On a trip with Hans

On the afternoon of May 6, 2017, the visit to Bolognano ended to discover the places of Joseph Beuys . We were on the terrace of the Zaccagnini cellars and it was there that a silent Hans Kollhoff , with his eyes turned to the vineyards and the mountains, began to talk about how fascinating the Abruzzo landscape, so varied and so different from what he was used to, fascinated him. In his words you could perceive all the love he felt for nature, that nature capable of giving emotions simply by being there, apparently motionless, to be observed. However, I had already perceived his love for the landscape when I listened to his speech during the architecture lesson held the previous day in the Department. On that occasion, the architect had talked about how the project and the environment had to communicate inextricably with each other. The building is not first built and then placed in context, but grows directly from the earth and is like a block of stone in the hands of a sculptor. The architect then has the arduous task of skilfully modeling the material according to how it is carved out by natural light, to give the project a precise shape.

According to Kollhoff , light plays a fundamental role in a building: not only is it the creator of its shape, but it is also the means through which the viewer perceives the space. The pavilion created with the artist Mimmo Paladino on the occasion of the reopening of the Milan Triennale is a clear example of this: natural light changes during the day and, thanks to a play of shadows, the perception of architecture and work also changes. of art contained in it.

Light and environment are therefore very dear themes to the architect and unconsciously, almost spontaneously, I have always taken them into consideration too. In doing so, I realized how difficult, but important, it is to reach the sensitivity necessary to think of a building in harmony with nature present in the context, able to communicate with it without invading it. Probably this ability is acquired by observing, the habit of stopping to look at the places, its colors, the lights and its peculiarities to be amazed and indulge in emotions.

Ilde Manuela Paolucci