The Beauty of Architectural Surfaces

An introduction to technical aspects

The Beauty of Architectural Surfaces

An introduction to technical aspects

The case of the remains of the Medieval City of Ninfa, Latina (Italy)

[...] We are talking about the medieval city of Ninfa, whose stunning ruins, within the snaking of the river that goes by this same vague name, are truly an extraterritorial and extratemporal place. It seems it is timeless, because even the wonderful and varied vegetation (which the Caetani family, with most loving care, intruded among the ruins) seems, rather than layered over the years, settled on a happy edge. In this way every season, even the most rigid, has its flowers, its herbs, its scents. Only in certain paintings, such as Woburn Abbey, by Canaletto when he went to England, can one breathe such a zephyr. Coming from the breath of Fairies or Nymphs, it reaches the groves of orange trees, the masses of corymbs black as bronze to the magnolias with flowers as small as gardenias. Yet it is not that Ninfa is mannered(manierata); the art is hidden, the meadows blossom as it is by chance, and groups of trees seem to have been sown according to the will of the birds and the winds, randomly depositing the seeds. There is no park, no garden, nor villa that has such both secret and visible charms, such greater level of spontaneity obtained with the most hidden artifice. It will be said, "beati possidentes” (god bless who owns it) ; but the “beati possidentes” did not make it a "hortus conclusus”. There is no doubt that this illustrious papal family (Caetani) has made for themselves, through Ninfa, a living monument to which they could bind such an ancient name for all posterity, and not only for scholars. [...] (Cesare Brandi)

The case of the church of Saint Emidio in Rieti (Italy)

"The reference points are set starting from a centre. And this centre is the village: a house and the bell tower. These two elements establish the dialectical, a field within which man's existence can unfold. Outside remains the unknown toward which it is possible to move so to explore (the unknown). This is as long as one does not lose the possibility of returning to one’s home, to one’s bell tower that guarantees the existence and presence of the individual (on the territory) and, therefore, the cultural operability of the world." (Lombardi Satriani)

“It is well known that ecclesiastical constructions [...] from a planimetric point of view can all be reduced to two fundamental schemes: the Latin cross and the Greek one. [...] there is a great difference between these two basic types […] the emotional feeling that the view of their interiors gives to those who enter these churches and walk down the nave. [...] in the first case the motif of the dome appears too late, in the second case too early, and the imagination of the person entering the church undergoes an excessively sudden impression. When designing the new church, I tried to find an intermediate solution between the two [...] so that the visitor can embrace the entire triumphal space of the dome from the entrance with a view of about 30 degrees - in other words, this has not be too steeply inclined.”

Marcello Piacentini, Il Tempio Votivo Internazionale della Pace dedicato al Sacro Cuore di Cristo Re,
in «Architettura», a. XII, n. IX, settembre 1934, pp. 513-531 (in Italian).

“Certainly, St Benedict was adorned by a decoration which was illustrating a liturgical theme. And we can confidently state this, because of the traces of this remained, and because Christian thought has never allowed the mere research of beauty for the sake of its aesthetic enjoyment. Rather, Christians sought beautiful and persuasive forms to talk to believers. The house of God was intended to be made, not a Monument. On the contrary, today, churches are restored to be monuments, not to serve the worship of God. A mistaken and laical mentality that does not conform to the thinking of the Holy Church.”

Original: “Certamente il S. Benedetto é stato vestito a sua volta da una decorazione che illustrava un tema liturgico. E ció possiamo attestare con sicurezza perché ne rimangono le vestigia e perché il pensiero cristiano non ha mai ammesso la ricerca della pura bellezza per il godimento estetico ma ricercava forme belle e persuasive per parlare ai fedeli. Si faceva la casa di Dio e non il Monumento: ora invece si restaurano le chiese per farne monumenti, non perché abbiamo a servire il culto di Dio. Mentalità laica e sbagliata non conforme al pensiero della S. Chiesa.”
 

Giuseppe Polvara, 1942