The city as a paradigm of contemporary operation belongs to those hypotheses and theories of architectural composition which find in the comparison of the study of urban places the vital lymph to be able to operate by moving coherently within a territory in continuous evolution, but nevertheless with unstable balances. In general terms it can be noted that the nature of the contemporary European or Western city has been characterized as a place where the relationship between invention and tradition has historically expressed itself in overlapping and merging into complex forms of urban settlements, giving rise to progressive and unprecedented constructive inventions and spatial sequences, albeit sometimes contradictory. The in-depth study of the multiple structures and of what can be considered the founding and driving contexts of the innumerable and distinct settlement forms can help us understand what the reasons are that have determined a specific idea of the city and the its meanings. In particular, focusing on the meaning of the architectural project in the construction of the city, as determined by the collective will that generated it, can perhaps make us reflect on the civil value and therefore on the relevance of making architecture. The research attempt, through the project, should bring back to the center of the reflection on the contemporary city an idea of civil architecture as a tool of priority investigation on the overall reality of the city, be it urban or territorial, as a continuous commitment to the logical construction of the relationships between humankind and surrounding reality. Searching today - also and above all through the discipline's own tools - the reasons that have given rise to precise urban devices or dialectical relationships between the parts of the built environment, means proposing a reconceptualization of the balanced nature of the experience of architecture, capable of give answers to the needs of living that not only fulfill the strictly functional data capable of restoring a meaning and an identity to our places of living. The reasoning regarding the quality of the urban and rural landscape established over the centuries therefore requires a detailed study, case by case, which concretely evaluates the issues of their architectural constitution and the spatial relationships that derive from it. The objective should be to evaluate their possible operational relevance thanks to the sense those particular places have managed to build over time. The search for the shareability of architecture presupposes that it is a language shared by all, or rather this was the case and perhaps this should still be the case in the design of new urban hypotheses, under penalty of losing meaning. On the contrary, it can be observed, for example typological disorientation of the contemporary city, due to the multiple possibilities of construction, aggregation and use of the most disparate materials, how the general objective of an awareness of architecture as a collective phenomenon has been lost sight of and how the commercial aspect more often prevails rather than meaning. The study of ancient cities, but not only those, therefore becomes a fundamental tool for rooting new urban hypotheses within a logical process aimed at allowing solutions that can universally correspond to real and objective needs which precisely because they are clearly defined in the conceptual and spatial contours allow the formation of unexpected and therefore particular, subjective or occasional actions.
La città quale paradigma dell’operare contemporaneo appartiene a quelle ipotesi e teorie della composizione architettonica che trovano nel confronto dello studio dei luoghi urbani linfa vitale per poter operare muovendosi con coerenza all’interno di un territorio in continuo divenire, ma tuttavia dagli equilibri labili. In termini generali si può rilevare che la natura della città contemporanea europea o occidentale si è caratterizzata come luogo dove il rapporto tra invenzione e tradizione si è espresso storicamente nel sovrapporsi e fondersi in complesse forme di insediamenti urbani, dando vita a progressive e inedite invenzioni costruttive e sequenze spaziali pur talvolta contraddittorie. L’approfondimento delle molteplici strutture e di quelli che possono essere considerati gli ambiti fondativi e propulsori delle innumerevoli e distinte forme insediative possono aiutarci a comprendere quali siano le ragioni che abbiano determinato una specifica idea di città e i suoi significati. In particolare, il concentrarsi sul significato del progetto di architettura nella costruzione della città, in quanto determinato da volontà collettive che lo hanno generato, può forse far riflettere sul valore civile e quindi sull’attualità, del fare architettura. Il tentativo della ricerca, attraverso il progetto, dovrebbe riportare al centro della riflessione sulla città contemporanea un’idea di architettura civile quale strumento di indagine prioritaria sulla realtà complessiva della città, sia essa urbana o territoriale, quale continuo impegno di costruzione logica dei rapporti tra genere umano e realtà circostante. Il ricercare oggi - anche e soprattutto mediante gli strumenti propri della disciplina - le ragioni che hanno dato vita a precisi dispositivi urbani o relazioni dialettiche tra le parti del costruito, vuole dire proporre una riconcettualizzazione della natura equilibrata dell’esperienza dell’architettura, capace