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mise-en-scene: one’s problem becomes then that of playing a convincing performance. Considering buildings within the mechanisms of representation, Beatriz Colomina puts in evidence the aim of modern architecture to be displayed more than perceived. On her essay Privacy and Publicity, she considers the practice of Adolf Loos —the Viennese architect of early XX century— who asserted that the modern individual would be defined by the separation of the exterior from the interior; that of societal life from personal experience. As is the case of his buildings and houses, whose white and blank facades hide a complex and splendid interior, a mask against collectivity is necessary to protect one’s intimacy and thus to build an identity of oneself, like a neutral cover to a wide and rich encyclopedia.
On the other hand, Goffman sought to demonstrate what Pirandello had intuited: we believe to be one, but in fact we are many different individuals, a hundred thousand, depending on the context and on the people we interact with. But under this mask, is there somebody? Are we then only what we represent or is there, as Loos argued, the possibility to build a private identity whilst protecting one’s own
intimacy? Debate remains actual nowadays when one is confronted with the hyper-spectacularization of personal life not only by the mass media, of which we are passively the audience, but also within social network. In the era of communication, when even architecture loses substance to go parallel with the power of images —representations otherwise— will we be able to preserve our inner self?
2! editorial: city is theatre Is theatre a kind of space or a means of artistic expression? The word comes from the ancient greek theáomai meaning “to see, to witness”. Therefore the guiding principle is the act of being a spectator to a scene or play. Theatre is founded
on the communication with the public, which is part of the performance: meaning there is no theatre without the dialectic between actors and spectators. Then an adequate context is necessary for this relational construct to take place, which is the actual space of theatre. But what is the sense of such an archaic and complicated anthropic mechanism? The birth of tragedy offers to us the
4! one, no one or one hundred thousand? We all consider the theatre as a given space where a certain performance is staged, which often follows a written script and tells a fictitious story. Yet again, why not consider our own daily life as one continuous act of a theatrical performance? This is the thesis drawn up by the sociologist Erving Goffmann in the late ‘50s: every social situation could be considered an act in which the author and the spectator interact in order to establish a dialogue. It is a strong metaphor that everyone can easily relate to: each and every one of us can identify themselves as the audience or the actor of a specific situation. This way, the life in society becomes a continuous play, with its
meeting and sharing place where to start the staging. Architects have to take the necessity of aggregation into account, in order for meaning to be conveyed and shared; the square cannot be replaced by a virtual platform. Modern means of connection, such as television and tele-phone (tele = distant), on the one hand are more effective ways to communicate, while on the other —with no demand for physical space— make the gap between individuals increase.
own rules and mechanisms that end up defining the social conventions in effect. But hidden behind all this is an unsettling conclusion: if every time the individuals are treated based on the momentary impressions they give, every act of communication becomes one of self-affirmation. When
When one’s play is put into question, the subtle social system maintained by the disciplined social interactions and even the personality of the actor itself become discredited. The “self” is no longer seen as something that resides in the body of whoever possesses it, and so it is reduced to a
3! manifesto: totem’s speech Since XX century the natural world order, where space and persona mirror each other, has definitely got lost. The crushing of “self” and the loss of “where” cast instability and undermine the coexistence based on confrontation between individuals.
possibility to understand the founding idea: through a sense of collective catharsis, social gathering around the mise-en-scene of fundamental behaviours and feelings is a way to release self psychic tensions. In other words, sensationalizing life on a stage is a way to distance it from ego, to overlook it with its dramas and joys as a mirror for reflection and self awareness. Necessity of reasoning on sense originates theatre. However, theatres are not the only spaces where that can happen, but also every designed and built space, above all: the city. It is the playhouse for the show of our lives: in its physical shape made of streets and monuments, in which the institutions give form to the stage and houses face the scene as a cavea: architecture is the narrative structure for the play of mankind. In the flux of history we are both the interpreters and the audience of the human
comedy; whilst we cannot argue who is the “great architect” who directs all of it, still we are the protagonists and our playing role is precious. The project is a tool of control over the spectacle space: it gives structure thus sense to our acting. Manifesto! insists on the importance of architecture
for the process of creating societal identity. As protagonists, it is necessary to reappropriate the urban context, as the very stage for the play of existence. As is the case with theatre, the success of the show lays on the communication, therefore public space is the most significant
With a provocative attitude manifesto! decides to denounce the incommunicability: it is our aim to convey a message and the message in itself is the necessity for actual communication. Let’s demolish the pyramid of alienation which stands over our heads; let’s manifest our theatricality on the public stage, in order to head together towards the shared research for sense.
curators: Cristiano G, Riccardo G.
graphics: “totem of tabù” Riccardo G.
contributors: Davide M. Livia G, Eren G,
pictures: Cristiano G.
1! contents The delivery of meanings is made difficult by alienation, owed to distancing and annihilating social and urban contexts.
Artificial communication intensifies the gap between people, thus dissolving the idea of community in favour of individualism. Let’s crown our head with the pyramid of solipsistic mutiny from reality: in self-imposed isolation, will we at least listen to ourselves?
1! here are contents 2! editorial: city is theatre Cristiano G. 3! manifesto: totem’ speech Cristiano G, Eren G. 4! article: one, no one or one hundred thousand? Cristiano G. Livia G,