Venus in Furs

CLOTHING AS A LAYER BETWEEN SKIN AND BUILDING

Alessandra Cianchetta Daniela Herold 15

“She sat in an armchair and had kindled a crackling fire, whose reflection ran in red flames over her pale face with its white eyes, and from time to time over her feet when she sought to warm them. Her head was wonderful in spite of the dead stony eyes; it was all I could see of her. She had wrapped her marble-like body in a huge fur, and rolled herself up trembling like a cat. “I don't understand it,” I exclaimed, “It isn't really cold any longer. For two weeks past we have had perfect spring weather. You must be nervous.” “Much obliged for your spring,” she replied with a low stony voice, and immediately afterwards sneezed divinely, twice in succession. “I really can't stand it here much longer, and I am beginning to understand.” Leopold Sacher-Masoch, Venus in Furs, 1870

GLC GEOGRAPHY LANDSCAPES CITIES HTC HISTORY THEORY CRITICISM

Thermal comfort as described in building physics, depends on many influential factors. A climate is said to be healthy when the heat balance of the human body is well adjusted and when heat emission equals heat generation. Further, physics explains that the body`s own heat production is dependent on the workload and the level of activity, whereas factors like air temperature, the surface temperature of the space one is in, air-speed, humidity as well as clothing are decisive for heat emission. Where heat emission and heat generation are out of balance, we speak of a bad atmospheric environment.

Hence our well-being is to a certain extent conditioned by the kind of clothes we wear in relation to the qualities of the spaces we spend time in. Both, the clothing as well as the space, protect our bodies from external climatic impacts, both are given a specific materialization, construction, and form so that the human physics can adapt to environmental conditions.

Through looking at artworks throughout the centuries and relating them to the history of our planet’s climate cultural theorists argue that there is a close relation between climatic changes and the evolution of clothing. While in the warmer period of the early Middle Ages we note that the clothing is lighter, and that parts of the body are uncovered, later, until the end of the 17th century, during what is called the Little Ice Age, we see that bodies were wrapped in several layers of heavy fabrics in ill-proportioned shapes. It is said that hats and gloves were invented at that time and were used not only outdoors to keep warm, but also inside the house.

In his ‘Prinzip der Bekleidung’ Gottfried Semper places clothing in a different context to architecture, its history, and theory. In his text written in the 19th century, Semper states that clothing, rather than the construction of space, represents the beginning of architecture,. For him the envelope has the greatest significance, it is the main element in giving shelter.

In this sense, we will devote the semester to clothing as a mediator between body, space, and climate. Along with the skin and the facade, cloth is seen as the second layer of protection.

We will initially approach the topic by looking at spaces in the city of Vienna that are characterized by specific temperature conditions, ranging from very hot to very cold. Then we will learn about the materials used to make clothes, from furs to silks, about their insulation values and the different techniques for processing them. Finally, we will design and produce shelter for the body in chosen climatic conditions at a scale of 1:1. The question is: what kind of clothes will we wear in the future to protect ourselves from increasing heat peaks?

Alessandra Cianchetta, Daniela Herold