finale di un
edificio. Anche il miglior progetto, quello che nasce da un’idea
vincente, senza cura del dettaglio perde la sua forza e la sua stessa
sostanza. Come diceva Le Corbusier è dal dettaglio che si discerne
tra i buoni e i cattivi architetti. Una differenza di cinque
centimetri nello spessore di un cornicione può determinarne la
grazia o la pesantezza, a seconda.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">Penso
sempre al parallelo con il gioco. Quello che distingue un gioco da un
altro sono le regole: un passaggio in avanti è permesso nel Football
ma non nel Rugby. Nel calcio cinque centimetri possono fare la
differenza tra un fuorigioco ed un’azione regolare, tra un goal e
un salvataggio in extremis.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">La
regola dell’architettura è il dettaglio perché è attraverso di
esso che si esprime e si mostra nelle parti che la compongono: perché
il dettaglio funzioni bene occorre prima comprenderne la funzione
rispetto a ciò che l'edificio vuole esprimere, poi curarlo e
rispettarlo in ogni scelta.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>6-
Il rapporto con il paesaggio</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">L’architettura
nasce in un luogo, si relaziona con un ambiente, con altri edifici,
con il paesaggio. Una buona e semplice regola vorrebbe che ogni nuovo
intervento migliori la qualità del luogo ove sorge. Come tutte le
regole semplici è di difficile applicazione. Sapersi mettere in
discussione, avere costanza e pazienza nella ricerca sono qualità
essenziali per il buon architetto.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>7-
Il valore urbano e civico</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">Le
parole città e civiltà nascono entrambe dalla parola latina
civitas. E' davvero possibile scindere il valore civile di un popolo
dalla qualità urbana delle città dove vive? O le due cose sono
inscindibilmente legate e interdipendenti? Uno dei ruoli
dell'architettura è quello della costruzione e del rafforzamento del
valore civile del vivere umano attraverso l'incidere sulla qualità
degli spazi ove le azioni umane hanno luogo. La buona architettura
deve cercare di costruire ed integrarsi con la città, di connettersi
e di intersecarsi fisicamente con essa. L'epoca degli edifici urbani
iconici/spettacolari/isolati deve essere lasciata alle spalle.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>8-
Il regionalismo critico</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">Il
rapporto con il luogo non è solo percettivo o sociale ma anche
culturale. Un buon edificio deve sapersi misurare anche con la
cultura locale. L’uso dei materiali, la reinvenzione critica delle
tipologie, l’evoluzione di tecniche antiche in chiave contemporanea
sono elementi che danno profondità ad una nuova architettura e che
la radicano maggiormente nel tessuto culturale ove si inserisce.
L’approccio critico garantisce di evitare la copia o la mimica
dell’esistente.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>9-
La sostenibilità</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">Gli
storici stanno cominciando a definire l’epoca che ci stiamo
lasciando alle spalle come ‘la parentesi del petrolio’.
