Commedia dell'Architettura

commedia dell’architettura casting architecture

mark zlotsky prof. anne munly prof. molly hunker prof. kyle miller

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table of contents setup words claim facade and legibility

commedia dell’arte commedia commedia components

exaggerations and characters framework and the parallax strategies hejduk’s masques

casts complexity and contradiction vanna venturi house the figure and the bracket township of domestic parts wrong chairs

quad

4 6 8 10 18 20 36 40 42 52 68 72 74 86 98 118 122

the divine comedy

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bibliography

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“when [commedia] employs its greatest excess of ridicule and parody, it must remain true to the underlying forces of thought and emotion... caricature is the art of exaggerating the truth... ideas expressed must be recognizably genuine� barry grantham

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setup “architecture must have bad spaces as well as good spaces� louis kahn

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words of wisdom absurd: adapted:

a condition in which a conventional element is modified for a new role or purpose

archetype:

the original element of which all things of the same type are representations or copies

both-and: caricature: character: conventional:

a condition in which an element has multiple roles a character with exaggerated qualities a distinguished individual with a role conforming to a standard; typical

either-or

a condition in which an element has one role

element:

a constituent part

exaggeration: expected: framework: identity:

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illogical; unreasonable; inappropriate

an enlargement beyond normal; an overstatement regarded as likely to happen underlying structure of a system the distinguishing traits that make up a character

inflected: juxtaposed: legible: literalizing: odd: pattern:

a complex, unbalanced element or a whole made of unique elements a condition in which two elements contrast each other clear enough to read/understand an exaggeration by transfiguring metaphoric and similetic qualities into straightforward ones different from expected the compositional organization on the surface of an element

profile:

the contour of an element

quality:

a distinguishing attribute

reorienting: repeating: role:

an exaggeration by changing directionality an exaggeration through reproducing a recurring condition a function performed by a particular character

scaling:

an exaggeration through manipulating dimensions

simplified:

a complex element or whole made straightforward

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claim Buildings are characters: distinguished individuals with a particular role or purpose. Some buildings poorly respond to their contextual responcibility. Exaggerations allow to comment on spatial and formal conditions that are notable or poorly executed and transform them into moments that purposefully ‘performs’ the mistake for improper spatial relationships that wouldn’t normally exist. As a result, this process allows for a more twisted and conflicted whole reading.

introduction Commedia dell’Architettura posits buildings as characters: distinguished individuals with a particular role or purpose. Some buildings clearly convey their identity through profile, massing, and patterning, while others remain silent. By exaggerating key architectural features and oddities, buildings begin to communicate, play, and fight with each other through legible, formal narratives. Inspired by commedia dell’arte’s curated archetypes and hyperbolic features as well as Venturi’s modes of architectural interactions, Commedia dell’Architettura challenges formal conventions and expectations of architecture by manipulating them into caricatures.

Commedia dell’arte is a form of street theatre in which society’s character types play out situational tropes. Each character is an exaggeration of someone we know; the blind lover; the bitter old man; the arrogant phony; our id. Garb and particular gestures use exaggeration and overstatement to communicate the character’s qualities and tendencies. A grotesque crooked nose, untamed eyebrows, and cavernous 8

wrinkles scream age and wisdom before a word is spoken.

The result is an accessible art form understood and appreciated by a broad audience and a sly commentary on social issues.

In Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture Venturi distills several strategies for architectural elements – characters – to engage with each other in captivating compositions. Adapted elements subtly tweak banal clichés into novel moments, while juxtaposed elements clamorously stand out beside their humble counterparts to relate opposing forces. Together, the tensions amalgamate into a balanced and inflected whole – a cast.

The Syracuse University quad is a stage to a cast; some actors play a larger role and others recede to the back. The proposed project tweaks a set of architectural characters on the university’s campus, reorganizing spatially loose and characteristically ambiguous buildings into playful narratives to answer questions like ‘how on God’s green earth does a modernist behemoth axially respond to Jeffersonian chapel?’

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legibility relies on profile... facade and legibility The façade is the only drawing that can be seen by the naked eye. Plan and section, without any notion of lesser significance, are theoretical views that can be perceived only on paper. Because the plan and section are such privileged views, it is the responsibility of the façade to communicate the significance and purpose of the building. The façade broadcasts “the cultural situation at the time when the building was built; it reveals criteria of order and ordering, and gives an account of the possibilities and ingenuity of ornamentation and decoration” (Krier, 24). The façade grants identity to the building on the public front. The use of identity in this case pertains to qualities that make a building itself, whether unique or not. It is not necessarily a direct translation of the occupants inside, but the conceptual ideas the building represents.

To emphasize a unique identity, the façade should be legible in two forms: the profile and the pattern. The profile corresponds to the edge of the building; what figure would be read if the façade was a single silhouette? Much of the building’s quality is reveals once all the distracting patterning is removed. A typical office building would become an anonymous rectangle. A typical vernacular house, on the other hand, would be easily recognized due to its pitched roof and protruding chimney. The pattern concerns the composition in the frame: material, colour, fenestration, ornament, etc.

Typically, the profile is read first from afar; quickly conveying an identity and upon closer inspection, patterning guides the eyes into the composition.

Valve's Team Fortress Two, a quick-paced videogame, de10

the spy and the heavy as profiles

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[1]

use of patterning to create a heirarchy of legibility

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[2]

...and pattern signed nine characters through profile and pattern in order to legibly identify each one. The stature of each character exposes who they are and their general qualities. The heavy is a towering mass of meat: he’s cumbersome, but brawny.

