EARLY YEARS
THE INFLUENCE
FROM RAFAEL VIÑOLY TO JAMES STIRLING
From book Alejandro Sala
Vision & Process 1976-2010 | architecture-documents
Left to tight- top: Prof Mauro Lena, Mario Botta,
Francesco Dal Cò, James Stirling. Fondazione Masieri. Venice 1986-1987
In my early years of architectural studies at Architectural University in Buenos Aires end of the 70s, my works reflected the teaching of Rafael Viñoly, and Justo Solsona Architects, them lessons helped me especially, to work on the relationship between, function, form and structure. In these projects, the structure of the building becomes an element of architectural expressiveness.
My studies years under James Stirling at Instituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia (1986-1987) gave me the chance to handle and experimented with an entire poetic substratum, both theoretical and methodological, which enriched my mode
of thinking about architecture, mostly about architectural composition.
The spatial effects became exciting and unexpected; The Geometry, The proportions, and The relationship Exterior -Interior as well the "promenade architectural" became the ordering elements of my architectural composition research.
From the Book: Alejandro Sala Vision and Process -1976-2010 - Architecture Documents
Identificative record: VEA2258838, IUAV Library
APPROACH
These short lines describe some characteristic themes which are intertwined and affect all aspects of the building, dictate rules, conform with the place, order the formation of volume, the elevation and the plan, its geometry, the openings - front of the building, a compositional system in which each part relates to the others undergoing a general order.
The "language" of composition is a long process towards the formation of an idea, that is not an immediate intuition but rather a "Patient" research around a little sketch, which becomes an interaction of the almost unconscious thought and the forms it takes.
These topics will explore a reference system, that constantly evolves to internal logic, whether in figurative terms or in architectural composition, as a unique opportunity for expression, one that combines multiple layers of purpose and meaning. The examples below condense a work in time and illustrate the key issues in their relationships through a number of projects that characterize both the first period and the last projects.
Parataxis
Parataxis from Greek: what is nearby, a combination of the opposition of sense. Volumes come out of the mass, each part has its own expressive... form
I focused on the system of pathways, and the light around which volumes are arranged. Here, it was not only the structure that became expressive form as in my 1970s projects. The entire functional program and the different parts of the project became expressive parts, while the arrangement of volumes, instead of remaining “syntactic”, became “paratactic”.
The Geometry
The Geometry makes clear the invisible, it has a symbolic value based on the pre-established harmony of rationality. From Vitruvius on, the characteristics of geometry, regularity, simplicity, repetition and symmetry characterize architecture as a product of human reason, that is, the opposite of arbitrary.
The geometry assumed as a priori condition creates a series of relations to the context having as the final aim the form. The module regulates work and gives an order to the project. The axis connects and finds relations between parts in three-dimensional space. Plans are the result of a complex intersection of lines: lines define forms, dimensions, and orientations and connect dots, but they also connect the meanings of the various buildings, or a point of a building with a point of the site, or even significant points of the new buildings, that are strictly connected by reciprocal geometrical relationships
Promenade Architectural
The spatial conception carries within itself, a driving emotion, a spatial sequence impression that changes scale according to a pre-established order.
They encourage the visitor to walk through architecture and find unexpected moments in its architectural walk.
The architectural promenade can be employed to enhance a person’s experience of space, but also of time. The exploration of temporal perception through the eyes of architectural space. The architectural promenade can be employed to enhance a person’s experience of architectural space, through the time of time. Towards a new exploration of temporal perception through of "architectural space"
- The evocation of memory
The architectural promenades reveal two basic types of "Promenade Architectural": Those that predominantly aim to witness the present time by the evocation of memory and imagination to discover the architectural space.
- The emotional experience.
And those that predominantly aim to witness time by heightening of sensory and emotional experiences, to discover the architectural space.
- The Time of the Walk
Both types give the possibility of employing time itself as the discovery of the architectural elements, such as forms, light, space, dimensions of scale, relationships from interior to exterior and others.
The Site
The place and architecture, with his multiple interrelations, give the new project the ability to express itself. The urban intervention wants to give a new identity to such parts of the city which, in most cases, have lost their own identity, or must build a new part of the city.
The principles of composition vary according to Urban Objectives: reconsolidate the existing urban texture or dialogue with the needs of the city area making new situations which will be able to increase the value or give a new meaning to the new parts of the city.
The three-dimensional space
The volume stands for three dimensions. The volumetric definition gives identity to the building, an identity that will be read through the settlement of the buildings in the city. The volumes organize a graduated space in which the different geometries make a sort of "Tableaux" with new mediations spaces, such as squares, gardens, and passages.
The buildings are arranged on the ground following a logical sequence: one passes through them, stops there, looks... the different parts act like living beings, they talk at one a time. The building itself is an autonomous object in the landscape, sometimes sufficiently independent sometimes taking different aspects, depending on different realities.
The plan and volume are the elements through which architecture manifests itself, sometimes undergoing a formal concatenation process rich in “pictures” and with a great variety of expressions. Space bears within it a moving thrill, where the different sequences change in scale according to a pre-arranged order.
Openings - Proportions
The study of proportions, the excavation of vertical surfaces, the dimension of openings and their proportions establish hierarchies in the facades, highlighting the "Face of the Building”.
Openings as sources of light, obtained by removing material from the primary volume, take strength thanks to it. The eye penetrates into the volume through the openings, that underline the contrast between full and empty.
Exterior and Interior
The glass surface, vertical cuts, shapes and their disposition, and the hierarchies that make up the image of the building, all become compositional elements and have a logical relation in space and with space itself.
The openings some times are arranged in geometrical proportion axes and follow regular drawings so that they enhance the strength of their own shapes and give emphasis to exterior-interior relationships
Openings as a source of light, give the primary volume scale at the same time the effects of light and shade (solid-void) underline the depth of the vertical surface, modelling the surface that gives emphasis to the relationship exterior-interior.
