An experience with light
The expansion of the Valfabbrica cemetery
Abstract
The project to expand the cemetery in Valfabbrica, Umbria, takes the form of a critical and design-oriented investigation into the role of light in contemporary architecture. Starting from a historical and artistic reflection linked to the frescoes attributed to the school of Cimabue, the author highlights the continuity between the symbolic and spatial use of light in tradition and its reinterpretation in the current project. The architectural intervention takes natural light as its fundamental "material", capable of generating relationships between space, matter and perception, redefining the sacred and communal dimension of the place. Through theoretical references to thinkers such as Agamben, Kahn, and Venezia, and with references to design experiences from the 1970s to the present day, the essay offers a critique of the superficial, spectacularization of contemporary architecture, which is often dominated by artificial lighting and glossy images. The Valfabbrica design experience demonstrates how an approach rooted in archetypal principles and dialogue with the landscape can restore architecture's authentic sense of sacredness, in which light, silence and matter are elements that generate meaning.
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