Chromatic gradation as a symbolic and spatial device in the European context: Piero Bottoni’s Cromatismi architettonici
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23738/ccsj.i62016.01Keywords:
Piero Bottoni, Cromatismi Architettonici, Color plan, Perception of architecture, Digital Photography model, Chromatic gradations in architectureAbstract
In 1926, the young Piero Bottoni painted a series of watercolor studies entitledCromatismi architettonici. They are almost unique in the Italian urban studies, proposing color gradations as a key to “symphonic” orchestrating the redevelopment of urban street fronts. This article puts Bottoni’s proposal in relation not only to Le Corbusier’s contemporary research, with whom he had a correspondence, but also to some contemporary experiences in Europe concerning the use of color gradations in architecture. Later, it analyzes the watercolor perspectives, the far-from-ideal city to which they were addressed and their potential illusory and regenerative outcomes. Finally, this article proposes a digital edition of the drawings, by means of a color interpretation procedure that provides the basis for an application of Cromatismi on a portion of the urban facades of Via Roma, Milan. This result, obtained through chromatic treatments of a photography, not only explicit the visual outcomes ofCromatismi in a photographic vision but it highlights a number of technical and operational issues that would have strongly affected the realization of such a color project. Nevertheless, time has proven that many of Bottoni’s intuitions were valid for the purpose of color plans, occasional redevelopment of slums and precise perceptual effects in architecture.
References
E. MacCurdy (Editor), The Notebooks by Leonardo da Vinci, New York, George Braziller, 1955, p. 880.
M. Cennamo, Materiali per l’analisi dell’architettura moderna. La prima Esposizione Italiana di Architettura Razionale, Napoli, Fiorentino Editore, 1973, s.p., figg. 5-10.
P. Bottoni, “Cromatismi architettonici”, in Architettura e Arti Decorative, Anno VI, nn. 1-2, 1927, p. 80.
Le Corbusier, Parigi, 15 Gennaio 1928, in G. Consonni, L. Meneghetti, G. Tonon (Editors), Piero Bottoni. Opera Completa, Milano, 1990, p. 429.
Bottoni’s work was translated in French (“Chromatisme Architectural”, in Das Werk, a. XV, n. 7, 1928, pp. 219-221) and German (“Farbengebung in der Architektur”, in Die Farbige Stadt, n. 11, 1928, pp. 65-70; “Die Farbenwirkung in der Architektur”, in Süddeutsche Maler Zeitung, a. XXVII, n. 12, 1928, pp. 191-192).
G. Frediani, Policromia architettonica. Regola e illusione, Roma, Gangemi, 1995, pp. 49-50.
P. Portoghesi, “Editoriale,” in Materia, n. 60, 2009, pp. 44-45.
M. Casciato, W. De Jonge, “Johannes Duiker e il costruire funzionalista”, in Casabella, n. 562, 1989, p. 50.
Portoghesi, op. cit., p. 45.
B. Taut, “Pitture in architettura”, in Frülicht 1920- 1922. Gli anni dell’avanguardia architettonica in Germania, Roma, Mazzotta, 1974, pp. 143-144.
Malevic is quoted in A. Vyazemtseva, “Il colore della Rivoluzione: cromatismo e avanguardie storiche nella Russia Sovietica”, in G. Jean (Editor), La conservazione delle policromie nell’architettura del XX secolo / Conservation of colour in 20th Century architecture, Lugano, Nardini, 2013, p. 90.
L. Zadova, “Un contributo alla storia del Vchutemas”, in Casabella, n. 435, 1978, p. 50.
W. Kandinsky, Lo spirituale nell’arte, Milano, Bompiani, 1995, p. 23.
P. Klee, Eros, 1923.
P. Klee, Fuge in Rot, 1921; Greetings, 1922.
P. Klee, Traum-Stadt, 1921; Drei Hauser, 1922; Vier Türme, 1923.
Cfr. Consonni, Meneghetti, Tonon, op.cit., pp. 25-29, 149-150.
Cfr. G. Tonon, “Piero Bottoni: il valore costruttivo del colore”, in G. Jean, op.cit, pp. 161-180. For an exhaustive bibliography on Piero Bottoni, see: http://www. archiviobottoni.polimi.it (accessed on May 28th, 2016).
F. Colonnese, M. Carpiceci, “Hermann Maertens e Der Optische Maassstab. La fisiologia della visione al servizio della Raumkunst”, in Actes du Deuxième Congrès Suisse en Histoire de l’Art, Lausanne, 22 – 24 août 2013 (forthcoming).
D. Wieczorek, Camillo Sitte e gli inizi dell’urbanistica moderna, Milano, Jaca book, 1994, pp. 179-180.
P. Bottoni, op.cit., p. 80.
On Bottoni’s knowledge of Leonardo’s ideas, see: Consonni, Meneguetti, Tonon, op.cit., p. 36.
F. Irace, Giovanni Muzio 1893-1982. Opere, Milano, Electa,1994, p. 27.
To realize the difficulty of this “translation”, see: C. Oleari (Editor), Misurare il Colore, Milano, Hoepli editore, 1998.
M. Rossi, M. Pompeiana Iarossi, G. Mele, “Piero Bottoni’s colourful city: theory, design and building”, in M. Rossi (Editor), Colour and Colorimetry. Multidisciplinary Contributions, Vol X B, Santarcangelo, Maggioli, 2014, pp. 264-275.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
The "Cultura e Scienza del Colore - Color Culture and Science" journal is registered at the Court of Milan at n.233 of 24.06.2014.
The journal is an open access journal, free for readers and authors and has joined ROAD, the Directory of Open Access scholarly Resources, since 2014. Articles published in the “Cultura e Scienza del Colore - Color Culture and Science" journal are open access articles, distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The copyright is retained by the author(s).