Genealogical Reasoning
Fathers and Sons_Aldo Vanini
Friedrich Nietzsche’s idea of eternal recurrence finds particularly useful application in the discipline of architecture. The necessity of operating within the insurmountable laws of statics and the established anthropological conception of space prevents any substantially rash moves and any abandonment of the fundamental principles of design. Given these premises, what is the relationship between the various generations of architects? What is the common thread connecting the evolution from one generation of architects to the next?
In the past, the transmission of the knowledge and principles of architecture transpired through orders and treatises, as an expression of a monolithic and ontological conception of reality. Modernity and twentieth-century science have undermined this conception by rendering any continuity of rigid formal models impossible.
Beyond any more or less sophisticated formal inspiration, is the logical construction of the heritage that must be transmitted between fathers and sons, between the architects who precede and those who follow. The following examples represent some of the ways in which architecture can evolve without breaking continuity with the past.
Urban How_Constraints to Blessings
Over the Constraints _ Silvio Carta
How broad a range can a new project really span when the domain of the architect is restricted? Serious limitations for new design in a preexisting condition can be set based on several factors, such as local regulations or cultural heritage and legacy stipulations, or certain conditions of the physical site, including existing structures, forms and contextual presences. Thus confined, however, the architect’s freedom can result in unexpected and surprising results, with the original limitations becoming a key point in the new design. The new solution can snake around the impositions, trying to fill the gaps resulting from the restrictions, or it can deftly take them as a starting point for improving design quality. Structural constraints can thus be exploited in order to confer upon a place a unique atmosphere linked with the past. A rigid set of local rules imposing a fixed outward appearance of a building can be a good opportunity to create a sophisticated project on the inside, making the clear contrast a strong point of the new design.
This section investigates the expressive power of architecture when constrained and compelled, presenting unforeseen solutions.
