The Ordinary Versus the Extraordinary A comparative analysis between the SESC PompĂŠia Factory by Lina Bo Bardi and the Casa Delle Armi by Luigi Walter Moretti
Marleen Klompenhouwer (1558978) Ingeborg Kuijlaars (4188012)
AR1AI025 Analysis of Urban Interiors Fall semester 2011 Prof. C. Grafe (group 3)
The Ordinary Versus the Extraordinary A comparative analysis between the SESC Pompéia Factory by Lina Bo Bardi and the Casa Delle Armi by Luigi Walter Moretti
Goethe once said that architecture is like “frozen music”1 a quotation capturing the depth of the architectural experience. Buildings, like music, carry messages and meaning which they impart indirectly onto us. Great architecture, through its form, transcends merely functional requirements. In the case of both the SESC Pompéia Factory (1977-1986) in São Paulo and the Casa Delle Armi (1933-1937) in Rome, the architect’s brief mandated a sports and culture centre in which the differences between these two projects extend beyond the programmatic level into the political sphere. At the times of construction, both Brazil and Italy were experiencing a period of nation building in which the governments were using architecture to establish themselves. In Brazil, the dominant style was established by Lucio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer from the 1930’s onwards through a series of government projects which were of a white, smooth and glassy aesthetic.2 This aesthetic facilitated the government’s agenda of developmental optimism, a notion architect Lina Bo Bardi did not ascribe to.3 Over forty years previously the Fascist regime was gaining grounds with a propagandist policy combining present and future glory with symbolic reminders of Italy’s glorious past during the Roman Empire.4 Like other Fascist buildings, the Casa delle Armi was supposed to “exhibit [..] pride and power and not only house the people and properties of the state, but also create an image of the government to be understood by the governed.”5 Whereas Bo Bardi exploits the freedom granted by her commercial client – the social service for commerce – to praise the ordinary and to renounce the government’s position; Moretti upholds the lofty ambitions of the Italian government to create out of its people and country the extraordinary. Both architects use the same elements, sometimes even the same techniques, to accomplish these starkly contrasting ends. Through urban response, attitude to sport, circulation and aesthetic expression, both architects establish their response to the political situation in which they work, respectively regaling the common and elevating standards towards the extraordinary. Italian by birth, Lina Bo Bardi (1914-1992) moved to Brazil with her husband Pietro Bardi, a noted art dealer and critic, in 1946 and officially naturalized in 1951.6 She
1 J. W. von Goethe (1836) Conversations with Eckerman. 2 Dijk, H van. (2011). Brazilian Modernism and Oscar Niemeyer. October 20. Delft: Technical University of Delft. 3 De Oliveira, O. (2006), Subtle Substances, the Architecture of Lina Bo Bardi. Barcelona, Editorial Gustavo Gili, pg. 202 4 Ghirardo, D.Y. (1980) Italian Architects and Fascist Politics: An Evaluation of the Rationalist’s Role in Regime Building, Stanfort University. Available: http://www.jstor.org/pss/989580 5 Toole, D. (2009) Fascism Builds: Nationalism in Italian Modern Architecture. Available: http://www.talkitect.com/2009/01/fascism-builds-nationalism-in-italian.html. 6 Insituto Lina Bo e P.M. Bardi. (2011) Bibliography – Lina: From Italy to Brazil. Available: http://www.institutobardi.com.br/eng/lina/biografia/index.html, pa. 5 - 6 AR1AI025 Analysis of Urban Interiors Marleen Klompenhouwer (1558978) Ingeborg Kuijlaars (4188012)
commenced work on SESC at the ripe age of 63 and was its director post-completion.7 Built on the grounds of a former steel drum factory awaiting demolition, Bo Bardi chose to preserve the factory buildings in which she accommodates the cultural programme.8 This decision left a relatively small portion of the site to accommodate the sports activities, a matter further complicated by the division of the remaining land by a rainwater canal on which it was not permitted to build.9 This constriction prompted the double tower solution with one housing the larger sports courts and the other providing space for services and smaller athletics activities. Luigi Walter Moretti (1907-1973) designed the Casa delle Armi, a fencing academy and library/museum built as part of the Mussolini Forum on the northern bank of the Tiber River. The design of the project began in 1933 after Moretti became technical director of the Fascist Youth Organisation at the age of 26. The building occupies a plot at the entrance to the Forum, a development dedicated exclusively to sporting facilities. The Fascist Youth Organisation, or the Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB), was part of a larger policy of educational control which propogated physical education for the nation’s betterment seeking to indoctrinate the Italian youth into Fascist ideals.10 The Balilla, part of the ONB, accommodated 8 to 14 year-old boys. Moretti’s promotion to technical director put him in charge of overseeing the construction of hundreds of Casas Balilla all over the country, of which he personally designed fourteen.11 Both projects inhabit a large urban setting, the parameters of which each architect exploits to best present their political stance through the control of views. SESC’s location within a former industrial centre provides fertile ground for Bo Bardi to create a landmark for the common, a protected environment, as well as a deep connection to the real São Paulo. By its location and corner form, the Case delle Armi functions both as a landmark for the Foro Mussolini and a demonstration of the Fascist aesthetic. Moretti places and forms the Casa delle Armi to impress and inspire visitors with Italy’s glorious past and future. In keeping the existing factory buildings, Lina Bo Bardi advocates for the acceptance of the past. She considers the past important, not as nostalgic for former better times, but as encapsulating integral values which the population of São Paulo stood to loose in the face of progress for the sake of progress.12 By appropriating an overtly industrial working environment purely for the purpose of recreational enjoyment, Bo Bardi attempts to subvert the negative connotations of labour and infuse actual working hours with an out of hours enjoyment of life.13 Bo Bardi’s statement, “I want SESC to be even uglier than the MASP!”14 references both the literal aesthetic of the building and the common, the old, the imperfect within society. Bo Bardi 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Ferraz, M. and Trigueiros, L. (1996). SESC - Fábrica da Pompéia = SESC - Pompéia Factory : Lina Bo Bardi 1977 - 1986. Lisbon: Blau. pg. 5 De Oliveira, O. (2010), Lina Bo Bardi - Built Work. Barcelona, Editorial Gustavo Gili, pg.112 Ibid., pg.12 “Fascism wants man to be active and to engage in action with all his energies; it wants him to be manfully aware of the difficulties besetting him and ready to face them. It conceives of life as a struggle in which it behooves a man to win for himself a really worthy place, first of all by fitting himself (physically, morally, intellectually) to become the implement required for winning it. As for the individual, so for the nation, and so for mankind. Hence the high value of culture in all its forms (artistic, religious, scientific) and the outstanding importance of education. Hence also the essential value of work, by which man subjugates nature and creates the human world (economic, political, ethical, and intellectual).” Gentile, G. and Mussolini, B. (1932), La Dottrina del fascismo (The Doctrine of Fasism). English translation available: http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffmaster/Reading/Germany/mussolini.htm Bucci, F. (2002), Luigi Moretti: Works and Writings. New York, Princeton Architectural Press, pg. 213 O. De Oliveira (2006), Subtle Substances, pg. 18 O. De Oliveira (2010), Lina Bo Bardi, pg. 112 O. De Oliveira (2006), Subtle Substances, pg. 203 AR1AI025 Analysis of Urban Interiors Marleen Klompenhouwer (1558978) Ingeborg Kuijlaars (4188012)