The spy is slender and straight; he’s quick and fragile. Divided into a blue and red team, the characters are coloured with a refined palette. The patterns and details reflect the contour of the profile. Colouring and patterning creates a compositional hierarchy for legibility of important information over supplementary information. Dark legs contrast bright torsos to swiftly recognize how the spy is armed. His tie, on the other hand, is a supplementary detail to enhance the character's identity (Mitchell).

Vernacular houses could be read through profile and patterning, just like the spy. The overall silhouette is unmistakably a house: a pitched roof with a peeping chimney. The patterning reveals a secondary profile that can be read as a pattern on the facade. Elements are off axes, figure-grounds are reversed, shapes are re-scaled, symmetries are broken. Patterns reveal entrances, sectional relationships, and directionality; they add depth.

Advantageously designing through profile and patterning can lend to a legible architecture. A legible architecture is one whose ideas, whether conceptual or pragmatic; whose purpose is easily understood. The building can stand unique among its contextual peers. Exaggerating features could further offer a curated inspection of the building. The exaggeration demands immediate attention, queuing up obvious oddnesses first. The building begins to tell stories.

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[3]

commedia dell’arte

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a commedia is a cast of perenial archetypes that caricaturize life’s patterns through a comedic lens commedia Italian, mid sixteenth century commedia dell’arte was an intellectually accessible and mobile theatre model with a collection of archetypal characters that commented on tropes and society through exaggerated, caricaturistic, improvised performances. Companies would perform from public spaces to royal courts with a cast of culturally recognized archetypes.

An equivalent to “the film, the comic strip, the TV situation comedy, and burlesque… to the twentieth century” (Oreglia, xi), commedia was equally lowbrow and highbrow entertainment of timeless and persevering situations everyone could recognize and relate to.

Each play was never bound to a written script. The plot was sketched. Checkpoints and resolutions anchored an overall progression, but the means and methods of reaching each point were flexible. Actors improvised and adapted to the crowd, situation, and intuition; prompting the excited gesticulation. Essential to commedia, the stable mélange of characters melded in different conditions, whether a soldier returning from war, an old man lusting over young seductresses, or a servant fooling his master (Oreglia).

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vecchi

amorosi

vecchi

zanni

amorosi

zanni

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brighella

arlecchino

pulcinella

cunning and cynical zanni who guides the comedy and sturs it with intrigues

also guides comedyl the most agile zanni, who contrasts the first zanni

a good hearted neopolitan zanni who is often taken advantage of

scaramouche

pantalone

il dottore

mimetic and maskless zanni who is sly, adroit, supple, and concieted

greedy, lustful, and slanderous venetian merchant who symbolizes the vecchi

presumptuous and abstruce satire of an old, renaissance man from bolognia

il capitano

amorosi

zagne

young, bold, pompous, cheap, and cowardly spanish soldier: a lover

elegant, young inamorati who are blind to all but their love for each other

sharp and malicious female zanni who communicates between the amorosi

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Characters amplified each others’ traits in order to bring out subconsciously known qualities and common experiences.

The effect was greatest not individually, but through dialogues and interactions among caricatures: as superadjacencies.

The characters are divided into three groups, each with a particular purpose; vecchi, the elderly who stand between lovers and fester in their ‘wisdom’; zanni, the trickster servant who guides comedy and comments on contemporary events; and amorosi, the young lovers who are blinded by ideal dreams.

Frequently, performances comment on the conflicts between the vecchi and the amorosi, the timeless quarrel between generations, mediated by the zanni (Grantham).

Characters are born from vernacular types whose features have been exaggerated to emphasize those qualities. Caricaturization of an archetype is achieved through behavior (profile) and clothing (pattern). Arlecchino, the clever, animalistic servant, has a menagerie of poses and gestures at his disposal. When playful, Arlecchino would propitiate the audience with a cat-like pas de chat. When cautious, he would unsheathe his slap-stick and patrol the stage with caprine kicks.

The doctor, an epitome of the Renaissance man, speaks with a Bolognese accent; an acknowledgement to the renowned and oldest European university, the University of Bolognia. The entire body is garnished in a costume of symbolic clothing.

White (free, with a carte-blanche attitude), and green (ability to keep clients’ desires ‘green’) stripes wrap Brighella’s body.

But the keystone to the transformation is the masque. The masque is an armature attached to the face that takes accepted facial features and transforms them into grotesques to communicate new meaning. Pantalone, the old Venetian merchant, has an extended, crooked nose, untamed, white eyebrows, cavernous wrinkles, and sharp cheekbones. Arlecchino has rosy cheeks, a porcine snout, and excessive creases from smiling. Amorosi are the only characters that don’t wear

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physical masques. Their faces are adorned with make-up to emphasize their youth, purity, and beauty.

