THE MAGIC OF THE REAL

Sometimes, reality can be hurtful and hard to bear...

In these times, imagination seems a far better place to be...

Invitation To Inspiration dedicates today`s post to the beauty of the reality surrounding us...

We just have to be brave enough to embrace the reality and it will reward us with the unspeakable beauty which could never be found in the realms of the imaginary...

photo by Invitation To Inspiration

There is the magic of music  

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There is the magic of painting and poetry, of words and images, there is the magic of radiant thoughts. And there is the magic of the real, of the physical, of substance, of the things around me that I see and touch, that I smell and hear. Sometimes, at certain moments, the magic conveyed by a specific architecture or landscape, a specific milieu, suddenly there; it has materialized like the measured growth of the soul, unnoticed at first.

photo by Invitation To Inspiration

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"Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder" - this sentence comes to mind as I write. Does it mean that everything I experienced at the time was primarily the expression and the outflow of my state of mind, of the mood that I happened to be in at the moment? Did the experience ultimately have little to do with the square and its atmosphere?

photo by Invitation To Inspiration

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Without the atmosphere of the square, I realize I would never have experienced those feelings. Now it comes back to me : there is an intimate relationship between our emotions and the things around us. That thought is related to my job as an architect. I work at the forms, the physiognomies, at the physical presence of the things that constitute the spaces in which we live. In my work, I contribute to the existing physical framework, to the atmosphere of places and spaces that kindle our emotions.

photo by Invitation To Inspiration

The magic of the real : that to me is the "alchemy" of transforming real substances into human sensations, of creating that special moment when matter, the substance and form of architectural space, can truly be emotionally appropriated or assimilated.

photo by Invitation To Inspiration

As an architect, I can construct workable holiday homes, commercial buildings, or airports; I can build flats with good floor plans at affordable prices' I can design theaters, art museums, or show rooms that make an impact; I can apply forms to my buildings that satisfy the need for innovation or novelty, status, or lifestyle.

photo by Invitation To Inspiration

It is not easy to do those things. It takes work. And talent. And more work. But that alone is not enough to come up with compelling successful architecture born of those special moments of personal architectural experience, and it makes me wonder : can I, as an architect, invest what I design with whatever it is that actually constitutes the essence of an architectural atmosphere? Can I create that unique feeling of intensity and mood, of presence, well-being, rightness and beauty? Is it possible to give concrete shape to that which defines the magic of the real at a specific moment, to the spell that it casts on my experience of it, conjuring a quality that I would never otherwise experience?

photo by Invitation To Inspiration

There are small and large, impressive and important buildings or complexes that dwarf me, that oppress me, that exclude or rebuff me. But there are also buildings or ensembles of buildings, both small ones and monumental ones, that make me feel good, that make me look good, that give me a sense of dignity and freedom, that make me want to stay awhile and that I enjoy using.

photo by Invitation To Inspiration

These are the works I feel passion for.

So when I'm working, I keep reminding myself that my buildings are bodies and need to be built accordingly; as anatomy and skin, as mass and membrane, as fabric, shell, velvet silk, and glossy steel.

photo by Invitation To Inspiration

I try to make sure that the materials are attuned to each other, that they radiate; I take a certain amount of oak and a different amount of pietra serena and add something to them; three grams of silver of a handle that turns or maybe surfaces of gleaming glass, so that every combination of materials yields a unique composition, becomes an original.

I listen to the sound of the space, to the way materials and surfaces respond to touching and tapping, and to the silence that is prerequisite of hearing.

The temperature of rooms is very important to me, how cool they are, how refreshing, the chiaroscuro of warmth that caresses our bodies.

photo by Invitation To Inspiration

I love thinking about the personal things that people surround themselves with in order to work, in order to feel at home and for which create room, space, and place.

I like the idea of arranging the inner structure of my buildings in sequences of rooms that guide us, take us places, but also let us go and seduce us. Architecture is the art of space and it is the art of time as well - between order and freedom, between following a path and discovering a path of our own, wandering, strolling, being seduced. I give thought to careful and conscious staging of tension between inside and outside, public and intimate, and to thresholds, transitions, and borders.

photo by Invitation To Inspiration

And to the play of scale in architecture. My dedication to finding the right size of things is motivated by the desire to create degrees of intimacy, of closeness and distance. I love placing materials, surfaces, and edges, shiny and mat, in the light of the sun, and generating deep solids and gradations of shading and darkness for the magic of light falling on things. Until everything is right.

by PETER ZUMTHOR Thinking About Architecture - 2nd expanded edition, published by Birkhauser

photo by Invitation To Inspiration

Postoji magija glazbe.