L’architettura moderna è stata possibile grazie alla grande
abbondanza di combustibili fossili e dei loro derivati enormemente di
più che non dall’invenzione dell’acciaio e del cemento armato. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">Trasmettere
la cultura alle prossime generazioni significa essenzialmente
trasmettere loro tutto ciò che sappiamo su cosa voglia dire essere
umani. Non è quindi pensabile poter trasmettere loro una cultura
senza che questa sia sostenibile, per il presente e per il futuro. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">Gli
anni che stiamo vivendo e quelli che verranno sono cruciali rispetto
ad un radicale ripensamento in chiave di sostenibilità della
creazione dell’architettura. Non solo in termini di efficienza
energetica, ma di riciclabilità, rinnovabilità dei materiali, basso
impatto di produzione, durata e ciclo di vita. Un approccio critico e
regionale a questi temi consente grandi potenzialità rispetto alla
creazione di una architettura che sia vera base culturale condivisa
sulla quale si sviluppa la vita umana, intesa come insieme di
relazioni con la natura e la comunità.</span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>
</b></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">Innamorarsi
del luogo dove viviamo è condizione necessaria per desiderare che
questo luogo si conservi nel futuro.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>10-
La percezione nel tempo</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">Un
buon edificio cresce con le persone che lo abitano, si arricchisce
dei loro contributi, dei loro oggetti e delle loro abitudini. Un buon
edificio accoglie la vita di chi lo abita e non detta regole
inopportune. Si arricchisce anche dei piccoli graffi, dell’usura
delle maniglie e dei corrimano. Silenziosamente sa raccontare la
storia delle persone che lo abitano e lo vivono e da questa trae
ricchezza.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>11-
L’importanza della rivelazione</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">L’architettura
autentica ci regala sempre un’emozione nuova, inaspettata: ci
rivela uno stato d’animo, una possibilità che era già in noi ma
che non conoscevamo o non sapevamo di avere. Quando l’architettura
funziona bene fa proprio questo, influenza positivamente la nostra
vita donandoci delle libertà e degli aspetti di noi stessi che non
conoscevamo ancora: il regalo della bellezza inaspettata è un dono
di libertà, che una volta scoperto può rimanere con noi,
accompagnandoci.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>12-
Il ruolo culturale dell’architettura</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">Nella
nostra epoca dell’effimero il ruolo dell’architettura è un ruolo
di resistenza. La buona architettura ha ancora la capacità di
trasmettere l’importanza della durevolezza e del mantenere un
valore. Un buon edificio medioevale, rinascimentale, ottocentesco,
postbellico o contemporaneo rimarrà tale per sempre: l’architettura
vera non passa mai di moda e non si cura delle mode.</span></div>
brunotonellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09252118293890312055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787437202031569907.post-84487017308153357732012-04-03T08:09:00.001-07:002015-01-13T06:27:51.462-08:00Twelve points for an architecture of the 21st century<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>1-
the aim of architecture</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic', sans-serif;">'Architecture'
is the name we give to all the physical and mental feelings we have
for being in a man-made place.</span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">Nevertheless
architecture is an art which expresses itself through the practice of
building. We say 'architecture' when a building moves our emotions:
we feel touched and impressed</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">.
For this reason it's not form or the daring of the architectural work
that engage us more, but the ability of architecture to create a
place with a strong identity, to house our lives in beauty, in the
most proper and most apt atmosphere for our gestures. This is the aim
of architecture and In this way architecture is the art of life. A
complete art (not just visual) that expresses itself through light,
forms and materials reinforcing our deepest feelings and gestures and
giving them a home. An art which enhances our awareness of the
present moment and of our actions.</span></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>2-
the relationship with history</b></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">The
magnificence and grace of ancient buildings never stop to amaze us.