The masque is a strategic addition in order to efficiently convert the archetype into a legible character. Although intuitively obvious, the decision to intervene on the face is crucial and the reason for its transformative success. Instinctively, humans find anthropomorphic faces where there are none. The face provides a rigid framework of identifiable elements that grant identity: eyes, brows, nose, mouth, chin, forehead, cheeks, and overall profile (Bow-wow). From the framework, appropriate features are scaled, skewed, and stretched to enhance meaning through association. A large nose belongs to an avid smeller or a pompous attitude. The commedia masques only partially cover the face. Combining standard and strange, specific elements are chosen to be exaggerated while the eyes and mouth are left untouched in order to preserve their communicative qualities. A single boil corresponds to an ugly, untamed, and lower class.

interactions bring the characters’ uniquenesses to life

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arlecchino’s menagerie the goat

the giraffe

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the twist

[5]

the monkey

the cat

the gherardi bow

the arlecchino cabriole

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framework

area of intervention

exaggeration

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[no identity] blank canvas crisp edges smooth surface

pantalone hooked nose bushy eyebrows carved wrinkles sharp cheekbones

arlecchino rosy cheeks porcine snout excessive smile-creases

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commedia components In order to achieve a ‘commedia’, three components are required, each a conglomeration of the previous: exaggeration, character, and cast. Although commedia is understood by contemporaries as a shortened term for commedia dell’arte, the use of the word here refers the general structure of a troupe of characters. An exaggeration is a single quality that has been amplified in order to give a unique quality. A protruding, sharp chin would stand out among its modest colleagues.

When multiple exaggerations are harmoniously collected, they create a caricature, silently shouting his personality. Not every element in the system must be an exaggeration; some remain unassuming in order for others to stand out. Not all characters are caricatures, but all caricatures are characters.

A character pertains to any persona or object with a role.

A caricature is an exaggerated character, with emphasized qualities when ideas are unclear and difficult to read. Corb's Chaise Lounge is a character: it speaks of its modern language compared to its historic context as an individual. Sleek chrome tubes simplify the contour of the body; a warm hide embraces the body. Archizoom Associati group designed a caricature that took the ideas of modernism to an extreme with their unsubtle Mies Chair. Chrome tubes crudely simplify a sitting individual into a triangular shape. The hide is stretched to follow the uncomfortable incline. The chair is as alien to sitting as modern architecture to it's predecessors. Together, characters and caricatures form a cast. In the cast, similar to exaggerations, characters interact, but audibly communicate with each other, further exacerbating their unique facets. Position among the characters is vital; much of commedia's humor stems from miming and overly-dramatic gymnastics. Actions speak louder than words: Arlecchino shows his nimbleness by vaulting over decrepit Pantalone; the Soldier reveals his cowardice at the threat of Pantalone's dagger. The cast is the final grouping necessary to bring the characters to life; collectively, they tell a story.

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exaggeration

character

cast

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character

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[6]

caricature

[7]

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[7]

exaggerations & characters

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an exaggeration is an ex tion when it becomes func absurd, when the initial is compromised for mean framework and the parallax Exaggerations rely on a recognizable framework in order to be perceived as an altered object rather than an original object. Arguably the most recognizable element is the column.

A structural necessity, the Greek column has persevered generations of reinterpretation, from Rome to Fascist Germany. A symbol of ideal beauty, slight changes to the formula would be unmistakable.

The subtle swelling of a properly proportioned column was a trick to appear straight, countering the eye’s parallactic distortion. Exaggerating the swelling makes one more aware of the distortion. With even further swelling, the column looks absolutely ridiculous and comical. A form beyond purpose, the column functions more to communicate new meaning.

Observers, both low and highbrow, can extract ideas from this new condition. On one end, it looks funny or odd, on another end it is a mockery of properness and order or, once in a system of other fat columns, a commentary on a column being a short wall.

Placed back into a Greek Ionic temple, the reading changes from a proper case study to a member of the zanni characters. What was open and accessible becomes contained, the manageable pediment becomes overbearingly ponderous.

Consequently mass instead of a point, the column has an opportunity to become a space instead of a spatial definer. The volume inside can potentially be antithetical to the juxtaposed rectangular space. The change is an obvious exaggeration.

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aggerationally purpose ing.

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novel concequence from exaggerating

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exaggerations have four, interchangable strategies : Exaggerations can be accomplished through four methods, each most effective within a certain condition: scaling, repeating, reorienting, and literalizing. Multiple methods could be interchanged or combined for a more legible meaning.

Scaling is appropriate for a single, notable moment that lends to a degree of uniqueness. The condition is emphasized by further distorting its proportions. Syracuse’s vernacular homes also take inspiration from prestigious roman architecture, yet, without a proper understanding of the subtleties, make innocent mistakes that give birth to characters. Columns are common and varied among Syracuse homes: some are simple posts, some are proper reproductions, some are anorexically thin, some are temporary stilts. The High-Horse House attempts to mimic high architecture, to elevate itself above it’s neighbors, and yet, the house has a fatal flaw that compromises its charade.

The ornamentationally lavish house is aware of its composition. The ‘mistake’ is the scope of the design effort. Everything below the porch is purely functional, with little composition accounted for. The basement window is off axis from the rest of the windows, the stairs are an unceremonious cheap wooden frame. To emphasize the mistakes, the caricature of the High-Horse House scales the compositionally-lacking base to split the composition into contrasting halves. Windows in the extended piano-noble are purposefully off axis with the

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scaling

repeating

reorienting

literalizing

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upper half; the stairs are left as pragmatic necessities. The columns are ballooned out of proportion to reflect the upper half’s inflated personality.

Scaling is appropriate for a single, notable moment that lends to a degree of uniqueness. The condition is emphasized by further distorting its proportions. Syracuse’s vernacular homes also take inspiration from prestigious roman architecture, yet, without a proper understanding of the subtleties, make innocent mistakes that give birth to characters. Columns are common and varied among Syracuse homes: some are simple posts, some are proper reproductions, some are anorexically thin, some are temporary stilts.

