Michele De Lucchi Compares Emotionality and Rationality

Architizer continues to explore how architects experience the emotional realm during the process of creation, presenting the points of view of some of the profession’s most actualized practitioners. Today, Saxon Henry, author of Four Florida Moderns, interviews Michele de Lucchi — Founder and Principal of aMDL — who has two groundbreaking projects debuting later this month, both in the firm’s hometown of Milan. His “La Passeggiata” installation will premiere during the Salone del Mobile on April 14th and his “Pavilion Zero” will launch with Expo Milano 2015 on May 1st.

Do you have a normal emotional starting point once you know you are going to take on a project?

I am convinced that the human mind is guided by an emotional attitude and a rational one: the comparison between emotionality and rationality is constant in any creative act and decision-making effort.

Do you know when you’ve “got it,” meaning you know emotionally when you have the best design for a building you can possibly create at any given time?

The biggest difference between drawing art or architecture is the fact that art is a personal confrontation with your own thoughts and experiences, while in architecture there must be a constant dialogue with the client and users.

Pavilion Zero, Expo Milano 2015

Do you feel that as an architect matures, different emotions come into play or do you feel temperament is a set piece of the personality?

It is definitely an issue of personality but the personality is built through experience and memory. It is very interesting to consider that memory is always a reconstruction of personal experience and, as such, can vary from individual to individual, from moment to moment, from mood to mood.

Do you do active charrettes in your studios with your teams and, if so, how does emotionality come into play during that process?

Emotions are often dictated by relationships. If the working atmosphere is close-knit there is a continuous flow of positive emotions that influence and determine crucial design decisions.

St. Jakob’s Chapel

Do you experience different emotions when you are walking through your built projects that surprise you in any way and can you give me an example?

The reality is always different from the imagination, and many times you discover aspects that you would not expect you would introduce. Most often they are pleasant surprises, but not always.

Do you remember from architecture school if the emotionality of what you were reading and/or studying took you to a new plane of thinking or feeling in any way?

The profession of architect is fueled by images. I always advise my students to cultivate a culture of images in order to be constantly updated on trends and be surprised by the projects of colleagues. In architecture, it is not always useful to just go out there and invent new things. Very often it is better to elaborate and develop solutions and compositions that have already been accomplished.

La Passeggiata (The Walk, Workplace3.0)

Do you find any one type of project more emotionally challenging than any other?

Yes. The environments of private versus public life are the most interesting and challenging because they treat the lifestyle, behavior and anthropological evolution of mankind.

See more of de Lucchi’s work at aMDL.it