The patina that time and use give them is a priceless richness. It's
not possible to replicate forms and proportions of buildings of the
past to reproduce the feelings they generate. Good contemporary
architecture expresses itself and the values and needs of nowadays
man. It can have a good dialogue with ancient architecture making
itself authonomous and therefore authentic. An architecture for the
21</span></span><sup><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">st</span></span></sup><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">
century has to be able to include the architectural themes of
history, comprehending the basis of its values, but transcending them
linguistically at the same time. I see a good approach to design in
starting from scratch each time, beginning from the archetypes of
building reasoning and working on their primary m</span></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">eaning,
and taking strenght from it</span></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">.</span></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>3-
Consciousness of the material building</b></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">One
of the things that can make us fond of a place is a feeling of
'well-done', something that conveys completeness, order, which evokes
the real reason of things. It's like when we look at a small object
well built that shows both a comprehension of the nature of materials
and the crafting ability of man.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">I
think about a piece of furniture, a leather jacket, a pair of fashion
shoes. Good built architecture gives us the same feeling: we find
things where we think they are, spaces and light are right, materials
go along with us with their fragrances and tactility. Everything
seems complete.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>4-
Hapticity – multisensoriality.</b></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">Good
architecture addresses to all the senses and human perception
simultaneously. Recent neurobiology studies have showed that human
senses are a multiplicity and are always elaborated together by the
brain, in a way that is not actually separable. The value of a space
deeply depends on its tactile qualities too, on its warmth, on the
way sounds and words reverberate, on the way we perceive it with our
feet, on how it shakes our hands whilst we get in or touch it. It
depends on how it's related with our sensibility and corporeity of
complex human beings.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>5-
Detail</b></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">The
attention to detail strongly determines the final quality of a
building. Even the best project loses its strenght and substance
without care for details. As Le Corbusier used to say it's from
details that one can discern between good and bad architects. A
difference of five centimetres in a cornice may determine its grace
or heavyness.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">I
like to make a parallel with games. What distingushes a game from
another are rules. A forward pass is the soul of American Football
but prohibited in Rugby. A difference of five centimetres may decide
for good or bad, again.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">The
rule of architecture is detail because it's through it that the
building expresses itself in the parts it is made of. To obtain a
successful detail it's necessary to understand what is its role
within the entire building, to understand what the detail must
express in that particular point of the building. This is a good way
to take care of construction.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>6-
Relationship with landscape</b></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">Architecture
is always related to a specific</span></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">
site, it is born in a place and is in relationship with an
environment, with other buildings, with the landscape. A good and
simple rule is to enhance the quality of a place with the new
building. Like all simple rules it's difficult to put in practice.
Being able to put himself in discussion, being patient and
perseverant in design research are essential qualities for a good
architect.</span></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>7-
Urban and civic values</b></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">Both
the words city and civilization originate from the latin word
civitas. Is it really possible to separate the civic values of a
community from the urban quality of the cities where it lives? Or the
two things are inextricably bound and inter-dependant? One of the
