Dreaming Asleep, Dreaming Awake

International Conference
7- 8 October 2016 – Warsaw, Poland

Material, immaterial, imagined

Anna Anzani, Fabio Maroldi
Outline

Oneiric thought: an Urban perspective

Utopia: Before Urban planning

Soul of places, imagination

Narrative approach, creativity and dreams

A teaching experience: AsMed course

Utopia: Before Urban planning
If we consider dreams as a utopian
dimension, we can find a number of
philosophical, political and artistical
productions, including distopian
literature, cinema and art.

Oneiric thought: an Urban perspective

The origin of this word goes back to
Thomas More’s work (1478- 1535).

It had a great development in XVIII-XIX

century, when Utopian intellectuals
proposed various models of the city and the
society which preceded the Urban Planning
and was based on a critical position and a
confidence in the IMAGINATION.

Oneiric thought: an Urban perspective

According to F. Choay, utopian thinking embraces two models
that include all aspects of the proposed future cities: the
progressive model and the culturalist one.

The progressive model is defined starting from very different

works, such as those by Owen, Fourier and other authors who
all share a similar conception of the human being and the role
of rationality, which underlies their proposals for the city.

Oneiric thought: an Urban perspective

The human individual is
conceived as independent
of any contingency and
diversity as for the place
and the time, being defined
by scientifically deduced
needs.
Robert Owen (1771-1858)
Plan for Villages of Unity and Mutual Cooperation
A New View of Society, 1817
Oneiric thought: an Urban perspective
R. Owen
Model for New Harmony
Stedman Whitwell

Oneiric thought: an Urban perspective

Charles Fourier (1772-1837)
Scheme of the Phalanstery
Oneiric thought: an Urban perspective
NOSTALGIC CRITICISM
The culturalist model, derived from Ruskin and Morris’ works,
can be found at the end of the century in the garden city by
Ebenezer Howard.
Its critical base is no longer the condition of the individual but
that of the human community. In the city, the individual is no
longer an interchangeable unit, as in the progressive model.
The starting point of the culturalist model’s followers is the
disappearance of the ancient organic unity of the city, under the
disintegrator pressure of the industrialization.

Oneiric thought: an Urban perspective

The keystone of this ideological
model is not in the concept of
progress, but in that of culture. The
structure of the urban space will be
carried out according to less defined
procedures.

Ebenezer Howard (1850 – 1928)

Scheme of the Garden city

Oneiric thought: an Urban perspective

THE SOUL OF PLACES

Hillman approached architecture in a less linear and rigidly rational (engineering)

way than it was traditionally done, by introducing the importance of
IMAGINATION.

Il progetto è un sogno ad occhi aperti.

In hisImmagini
opinion,
del according tofatto)
borgo (stato di acient Greeks, some places such as crossroads,
springs, wells, forests had a specific quality and personification, namely gods,
Letture
nymphs, daimones. If human beings were inattentive to these figures who dwelled
a place, they could be possessed. The intimate, distinctive, inner quality of every
place is what he calls the SOUL OF PLACES.

Oneiric thought: an Urban perspective

Photograph by
Donatella D’Angelo ©

Oneiric thought: an Urban perspective

As theorized by Hillman. Truppi proposes a professional
turn, from a traditional position of being an architect, to
another more conscious of the complex issues underlying
the meeting with a place and its soul.

The soul of a place is due both to the perception of climate

and geography, and to IMAGINATION. In order for
imagination to respond. you need to stay long in one place
and listen to it.

Oneiric thought: an Urban perspective

Photograph by
Davide Niglia ©

Oneiric thought: an Urban perspective

Imaginative power is related to analogical thinking
and to a process of knowledge based on
relationships of similarity.

Its structure, based on connections that do not lead

to definitive conclusions, opens to new
understandings. It prefers metaphors, symbols,
allusions, in a progressive conquest of identity, of
belonging. (Truppi)

Oneiric thought: an Urban perspective

CREATIVITY AND NARRATIVE APPROACH

This position can be linked to a constructivist vision

which emerged after the debate on postmodernism and
the weak thought and considers a weakened role of
rationality.

