Atmósferas del habitar. Fenomenologías de “estar en casa”

First introduced by Martin Heidegger in his later philosophical work, over the decades the concept of dwelling has acquired a fundamental importance in architectural theory. Its “classic” status, however, along with its centrality in post-modern architecture, has largely prevented the unfolding of an open discussion on the present-day validity of this notion. Similarly, the work of another cult author such as Gaston Bachelard, whose book The Poetics of Space is equally revered as a classic, appears to be uncritically espoused outside of a proper contextualization. While dwelling does represent a fundamental driver of human presence in the world, these two primary accounts and their implications in design should be discussed against other complementary or antagonistic models, such as those proposed by Deleuze and Guattari, Sloterdijk and Schmitz. Each of these authors defines his position vis-à-vis Heidegger’s original proposal, while opening to different repercussions on the practices of design.Introducido inicialmente por Martin Heidegger en la obra filosófica del final de su vida, el concepto de habitar ha adquirido a lo largo de las décadas una importancia fundamental en la teoría arquitectónica. Sin embargo, su estatus “clásico”, junto con su centralidad en la arquitectura posmoderna, ha impedido en gran medida el desarrollo de una discusión abierta sobre la validez actual de esta noción. De manera similar, el trabajo de otro autor de culto como Gaston Bachelard, cuyo libro La poética del espacio es igualmente venerado como un clásico, parece ser adoptado acríticamente fuera de una contextualización adecuada. Si bien el habitar representa un motor fundamental de la presencia humana en el mundo, estas dos explicaciones principales y sus implicaciones en el proyecto deben mostrarse frente a otros modelos complementarios o antagónicos, como los propuestos por Deleuze y Guattari, Sloterdijk y Schmitz. Cada uno de estos autores define su posición frente a la propuesta original de Heidegger, al tiempo que se abre a diferentes repercusiones en la práctica del proyecto

The Climate of Spaces. On Architecture, Atmospheres and Time

This paper discusses the concept of climate in relation to architectural space. By elaborating on the notion of atmosphere, that today permeates a wide range of architectural research, I intend to expand its relevance by outlining a relationship between atmosphere and climate analogous to what occurs in meteorological studies. While climate represents a rather stable (if evolving) cycle of recurring conditions, atmospheric events are fleeting and less predictable. Equally, architectural spaces can establish a general climatic scaffolding that increases the possibility of particular atmospheres to unfold, without however evolving into a deterministic cause-effect relationship. By addressing and comparing philosophical notions and architectural questions, I intend to formulate a novel theorisation as a useful tool for both criticism and design

Good, Green, Safe, Affordable Housing

In May 2007, the Council of European Ministers for Urban development set out the Leipzig Charter: an ambitious document for the future of our cities, advocating a new way of working on our environment. One year later, European cities face the task of bringing those propositions to life, providing higher-quality housing for more and more citizens, making access to affordable housing as simple as possible. In times of economic drought this might not prove easy: yet the real challenge consists in governing the economic forces which shape our cities, organising them through processes involving both public authorities and private stakeholders from the outset, reducing conflicts along the way. Good housing is what shapes our cities, creating space and the quality to make them attractive places to live and work in. Green housing is needed to mitigate environmental impact, reduce energy consumption, create buildings which interact more efficiently with the environment, and produce less pollution. Safe housing is important to protect the wellbeing – both physiological and psychological – of its inhabitants, helping cities acquire that quality of life which makes them attractive places to live and work in. Affordable housing is fundamental to guarantee the widest access to high-quality living to citizens of all income, by controlling the housing market, building costs and energy costs. The aim of the Urbact II Working Group Hopus – Housing Praxis for Urban Sustainability – is exactly this: to study, disseminate and implement the ways through which new housing in Europe can be efficiently oriented, using modern governance tools such as design codes or other forms of “smart” project guidance. Hopus brings together five universities and two city administrations, each working on different aspects of housing. From the urban to the building approach, from building regulations to construction technology, from environmental quality to energy certification: a multi-faceted and interdisciplinary approach, trying to cover a wide range of different problems, joining theory and practice. The challenge set out by the Leipzig Charter may seem vast; nevertheless, it is only through joint efforts that we can truly aspire to better new housing developments – good, green, safe, and affordable – which will eventually give birth to the cities we want for the future of our continent

