This video-clip is a survey on Perception and Geometry and it shows the process of construction of an architectural form, analyzing a case study based on the preliminary concepts of the author’s project Vaxjo Tennis Hall. The showcased three-dimensional model, whose lines and surfaces define an architectural text similar to a texture – this language I also call archi-texture or archi-textures (see the related article)- may be the representation of the Platonic notion chōra. Here, concrete processes of place intertwine with abstract processes in the realm of space. The actual forest, the lake, the buildings in the neighborhood, the exposure to the sun and winds, the peculiar sounds, odors, etc. – are the concrete processes of place, which determine the physiological and psychological response of the subject to the environment for which the architectural project is designed. Conversely, spatial processes are related to cognitive, ideal and symbolic processes operated by the architect and collaborators, through which symbolic spatial forms are generated, starting from phenomenological data. Therefore, chōra is a third kind of reality in-between place, which is concrete and physical, and space, which is abstract and ideal (the abstract realm of space allows to imagine and adapt an almost infinite possibilities of actions and behaviors to places and to modify places projecting actions and behaviors in the future). Neither place nor space, yet both place and space: this is chōra.
Neither place nor space, yet both place and space: this is chōra
Here you can find a description of the Vaxjo Tennis Hall, project awarded at the World Architecture Community Awards. If you are interested in the different design phases of the project, at this link you can find the video-clip that I presented at the architectural competition for which the project was originally intended. The video-clip shows the various phases of construction of an archi-texture, starting from the phenomenological analysis of place leading to the conceptualizations behind the creation of architectural space.
Image Credits

Featured Image: Vaxjo Tennis Hall, preliminary study, Alessandro Calvi Rollino Architetto