Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture 10 (2016) 629-642

doi: 10.17265/1934-7359/2016.06.001
D DAVID PUBLISHING

The Articulations of the In-between Realm in Sardinia

Francesca Oggiano
DICAAR (Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale e Architettura), Cagliari 09123, Italy

Abstract: At the base of the reflection developed in this research work, there is the concept of habitat as a system, as an articulated
“whole” that cannot be explained with the simple sum of its parts. The concept of habitat, in fact, implies issues of dialectic spaces,
in other words, those settings that can be defined as relational subsystems within the urban/domestic scale. This essay has its roots in
the CIAM (Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne (in English: International Congress of Modern Architecture)) of 1953,
during which the complementarity of the outside space next to the dwelling and its relevance within the project discipline, have been
affirmed. In particular, assimilating the lesson of Aldo van Eyck, this work investigates the deepest issues of the concept of threshold.
The analysis makes use of the work-tools of critical reading and comparison between urban and rural habitats, with different density
levels, whose relational fabrics have been layering over time permeable “thicknesses” which articulate complex threshold spatial
configurations.

Key words: Habitat, threshold, doorstep, in-between realm, Aldo van Eyck.

1. Introduction public and semi-public sphere.2

The habitat implies the issues of dialectical spaces,
The intellectual corpus of the architects of the
which are legible at the intermediate scale of relations
second generation of the modern period, with
and defined as sub-systems of the urban/domestic
particular reference to the members of Team 10,
scale.
defined—since the CIAM (Congrès International
The program termed of CIAM ’53, “Extensions of
d'Architecture Moderne (in English: International
the Dwelling”3 affirms precisely the complementarity
Congress of Modern Architecture)) in the 1953—the
of the outside space adjoining the dwelling and
concept of habitat as a system, as a whole that cannot
2
be explained by the simple sum of the parts that Aldo van Eyck, “Steps towards a Configurative Discipline.”
Article published in Forum, August 1962, pg. 328. “(...) When I
compose it.1 say, therefore, make a welcome of each door and a countenance
The unicum nature of the urban organism is clearly of each window: make of each a place, because man’s
home-realm is the in-between realm–the realm architecture sets
evident in the complex articulation of its parts, in the out to articulate, the intention is again to unmask false meaning
relations of contiguity and measured proximity that and to load the meaning of size with what right-size implies!
As soon as the equilibrating impact of the in-between
are structured between the elements of the private, real–extended so that it coincides with the bunch of places both
dwelling and city should be–manifests itself in a
comprehensibly articulated configuration, the chances that the
terrifying polarities that hitherto harass man’s right composure
may still be reconciled, will certainly be greater”.
3
Corresponding author: Francesca Oggiano, Ph.D., engineer Eric Mumford, The CIAM Discourse on Urbanism, 1928-1960.
and architect, research field: habitat project, with particular foreword by Kenneth Frampton, pg. 226. “(...) The work
focus on the in-between places. program for CIAM 9 prepared by Wogenscki after the Sigtuna
1
Montaner, M. J., Sistemas Arquitectònicos Contemporaneous. discussions and issued to members in January 1953 stated that
pg. 11-12, “I believe, therefore, that a system is a set of “CIAM 9 will not resume the study of ... (the) four functions
heterogeneous elements (materials and otherwise), of different but will concentrate upon LIVING and everything that man
scales, which are related to each other according to an internal plans and constructs for living”. The program emphasized that
organization through which the matching of the complexity of there was no intention of limiting the subject to the family
the context follows strategically and which constitutes a whole dwelling, but instead the work should address “such things in
that cannot be explained by the mere sum of its parts. Each part the immediate environment as are necessary for a complete
of the system exists as a function of another; There are no life”. These the program termed “Extensions of the Dwelling”,
isolated elements” [1]. reflecting Le Corbusier’s idea of “lodgement prolongé” [2].
630 The Articulations of the In-between Realm in Sardinia