roles of architecture is to build and reinvigorate the civic values
of human life through a strong influence on the quality of the spaces
where human actions take place. Good architecture has to try to
integrate with the exixting city, to build it, to connect and
phisically interrelate with it. The epoch of urban iconic/spectacular
and isolated buildings has to be left behind.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>8-
Critical Regionalism</b></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">The
relationship between architecture and place is not just about
perception and social interactions but also cultural. A good building
must be able to measure with local culture. A correct approach to the
use of materials, the critical re-invention of typologies,
development and enhancement of ancient building tecniques in a
contemporary way are elements which add deepness to a new building
and that radicate it more in the cultural fabric where it is located.
Critical approach guarantees to avoid mimic or copy of ancient forms
and buildings.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>9-
Sustainability</b></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">Historians
have begun to define the epoch we have just left behind as the 'oil
parentesis'. Modern architecture has actually been possible more
thanks to the huge availability of fossil fuels then to the invention
of reinforced concrete and construction steel. </span>
</div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">To
transmit a culture to the next generations essentially means to
transmit them all we know about what it means to be human. It is
therefore not possible to think to give them a know-how and a culture
unless this is sustainable, for present and future times. </span>
</div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">The
years we are living in and the next ones will be crucial for a
radical re-thinking of an approach to architectural design which has
to be sustainable.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">And
not just in terms of energy efficiency, but also of re-usability of
materials, low production impact, durability and life-cycle.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">A
regional and critical approach gives the great potential of an
architecture that can be a true cultural basis on which to develop
human life, thought as all the relationships with nature and
community.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">To
fall in love with the place we live in is a necessary condition to
desire that this place endures in the future.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>10-
Aging and time perception</b></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">A
good building grows with the people that inhabits it, it gets
enriched by their habits, their objects and contributes. A good
building welcomes the life of its inhabitants a</span></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">nd
don't dictate unwanted rules. It is even enriched by small scratches,
by the consumption of handrails and staircases. It silently tells the
stories of the people that live there and from these it gets deepness
and complexity.</span></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>11-
The importance of revelation</b></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">Authentic
architecture always gives us a new and unexpected emotion. What we
actually find is a state of mind as possibility. A possibility that
was already within ourselves but that we didn't know or we didn't
know we had. When architecture is well conceived it positively
influences our lives giving us some freedoms and parts of ourselves
we didn't knew yet. A gift of unexpected beauty is a gift of freedom,
that once it is discovered c</span></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">an
remain with us.</span></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><b>12-
Cultural role of architecture</b></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">In
these ephemeral years the role of architecture can be a role of
resistance. Good architecture has still the possibility to tell the
importance of durability and of mantaining a value. Good medieval
buildings, or of the reinassance, of the XIX century, post-bellic or
contemporary</span></span><span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">
will remain such forever. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic, sans-serif;">True
architecture never goes out of fashion and never cares for fashion.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
brunotonellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09252118293890312055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787437202031569907.post-66275793464125361232012-01-25T06:30:00.001-08:002012-01-25T06:30:55.130-08:00La qualità architettonica e la città. Riflessioni dopo una visita ad Orta San Giulio.<p class="MsoNormal">Sono qui seduto sul molo dell’Isola di San Giulio, sulla calda pietra che nella sera cede lentamente il calore che il Sole le ha dato di giorno. Guardo la costa, verde e alberata, quasi senza case, lontana.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Ascolto il leggero sciabordio delle onde e chiudo gli occhi. Il ricordo di questo luogo si fa dolce in me. Come un luogo rifugio dove portare la mente nei momenti difficili, un luogo che mi ascolta perché lì io stesso riesco ad ascoltarmi.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Tutta l’Isola di San Giulio ha qualcosa di assolutamente magico, un’aura che la circonda, qualcosa che la definisce come altro dal resto del mondo ma che allo stesso momento la fa rappresentazione di un mondo perfetto, o almeno di un piccolo mondo, di qualcosa di finito in sé.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Forse un <i>luogo</i> è proprio questo: qualcosa di talmente forte e dotato di una sua intrinseca autonomia (spirituale, soprattutto) da farne qualcosa di completo, racchiuso. Qualcosa che non ha più bisogno di altro.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Questa sensazione è forte e presente in tutto il Lago d’Orta. Orta San Giulio, il Sacro Monte e l’Isola hanno un senso di perfezione e di ‘ben fatto’ talmente potente da farti dire: ma perché il mondo non è tutto così? Forse con un po’ di invidia pensi alle ottanta clarisse che vivono nel monastero sull’isola, e sorridi.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Poi di colpo ti attraversa un pensiero e la tua mente è catapultata ad esempio in una strada del Manhattan Midtown e pensi al paragone impossibile tra Orta e New York City e dici beh è facile, basta negare la modernità, o relegarla oltre il lago, in modo che da qui non si veda.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Ma sai che stai mentendo a te stesso, perché non è così.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">A ricordartelo è sufficiente quella grande discoteca dall’altra parte del lago, che tanto ti ricorda uno degli ultimi edifici di Wright. No, Orta non nega affatto la modernità. E la modernità non è il male. Male è essersi dimenticati di cosa voglia dire essere uomini, di cosa sia il nostro rapporto sano con la natura. Di cosa siano la città e l’architettura nella loro essenza più profonda, spirituale e civile.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Il male non è la modernità, ma lo sono la fretta e l’economia fine a sé stessa. Sono cambiati i parametri della costruzione: un tempo si costruiva per realizzare qualcosa (di utile e bello). Oggi si costruisce per vendere, la qualità del prodotto non interessa quasi più.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Dal secondo dopoguerra le nostre città sono esplose e l’architettura non è stata più in grado di disegnarle, progettarle, definirle. Al suo posto sono intervenuti fattori economici e storici che hanno determinato un radicale cambiamento del rapporto tra l’uomo, il paesaggio e l’uso del suolo. Si è passati dalla ‘città nel paesaggio’ alla ‘città continua’, che occupa tutte le pianure e gli spazi costruibili. Che contiene al suo interno le attività produttive, le cave, gli impianti industriali e sempre meno campi coltivati o boschi.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Ci siamo dimenticati, per forza di cose, quanto sia potente l’influenza della qualità architettonica sulla qualità delle nostre vite. Ce ne ricordiamo quando passeggiamo per le calli di Venezia o nel Barrio Gotico di Barcellona.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Il Lago d’Orta è intriso di questa potenza, della potenza della bellezza. San Giulio è l’isola di pietra, l’isola costruita, dove tutto è progettato e disegnato, dove si entra passando per un arco, come si entrasse in un tempio, o in una città antica circondata da un altopiano infinito e battuto dal vento. Si entra in un regno. La fantasia vola e sorridendo la paragoni a Minas Tirith, pensando a Tolkien.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Viviamo un’epoca di ripensamenti. L’espansione urbana non è più così esplosiva come nei decenni scorsi, almeno nel mondo occidentale. Viviamo un’epoca in cui si può cominciare ad operare per ricuciture, a dare qualità ai nostri vituperati quartieri periferici intervenendo sui vuoti che li separano, dando qualità architettonica, verde disegnato, spazi di incontro, luoghi di cultura.