On this base, a narrative approach diffused in

communication studies and in various fields of human
sciences which is focussed on the central cognitive
function of narration.

Narrative approach, crteativiy and dreams

THE POWER OF STORIES

The stories belong to culture, mind and DREAMS.

People build them both to entertain cultural exchanges, and to

understand the world and themselves. They lead to understanding
through a transformation because when our inner world is told to
others, it is understood, externalized and can become cultural.

The so-called power of storie lies in their quality of being interactive,

experiential, developed in the same condition of memory, often
aspirational: they not just respond to our aspirations but give us
higher aspirations by telling stories of a better future.
Narrative approach, crteativiy and dreams
 In this sense, storytelling, oneiric thought

and artistic production

are rooted in the same ground,

are different manifestations of CREATIVITY.

Narrative approach, crteativiy and dreams

According to E. Hartmann
(1934 - 2013) EMOTION
translated into imagery
is the basic element of
HUMAN CREATIVITY, which
is common both to the
generation of dreams, art and
literature and to various
human activities.

Narrative approach, crteativiy and dreams

Students in Architecture do not have many opportunities to experiment
forms of storytelling, to write in different literary styles and to acquire
useful tools to organize their ideas and create stories.

Here a project will be presented aimed at encouraging students to use

storytelling as a project tool.

Narrative approach, crteativiy and dreams

 DIDACTIC AREAS

AREA B
An interdisciplinary Project communication

course was organized AREA A

Architecture and timber structures
aimed at designing
a consolidation and
reuse project of an AREA B
Project prototyping
alpine village,
uninhabited since the AREA B
Architecture and structures for the built heritage
eighties.

AREA E
Executive aspect of the project

A didactic experience
 According to Truppi, Architecture and Structures for the built heritage

the project was

intended as opus:
not only it should
give account of the
finished product, but
also of the required
preparation. A
project should be
made not just of
technical knowledge,
but also of
something that no
one teaches:
attention, sensitivity,
taste, relational
skills, an attitude to
materials.
A didactic experience
 • ELEMENTS OF RELIABILITY AND
VULNERABILITY
Among techical • STRUCTURES FOR THE BUILT HERITAGE
disciplinary fields
including timber
structure design,
project prototyping,
strengthening of
ancient structures,
project
communication, the
students were
encouraged to gain a
greater awareness of
their own personal
resources.

A didactic experience
 The territory of
Valmalenco is
characterized by a
weak urban fabric
with scattered
settlements,
widespread
halfway, organized
according to the
elementary district
unit, usually built
near a stream.

A didactic experience
The village
layout was
related to
the work
activities of
each family,
who
possessed
a house, a
stable and a
barn.
Around a
small
building
core, the
agricultural
space was
bordered by
stone walls.

A didactic experience
 The settlement of
Contrada Bianchi
was studied through
different knowledge
tools: from historical
research to
cartographic, photo
and geometric
survey. The direct
survey was carried
out through charts
dedicated to
particles, fronts and
open spaces.
A didactic experience
In addition to traditional analysis,
the students were encouraged to
carry out a personal research to
access an inner dimension,
sometimes unknown, trying to find
stories and words to be told and
used as a creative tool to
contribute to their project.

A didactic experience
The students were asked to produce a text (a piece of fiction, an
essay or a journalistic text) containing a reference to the place
where they were doing their project. The text should describe the
place in its three dimensions.
• MATERIAL: its current physical state as it was perceived by their
senses
• IMMATERIAL: its intangible character, based on memory layers,
symbolic, social and psychological meanings (the soul of the
place)
• IMAGINED: how the place could change after their project
A didactic experience
A didactic experience
A didactic experience
childhood, old age, memory
 Noir and

thriller stories
Intimistic stories about
human relationships:
love, the value of
writing, places, nature,
interiority, art.
 Gazziola, Tutone

Milani, Noris,
Friolotto
 A poignant
ghost’s story
and the story of
a rock about
time and
memory
Thank you for your attention