confirms its relevance within the framework of the spaces with different nature and character, vestibules
project, by introducing the radical and new concept of and gradients that introduce to the intimate places of
the doorstep [3]. alleys and common courts; connectors with a
In this way, the theme of urban design is specified compressed section which are sufficient to affirm
as the definition of relations between things. The variations and build a “long time” walk-through.
empty space is the living space, the matter of the The habitat, articulation of urban facts and evolving
project. The empty space is the open space, the human phenomena with a profound connection
invisible substance between buildings which allows to between them, is a system of places that constantly
articulate complexities. The disaggregation of the re-defines itself achieving adequacy to time and
object is opposed to the idea of assimilation of the community. The habitat is, therefore, a process by
object within the system, it is conceived as part of the virtue of its essence of adaptability, for its being a
whole, including a matrix that starting from the combination of complexities constantly in relation
existing elements assimilates what is already there in a with time and individuals. The built environment
complex and unified configuration according to assimilates the settlement pressures and mutations of
reciprocity and context relations. the ways of living and provides possible forms of
The habitat is, therefore, recognized as a holistic adaptation by resetting the textured fabric which
structure that is generated through the combination of structures the urban system.
the various elements within a system according to In particular, the lesson of Aldo van Eyck, provides
specific mechanisms, relational subsystems and an investigation on the deepest issues of the concept
of doorstep. The young architect from Team 10, at the
minute textures of open and empty spaces that
end of 50s,4 provided an erudite reinterpretation of
generate a micro-regulated and diversified urban solid.
the spatiality of the fabrics with Arab matrix,
It is possible to define the settlement as a living
assimilating the complexity of spatial bonds, of the
machine, revising its modern meaning and referring to
relational micro-structures at the intermediate scale
the ability of the fabric to aggregate elements,
that are typical of the systemic organism of the casbah.
overcoming the object scale in order to reach the
The system-casbah clarifies the lack of interest in a
complexity of the whole, entirely organized and
clear, immediately-legible, rational and simple
functioning at different scales.
condition, in favor of an intellectual interest to grasp
The fine-grained urban systems, minutely
the richness and density of meanings that the habitat
configured, are able to structure the small scale. Small
possesses.
size spaces are articulated and woven within the
The words of Aldo van Eyck express the striving
habitat fabric. The urban spaces of the intermediate
for a new concept of space that has the strength to
dimension can be recognized in those spatial devices:
change the paradigms of the habitat project, the
alleys, widenings, thresholds, vestibules, interstices
description of which is defined in abstract terms,
and common courts that are capable of affirming the
negations, bringing out the indeterminacy as a
scale variation and that perform the role of gradients
prevailing character and the tension as outcome. A
in articulating the relation between urban space and space made of tensions, could be summed up, it is the
domestic proximity. meeting place of the “twin phenomena”:
The “texture” of the habitat, extending the fabric  the inside and the outside;
metaphor to those portions of the settlement which are
regulated by small-size spaces, produces a spatiality 4
Vers une “casbah” organisée (in English: towards a “ordered
that governs the intermediate scale and is able to stitch casbah”), in the architectural magazine forum 7/1959, last page.
 The Articulations of the In-between Realm in Sardinia 631