aims for the acceptance of this so called ugliness, and she makes the first step in this mandate by designing a landmark building which does not fit the aesthetic norm of the government: an ugly building. One of the first high-rise buildings in the area (see illustration 115), SESC has retained its landmark status through the discordant aesthetic qualities of its sports towers in comparison to subsequent high-rises. Its rough façade texturing, resulting from the timber shuttering used during construction, has been accentuated through weathering, increasingly standing out against the smooth and light plaster of later ventures (see illustrations 216 and 317). The irregular shapes and placement of window openings also contrast against the regular shapes and placement in surrounding tower blocks. The roughness of its chimney’s concrete rings distinguish it both from the brick of other factory chimneys and the recent facades of smooth plaster, creating the sense that SESC belongs neither strictly to the past nor the present, yet its own time free from the historic continuum. Despite the project’s landmark status, the project retains an insular nature creating a protective environment, a citadel in which people are free to be themselves. Limited windows on the external façade of the factory buildings help to create this guarded feeling. Skylights, glass roof tiles and portions of open brickwork screen provide daylight but deny views to the street. Doorways aligning the central street serve as the largest wall openings reinforcing the buildings’ inward view. Even the sports tower, in which wall openings provide spectacular views, retains a predominantly enclosed feeling by locating openings on the short walls thereby accentuating the depth of the building and the expanse of closed wall. One of the recurring ways Bo Bardi advocates the ordinary is through diversity and contrasts which denounce purity or perfection. Here, the project’s insular nature is broken by the towers’ bridges which present spectacular views of the surrounding city (see illustration 4). The differing forms of the bridges reflects the dynamic city, and the unhindered openness
1 SESC context post-completion
2 SESC ‘today’
3 SESC view out from sports centre bridges
4 SESC view out from sports centre bridges
15 16 17
M. Ferraz and L. Trigueiros (1996), SESC, pg. 31 O. De Oliveira (2006), Subtle Substances, pg. 200 Ibid., pg. 212
AR1AI025 Analysis of Urban Interiors Marleen Klompenhouwer (1558978) Ingeborg Kuijlaars (4188012)
of the bridge emphasises the project’s involvement within the city on a programmatic level. To get from the service tower to the sports tower, you have to leave the building and enter the city. From those heights, trivial matters and worries fall away, giving users a feeling of euphoric mastery over their city and their own lives. Through the orchestration of views both externally and internally, Moretti captures the duality of the fascist persona as both modern and grounded in history. Externally the positioning of the building volume captures both of these facets. The program, as divided into two volumes with a covered walkway between them, creates an L-shape literally marking the corner of the Forum Mussolini. The Casa delle Armi in its location and corner form facing the Forum defines the barrier between the old and the new Rome, which it physically embraces (see illustrations 5 and 618). The space between the library and fencing gymnasium frames a view towards a hill landscape, a framing between volumes which the bridge’s roof completes (see illustration 7 and 8). This landscape, unbuilt and natural, recalls the prototypical Roman landscape, alluding to the glory of the Roman Empire. The two external views are echoed internally through a play between solid and void. In the library/museum volume, two large areas of glazing focus views either forwards – towards the hilly landscape – or sideways – towards the Forum Mussolini (see illustration 8). Upon entering, the long blank wall on the left emphasizes these directions. Staircase placement furthermore creates an experiential play between awe and mastery. The two sets of staircases leading up to the hillside window necessitate the viewer to lift their heads up towards the view, inspiring a sense of humbled
5 CASA duality of looking towards the Roman past and Fascist future
6 CASA view towards east side of the building and hilly surroundings
7 CASA framing the surrounding landscape through covered walkway 18
Bucci, F. (2002), Luigi Moretti: Works and Writings. New York, Princeton Architectural Press, pg. 54-55 AR1AI025 Analysis of Urban Interiors Marleen Klompenhouwer (1558978) Ingeborg Kuijlaars (4188012)
8 CASA cross section of the library area with view on the hillside window and covered walkway. Notice the section’s blank wall (on the left) and the section’s large glazed area which focus views either to the hillside or the Forum area.