Dopo l’evento. Archeologia dello spazio umano

When catastrophes strike urban centers causing widespread damage to the built fabric, extensive coverage of events usually focuses on the material dimension of destruction and on the ordeal of residents that are displaced to safe locations. Far less attention, however, is dedicated to the dimension of human space, i.e. that dynamic entity connecting places and their inhabitants, exceeding the material constitution of physical space, and describing the existential dimension of lived experience.Human space as understood in this work gathers contributions from several disciplinary fields such as affective science, aesthetics, phenomenology, anthropology, history and architecture. All these studies converge on the centrality of the experiencing subject in the constitution of space, with particular emphasis on the affective dimension of experience. One particularly interesting – albeit so far under-explored – subject is the temporal dimension of affectivity in relation to space: how emotions are re-enacted over prolonged timespans, and if the connectedness of feelings and space is capable of intersubjectively bridging across subjects. This hypothesis is especially relevant to understand the capacities for survival of human space through disastrous events, considering parts that are lost and those that may survive, being hinged to the materiality of places. Dopo l’evento. Archeologia dello spazio umanoQuando i centri urbani vengono colpiti da catastrofi che causano ampi danni al tessuto costruito, si presta in genere notevole attenzione alla dimensione materiale della distruzione, nonché al dramma vissuto dai residenti che vengono spostati in zone sicure. Meno attenzione, tuttavia, riceve la dimensione dello spazio umano, ovvero quell’entità dinamica che collega i luoghi ai loro abitanti, eccedendo la costituzione dello spazio fisico e descrivendo la dimensione esistenziale dell’esperienza vissuta.Lo spazio umano, così come viene inteso nel presente lavoro, raccoglie contributi da vari campi disciplinari, come le scienze affettive, l’estetica, la fenomenologia, l’antropologia, l’indagine storica e l’architettura. Tutti questi studi convergono sulla centralità del soggetto nella costituzione dello spazio, con particolare enfasi sulla dimensione affettiva dell’esperienza. Una questione particolarmente interessante, sebbene finora poco esplorata, è relativa alla dimensione temporale dell’affettività in relazione allo spazio, ovvero come le emozioni possano ripresentarsi a distanza di tempo, e se il collegamento tra spazio ed emozioni è capace di collegare, intersoggettivamente, soggetti temporalmente distanti. Questa ipotesi diventa particolarmente rilevante per comprendere la capacità di sopravvivenza dello spazio umano agli eventi catastrofici, considerando quali parti vanno perdute e quali possono sopravvivere, in quanto incardinate alla materialità dei luoghi costruiti.Quando i centri urbani vengono colpiti da catastrofi che causano ampi danni al tessuto costruito, si presta in genere notevole attenzione alla dimensione materiale della distruzione, nonché al dramma vissuto dai residenti che vengono spostati in zone sicure. Meno attenzione, tuttavia, riceve la dimensione dello spazio umano, ovvero quell’entità dinamica che collega i luoghi ai loro abitanti, eccedendo la costituzione dello spazio fisico e descrivendo la dimensione esistenziale dell’esperienza vissuta.Lo spazio umano, così come viene inteso nel presente lavoro, raccoglie contributi da vari campi disciplinari, come le scienze affettive, l’estetica, la fenomenologia, l’antropologia, l’indagine storica e l’architettura. Tutti questi studi convergono sulla centralità del soggetto nella costituzione dello spazio, con particolare enfasi sulla dimensione affettiva dell’esperienza. Una questione particolarmente interessante, sebbene finora poco esplorata, è relativa alla dimensione temporale dell’affettività in relazione allo spazio, ovvero come le emozioni possano ripresentarsi a distanza di tempo, e se il collegamento tra spazio ed emozioni è capace di collegare, intersoggettivamente, soggetti temporalmente distanti. Questa ipotesi diventa particolarmente rilevante per comprendere la capacità di sopravvivenza dello spazio umano agli eventi catastrofici, considerando quali parti vanno perdute e quali possono sopravvivere, in quanto incardinate alla materialità dei luoghi costruiti. After the Event. Archaeology of Human Space When catastrophes strike urban centers causing widespread damage to the built fabric, extensive coverage of events usually focuses on the material dimension of destruction and on the ordeal of residents that are displaced to safe locations. Far less attention, however, is dedicated to the dimension of human space, i.e. that dynamic entity connecting places and their inhabitants, exceeding the material constitution of physical space, and describing the existential dimension of lived experience.Human space as understood in this work gathers contributions from several disciplinary fields such as affective science, aesthetics, phenomenology, anthropology, history and architecture. All these studies converge on the centrality of the experiencing subject in the constitution of space, with particular emphasis on the affective dimension of experience. One particularly interesting – albeit so far under-explored – subject is the temporal dimension of affectivity in relation to space: how emotions are re-enacted over prolonged timespans, and if the connectedness of feelings and space is capable of intersubjectively bridging across subjects. This hypothesis is especially relevant to understand the capacities for survival of human space through disastrous events, considering parts that are lost and those that may survive, being hinged to the materiality of place