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">La lezione del Lago d’Orta è chiara e semplice: attraverso un disegno dello spazio architettonico di qualità è possibile un tipo diverso di vita, di qualità degli incontri, di percezione dello spazio e delle relazioni umane che in questo spazio vivono e si alimentano. Il centro con la piazza a lago, la loggetta del mercato e la via/scalinata che sale alla chiesa, che di per sé è un’impostazione urbana e architettonica già di primissima qualità, è contornata dalle gemme dell’Isola di San Giulio e del monte sacro, che in un parco che fa terrazza sul lago costituisce un vero e proprio compendio di architettura sacra barocca, con le sue venti cappelle devozionali una diversa dall’altra.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">La qualità urbana non è però necessariamente legata all’architettura antica, e su questo punto amplio il mio ragionamento e, usando solo come spunto il Lago d’Orta, provo a fare un ragionamento che per funzionare scardina alcune regole.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Possono non esserci moltissimi spazi urbani di riconosciuta qualità architettonica di realizzazione ‘moderna’, ma il motivo non risiede nella mancanza di talento o di ‘linguaggio’ degli architetti moderni e contemporanei, bensì nella crisi delle ragioni che stanno alla base del costruire accennate più sopra. Senza troppo ordine elenco alcuni interventi di qualità contemporanei per dimostrarlo: mi vengono in mente il quartiere del Weissenhof a Stoccarda, l’intervento di Cino Zucchi all’area ex-Junghans alla Giudecca a Venezia, il Rockfeller Center a New York o quasi tutta <st1:personname productid="la Fifth Avenue" st="on"><st1:personname productid="la Fifth" st="on">la Fifth</st1:personname> Avenue</st1:personname>, il Capitol di Chandigar, la zona di Market Street a San Francisco, molti interventi della Londra o della Barcellona contemporanee, fra cui cito l’area litoranea attorno al Forum di Herzog e De Meuron nella capitale catalana.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Forse il fallimento dell’urbanistica moderna (soprattutto in Italia) sta proprio nella pretesa di volere governare tutto attraverso piani regolatori che determinano le densità edificatorie, le destinazioni d’uso e poco più e avere rinunciato troppo spesso ad accontentarsi anche solo di ‘disegnare’ un piccolo pezzo di città e di farlo lasciando perdere le regole e concentrandosi invece sulle qualità specifiche di quel luogo e degli edifici che lo andranno a determinare.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sì, lasciando perdere le regole.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Perché per disegnare una città umana bisogna riprendere in mano la matita, o il computer, e non partire da volumi e indici ma da vedute e spazi, verde, materiali, luce. Relazioni umane, luoghi civici. Il potere dell’architettura come elemento che ci rappresenta. Il significato della monumentalità.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Non voglio né negare le conquiste dell’urbanistica moderna e contemporanea né dimenticare l’estrema complessità di questa disciplina. Ma se questa disciplina non parte dal chiedersi perché determinati spazi ci fanno stare bene e altri no, perché sentiamo un profondo senso di identità in alcuni luoghi e in altri no questa disciplina continuerà a funzionare male e a produrre risultati scadenti.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Gli architetti, gli urbanisti, gli amministratori e i cittadini a cui sta a cuore la vita dell’uomo possono partire da questo. Non dai metri cubi. Non dagli indici. Non dall’arricchimento dei soli operatori economici del settore. Non dalla fretta. Non dal mito della produzione a tutti i costi.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Winston Churchill diceva sempre che ogni popolo ha i governanti che si merita.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Forse ogni popolo ha anche le città che si merita. Ma ogni popolo può, a partire da un dato momento, provare a costruire la città che <i>desidera</i>.</p>brunotonellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09252118293890312055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787437202031569907.post-85752096942918254032009-09-08T00:47:00.001-07:002009-09-08T00:47:57.935-07:00DesiderioUno dei miei desideri più romantici è quello di riuscire a fare, una notte, lo stesso sogno che fa mia moglie: di svegliarci la mattina e di renderci conto di aver sognato insieme, di avere vissuto e condiviso la stessa esperienza in quel mondo di pura emozione e senza filtri proprio dell’inconscio che è appunto il sogno. Credo che pur nell’irrazionalità del concetto stia alla base di questo pensiero l’idea di bellezza insita nel condividere un’emozione, un’esperienza con le persone che amo. E di condividere il sogno anche come luogo quindi, luogo dove sia possibile avere in comune anche l’inconscio, eliminate alcune delle barriere di quella che chiamiamo realtà.