awe at the building and the sight before them. The expanse of glazing facing the forum couples a view up with a view down a set of steps, simultaneously giving the viewer a sense of awe and mastery, making the viewer - and the Italian nation by extension - feel unbeatable. In the case of the attitude taken to sports, both architects use the same basic elements to express their political stance. These elements – sports accommodated, the aesthetic expression of the practice area, environmental control thereof and spectator placement – endorse recreational exercise for the sake of fun in SESC yet competition and aggression in the Casa delle Armi. Like the other sports advocated by the Fascist government – wrestling, sharp shooting, boxing, gymnastics and swimming – fencing is an individual sport with primal survivalist overtones. Part of youth education focused on fostering the physical and mental strength of warriors, which aggressive and combative sports like fencing trained from an early age.19 SESC, by contrast, primarily houses group sports – football, volleyball, hockey and basketball – which foster teamwork and co-operation, and therefore serve to strengthen community ties despite the competitive edge inherent in such sports. In SESC the choice was made for non-olympic dimensions. By removing this scalar link to physical accomplishment, users are compelled to participate recreationally rather than for the purposes of future stardom. In Illustration 9 the disassociation is shown between the lines of the SESC’s basketball court and the dotted NBA dimensions. Although it may appear cruel to perhaps deny locals this aspiration, SESC focuses on the happiness and energy of pure athleticism rather than the perceived joylessness of professionalism. This denial is also reflected in the colours used to delineate the courts. The majority of the lines are kept simple black with areas coloured in, much like a paint-by-numbers (see illustration 9). Each of the four sports levels also have their own colour scheme, further transforming boundaries into art. SESC does provide facilities for individual sports, even those specifically endorsed by the fascist party, yet undermines their competitive nature. Such spaces are either not purpose-built for a single sport, thereby waylaying single-minded accomplishment for variety, or, in the case of the swimming pool, the possibility for professionalism is once again thwarted through non19
Kirk, T. (2005), The Architecture of Modern Italy. Volume II: Visions of Utopia,1900 – Present. New York, Princeton Architectural Press pg. 128 AR1AI025 Analysis of Urban Interiors Marleen Klompenhouwer (1558978) Ingeborg Kuijlaars (4188012)
9 SESC sports courts versus NBA basketball field dimensions
10 CASA fencing hall
olympic sizing and delineation. Cords divide the pool into squares between kids playing and adults swimming instead of providing racing lanes. The tiles which usually echo this division display aquatic and plant motifs, works of art instead of professional sport. SESC’s denial of professionalism finds its total opposite in the Casa delle Armi. Here visual distractions are kept to a minimum and the space aesthetically optimised from concentration. The only thing on the floor is the necessary carpeting for fencing and the only thing on the wall is custom made shelving to store the weapons (see illustration 1020). These weapons, prominently displaying even when unused, provide the single element of decoration in the space, testifying to the single minded focus of the space: the creation of perfect athletes. The environment in both buildings receives similar treatment to the visual: a welcoming of distractions in SESC, and their control and elimination in the Casa delle Armi. Light, wind and rain are unchecked in SESC’s sports tower, facilitated by unglazed openings. The screens (see illustrations 11 and 12)21 used to cover these openings seem intended more to prevent sporting equipment falling out rather than to provide any climatic control. SESC’s environment is imperfect, just as sport and life itself is imperfect. By contrast Moretti transforms the act of fencing into a divine purpose through the environmental exclusion of imperfection. Daylight treatment in particular transcends technical requirements elevating the space to greater heights of accomplishment. The room’s section and the deep window reveals lets in ample daylight while eliminating glare by denying views of the sky (see illustration 13). The ceiling’s curve evenly scatters light to complete the optimisation of light (see illustration 1422). This ‘sourceless’ light and glowing half-dome also evoke a deep sense of sacrality, making the goal for 20 21 22
F. Bucci (2002), Luigi Moretti, pg. 13 O. De Oliveira (2006), Subtle Substances, pg. 214 F. Bucci (2002), Luigi Moretti, pg. 62 AR1AI025 Analysis of Urban Interiors Marleen Klompenhouwer (1558978) Ingeborg Kuijlaars (4188012)
11 SESC by designing unglazed openings Bo Bardi allowed the elements to enter the building. Notice the screens which prevent sports equipment from falling out.