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Postoji magija slikarstva i poezije, filma,riječi i slika, postoji čarolija iskričavih misli. A postoji i magija realnog, materijalnog, tjelesnog, stvari koje me okružuju, koje vidim i dotičem, koje mirišem i čujem. Ponekad, u određenim trenutcima je ova čarolija koju kod mene izaziva izvjesna arhitektonska ili pejzažna okolina, određeni milje, odjednom tu, nastala je, kao da duša polako raste, a da isprva to uopce nisam zamjetio.

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" The beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder " - ova mi rečenica sada pada na pamet. Govori li ta rečenica da je sve što sam tada osjetio samo ili prije svega bio izraz i izljev mog tadašnjeg stanja, mog osobnog raspoloženja? Nije li moj ondašnji doživljaj ustvari imao malo veze sa trgom i njegovom atmosferom?

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Bez atmosfere tog trga, opažam, ne bi ni tada nipošto emocije bile takve. Sada osjećam ponovo: postoji interakcija između naših čuvstava i stvari koje nas okružuju. Time se bavim kao arhitekt. Radim na formama, oblicima ( fizionomijama ), na materijalnim pojavnostima, koje čine naš životni prostor. Svojim radom pridonosim realnim datostima, ugođajnom postavljanju u prostor; na tome se nasa čuvstva mogu upaliti.

Magija realnog, to je za mene ona " alkemija " preobrazbe realne supstance u ljudske osjećaje, onaj naročiti trenutak emocionalnog prisvajanja ili preobrazbe materije, tvari i forme u arhitektonsom prostoru.

Kao arhitekt mogu učiniti da da kuća za odmor, poslovna zgrada ili arodrom funkcioniraju. Mogu graditi stanove s dobrim tlocrtima iz dostupne cijene, mogu prijektirati kazališta, muzeje za umjetnička djela ili showrooms o kojima se govori, mogu svoje građevine opremiti formama koje ispunjavaju potrebe za inovacijom ili novovrsnosti, raprezentativnosti ili lifestylom.

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Mogu li kao arhitekt projektirati i to što zaista stvara određenu arhitektonsku atmosferu, onu jedinstvenu zgusnutost i ugođaj, onaj osjećaj sadašnjosti, osjećaj ugode, usklađenost, ljepotu? Može li se projektirati to što u određenom trenutku čini magiju realnog i u čijem ozračju doživljavam i spoznajem nešto što u toj kvaliteti inače ne bi doživio?

Postoje male i velike, dojmljive i važne građevine i građevni ansambli koji me čine malim, pritišću me, isključuju me, odbijaju. Ali  postoje i građevine i ansambli, mali ili ogromni, u kojima se osjećam dobro, u kojima dobro izgledam, koji mi daju osjećaj dostojanstva i slobode; u njima se rado zadržavam, rado ih koristim.

To su djela kojima pripada moja strast.

Stoga u svom radu pazim na to da svoje građevine zamišljam kao tijela i isto tako gradim: kao anatomiju i kožu, kao masu ,membranu, kao materijala ili omotač, tkaninu, baršun, svilu ili blještavi čelik. Pazim na to da materijali zajedno zazvuče i zablistaju, uzimam određenu količinu hrastovine i drugu količinu tufa, pa dodajem jos nesto: tri grama srebra, ručku za okretanje, plohe sjajnog stakla, tako da svakom kompozicijom materijala nastane nešto jedinstveno.

Pazim na zvuk prostora , na kvalitetu udarca kod materijala i ploha i na tišinu kao pretpostavku da možemo čuti.

Važna mi je temperatura prostora, hlad, svježina i nijanse topline, što tijelu godi.

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Arhitektura kao umjetnost prostora i vremena između opuštenosti i zavođenja.

I igru s mjerilom arhitekture, rad na pravoj veličini stvari upravlja želja da se ostvare stupnjevi intimnosti, gradacije bliskosti i distance; raduje me materijale, površine i bridove, sjajne i zagasite izložiti sunčanom svijetlu te omogućiti nastajanje tajnovito duboke mase i gradacije sjene i tame kako bih omogućio da se pojavi čarolija svijetla. Do trenutka u kojem je sve to usklađeno.

PETER ZUMTHOR , Swiss architect, sometimes called “the poet of the silence” via