<br /><br />Una delle caratteristiche della letteratura utopica è quella di essere trasversale alle epoche, ai popoli e ai mezzi espressivi con i quali è stata prodotta di volta in volta. Negli ultimi anni è tutto un fiorire del genere, che si esprime soprattutto attraverso il cinema e i videogiochi, con intenti che vanno dall’autenticamente artistico fino al puramente commerciale. Solo per citare alcuni nomi dico Il Signore degli Anelli, Harry Potter, Star Wars, i mondi della saga di Myst. I mondi, appunto: come se oggi ci sia sempre più il bisogno di evadere dalla realtà opprimente, monotona, faticosa e noiosa delle nostre vite per entrare in un luogo che sia più definito, meno sfuggente, più chiaro, un luogo con il quale nel bene e nel male ci si possa identificare. Al contrario di quello che accade con il mondo reale, che è invece sempre più indefinito e alieno a noi, ai nostri desideri e in particolare al nostro desiderio di capirlo.<br /><br />La terra di mezzo non è sicuramente un luogo accogliente, ma è un luogo che comprendiamo facilmente, con valori condivisi. Fra cui non ultimi la relazione con le cose della natura e con il bisogno di interdipendenza dagli altri esseri umani.<br /><br />Credo che una buona architettura sia soprattutto un luogo che ci aiuti a capire quello che stiamo facendo: uno spazio che ci aiuti a concentrarci sul momento presente, sui nostri gesti e sulle nostre relazioni, e sul motivo della nostra presenza in quel luogo. Come dice Peter Zumthor la chiave per affrontare il problema è la capacità di progettare e realizzare una forte atmosfera di fondo, che identifichi un luogo, ossia che gli dia identità, presenza, carattere.<br /><br />---<br /><br />Il senso del nostro fare può essere meglio compreso quando si fa proprio il fatto che le azioni umane rientrano nell’ordine del sacro.<br /><br />Allora nella casa la sala da pranzo diventa il luogo del convivio, del cibo come scambio di cultura, di calore, di esperienze, di dialogo. Il ristorante è il luogo dove questo passa nella sfera civile, nella sfera pubblica: nella comunità. La camera da letto è il luogo del riposo e dell’intimità della coppia. Il luogo di lavoro è il tempio della concentrazione e della creatività. E così di seguito la strada, il negozio ecc. Ogni luogo ha il suo ordine del sacro, perché sacro è il momento presente vissuto con pienezza.<br /><br />Una delle cose che desidero maggiormente è proprio riuscire a progettare degli edifici, degli spazi che aiutino a vivere questa intensità, questa concentrazione, questa qualità della vita. Penso che la buona architettura non sia tanto quella che lascia il segno con un gesto eclatante o necessariamente scultoreo, ma quella che ha in sé la capacità di creare un luogo, la qualità e l’identità di uno spazio che ci aiutino far nascere le nostre idee migliori e i nostri sentimenti più autentici, che ci permetta di provare sensazioni che in un mondo sempre più caratterizzato da segni confusi e contraddittori non riusciamo più a provare, a leggere, ascoltare, capire. Una architettura che non sia il veicolo attraverso il quale si esprima il messaggio di una data corrente artistica, ma una architettura che crei uno spazio dalla forte identità in grado di accogliere pienamente le vite delle persone che la vivono.<br /><br />Credo che l’architettura possa essere l’arte del vivere.brunotonellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09252118293890312055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787437202031569907.post-88580853282890976042009-06-04T14:01:00.000-07:002012-01-25T06:30:08.399-08:00La costruzione della civitasIn Africa c’è un albero, con un villaggio attorno. Un grande albero ombroso con delle case attorno, sono capanne, l’albero è al centro. In Africa c’è un villaggio con un grande albero al centro, proprio nel mezzo dello spiazzo del villaggio, dove la gente parla, canta, si ritrova. Dove la sera si danza e di giorno si scambiano le merci. All’ombra del grande albero.<br /><br />Sono seduto in una piazza di una città francese, siamo ai margini della città storica, la pavimentazione è recente, ma ben costruita, ben disegnata senza voler essere protagonista. I primi attori della piazza rimangono gli edifici, di varie epoche, costituiscono lo spessore della storia e della memoria di questa città. La piazza e le strade brulicano di persone. Molti turisti ma soprattutto molta gente del posto. A voler vedere la città è completamente priva di luoghi di alto interesse architettonico o artistico, è una città minore della Francia meridionale. I ragazzi corrono per la piazza. Accanto a questa in un piccolo giardino protetto mamme e nonni giocano con i bambini. E’ l’atmosfera generale che prevale, non il singolo edificio. La città è ben vissuta e accogliente, le finiture degli edifici in arenaria chiara ben si sposano con il legno delle facciate degli edifici contemporanei. Vi sono molti negozi ma soprattutto molti locali, ristoranti, bar. La sera cala lentamente e un lieve tepore continua a levarsi dalle pietre.