Neurophysiological correlates of embodiment and motivational factors during the perception of virtual architectural environments

The recent efforts aimed at providing neuroscientific explanations of how people perceive and experience architectural environments have largely justified the initial belief in the value of neuroscience for architecture. However, a systematic development of a coherent theoretical and experimental framework is missing. To investigate the neurophysiological reactions related to the appreciation of ambiances, we recorded the electroencephalographic (EEG) signals in an immersive virtual reality during the appreciation of interior designs. Such data have been analyzed according to the working hypothesis that appreciated environments involve embodied simulation mechanisms and circuits mediating approaching stimuli. EEG recordings of 12 healthy subjects have been performed during the perception of three-dimensional interiors that have been simulated in a CAVE system and judged according to dimensions of familiarity, novelty, comfort, pleasantness, arousal and presence. A correlation analysis on personal judgments returned that scores of novelty, pleasantness and comfort are positively correlated, while familiarity and novelty are in negative way. Statistical spectral maps reveal that pleasant, novel and comfortable interiors produce a de-synchronization of the mu rhythm over left sensorimotor areas. Interiors judged more pleasant and less familiar generate an activation of left frontal areas (theta and alpha bands), along an involvement of areas devoted to spatial navigation. An increase in comfort returns an enhancement of the theta frontal midline activity. Cerebral activations underlying appreciation of architecture could involve different mechanisms regulating corporeal, emotional and cognitive reactions. Therefore, it might be suggested that people's experience of architectural environments is intrinsically structured by the possibilities for action

Identification from Flight Data of the Aerodynamics of an Experimental Re-Entry Vehicle

Post flight data analyses are essential activities in aerospace projects. In particular, there is a specific interest in obtaining vehicle aerodynamic characteristics from flight data, especially for re-entry vehicle, in order to better understand theoretical predictions, to validate wind- tunnel test results and to get more accurate and reliable mathematical models for the purpose of simulation, stability analysis, and control system design and evaluation. Indeed, due to atmospheric re-entry specificity in terms of environment and phenomena, ground based experiments are not fully exhaustive and in-flight experimentation is mandatory. Moreover pre-flight models are usually characterised by wide uncertainty ranges, which should be reduced. These objectives can be reached by performing vehicle’s model identification from flight data

La versione di (h)ortus. Editoriali 2009-2011

Il volume raccoglie un anno e mezzo di editoriali comparsi sulla rivista on-line hortus. Attraverso queste riflessioni su alcuni temi cruciali dell’architettura contemporanea, gli autori si interrogano sulle problematiche etiche, metodologiche, sociali ed estetiche della progettazione

The enactive approach to architectural experience: A neurophysiological perspective on embodiment, motivation, and affordances

From the enactivist perspective, the way people perceptually experience the world, including architectural spaces, is governed by the dynamic sensorimotor activity of the human organism as a whole and is thereby influenced by the particular conditions of man’s embodiment

Electroencephalographic correlates of sensorimotor integration and embodiment during the appreciation of virtual architectural environments

Nowadays there is the hope that neuroscientific findings will contribute to the improvement of building design in order to create environments which satisfy man's demands. This can be achieved through the understanding of neurophysiological correlates of architectural perception. To this aim, the electroencephalographic (EEG) signals of 12 healthy subjects were recorded during the perception of three immersive virtual reality environments (VEs). Afterwards, participants were asked to describe their experience in terms of Familiarity, Novelty, Comfort, Pleasantness, Arousal, and Presence using a rating scale from 1 to 9. These perceptual dimensions are hypothesized to influence the pattern of cerebral spectral activity, while Presence is used to assess the realism of the virtual stimulation. Hence, the collected scores were used to analyze the Power Spectral Density (PSD) of the EEG for each behavioral dimension in the theta, alpha and mu bands by means of time-frequency analysis and topographic statistical maps. Analysis of Presence resulted in the activation of the frontal-midline theta, indicating the involvement of sensorimotor integration mechanisms when subjects expressed to feel more present in the VEs. Similar patterns also characterized the experience of familiar and comfortable VEs. In addition, pleasant VEs increased the theta power across visuomotor circuits and activated the alpha band in areas devoted to visuospatial exploration and processing of categorical spatial relations. Finally, the de-synchronization of the mu rhythm described the perception of pleasant and comfortable VEs, showing the involvement of left motor areas and embodied mechanisms for environment appreciation. Overall, these results show the possibility to measure EEG correlates of architectural perception involving the cerebral circuits of sensorimotor integration, spatial navigation, and embodiment. These observations can help testing architectural hypotheses in order to design environments matching the changing needs of humans