“CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE
REPLACES THE IDEA OF FAÇADE WITH THATOFSKIN: ANEXTERIOR LAYER MEDIATING BETWEEN THE BUILDING AND ITS ENVIRONMENT.
NOT A NEUTRAL ELEVATION, BUT RATHER AN ACTIVE, INFORMED MEMBRANE; COMMUNICATIVE
AN IN COMMUNICATION. RATHER THAN WALLS WITH HOLES, TECHNICAL, INTERACTIVE
SKINS. SKINS COLONISED BY FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS CAPABLE OF HOUSING INSTALATION
AND SERVICES; CAPABLE OF RECEIVING AND TRANSMITTING ENERGIES; BUT ALSO CAPABLES
OF SUPPORTING OTHER INCORPORATED LAYERS: OVERLAPPING RATHER THAN ADHESIVE. MANIPULATED
AND/OR TEMPORARY PATCHES, ERUPTIONS, GRAPHICS OR ENGRAVINGS; BUT ALSO PROJECTED
IMAGES. COLOURFUL REVERSIBLE MOTIF AND VIRTUAL –DIGITAL- FANTASIES AIMED AT
TRANSFORMING THE BUILDING INTO AUTHENTIC INTERFACE BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL AND
ENVIRONMENT; AND THE FAÇADE, INTO AN (INTER)ACTIVE SCREEN, THE FRICTIONAL
BOUNDARY BETWEEN THE BUILDING AND A CONTEXT WHICH CHANGES OVER TIME.¨MANUEL GAUSA AT THE MATAPOLIS DICTIONARY OF ADVANCED ARCHITECTURE.
WE START FROM
THE MAMUSHKA/MATRIOSKA CONCEPT, THE TRADITIONAL RUSSIAN DOLL WHOSE UNIQUENESS
IS THAT OF AN EMPTY INTERIOR THAT CAN ALBERGATE/ENCLOSE OTHER/ANOTHER NEW DOLL,
SMALLER BUT IDENTICALLY ALIKE, AND THIS ONE IS FURTHER ENCLOSING ANOTHER
SMALLER ONE AND LIKE THAT SUCCESSIVELY IN VARIABLE NUMBER, AS AN ALLEGORY OF
THE COMPLEXITY OF DAILY LIVING, THE IDEA OF INFINITE THAT FITS IN A WORLD
INSIDE ANOTHER; A GAME, A METAPHOR, AN
IMAGE OF THE COMPLEXITY OF REALITY. THE DOLL´S REPETITION IS A SYMBOL OF THE
DYNAMICS OF EXISTENCE, OF CONTINUITY AND REPETITION AS CONCEPTS RELATED TO
INFINITE.
THE CONNECTION
BETWEEN THE BUILDING AND THE PLAZA IS STRENGTHENED BY THE PLATFORM EXPANSION
AND URBAN MACRO-LEVEL STEPS AND THE CONTINUED FLOW OF PERIMETER RING THAT FORMS
THE FABRIC OF THE CITY, EXPANDING, EQUIPPING AND RE-SIGNIFYING CHARACTER, THIS
ITEM LINKS BETWEEN THE BUILDING AND PUBLIC-URBAN SPACE TO PRODUCE THE IDEA THAT
SUCCESSIVE LAYERS DYNAMICALLY ATTEMPT TO TAKE CONTROL OF THE PLAZA, TRYING TO
CONTAIN THE PUBLIC SPACE AND MAKE IT PART OF THE GAME INVOLVED.