The High-Horse House attempts to mimic high architecture, to elevate itself above it’s neighbors, and yet, the house has a fatal flaw that compromises its charade.Exaggerations can be accomplished through four methods, each most effective within a certain condition: scaling, repeating, reorienting, and literalizing. Multiple methods could be interchanged or combined for a more legible meaning.

When an a reoccurring condition exists, repeating it ad absurdum renders it unmissable. Certain homes in Syracuse have been subdivided to reside more separate tenants. Law requires a minimum amount of egress for occupancy loads beyond two families. Ad hoc fire stairs are retrofitted on the exterior surface. An odd condition peppered on several orifices of the building, the stairs are already functionally redundant; the house has vertical circulation designed within the skin. This house is the Egress House. The egress circulation opens moments on the house that were before inaccessible. The window becomes a balcony, the roof is another deck. Repeating more egress makes the condition even stranger, as the stairs are overtly unnecessary. The Eclectic House is already a mess of incongruent parts. It is difficult to make an exaggeration as it is already an exaggeration in itself: a formally-indecisive house.

When an a reoccurring condition exists, repeating it ad absurdum renders it unmissable. Certain homes in Syracuse have been subdivided to reside more separate tenants. Law requires a minimum amount of egress for occupancy loads beyond two families. Ad hoc fire stairs are retrofitted on the exterior surface. An odd condition peppered on several orifices of the building, the stairs are already functionally redundant; the house has vertical circulation designed within the skin. This house is the Egress House. The egress circulation opens moments on the house that were before inacces-

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sible. The window becomes a balcony, the roof is another deck. Repeating more egress makes the condition even stranger, as the stairs are overtly unnecessary. Sometimes the repeated element is already so prominent, that exaggerating it even more wouldn’t be necessary; it is difficult to make an exaggeration as it is already an exaggeration in itself: a circulatoryindecisive house.

Literalization transfigures metaphoric and similetic qualities into straightforward ones. The term literal refers to the the condition after the exaggeration in which the subject represents itself, and cannot be substituted with an allegorical description. Transparency is a common description in architecture.

To literalize a ‘transparent’ building would make it entirely of glass. Absurd, this transformation would epitomize the modern goal of bridging inside and out. The Leaning House sits distortedly, as the earth below it settles. Old in age, the house requires crutches to rest upon. Temporary stilts support cantilevering balconies as the house undergoes renovations for a youthful rebirth. In spirit, the Leaning House is similar to Pantalone: a senior looking to be young again. The house looks as though it leans against the stilts. The literalized Leaning House leans against columns. Stilts become permanent additions while the facade intentional extends beyond practical limits.

The four strategies are not isolated conditions, they could be combined to enhance meaning even further. Leaning House could be re-represented by combining literalization and repetition; the house relies on the posts to stand up, so why not literally have them hold up the building? Ignoring practicality, of course. In order to hold up the house, it would need either comically large posts or many of them. Consequently, Leaning House Too is suspended by numerous post-lings.

Syracuse houses are a stable example for characters, but don’t make a commedia. The house typology is made of recognizable elements: pitched roofs, windows, balconies, doors, bases, trims, and chimneys. As shown, slight changes in those conditions create characters, and yet, these characters are seldom in dialogue. The differences are contained, and don’t inform each other of their ideas and messages. Perhaps it is because they don’t try to convey ideas beyond dwelling. The anthropomorphized characteristics were superimposed to identify different conditions; they were forced.

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high-horse house 56

(exaggerated) 57

egress house (exaggerated) 58

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distracted house 60

(exaggerated) 61

leaning house 62

(exaggerated) 63

leaning house 64

(exaggerated) 65

leaning house, too 66

(exaggerated, too) 67

[8]

hejduk’s masques are ardously read characters with many interpretations due to their alien forms

hejduk’s masques Hejduk designed a series of characters, masques, that wander cities with him.”This troupe accompanies [him] from city to city, from place to place, to cities [he has] been to and cities [he has] not visited. The cast presents itself to a city and its inhabitants. Some of the objects are built and remain in the city; some are built for a time, then are dismantled and disappear; some are built, dismantled, and move to another city where they are reconstructed” (Hejduk, 15). Each character is unique and exists with a narrative. His Berlin Masques were abstracted forms to be interpreted as pieces of art. Their site was the sheet of paper, and as his explorations continued, they were “represented as bold silhouettes that could be said to resemble Rorschach ink blots “ (Porter).

They are difficult to read. They have little recognizable elements to ground a particular image. Instead, the masques’ strength are in their loose translation: different eyes receive different messages. Although beautiful and provoking, a cast of masques do not clearly translate ideas; relationships are unclear and debatable.

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“the masque characters are represented as bold silhouettes that could be said to resemble rorschach ink blots.�

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multiple readings of a masque by zac porter

[8]

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casts

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complexity and contradictions in architecture identifies relationship strategies between characters

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complexity and contradiction Frustrated with modern architects’ habit of oversimplification and disregard for design problems in favor for an ‘cleaner’ building, Venturi called for a complicated and contradictory architecture for a more meaningful architecture. Stripped of ornamentation and embellishments, modern architecture was too similar to itself. Venturi adopted T.S. Elliot’s stance on tradition: “if the only form of tradition, of handing down, consisted in following the ways of the immediate generation before us in a blind or timid adherence to its successes, ‘tradition’ should be positively discouraged”. He summarized the movement with four, well known, words: “less is a bore”.

Venturi studied architectural moments he enjoyed and disagreed with to identify what, in his eyes, worked and did not.

