Architettura in movimento

video art

2023

Architettura in movimento is a chapter of a broader research project that begins with the most classical of axioms:

architecture is a body, and the body is an architecture.

There is no better way to delve into this statement than with a direct reference to Vitruvius’ Theory of Proportions, as preserved in “De Architectura”: If, therefore, we are in agreement that the numerical system is derived from the members of the body and that there is a constant symmetrical correspondence between each individual part and the entire human figure, it follows that we must admire those
architects who, even in the design of the temples of the immortal gods, arranged the various elements of the work in such a way as to achieve an appropriate arrangement of the parts and the whole, respecting proportions and symmetry.

But what does it mean to follow in the footsteps of this tradition? How can we assess the meaning of this axiom in a time when both architecture and the body itself are undergoing profound transformations?

This was the starting point of Architettura in movimento: to question how our bodies manipulate the buildings around us and, conversely, the contaminations that certain architectures leave on our postures and our skin.

From these premises, the project naturally took the form of a series of studies, halfway between preparatory sketches and physical exercises of resonance that could bring together the conclusions of an architect about some buildings from the past and the psychophysical considerations of a performer.

The result was a series of very brief choreographies that begin with observation but, above all, with the inhabiting of the studied buildings.

The choreographic aspect arises from the need to translate the movement proposed by various architectures and, at the same time, to question it not in reflection but in action. For example, how does the austere simplicity and total effectiveness of the lines of the Church of
Our Lady of Mercy in Baranzate di Bollate resonate in the performer’s body?

The bond between these two worlds was organically represented by the instrument of video. The recordings allow us to simultaneously follow the dual movement of architecture and the body and capture their dialogue and mutual references, which can coexist and give rise to synthesis rather than opposition, thanks to framing.

Gradually, other buildings and projects are added and will continue to be added, other chapters between architecture, design and movement, towards new ways of inhabiting and building.