12 SESC detail of a window screen and unglazed opening in the sports tower
13 CASA cross section of the gymnasium demonstrating the requirement of a complete focus of the spectators on the sports by shutting out views of the ‘distracting’ environment. (Take note of the dead wall on the upper right).
14 CASA the impressive curved ceiling of the fencing gymnasium
perfection in fencing a quasi-religious struggle which leaves visitors and athletes alike awed and instilled with a deeper sense of purpose. Although Moretti places higher technical standards on the spaces he designs than Bo Bardi, the resultant spaces are equally poetic. This recreational versus competitive nature is further highlighted through the treatment of spectator placement. Whereas the SESC has no stands or tribune for watching nor even the physical space for them short of the player’s benches, at the Casa delle Armi a balcony serves the needs of the viewing public. The implication here is clear: while at SESC the viewers and the athletes are one and the same, at the Casa delle Armi a clear hierarchy is imposed. The balcony there divides the gymnasium vertically in two, the half for the athletes lower than that above allocates to them the subservient role: the public comes to inspect, to critically observe and to judge the athletes’ skill in an arrangement not dissimilar to that of a Colosseum in which the sport retains a sacred position while its fighters, mere slaves, are critically regarded. In both projects, this distinction between the hierarchical and non-hierarchical presents itself clearly and extensively through circulation, with an energetic dance and a procession respectively. The endorsed chaos in SESC finds immediate expression in the dynamic signpost at the entrance (see illustration 1523). This signpost can be read from all sides indicating the variety of activities provided and therefore the overall energy of the complex. With a clear main street between the factory buildings, it may initially appear nonsensical to argue the lack of a prescribed route. However, SESC’s main street is lined on both sides by very 23
O. De Oliveira (2006), Subtle Substances, pg. 209 AR1AI025 Analysis of Urban Interiors Marleen Klompenhouwer (1558978) Ingeborg Kuijlaars (4188012)
similar façades with only signs or a peek inside to indicate the function held within, creating a homogenity which opposes hierarchy (see illustration 1624). A non-hierarchical circulation pattern encourages wandering between the buildings, and within them as well. In the workshop building, for instance, rough brick walls above head height divide the space for specific crafts creating a labyrinth to discover. As represended in illustration 17, visitors entering the building are directly faced with a low wall denying an overview. Furthermore, since the entrances to almost half of the workshops spaces are not located on the central axis, even with signs overhead access requires searching. SESC chucks efficiency, embracing instead experience in the plural. As shown in illustration 18, this plurality and diversity of experience is already apparent in balustrade treatment of the library component in the main multifunctional space. At the base of the concrete intervention, visitors find themselves funnelled towards the steps by the concrete balustrades of the level above. At the bottom of the steps a single red handrail leads up to the first level. A staircase with red steel handrails either side guide the visito further to then be enclosed by concrete balustrades for the last few steps before reaching the top landing.