He compiled his research into a series of elements, each with a compositional function to provoke interest. The elements are conceptually scaleless and defined by their utility and context among other elements; they establish methods of interaction among characters in a cast.

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either-or element to both-and element Because of simplification, modernist buildings were assembled from 'either-or' elements. The element was restricted to a single function. “A sun screen is probably nothing else; a support is seldom an enclosure; a wall is not violated by window penetrations but is totally interrupted by glass” (Venturi, 23). A 'both-and' element calls for ambiguity, it “yields several levels of meaning” (Venturi, 23). The observer hesitates from the multiple readings, a more vivid perception. Corbusier's Shodhan House is a closed, yet open cube. Villa Sevoye is simple on the exterior, yet complicated on the interior. Arlecchino is both clever and dumb.

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[11]

villa shodhan is both closed by its corners and open on its surface

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[12]

palazzo massimi’s facade adapts to the street’s contour

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conventional element to adapted element

“Contradictions can represent the exceptional inconsistency that modifies the otherwise consistent order, or they can represent inconsistencies throughout the order as a whole” (Venturi, 41). ‘Conventional’ elements are “the old cliches involving both banality and mess” (Venturi, 42). Conventional elements establish an order. The architect already has a wide breadth of elements to use, he does not need to reinvent elements, but their use: “the architect’s main work is the organization of a unique whole through conventional parts” (Venturi, 43). Breaking order adds meaning and interest in what was ordinary.

‘Adapted’ elements tweak the rules of a conventional element in order to add a secondary function, whether a formal reading or functional necessity. “Contradiction adapted is tolerant and pliable. It admits improvisation. It involves the disintegration of a prototype – and ends in approximation and qualification” (Venturi, 45). Palazzo Massimi adapts the flat facade into a curved facade to follow the contour of the street. The vecchi all share old age as a framework, but tweak facets of maturity; Pantalone yearns for his youth; the Doctor basks in knowledge he accumulated over the years.

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conventional element to juxtaposed element

‘Juxtaposed’ elements involve “the shock treatment” (Venturi, 56), they clamorously stand out beside their humble counterparts, taking advantage of differences to stand out. Dubbed ‘superadjacencies’, juxtaposed elements relate opposites within a whole: an inclusive condition. “It can allow a multiplicity of meaning, since it involves changing contexts – seeing familiar things in an unfamiliar way and from unexpected points of view” (Venturi, 61).Sullivan juxtaposes an unadorned square profile and flat brick wall with a fractal-like stone frame around the central window on the Merchant’s National Bank. Amorosi mock the Doctor’s blinding obsession with knowledge, saying he does not see the world through his eyes.

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[13]

national merchant’s bank juxtaposes a flat surface with an ornate rose window

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[14]

the wall binds the chaotic medieval city 82

elements combined with binding element

A simple method to relate two elements together is to introduce another to combine the two. The 'binder' element is a third party instigator that allows objects to interact where it would be difficult, otherwise. Venturi describes the binder element as the blanket of fresh snow summarizing the landscape into one, white, soft surface, or the wall containing the medieval city. The binder element is a simple solution to juxtaposed elements that shouldn't be relied on as the main strategy to relate elements together; it is never a clean solution to add another system to make sense of a previous system. That being said, in commedia, the binder element can be crucial to instigate interactions. Conceptually, the binder element can be a character or a prop. The zanni causes a small problem that would spiral out of control and begin a play between uninvolved characters. The soldier's over-scaled sword provokes duels he can't fight.

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simplified whole to inflected whole

An architectural component isn't limited to a single element's identity. These components work together to achieve a harmonious whole. Modern architecture achieves wholeness as a single, 'simplified' whole. There are few tensions within it.

Instead of a single part, Venturi prefers an assemblage of pieces to a whole. The 'inflected' whole is made up of smaller elements in dialogue. Venturi's highest valued whole is the inflected one. “Inflection in architecture is the way in which the whole is implied by exploiting the nature of the individual parts, rather than their position or number... Inflection is a means of distinguishing diverse parts while implying continuity” (Venturi, 88-9). The Clearing House juxtaposes unique elements to create “violent pressures within a rigid frame” (Venturi, 57). Local axes of symmetry interlock, while the whole is asymmetrical. “It is an almost insane short story of a castle on a city street” (Venturi, 57). The cast is most effective as an inflected whole: constant tensions and flows of energy through dialogue and choreography. Inflection is the result of conflict.

A conflicted cast is an entertaining cast.

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adapted and juxtaposed elements inflect the clearing house’s facade

[15]

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venturi house applies the relationships to the cast of elements on the facade 86

vanna venturi house Vanna Venturi House's facade is a cast of adapted and juxtaposed characters and caricatures who form an inflected whole. Antithetical to the modern house, the Vanna Venturi House is compiled from conflicting details, each with a different architectural origin. The profile reads as a slightly distorted vernacular house: a low-inclined pitched roof with a large, stepped chimney. Despite slightly ill-shapen, the profile is unmistakabley a house. The patterning on the facade reveals a more informed understanding of the characters, their origins, roles, and readaptations. The split pitched roof, an adapted element, is both a vernacular roof and a classical pediment.

