SPAZIO N°4

The fourth chapter is entirely dedicated to SPAZIO No. 4 and to the editorial by Moretti contained therein, titled ‘Transfigurations of Wall Structure.’ The chapter is opened by the translation from Italian to English of the editorial. Here, Moretti once again addresses the theme of architectural language, establishing in this case a relationship between artistic languages, in particular abstract art, and languages that can be assimilated to them, which derive from certain figurative ‘transfigurations’ of architectural surfaces. Within this framework of references, the translation of Moretti’s editorial will be followed by a critical essay titled ‘From Geometric Composition to the Code of the Informal’ in which Moretti’s theme offers the opportunity to investigate the critical path between the main theories. The theme of the ‘trans-figured tectonic structure,’ at the centre of Moretti’s discourse, will be addressed according to the dichotomies surface/involucre, semantics/language, perception/action in the relationship between established perceptual/interpretive structures and the translation and oscillation of significations over time. The idea of architecture can express multiple meanings in which the architectural form also possesses a value of ethos. It is capable to contain within itself its own narrative. This theme will be approached from a poststructuralist perspective, with form as text/meaning/signifier. The chapter aims to update Moretti’s categories by re-proposing his critical approach on examples, recent cases and trends, with a focus on what Moretti himself calls the ‘Visual Text’ of architecture. The chapter is closed by the iconographic documentation containing reproductions of the articles in their original layout, which provides valuable support for researchers all over the world.