<br /><br />La complessità è la ricchezza di uno spazio. Solo anni dopo realizzò quanto fossero state importanti le sue esplorazioni del Castello da bambino per la sua formazione futura. I cunicoli e le torri, il susseguirsi dei giardini e degli angoli. Gli scorci, e soprattutto le continue scoperte, di nuovi spazi, di nuovi luoghi. E l’incapacità di raccogliere tutto questo nella memoria, tutto troppo complesso, variegato, ricco. L’appoggiarsi l’uno sull’altro degli interventi storici, le pietre di cava sbozzate appositamente per quell’edificio e le pietre invece riutilizzate. Gli interventi degli austriaci sulle mura venete. I nomi dei luoghi che ricordano l’eco di fatti lontani, di supposizioni, di leggende. Poi i libri sul castello che tentano una ricostruzione in realtà impossibile, che sovrappongono frammenti, che illuminano gallerie e cunicoli dimenticati con una luce flebile, che mostra solo poche cose.<br /><br />Il professore di lettere appoggiò la bicicletta vicino alla siepe, che avrebbe davvero avuto bisogno di essere potata….<br />Sempre caro mi fu quest’ermo colle…<br />Sorrise…certo gli sarebbe piaciuto fare ancora imparare a memoria le poesie. Leopardi, Ungaretti, ma anche il Tasso, l’Ariosto, il duecento toscano. I latini. La memoria…quanto conta ancora oggi la memoria? E cosa è la memoria di una città poi? In fin dei conti i palazzi e le pietre ne raccontano la storia, dal medioevo al rinascimento, dall’architettura romana al Liberty. La memoria collettiva, a disposizione di tutti…certo non tutti la capiscono (come Dante del resto), però forse appartiene davvero a tutti. Perché forse una cosa ti appartiene quando la senti tua.<br />Sempre caro mi fu quest’ermo colle….<br /><br />I termini città e civiltà derivano entrambi dalla parola latina civitas. Sono le civiltà che costruiscono le città o sono queste ultime che forgiano le civiltà? O il legame tra città e civiltà è molto più profondo e indissolubile? E’ possibile che una civiltà possa esprimere un’urbanistica di qualità senza basi culturali e sociali adeguate? Che influenza ha la qualità urbana sul crescere e sullo svilupparsi delle nuove generazioni, delle idee, delle relazioni sociali, degli incontri, voluti o fortuiti, fra le persone?<br /><br />Alla Biennale di architettura di Venezia del 2006 la protagonista è stata l’urbanistica. Delle approfondite serie di analisi sono state compiute su alcune delle maggiori metropoli mondiali. Una serie di progetti di portata urbana era poi mostrata per ogni città. E’ stupefacente notare la stretta relazione emersa tra la quantità di spazi pubblici delle città e la qualità della vita. In particolare il tasso di criminalità sembra essere inversamente proporzionale alla percentuale che gli spazi pubblici occupano sul totale della superficie urbana<br /><br />L’ultima sigaretta della giornata lavorativa. Le piastrelle del marciapiede erano ormai tutte sbeccate. Marmo rosa, di qualche parte dell’Italia. I tavolini ancora umidi per la breve pioggia del pomeriggio. Da un po’ ormai la gente al centro commerciale era sempre meno, troppa la concorrenza di quelli nuovi e ben più grandi che erano sorti vicino all’autostrada. Era come se la gente passasse senza guardarti, in fin dei conti forse il suo lavoro era guardare la gente che passa. Poco da ridere, tra l’altro, se il lavoro andava male. E comunque la gente passa senza guardare anche nei centri commerciali più grandi, solo i ragazzini passano schiamazzando. Certo Mr. Jason non avrebbe fatto questi pensieri nel ‘69, quando aprì il centro. E poi Stockton allora era tutta un’altra cosa. O perlomeno lo era nei ricordi.<br />Brutta cosa diventare vecchi, brutta cosa. Ad andare indietro con gli anni gli sarebbe piaciuto tanto aprire il suo negozio a S.Francisco, magari sulla Columbus Avenue: lì non c’erano centri commerciali e la vita aveva un sapore un po’ diverso. Certo i prezzi delle case erano proibitivi…<br />Da qualche anno non si poteva più fumare al centro e gli toccava uscire a farlo sul terrace, tra le piastrelle sbeccate, a fianco del parcheggio, vicino alle pompe di benzina. In lontananza si scorgevano le torri del nuovo Wal-Mart, che nascondevano un altro pezzo di paesaggio, portandolo nell’oblio. Un po’ come succedeva ai suoi ricordi…brunotonellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09252118293890312055noreply@blogger.com0