The graphic documents shown here represent a study about the Portico of San Luca in Bologna. Portico of San Luca depicts a extraordinary example of an extraurban arcade-system, a strong sign of urban development of the seventeenth and eighteen century and, finally, a symbol of the urban image of Bologna. The main aim of this work is to produce a complete and systematic graphic documentation of this arcade-system that, despite of its local fame, lacks of an in-depth study; moreover, it intends to investigate how the urban space around this system has been modified and reshaped; finally, how an important portion of Bologna, such the one sourrounding San Luca, took form and developed. Considering the inner complexity of this arcade-system and its 3.300 mt length, an approach based on separated representations of figures and forms has been rejected from the beginning. Such an approach would lead to a fragmented and incomplete interpretation. Vice versa, this part of the town has been considered as a whole, a unique architectonic object, whose representation has been coded by means of a specifically designed graphic language. This type of approach implied surveying and re-drawing all the urban parts sourrounding the arcade system to represent them trough a joint and univocal code and spatial system. As a result, a 20 mt long drawing (if printed at 1:200 scale) has been assembled. This procedure allowed a complete and exaustive graphic description of the whole portico path, of the buildings built above it, of distinctive structures, of their functions and their architectural details. The whole survey is based both on photographic, archivistic and historical documentations and on direct and indirect measurements. Mappings have been carried out by students at the second year of the Faculty of Engineering – University of Bologna. The strict procedural constraints and the explicit graphical methodology has allowed to merge every single mapping in one comprehensive document. Its graphic language has been specifically designed coding iconographic signs. Contents and graphic information has been organized according to the graphic scale. This type of organization offers an appropriate level of detail in all circumstances, ranging from extremely small to very large graphic scales. The synthetic composition obtained, revealed itself as an effective descriptive and analytic tool, allowing evaluation of geometrical, formal, evolutional and conservational aspects. In particular: - it synthesizes the features of a complex structure in a single representation; - it allows to evaluate objects which are generally difficult to compare and to relate their underlying geometric rules; - it effectively describes different sorts of data about buildings and their conservative and deteriorative state; - it shows the extremely quick evolution of “cheap” building systems and their capability to change while maintaining a strong and precise identity; - it allows to keep track of events and transformations, of buildings overlapping over time. This type of representation is both an interpretative and planning tool. It can be considered both active and passive. Active, because enphasizes foundamental features and issues for an architect. Passive, because it can be used as a base for urban maintainance program, such as managing facades, color plans and utilities control.
L. Cipriani, M. Ballabeni (2006). The drawing of the San Luca portico in Bologna. FIRENZE : Firenze University Press.
The drawing of the San Luca portico in Bologna
CIPRIANI, LUCA;BALLABENI, MASSIMO
2006
Abstract
The graphic documents shown here represent a study about the Portico of San Luca in Bologna. Portico of San Luca depicts a extraordinary example of an extraurban arcade-system, a strong sign of urban development of the seventeenth and eighteen century and, finally, a symbol of the urban image of Bologna. The main aim of this work is to produce a complete and systematic graphic documentation of this arcade-system that, despite of its local fame, lacks of an in-depth study; moreover, it intends to investigate how the urban space around this system has been modified and reshaped; finally, how an important portion of Bologna, such the one sourrounding San Luca, took form and developed. Considering the inner complexity of this arcade-system and its 3.300 mt length, an approach based on separated representations of figures and forms has been rejected from the beginning. Such an approach would lead to a fragmented and incomplete interpretation. Vice versa, this part of the town has been considered as a whole, a unique architectonic object, whose representation has been coded by means of a specifically designed graphic language. This type of approach implied surveying and re-drawing all the urban parts sourrounding the arcade system to represent them trough a joint and univocal code and spatial system. As a result, a 20 mt long drawing (if printed at 1:200 scale) has been assembled. This procedure allowed a complete and exaustive graphic description of the whole portico path, of the buildings built above it, of distinctive structures, of their functions and their architectural details. The whole survey is based both on photographic, archivistic and historical documentations and on direct and indirect measurements. Mappings have been carried out by students at the second year of the Faculty of Engineering – University of Bologna. The strict procedural constraints and the explicit graphical methodology has allowed to merge every single mapping in one comprehensive document. Its graphic language has been specifically designed coding iconographic signs. Contents and graphic information has been organized according to the graphic scale. This type of organization offers an appropriate level of detail in all circumstances, ranging from extremely small to very large graphic scales. The synthetic composition obtained, revealed itself as an effective descriptive and analytic tool, allowing evaluation of geometrical, formal, evolutional and conservational aspects. In particular: - it synthesizes the features of a complex structure in a single representation; - it allows to evaluate objects which are generally difficult to compare and to relate their underlying geometric rules; - it effectively describes different sorts of data about buildings and their conservative and deteriorative state; - it shows the extremely quick evolution of “cheap” building systems and their capability to change while maintaining a strong and precise identity; - it allows to keep track of events and transformations, of buildings overlapping over time. This type of representation is both an interpretative and planning tool. It can be considered both active and passive. Active, because enphasizes foundamental features and issues for an architect. Passive, because it can be used as a base for urban maintainance program, such as managing facades, color plans and utilities control.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