15 SESC Bo Bardi’s sketch of the entrance signpost
16 SESC view of the main street
17 SESC Diversity of workshop access situation
18 SESC Diversity of handrail and balustrade experience in the library element
24
O. De Oliveira (2006), Subtle Substances, pg. 203 AR1AI025 Analysis of Urban Interiors Marleen Klompenhouwer (1558978) Ingeborg Kuijlaars (4188012)
19 CASA sweeping staircase with guiding handrail and interrupting collonade of the library volume
20 CASA view towards the library volume’s large glazed area which focuses the views towards the Forum
21 CASA visitors’ circulation area between library and gymnasium
22 CASA athletes main entrance and users hierarchical movement towards sports area
This sequence of funnelling, guiding, exposing, and enclosing occurs within the space of mere meters, a testament to Bo Bardi’s subtle skills for creation and acceptance of all without preference. In the Casa delle Armi routing largely determines the built form. Moretti distinguishes between two main routes: that of the visitor and the athlete. The visitor route is worked out to best present the building and its objects in order to impress the viewer while that of the athlete serves to emphasise their subordination. The visitor route to the building is a procession in which an interrupted staircase lengthens and distances the building from the viewer, literally placing the Casa delle Armi on a pedestal in a classical show of importance. Upon entering, visitors ascend via an elegantly sweeping staircase – its spiral form emphasizing both the power and grace of fencing - up to the balcony. Columns interrupt the handrail, encouraging the visitor to look both down into the exhibition space or out over the forum, impressing upon visitors Italy’s rich history and promising future (see illustrations 19 and 2025). They then turn right leaving the library volume, cross the bridge, and enter onto the balcony of the gymnasium. The stairs, columns, turns, doorways and bridge all work to lengthen the journey, seeking to fully impress upon the visitor the majesty of that which they are beholding. In this routing Moretti’s youth and architectural aspirations are tangible. Through the sequence, and especially the colonnade, Moretti expresses his admiration for the consequential rigor and 25
F. Bucci (2002), Luigi Moretti, pg. 56 AR1AI025 Analysis of Urban Interiors Marleen Klompenhouwer (1558978) Ingeborg Kuijlaars (4188012)
order as well as the rhythmic repetition in Greek temple architecture.26 This colonnade can furthermore be interpreted as a metaphor for the Fascist sports culture: the individual column, a powerful individual athlete, working together with the other columns to create a perfect system in which the needs of the individual are subordinated to those of the many and the nation, a subservience clearly apparent in the athlete routing. A rounded volume links the rectangular library and sports volumes, and it is here, on a semi-sunken level, that the athletes enter. In Ancient Greek ‘ellipse’ means ‘falling short,’27 which Moretti, as a well-grounded devotee of Ancient Greece may well have known.28 The plan’s elliptical shape at the athlete entrance therefore points to their imperfection, a theme expanded upon in the rest of the athletes’ circulation. Athletes ascend two sets of steps into the gymnasium volume during which they are kept entirely separated from the visiting public in the library volume (see illustrations 21 and 22). From there they move into a three storey corridor space of imposing verticality and enter the main fencing gymnasium where their inferiority is further emphasized by the balcony which strengthens the space’s horizontality and the necessary humility of the athlete. The attitudinal differences between both designers is fleshed out further through aesthetic expression. Bo Bardi seeks out the dichotomy of work and play for a balanced life through visual diversity and contrast. Moretti meanwhile works towards a singular perfection in materialization. To accomplish this duality, Bo Bardi keeps as much of the original factory aesthetic as possible but makes productivity impossible. The semi-present gutters of the working factory are deepened and emphasized while the sports towers appear if anything more functional and austere than the original brick factory. Both are infused with joy aesthetically through interventions which border on the poetic. The overtly practical openings on the sides of the bridge balustrades, used to expel water, are oversized and barred for safety with reinforcement bars shaped like a tulips (see illustration 2329). The library block, large monolithic furniture, hearth and a shallow wandering pool breakup the multifunctional space, destroying it as a space for industrial production. Similarly, the labyrinthine walls in the workshop building create spaces too small for industry. The curvilinear pool of water represents the river São Francisco, the main river in the north-east of Brazil.30 In the late 1950’s Bo Bardi went there on