The two are combined for a dialogue between high art and patois. The chimney is both a chimney and a wall; instead of an ad-hoc brick addition, Venturi carved a surface into the shape of a chimney. Almost symmetrical in composition, the windows disrupt the balance. The windows are arranged into a time line of their evolution; on the left is a traditional window with a cross frame; the next iteration removes the inner frame for a cleaner geometry; the rightmost is Corb's ribbon window, a modern invention. Broken down into individual panes of glass, the windows are split evenly into two groups of five and are approximately equal in total area. An embedded arc is superimposed over a lintel expressing load carried around the entrance. The two are a reference to medieval palimpsests. Also a juxtaposed relationship, the arc's rounded language contrasts the straight trims across the facade and along the edges. Without the contrasting arc, the composition wouldn't mediate the horizontal language with the pitched roof. These characters are locked into space and forced into a dialogue because of their position. The facade stages their interactions.

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zanni

vernacular

[16] [17]

vecchi classical

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zanni

medieval

[18] [19]

amorosi modern

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vanna venturi house

both-and element

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the roof is both a vernacular pitched roof and a classical split pediment.

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juxtaposed relationship

adapted relationship

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the superimposed arch contrasts the horizontal, straight language.

the wall adapts to include a chimney, as opposed to an ad hoc addition.

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inflected relationship

inflected whole

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the assymetrical windows induce both tension and balanced resolution.

the facade is composed of characters whose relationship relies on their position

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basilica palladiana meets the sky with a series of juxtaposed characters

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the figure and bracket enhance each other’s meaning through violent contrasts together, they are cast

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the figure and bracket Sitting atop Basilica Palladiana is a series of stone figures that deteriorated over time, requiring aid to stand. Metal brackets were clipped onto the sculptures, each unique to the pose and weak points. The two form a symbiotic relationship where neither could exist without the other; without the bracket, the sculpture will fall; without the sculpture, the bracket has no purpose.

A commedia, the sculpture and bracket are two characters in conflict who amplify each other’s characteristics. It is a dialogue of the old lost in an ideal world disillusioned by ‘wisdom’ and the young preserving the view through new methods. The new beauty stems from the relationship of the two.

An idealized representation is no longer relevant on its own.

Another dialogue between an elder and younger expressing contrasting desires. It is the juxtaposition that brings the characters to life. By themselves, they have nothing to work off of; they are a mirror in the darkness.

Following roman antiquity, the figure is an idealized representation of a man resting on a tree stump. Time weathered away some of the delicate details, leaving behind a gestural sketch.

A 16th century attempt at a free-standing man, the construction required the figure to rest on the tree stump in order to stabilize the structure. The stump is a representatively-hidden system that works with the sculpture, masking its purpose with an artistic interpretation. The bracket, on the other hand, is a conflicting system that formally separates itself from the artifact. The only attempt to stay hidden is its subdued colour and position away from public sight, on the back. Alone, the bracket could only exist as an abstract piece potentially

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understood only by a small market; it is an embodiment of art’s transition from semantic to syntactic. The man is a search for beauty and the bracket a practice of function.

The lock-and-key relationship of the sculpture and bracket relies on the bracket’s gestural interpretation of the man. The likeness is obvious in the presence of the sculpture. A grounded compressive support mimics the curve of the spine. The figure's back is shaved for a tighter fit, as the metallic spine is bolted on. Ribbons gesticulate the ribs and sharp shoulders, mediated by a concrete-like gap filling. Two tension rod feet cantilever the construction over the edge to address the public. The metallic extremities intersect and meet behind the heart of the man. Without the company of the figure, the bracket’s anthropomorphic reading would be a stretch at best.

Conceptually, only the figure can exist on its own. It is an easily digestible art piece whose value comes from its accurate portrayal of an idealized reality. Any individual, educated or not, can appreciate the figure. On its own, the sculpture exists in a single moment in time, revealing no story. To the public, it is an expression of wealth, power, and sophistication.

The bracket has little initial conceptual value due to its difficult digestibility. To the untrained eye, it appears as a superfluous parasite detracting from the sculpture’s intentional purpose of achieving beauty; one challenges self to imagine the figure in its original state. But the bracket does tell a story; a story of time. It is the walking stick that portrays age and wisdom, a tool to feed the image of age. Meaning stems from the bracket’s function to sustain the figure’s objective. It is the man in black operating the backstage.

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trimmed back for simpler fit

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the figure’s and bracket’s relationship can be applied to the scale of the facade The formal and functional logic of the bracket could be extended to the facade of the entire basilica. The figures standing on top of the building are Palladio’s invention; they are an abstraction of the Corinthian order. The Colosseum responded to a vertically stretched facade by breaking it up into three horizontal bands. Each band represented an order, organized by refinement: a Doric base, an Ionic midsection, and a Corinthian crown. Palladio’s solution to a two story composition, while still acknowledging antiquity, was the Corinthian figure. The figure is further abstracted into a metallic gesture. Transitively, the metallic gesture is an interpretation of the Corinthian order – the next step would be to abstract the Doric and Ionic orders into supportive metal brackets. The Doric bracket supports the most load; it is large and crude; it is the most rudimentary. The Ionic bracket is more slender and malleable; it also supports load, but is more delicate with the details it interacts with. The Corinthian bracket is the most ethereal; it caries the facade’s composition to the sky; a crux for the relationship between surface and sky. These abstracted orders extend the same dialogue between the figure and the bracket to the scale of the entire facade. It is a representation of the scaleless quality of abstraction and caricatures following a logic.

