"Once beginning the journey of studying architecture, the enjoyable passion for windows and how they are experienced has transformed into a more conscious exploration, closely linked to the space derived from them. In particular, conceiving the window as a multifaceted element, so fascinating, it was spontaneous to wonder (and investigate) how it could assert its presence even more strongly within the house."
Valentina Blancardi, author of the thesis
ABSTRACT
Reading the window as a place of dwelling constitutes the principle of investigation for this research, which aims to emphasize the fundamental role of this element within the domestic walls. This study seeks to clarify that it is not merely a purely technological device, where design is reduced to a simple study of the window's value solely as a technical device that meets regulatory standards. Instead, through a careful study within the history of architecture, it can be seen as a true place, a space to be lived in.
This idea is a variation on the theme of the thickness of the building envelope in architecture. The inhabited window thus acquires its spatial and social qualities through "Thickness." To confirm this hypothesis, the characteristics opposed to those that constitute the window as a place of dwelling are negated. The idea is to reject the image of the window as a simple "opening" that fits into a thin facade, solely intended to bring light to the other spaces of the house, and lacking all the elements that could provide the most important function: the contemplation of the outside world.
Thickness therefore characterizes the key to understanding the inhabited window, which can acquire a multifaceted nature depending on the spatial characteristics derived from it. One of the main goals is to analyze the elements that make a window habitable and, as such, how it becomes a place, a place of dwelling that ensures a continuous and constant relationship between the public sphere of the city and the more intimate reality of the home, allowing the inhabitant to live in the ultimate "limit" space of the house.
CHAPTER 1
LIVING THE WINDOW
1.1 The importance of the boundary
1.2 Thickness as a mediator
1.3 The window becomes a place
Torre Nazari, Luis Castillo + Mercedes Miras, Almeria, 2010
Villa le Lac, Le Corbusier, Corseaux, 1924
"When the thickness of the wall increases, the void beneath it (the window) assumes habitable and socially valuable characteristics. There has always been an implicit potential within wall thicknesses, capable of releasing great expressiveness and significant architectural value when the thickness is excavated.
The window associated with the thickness of the wall naturally acquires the characteristics of a new space designed within the residential walls."
Window as a place, p. 24
CHAPTER 2
REALITIES COMPARED
2.1 The words of Louis I. Kahn
2.2 The suburban villa
2.3 The urban residence
Homes for Senior Citizens, Peter Zumthor, Chur, 1993
Fisher House, Louis I. Kahn, Hatboro, 1967
"Light, defined by Kahn as the life of the material, is filtered, enters a room, and attracts man and his activities. If light becomes an attracting pole, the window, which serves as the filter element allowing light to enter the house, in turn assumes an attractive property. The man, drawn by the light, is brought near the window and it is here that he begins to inhabit it. Moreover, it is Kahn himself who defines the window as one of the most wonderful elements of a room."
Window as a place, p. 30
CHAPTER 3
READING THE EXAMPLES
3.1 Light and space: learning from Louis I. Kahn
3.2 Window: extension of the house into nature
3.3 Between public and private: living around the window
3.4 The extraordinary sociability of the edge
"Light is the principle of everything, delineating the boundary between the visible and the invisible, asserting itself as the fundamental element with which humans are able to perceive reality."
Window as a place, p. 42
"Light is the principle of everything, delineating the boundary between the visible and the invisible, asserting itself as the fundamental element with which humans are able to perceive reality."
Window as a place, p. 42
Drawing by Valentina Blancardi
Verbouwing Woning, NU architectuuratelier, Kessel-Lo, 2009
"It is natural to think of a direct connection between light and space, as it is space that defines the value of architecture through light. The spaces defined by light and consequently by the window can only be the most livable for humans and more interesting for an architect to design."
Window as a place, p. 43
Drawing by Valentina Blancardi
Lù Chatarme transformation, Deschenaux Follonier, Arolla, 2019
"The inhabited window serves as the most natural bridge between the inside and the outside, enabling one to experience both realms privately while enjoying the poetic evocation of natural light within one's own home. As Master Kahn eloquently stated, the true marvel of an interior space is the unique atmosphere that light bestows upon it."
Window as a place, p. 43
Drawing by Valentina Blancardi
Student Housing Somerville College, Niall McLaughlin Architects, Oxford, 2011
"The thickness of the bow window accommodates the interior furnishings, providing continuity between the inside and the outside. Inside, each student has the opportunity to make the space absolutely unique and personal, depending on the objects used and the qualities attributed."
Window as a place, p. 93
Drawing by Valentina Blancardi
Mädcheninternat Kloster Disentis, Gion A. Caminada, Disentis, 2004
"In this case, the habitability of the window can also be perceived from outside the building: given the specific recess of each opening which in turn determines a protrusion of the adjacent window, thus implying the formation of a niche to inhabit inside."
Window as a place, p. 101
Drawing by Valentina Blancardi
