Rural Habitat at 0° Latitude The Architectural Project as a Tool for a Critical Investigation on Living

In the PhD proposal drawing is considered an investigative tool, an instrument through which asking questions and develop complex solutions. The research process provides a continuous iteration between questions and proposals (Thomsen and Tamke, 2009), developing a non-necessarily linear dialogue between theoretical concepts and design explorations^[i].

The method is founded on a critical reinterpretation of various approaches to the description of the rural house, especially referring to the Italian context starting from the ‘30. In particular, the analytical work of Cesare Saibene and the photographical one of Giuseppe Pagano will be investigated in depth, as considered tools of representation of the specific situation of countryside[ii].

The elaboration of an interpretative system, starting from the recognition of morphological units, will allow to represent the multidimensional relationship occurring between the dwelling and the socio-spatial phenomena.

The preliminary explorations consisted in a re-drawing of different rural houses along the Province, establishing a first typological classification and individuating the elements of permanence and mutation. Regarding the survey, the tool of sketch acquires a particular relevance as a primary generator for an intellectual reflection. The proposal will explore its potential in creating a correlation between representation and reality, trigging a thoughtful process.

Analysing the dwelling in its complexity, the exploded axonometric projection will be investigated as essential to understand the system of spatial relations: external/internal, public/private, function/meaning.

The methodological declination will allow to directly frame the tangible effects of the phenomena previously mentioned by the mapping of the permanence and transition elements of the house.

^[i] Hauberg, Jørgen. (2011). Research by design: a research strategy.

[ii] The approach of Cesare Saibene provides a narrative of the Italian rural landscape based on the recognition of morphological units. Consequently, the description of the landscapes is realized through the study of the physical, anthropic, economic and human settlement environment. The rural house is therefore in this analysis a part of a whole. The drawings are used to explain the specific conditions that conform rural architecture.

The research of Giuseppe Pagano of 1936, Architettura Rurale Italiana, is focused on demonstrating the intrinsic aesthetic value in the functionality of rural houses, exploring the climatic, topographic and functional determinants which settle the origin and evolution of the built forms. In this case, the preferred tool of representation is the photography, focused on capturing the integration between architecture and landscape.