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township of domestic parts is a collection of characters who spatially float and do not communicate they are a weak cast township of domestic parts Jimenez Lai's Township of Domestic Parts divides the Taiwanese home into individual programmatic characters. Each too small to be a building, yet too large to be furniture – super funirure – the characters are meant to be played with, sat on, climbed up. The characters, taking inspiration from Hejduk's masques, are a conglomeration of meaningful parts ranging from vernacular elements: the pitch-roofed house; to academic ones: Corb's Villa Savoye. These playful forms are easily consumed by a wide audience. The Garden of Earthly Delights on quick inspection resembles a treehouse in its natural environment. Upon closer inspection, one can find pieces from Hejduk's House of the Suicide, Corb's fifth point; the floating garden, and Greg Lynn's Lavin House (Miller).

The autonomous structures are meant to function as a small community, inverting the private into public, the interior as township. Although legible through anthropomorphic strategies and visual consistency, the characters don't interact as a cast. Each character is an individual. The characters aimlessly float in space, not addressing each other's position. They are moments in a house put on a pedestal for people to abstractly reenact individually.

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wandering characters

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wrong chairs’ spatial positioning creates heirarchy and a dialogue among them they are a strong cast

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wrong chairs Norman Kelly’s Wrong Chairs strive to make magic of the ordinary, and then revert the magical back to ordinary. Studying the Windsor chair, a well recognized colonial American vernacular, the firm selected seven studies by craftsman John Kassay to distort and caricaturize into subtly strange, seemingly unstable, chairs. The Windsor chair establishes a reliable framework to base the transformations on. Slight changes force the viewer to double-take and further inspect the modifications. The Continuous-Bow High Chair omits manchettes and the top rail, but keeps the spindles in place, resulting in an intimidating, and dangerous image. The TwoPlace Low-Back Settee is a cross between proximal chairs and a bench: a clash of slightly incongruous proportions. What was assumed to be standard, even nostalgic, has become alien again. Once the viewer becomes the sitter, the magic disappears, as they discover the chair feels and functions as they normally would expect it to. What was odd reverted to familiar.

These chairs are an example of caricatures in dialogue. Because the chair is so personal to the body, one can imagine a persona to sit in each chair: Comb-Back Writing-Arm Chair has a heavy presence of a leader, of a learned man; Tall Stool for a young child needing a higher seat; Two-Place Low-Back Settee as a seat for siblings. The image is reinforced as characters in a dialogue when the chairs are all positioned around a dining table. The table establishes a field of hierarchies, a system understood across many cultures. The difference between the success of the Wrong Chairs as a cast and the Township of Domestic Parts is placement. Knights of the Round Table sit in a round table because they have no heirarchy, Domestic parts are scattered because they frame functions of a house. The table, or the implied space of where a table would belong is the keystone to the cast. It is the stage.

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the quad A medieval monastery in its roots, the quad is a quintessential piece in a university campus that locks and relates all the buildings together. Simply an open green space, the quad itself is dependent on the buildings – it is a void formed by figures. Each building on campus,the schools, library, offices, dormitories, gymnasiums, and dining halls, are characters.

The quad is the facade, the table, the stage instigating conversations among characters. The campus contains the ingredients necessary to perform a commedia: conflicting – potentially inflected – characters with positions on a stage.

University of Virginia set a strong precedent for the use of a quad to unify a school. The brain-child of Thomas Jefferson, the school was to be “on the most extensive and liberal scale that our circumstances would call for and our faculties meet“: a counterpoint to the prevalent single-building school model.

The single-building school model was cramped, prone to fire and disease, and had limited fields of study.

Dubbed an Academic Village, the UVA campus model was a large green lawn with a library at one end, a view of a landscape on the other, and surrounded by ten pavillions connected by arcades. Distinguished from its peer universities, UVA replaced a religious foundation with one of knowledge.

Formally a half-scale pantheon, a library sits at the head of the green lawn, displaying the same dominance as would a religious structure. The ten unique pavilions each represents a

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school of thought through its facade – characters. Each has a specific precedent: pavilion ix, the school of ethics, morals, and political economy, is an Ionic cousin of Temple of Fortuna Virilis.

Together, the Jeffersonian characters form a simplified whole.

The plan is a clean rectangle; the pavilions are rhythmically spaced and loosely mirrored along the major axis. There is little to no inflection; the pavilions can stand as separate elements and don’t rely on their cumulative whole to justify their existence. The only tension is the relation between the pavilions and pantheon.

The Syracuse quad is an imperfect iteration of Jefferson’s lawn.

Formally disorganized, the quad is defined by three broken sides, a sheared fourth, and four open corners: a messy, inflected whole. At the head of the campus is Hendricks Chapel, a religious pantheon under the guise of an academic pantheon. It’s purpose is to represent the entire school under one dome (although, the Dome is a stronger candidate). Hendricks can’t be relied on to represent characters in the quad; an inflected whole relies on the sum of its parts. Some buildings forming the quad are characters, others have an unclear identity. The Syracuse campus has potential to become a commedia if unclear buildings are exaggerated into legible caricatures.

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By describing the buildings as characters in a play, with mannerisms, aspirations, history, thoughts, and doubts, new spaces emerge. The structures already have their pragmatic interiors, yet their faces don’t tell stories. Carnegie Library is a library, but it could be the incarnation of the doctor; an old man bewitched by knowledge, dismissing the young for their 140

silly games; Schaffer is an art school, but it could be a young lover who questions the stiffness of ol’ Hendricks Chapel. The campus will be re-cast into a talking village.

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the divine comedy John Russel Pope and Dwight James Baum proposed a beaux arts plan to organize the scattered buildings on campus.

