The ancients saw fire as the primeval element, the origin of the formation of matter. In our field, architecture, fire is associated with energy, with the thermal adaptation needed for human life, and for handling and producing the materials (iron, glass, food) that are fundamental for survival. Fire is a synonym for the flow of life, which architecture serves. Out of a river of fire, all manner of shapes later materialize and solidify.
Stromboli is one of the eight Aeolian Islands. Together they form a volcanic archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea that arcs across the Mediterranean from Mount Etna over Lipari to Mount Vesuvius. Located off the north coast of Sicily, they are named after Aeolus, the ruler of the winds in Greek...
Read moreWe are dealing with fire in a very specific spot: the island of Stromboli, Europe’s last permanently active volcano. Here, we are going to relate to fire in three ways.
First, as a physical presence, as a phenomenon that can be intellectually analysed or sensually perceived. Through...
DANGER & DEBILITY
Fire certainly can be dangerous and out of control, destructive and aggressive.
In these conditions, architecture can...
A journey with our students took us to a place where fire could be
experienced with all the senses: the volcanic island of Stromboli, one
of the pearls of the Aeolian Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. To get
there, we had to cross the deep blue sea. The boat bore the name
Eraclide. It made us...
IC Fire as a form of energy and its mastering gave rise to human civilization.
From its central role in the organization of space, the architectural
presence of fire has declined somewhat during the last two centuries.
On the one hand, its potential dangers led it to be shut away, first...
When looking at a cross section of the earth, one notices its core to be split into two entities: an inner core that is solid and mostly made out of iron, and an outer core that is liquid. There are charged particles in this part, and its fluid movement generates the magnetic field of our planet. It...
Read moreOverlooking a smoothly curved hillside partially covered by forests, a rocky figure emerges from the earth. At a distance one can distinguish a rough shape growing out of its top. Stones of irregular formats have been layered to a soil-coloured cylindrical shape. From some angles the figure melts...
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