23 SESC Tulip shaped banister
24 SESC Gutters and shallow curvilinear pool, both lined with pebbles and crossable by stone slabs.
26 F. Bucci (2002), Luigi Moretti, pg. 7 27 , eleipsis, a ‘falling short’. The ellips in shape, meaning and word was invented and first mentioned by Appollonius of Perga, (ca. 262 BC - 190 BC). See also: http://www.wilbourhall.org/index.html#apollonius 28 F. Bucci (2002), Luigi Moretti, pg. 7 29 M. Ferraz and L. Trigueiros (1996), SESC, pg. 26 30 O. de Oliveira (2006) Subtle Substances, pg. 232 AR1AI025 Analysis of Urban Interiors Marleen Klompenhouwer (1558978) Ingeborg Kuijlaars (4188012)
an extensive anthropological journey experiencing first-hand the everyday poetry of a simple life; a belief embodied by this pool.31 The main street’s gutters are lined with pebbles similar to those lining the base of the pool. Just as the gutters are bridged with slabs of concrete, several stone slabs cross this metaphorical river, strengthening the link between them and Bo Bardi’s message (see illustration 24). Therefore although SESC retains an overt factory aesthetic, its factory function is colourfully destroyed and replaced with leisure. The dichotomy of work and play is echoed with further visual contrasts which speak of Bo Bardi’s inclusive mandate. This building was made for everyone – young and old, black and white – to which the prolific inclusion of opposites testifies. Duality is especially apparent in the sports towers, in which contrasts are quite literally joined together through the bridges connecting the two blocks (see illustration 25). Here we see tall and short, wide and narrow, horizontal and vertical shuttering used within one building, irregularly shaped windows regularly spaced and regularly shaped windows irregularly spaced. Especially this last contrast clearly indicates not two pure opposites combined, but a variety of contrasts: unique individuals. Together with these contrasts, Bo Bardi flirts with regularity only to bring in the irregular in the connecting bridges as represented in illustration 26. From a purely functional perspective, these bridges could have been identical, instead each bridge is different. Furthermore, while the bottom three are symmetrical, the top most one is asymmetrical in shape, changing possible perfection for idiosyncrasies and quirkiness. Instead of the industrial material choices of Bo Bardi – the concrete with visible shuttering, reinforcement bars, exposed brick, welded steel – Moretti seeks out the perfection sought through programmatic function in materialization. The interior surfaces are covered in white stucco of the highest quality, while the exterior is made of finely joined Carrera marble.32 Moretti’s sought through the application of this ideal material to make the complex appear as
25 SESC Window form and organisation in the sports towers 31 32
26 SESC Diversity and broken symmetry of the sports towers bridges
M. Ferraz and L. Trigueiros (1996) SESC, pg. 23 Kirk, T. (2005), The Architecture of Modern Italy. Volume II: Visions of Utopia,1900 – Present. New York, Princeton Architectural Press pg. 129 AR1AI025 Analysis of Urban Interiors Marleen Klompenhouwer (1558978) Ingeborg Kuijlaars (4188012)
27 CASA cross section of the sports area revealing its hidden complexity
a beautiful and pure monolith.33 As revealed by illustration 27, wall and ceiling finishes were uniformly applied to hide even the building’s true structure, so that nothing detracts from the intended spatial experience and the buildings’ function. Marble was judged for quality based on how deep light could penetrate it giving the entire material a radiance, an almost divine glow. In Italy, Carrera marble was valued back into antiquity, so therefore, while this choice of material was ascribed as mandatory for the aesthetic uniformity of the Mussolini Forum, the search for perfection through this material choice is no less relevant.34 Both projects were made by construction workers, yet whereas Bo Bardi used relatively unskilled labour and avoided slick detailing, Moretti employed highly trained craftsman, giving SESC a feeling of for the people by the people in stark contrast to the