Through alignment, symmetry, rhythm, and proper scaling, the campus read as a simplified whole. Instead of executing the 1928 master plan, the university slowly added buildings that broke all the rules Pope and Baum established. Instead of a cohesive aesthetic, the campus became a patchwork of clashing styles and principles. The campus became an inflected and more interesting composition. Exaggerating the many ‘faults’ allows for an opportunity to create new public spaces that take advantage of the improper relationships. Yet, actors are nothing without a script.

The Divine Comedy, much like the campus, is an enclosed world. Applying Dante’s narrative to the campus embeds a set of stable characters, rules, and precedent to guide the exaggerations. The narrative is not to be extracted as a legible reading of the campus, but a generator of form.

Dante’s journey was overlaid onto the campus. Five key moments were chosen to be operated on in order to exploit ‘wrongs’, and to create new public spaces. They were chosen based on their locations (corners, edges, and centers) as well as their indelicate façade treatments.

Just as commedia comments on society’s tropes, this project pokes at Syracuse’s two masks; the proper, straight face of academia, and the notorious number one party school.

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images 1

Valve. Color scheme for the opposing blue and red teams.

Digital image. Illustrative Rendering in Team Fortress

2. Valve, n.d. Web.

2

Valve. Red Spy. Digital image. Illustrative Rendering in Team

Fortress 2. Valve, n.d. Web.

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CFL—Giraudon/Art Resource, New York

4

Commedia Dell’arte. Digital image. Http://en.wikipedia.

org/wiki/Commedia_dell%27arte. Wikipedia, n.d.

Web.

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A performance in the piazza San Marco; from an 18th

century engraving by M. Engelbrecht p. 129

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Mies Chair. Digital image. Vitra Design Museum. N.p., n.d.

Web.

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Le Corbusier Chaise Lounge. Digital image. Cassina. N.p., n.d. Web.

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Zlotsky, Mark. Egress House. 2014. Syracuse, US.

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Binet, Helene. Security. 1989. Oslo, Norway.

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Porter, Zac. Security transforming. Digital image. John Hejduk

- Moving Masques. Cargo Collective, n.d. Web. Venturi, Robert. Vanna Venturi House. 1964. Chestnut Hill.

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Villa Shodhan. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web.

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Vasi, G. Palazzo Massimi Detto Delle Colognne. 1748.

Etching. National Roman Museum, Rome, Italy.

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National Merchant’s Bank. 1977. Iowa, US.

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de La Mare, Nicolas. Map of Paris, 1422 to 1589. 1589.

Etching.

16

Clearing House. Digital image. Unreal Nature. N.p., n.d.

Web.

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Vernacular House. Digital Image. N.p., n.d. Web.

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Korman, Randall. Palimpsests. n.d.

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Villa Savoye. Digital Image. Archdaily, n.d. Web.

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Basilica Palladiana. Digital Image. N.p., n.d. Web.

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Zlotsky, Mark. Basilica Palladiana. 2013. Vicenza, Italy.

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Township of Domestic Parts. Digital Image. Archdaily, n.d.

Web.

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Township of Domestic Parts. Digtal Image. Archdaily, n.d.

Web.

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Township of Domestic Parts. Digtal Image. Archdaily, n.d.

Web.

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Township of Domestic Parts. Digtal Image. Archdaily, n.d.

Web.

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Wrong Chairs. Digital Image. Norman Kelly, n.d. Web.

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Wrong Chairs. Digital Image. N.p., n.d. Web.

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Wrong Chairs. Digital Image. N.p., n.d. Web.

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Syracuse Quad. Digital Image. Syracuse University, n.d. Web.

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UVA Lawn. Digital Image. University of Virginia, n.d. Web.

31

Pavilion IX. Digital Image. University of Virginia, n.d. Web.

32

Temple of Fortuna Virilis. N.p., n.d. Web.

33

Syracuse University Campus Plan. Syracuse University,

n.d. New York, US

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Syracuse Campus. Digital image. Google, n.d. Web. 211

references Grantham, Barry. Playing Commedia: A Training Guide to Commedia Techniques. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2000.

Print.

Hejduk, John. Vladivostock. New York: Rizzoli, 1989. p. 15 “Jefferson’s Plan for an Academical Village.” Thomas Jeffersons Monticello Blog RSS. The Jefferson Monticello, n.d.

Web. 05 Dec. 2014.

Jefferson to Hugh L. White and Trustees of the Lottery for East Tennessee College, May 6, 1810 in PTJ:RS, 2:365.

Krier, Rob. “Facades.” Architectural Compositions. London: Academy Editions, 1991. N. pag. Print.

“Masks.” Atelier Bow-Wow: Echo of Space, Space of Echo.

Tokyo: INAX, 2009. N. pag. Print.

Miller, Kyle. “Figure as Device: On Township of Domestic Parts.” (n.d.): n. pag. Web. Mitchell, Jason, Moby Francke, and Dhabih Eng. Illustrative Rendering in Team Fortress 2 (n.d.): n. pag. Web. Oreglia, Giacomo. The Commedia Dell’arte. New York: Hill and Wang, 1968. Print.

Porter, Zac. “John Hejduk - Infamous Lines.” John Hejduk - Infamous Lines. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2014.

Venturi, Robert. Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture.

New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2011. Print.

Vidler, Anthony. “Vagabond City.” The Architectural Uncanny: Essays in the Modern Unhomely. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 1992. N. pag. Print.

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