Spazio. Il futuro è tutto nella comunicazione

INTRODUCTION - About word SPACE SPACE. An ordinary and predictable title for a master thesis of architecture. Space as pure essence of or as Bruno Zevi would say, “protagonist of architecture, makes this topic quite obvious at first sight, as it makes this practice different from all other artistic practices (if it is), but in reality is not at all. The reassuring certainty that is something that can be manipulated by architects makes this term a fundamental category of architecture and architecture only, but this disappears when we realize that it has not always been this way. Any meaning to term before 1892 would have been meaningless since before this date term did not exist in architectural vocabulary. The use of word is closely connected with evolution of modernism, so much so that it can speak, as Adrian Forty emphasizes, as a triad of modern movement where space, together with form and design, finds its place. Modern in fact, in addition to representing a new approach to architectural matter also from a constructive point of view, has also represented a completely new way of talking about architecture by introducing use of metaphors and specific terms in a specific vocabulary where words exist in relation to others. Speaking of at time of Pantheon of Agrippa, for instance, would have made no sense because no one would have understood Pantheon in spatial terms. Talking about 'Pantheon's spatiality' would have had no meaning for all those who had put hand to construction of building. In fact, we did not work with but with modules and 'empty space' did not exist, because whole void was occupied by a modular grid where everything found its commensurate, to quote Vitruvius, or like Greek used to say: its symmetry. This linguistic lack is very complicated, it will not be purpose of this thesis to shed light on this topic because other people already dealt with, but it is important to make some clarifications because way of talking about architecture and above all communicating it to whoever is or is not of profession, is at center of this scripts. The architectural originates from 19th century German debate and it was German architect and theorist Gottfried Semper who defined before anyone else term as main theme of modern architecture. Semper argues that first impulse of architecture is that of circumscribing space, a theory probably derived from Hegel for which circumscribe is a function of architecture. This theory was source of conception of for many German architects including, to make an instance known to all, Adolf Loos, who in his article The Principle of Cladding, 1898 states, in footsteps of Semper, that the architect's general task is to provide a habitable and welcoming space and that the effects are produced both by materials and shape of . Remember, for instance, observation of Adolf Hildebrand, destined to change whole conception of form in architecture (another modernist term), that in architecture form is and must be first identified through spatial experience. This conception of term is perhaps closest to what we have today, according to which meaning of architecture does not lie in matter of solid elements that compose it, but in that these elements define it. It is therefore essential to spend a few words on elements that an architect has at his disposal to define a physical space, that is to define that volume of air delimited by walls, roof and floor, in short, a simple room. These elements belong to two categories; category of opaque elements (walls, whether perimeter or partition) and that of transparent elements (identified in glazed elements or a void). All this may seem trivial, but a wall on a plant is an indelible sign that has function of clearly separating two environments; take for instance layout of a hotel, two people sleep in rooms with beds resting on border wall that are actually ten centimeters apart from each other, but despite this they perceive their room as intimate and private. If an opaque element has a closing effect, a transparent element produces exact opposite effect and, in case of a glazed wall, perceived extends beyond physical limits of building, stretching to infinity. In addition to opaque-transparent combination also furniture and materials with relative chromatic scale influence spatial experience; for instance, by inserting fixed furniture elements, circulation inside room is influenced, a room with black walls produces a different psychological effect compared to same room with white walls and so on. Today with advent of technology and introduction of new materials and technologies, it is possible to talk about concept of flexibility according to which in architecture it is possible not to define exact function of spaces, making sure that an element can perform more than one function; think about Neoplasticism icon Schroder house made by Gerrit Rietveld in Utrecht, built in 1924, where mobile walls are used to define spaces on upper floor that are constantly changing. We realize how architect has in his hands a power that can be controlled by behavioral habits of user and this influence becomes even stronger if this faculty extends from individual buildings to a larger and therefore urban scale. The considerations regarding intended as delimitation mentioned above, are applied by Viennese architect, also of German language and disciple of Semper, Camillo Sitte, who considers urban design art of space and where other architects considered delimiting thinking of interior, Sitte adapted this theme to outer space. In this way, opposition of positive and negative spaces can be introduced, where positive means buildings and with negative air left free between buildings in order to create squares, parks and streets. The question then arises spontaneously: since is something extremely complex that holds more elements linked, be they psychological, physical, material and so on, how is it possible to communicate this experience? Plants, elevations, sections, axonometrias, three-dimensional models are able to communicate correctly pure spatial essence without losing that infinite number of information that are created during construction process? Are these only tools that an architect/engineer has or exists of other that can completely upset current way of communicating focusing precisely on spatial dimension? This is what we will try to understand in these pages where experience is at center of our interest.