machine perfection of the Casa delle Armi which represents both the greatness of both the Italian tradition of marble working and the individual strength of the workers.35 The different cultural centre programs necessitated a different architectural approach from their inception, approaches which were significalty influenced by the architect’s response to their context’s political situation. To widely different effect, this political response was cemented in both the SESC Pompéia Factory and the Casa delle Armi through urban response, attitude to sport, circulation and aesthetic expression. Resultantly the SESC complex became a cultural playground for the common people, embodying Bo Bardi’s own playfully rebellious vision of a timeless utopia for everyone, whereas the Casa delle Armi functioned more as societal factory for the creation of an extraordinary elite for which Moretti developed a vision of fascist utopia exalting the nation’s history past and future. Tellingly, whereas the SESC complex’s message and program still bears relevance today as evidenced by busteling flickr photos; the Casa delle Armi, in which the fascist message was so dilligently embroidered, has failed to stand the test of time, its crumbling volumes now housing a police station, possibly the only programatically comprable function since athlete routing can still be employed to subjegate visitors. SESC too has undergone changes post-completion: the two sports courts per tower floor have made way for one larger court with space for viewer seating. Perhaps the real lesson to be drawn from the comparison between these two projects concerns not political responce but human nature: people themselves cannot be altered, and the building which seeks out overt control, will not be tolerated but bent to change. 33 34 35
Bucci, F. (2002), Luigi Moretti: Works and Writings. New York, Princeton Architectural Press, pg.12 Piacentini: “The simple volumes, set in dynamic internal asymmetries reflect outwardly the fresh serenity of the adolescent inside” Kirk, T. (2005), The Architecture of Modern Italy. Volume II: Visions of Utopia,1900 – Present. New York, Princeton Architectural Press pg. 129 M. Ferraz and L. Trigueiros (1996) SESC, pg. 24-26 AR1AI025 Analysis of Urban Interiors Marleen Klompenhouwer (1558978) Ingeborg Kuijlaars (4188012)
Bibliography Bucci, F. (2002), Luigi Moretti: Works and Writings. New York, Princeton Architectural Press, pg. 7-14, pg. 53-63, pg. 212-215 Dijk, H van. (2011). Brazilian Modernism and Oscar Niemeyer. October 20. Delft: Technical University of Delft.
Melhuish, C. (2008). A Female Role Model from Brazil: Lina Bo Bardi, Architect. Available: http://www.gendersite.org/ pages/a_female_role_model_from_brazil_ lina_bo_bardi_architect.html
De Oliveira, O. (2006), Subtle Substances, the Architecture of Lina Bo Bardi. Barcelona, Editorial Gustavo Gili, pg.10-23
Toole, D. (2009) Fascism Builds: Nationalism in Italian Modern Architecture. Available: http://www.talkitect. com/2009/01/fascism-builds-nationalismin-italian.html
De Oliveira, O. (2010), Lina Bo Bardi - Built Work. Barcelona, Editorial Gustavo Gili, pg.4-21, pg.112-136
Zwise, M. (2001) Dictator By Design. Available: http://www.michaelzwise.com/ articleDisplay.php?article_id=78
Ferrari, M. (2010), Luigi Moretti, Casa Delle Armi Nel Foro Mussolini a Roma, 1933 – 1937, Bari, Ilio, pg.1-105 Ferraz, M. and Trigueiros, L. (1996). SESC - Fábrica da Pompéia = SESC - Pompéia Factory: Lina Bo Bardi 1977 - 1986. Lisbon: Blau. pg.1-31 Fretton, T. (2011). Lina Bo Bardi. October 20. Delft: Technical University of Delft Ghirardo, D.Y. (1980) Italian Architects and Fascist Politics: An Evaluation of the Rationalist’s Role in Regime Building. Stanfort University. Available: http://www.jstor.org/ pss/989580 Insituto Lina Bo e P.M. Bardi. (2011) Bibliography – Lina: From Italy to Brazil. Available: http://www.institutobardi.com. br/eng/lina/biografia/index.html Kirk, T. (2005), The Architecture of Modern Italy. Volume II: Visions of Utopia,1900 – Present. New York, Princeton Architectural Press pg. 69 - 137
AR1AI025 Analysis of Urban Interiors Marleen Klompenhouwer (1558978) Ingeborg Kuijlaars (4188012)