Inhabiting Anything

Felicori, Bianca [UCL]

The book chapter is dedicated to the ways of living pioneered in Europe and America by the protagonists of that new architecture later described as “visionary,”, “fantastic,” and “radical.” We can ask ourselves—and it is legitimate to do so—why there is so much interest in this period today. As architectural critic and historian Beatriz Colomina stated, there can be many explanations. One can interpret this return as a nostalgic revival of the “longgone rebellious years” or think of that period as a model to be emulated in the present, now that a reinterpretation of the architect’s role in society appears necessary. In this historical moment, characterized by deep-seated political, social, economic, and cultural fragilities, we like to reconsider the thinking that emerged in those years to identify its points of contact with our present, since today more than ever we are called upon to rethink the way of practicing architecture in all its forms. In this sense, it is essential to reconnect with the cognitive processes and symbolic values of that visionary architecture that denounced the invasion of consumer society, broke free from the traditional representations of the discipline (plan, section, axo- nometry), and placed at the center of the architectural discourse the exaltation of the fantastic and ideological aspects of a design practice.