REMAKE / REMODEL:THE PM’S READING ROOM
WEEK 1:
COMPLEXITY & CONTRADICTION DANIEL RIDDELL S3053091
LIBRARY:
THE DANTEUM GUISEPPE TERRANGI
WHAT:
The Danteum is an unbuilt proposal for a library / shrine to Dante Alighieri’s notable poen ‘The Divide Comedy’.The proposal was instigated by patron of the arts; Paolo Di Canio and designed by architect Giuseppe Terragni at the behest of Benito Mussolini’s Fascist government.The building never went ahead due to Mussolini’s involvment in World War 1.The proposal was originally received by Mussolini in 1938. The Danteum was proposed for the the Via dell’Impero in Rome. It would have sat between the Colosseum and the Roman Forum.
DIVINE COMEDY:
The Divine Comedy (Italian: Divina Commedia) is an epic poem written by Dante Alighieri between c. 1308 and his death in 1321. It is widely considered the preeminent work of Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature.The poem’s imaginative and allegorical vision of the afterlife is a culmination of the medieval world-view as it had developed in the Western Church. It helped establish the Tuscan dialect, in which it is written, as the standardized Italian language. It is divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. On the surface, the poem describes Dante’s travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven; but at a deeper level, it represents allegorically the soul’s journey towards God. At this deeper level, Dante draws on medieval Christian theology and philosophy. The Divine Comedy is composed of 14,233 lines that are divided into three canticas—Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory), and Paradiso (Paradise)—each consisting of 33 cantos. An initial canto serves as an introduction to the poem and is generally considered to be part of the first cantica, bringing the total number of cantos to 100.
CONCEPT:
The proposal was for a space that could house a library, all material related to the Divine Comedy in a modern temple of sorts.The proposal was to be neither rationalist nor monumentalist. Terrangi conceived the Danteum as an allegory of the Divine Comedy. It consists of a sequence of spaces that parallel the narrator’s journey from the “dark wood” through hell, purgatory, and paradise.Terragni focuses on the text’s form and rhyme structure to drive as architectural motivators.The correspondance between the building and the structure of the poem creates a system of memory, similar to that of a medieval cathedral. The layout is based on two interlocking shifted squares which make up a golden rectangle.The proportions of this rectangle are based on the adjoining Basilica Maxentius, also more unusually, the proportions mirror those of Corbu’s Villa Stein. The building is a space for the literate, the visitor apply’s personages and memories through their understanding of the Divine Comedy.The uninitiated visitor who has not read the poem would have a lessor understanding of the building.
DANTEUM
VILLA STEIN
BASILICA MAXENTIUS
DANTEUM: SHIFTED SQUARES
DANTEUM: GOLDEN RECTANGLE
THE DANTEUM: CONSTRUCTION...
100 CRYSTAL CLASS COLUMNS REPRESENT THE POEM STRUCTURE: 100 CANTOS DIVIDED INTO 3 CANTICAS
Paradise: ‘floating’ above Inferno below. Literal interpretation of the relationship of Heaven above and Hell below. Columns are transparent like the angels. Entry: Exit, ascent down from Paradise
The dark wood into the Inferno: A ‘Forest of 100 crystal glass columns populates this space. 1 Introductory Canto; Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise 33 Cantos each; 100 Cantos Total
Purgatory: Inverse of Hell, represents the ascent upwards towards the mountain of purgatory
Empire Room adjoining Paradise: Narrative interdependance of the church and the empire.
Entry: Single file procession
Inferno (Hell): A procession of diminishing square platforms arranged along a Golden Spiral path represent the descent into Hell Empty courtyard represents the ‘wasted’ 35 years of Alighieri’s life prior to writting the Divine Comedy.
THE DANTEUM: COMPLETION
LIBRARY:
RINGWOOD LIBRARY EDMOND & CORRIGAN
“LOOK FOR A TOILET BLOCK WITH AN ELEVATOR’S DOOR” Library employee describing how they direct people to the library.
The Ringwood Library, opened in 1995, was to be a new civic intervention within the Ringwood Town Centre.The library sits between the train station and a shopping centre.The library was designed to have a civic presence at the midway point of this axis. The curves show references to Aalto’s Lappia House Cultural Centre 20 years prior. Apallet of cheap materials are utilised in typical Corrigan fashion. Internally the library probably is less successful.The high curved ceiling make the space seem more like it was built to house a theatre or a swimming pool. People retreat to the edges where there are more intimate spaces