di dare risposte alle necessità dell’abitare che non solo assolvano al dato strettamente funzionale in grado di restituire un senso e un’identità ai nostri luoghi del vivere. I ragionamenti che riguardano la qualità del paesaggio urbano e rurale costituitosi nei secoli, esigono quindi un approfondimento puntuale, caso per caso, che valuti nel concreto le questioni della loro costituzione architettonica e delle relazioni spaziali che da essa ne derivano. L’obiettivo dovrebbe essere quello di valutarne la loro possibile attualità operativa grazie al senso quei particolari luoghi sono riusciti a costruire nel tempo. La ricerca della condivisibilità dell’architettura presuppone che le sia proprio un linguaggio partecipato da tutti, o meglio così è stato e così forse dovrebbe ancora essere nel disegno delle nuove ipotesi urbane, pena la perdita di senso. Si può al contrario osservare, per lo spaesamento tipologico della città contemporanea, per le molteplici possibilità costruttive, aggregative e d’utilizzo di materiali più disparati, come si sia perso di vista l’obiettivo generale di una consapevolezza dell’architettura come fenomeno collettivo e come prevalga più sovente l’aspetto commerciale piuttosto che di significato. Lo studio delle città antiche, ma non solo di quelle, diventa quindi uno strumento fondamentale per radicare nuove ipotesi urbane all’interno di un processo logico atto a consentire soluzioni che possano universalmente corrispondere a necessità reali e oggettive che proprio per il loro essere definite chiaramente nei contorni concettuali e spaziali permettano il formarsi di azioni impreviste e quindi particolari, soggettive o d’occasione.
Francesco Saverio Fera (2022). The maieutics of the city. Firenze : AIÓN EDIZIONI.
The maieutics of the city
Francesco Saverio Fera
2022
Abstract
The city as a paradigm of contemporary operation belongs to those hypotheses and theories of architectural composition which find in the comparison of the study of urban places the vital lymph to be able to operate by moving coherently within a territory in continuous evolution, but nevertheless with unstable balances. In general terms it can be noted that the nature of the contemporary European or Western city has been characterized as a place where the relationship between invention and tradition has historically expressed itself in overlapping and merging into complex forms of urban settlements, giving rise to progressive and unprecedented constructive inventions and spatial sequences, albeit sometimes contradictory. The in-depth study of the multiple structures and of what can be considered the founding and driving contexts of the innumerable and distinct settlement forms can help us understand what the reasons are that have determined a specific idea of the city and the its meanings. In particular, focusing on the meaning of the architectural project in the construction of the city, as determined by the collective will that generated it, can perhaps make us reflect on the civil value and therefore on the relevance of making architecture. The research attempt, through the project, should bring back to the center of the reflection on the contemporary city an idea of civil architecture as a tool of priority investigation on the overall reality of the city, be it urban or territorial, as a continuous commitment to the logical construction of the relationships between humankind and surrounding reality. Searching today - also and above all through the discipline's own tools - the reasons that have given rise to precise urban devices or dialectical relationships between the parts of the built environment, means proposing a reconceptualization of the balanced nature of the experience of architecture, capable of give answers to the needs of living that not only fulfill the strictly functional data capable of restoring a meaning and an identity to our places of living. The reasoning regarding the quality of the urban and rural landscape established over the centuries therefore requires a detailed study, case by case, which concretely evaluates the issues of their architectural constitution and the spatial relationships that derive from it. The objective should be to evaluate their possible operational relevance thanks to the sense those particular places have managed to build over time. The search for the shareability of architecture presupposes that it is a language shared by all, or rather this was the case and perhaps this should still be the case in the design of new urban hypotheses, under penalty of losing meaning. On the contrary, it can be observed, for example typological disorientation of the contemporary city, due to the multiple possibilities of construction, aggregation and use of the most disparate materials, how the general objective of an awareness of architecture as a collective phenomenon has been lost sight of and how the commercial aspect more often prevails rather than meaning. The study of ancient cities, but not only those, therefore becomes a fundamental tool for rooting new urban hypotheses within a logical process aimed at allowing solutions that can universally correspond to real and objective needs which precisely because they are clearly defined in the conceptual and spatial contours allow the formation of unexpected and therefore particular, subjective or occasional actions.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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