 the public and private spheres; The controlled reading of reality reveals the
 the stasis and dynamism. adequacy of the living spaces, which is intrinsic in the
The notion of “entre-deux”, in-between, breaks the size of the space relations, in the ability of the urban
false alternatives of the meeting and merging of the space—legible as a fluid—to extend itself and to be
extremes, it is actually about conceiving a “third” modulated at different scales in street, square,
whose conception refers neither to the one nor to the widening, alley and finally doorstep.
other, nor to an intermediate dimension between the These issues concern architectural aspects since the
two, but to the resulting tension.5 space of living poses questions about measure, size,
Within the relational systems of the habitat—the scale, proportion, proximity and section. The character,
fabrics and textures—doorsteps stand out as spaces of atmosphere, the “emotional component”,6 the use and
formal relationship, mediating spaces between the appropriation of space are consequential and related to
dwelling and the street, whose indefinite limits spatial structure, to its links and interrelationships
constitute the third element that stands between the with the built surroundings, to the mutual relationship
individual and the collective sphere, between the of each part with the system to which it belongs and
inside and the outside. This is where the complexity of from which it is generated. Therefore, it is no more
the spatial structure of the habitat emerges, in the possible to talk about object, simple container, without
abandonment of the elementary scheme that divides incurring the sense depletion of the space of the
the private from public, in favor of a structure of habitat, without sacrificing the relational and
micro-environments, measured spaces that accompany collective component of living and reside in a place.
the transition, that blend the individual dimension into
2. The Doorstep as Area of Penetration and
the collective one while keeping intact the identities of
Relation
the two spheres, the nature of the two entities.
The fabric, fine-grained settlement metaphor, Doorsteps are the spaces of relativity, small spaces
describes furthermore the minute scale in which the that exist by virtue of their dependency on the system;
habitat texture articulates spaces and uses. They are mediation spaces, which are in the middle
between parts regulating their ratio and dialectic. They
5
Secci, C., and Thibault, E. 2005. “Espace Intermédiaire.
Formation de Cette Notion chez les Architectes.” In La Société
do not identify themselves with the entities that put in
des Voisins, edited by Haumont, B., and Morel, A. pg. 23-35. In relation, they are the “other” that defines their
particular refer to the paragraph: “The emergence of a reflection
on the intermediate space in the post-war CIAM” where the
relationship. Their dimension of “in-between” makes
theoretical path concerning the definition of the threshold space them places of multiplicity and of living, dense of use
of Aldo van Eyck is explained: “He (van Eyck) considers the
threshold on a metaphorical level as a place that creates tension
meanings and of relation possibilities due to the
between different oppositions. This sense, among others, vocational indefiniteness which characterizes them.
complies with the reflection of the philosopher Martin Buber.
Van Eyck talks about “the greater reality of the threshold” in
They are small-scale indeterminate spaces, where the
reference to what Buber called Gestalt gewordene zwischen, effect of the size,7 which Aldo van Eyck talks about,
which we can try to translate as “the in between acquiring a
tangible form”. For the notion of in between, Buber offers a is clearly shown.
critique aimed at the “breaking of false alternatives”: One cannot
6
choose between individualism and collectivism. One has to find a Aparicio Guisado, J. M. El muro. 2006. “Concepto Esencial en
“third choice” whose conception refers not to one or the other, el Proyecto Arquitectónico: La Materialización de la Idea y la
nor to any mediation between the two, but rather the resulting Idealización de la Materia.” pg. 17, Biblioteca nueva.
7
tension. Van Eyck constructs his argument on the reconciliation Aldo van Eyck, “Step towards a Configurative Discipline.”
of opposites, the “twin phenomena” which are the individual and Article published in Forum, August 1962, pg. 327. “(...) What
the collective, but also unity-diversity, inside-outside, motion-rest, has right-size is at the same time both large and small, few and
dynamic-constant, centrality-distribution... These opposites allow many, near and far, simple and complex, open and closed; will
an interpretation and rewriting of this reflection in terms of space furthermore always be both part and whole and embrace both
and time. (Strauven [1994] 1998)” [4]. unity and diversity”.
632 The Articulations of the In-between Realm in Sardinia

They are spaces of measured passage, of meaning relation to the adjacent street. The proportions and the
transit, mediation volumes that become place, become compression of the empty doorstep suggest a private
spaces that open up “living” possibilities, which build nature which is separated from the public dimension
a spatial experience in the act of crossing them. One of the street, although it remains linked to it. The
can talk about doorstep space when space, besides closure of the space transforms it in a “sound
being intermediate and indeterminate, has “measured” detachment” place where the background street noise
spatial characters, is small, sometimes compressed and is heard and comes from beyond the limit.
therefore capable of wrapping the person into a They are the spaces where the interruption in
condition of “inside” while standing in the boundary architectural terms of the regulation of contiguous
between inside and outside, between a dimension and spatial relations takes place. The section is the control
the other. The space of the threshold is always at the instrument of mediation between inside and outside.
limit between two situations, between two opposite In fact, the compression which accompanies the
entities, is the bridge between the extremes that transition and half-closes the family cosmos,
regulates the dialogue through a spatial experience full without isolating it but rather articulating its dialogue
of dimensional variations, proportional articulation, balances with the urban multiplicity, is legible from
significant variations of light and shade, definition of the section.
the permeability of the margin. It is a spatial device The sections of the traditional city, in the mass
that stratifies the limit, the exit, the passage or the interruptions and in the empty space of the compact
stasis. solid blocks, produce proximity urban areas, alleys
The casbah, the primordial settlements and and interstices of extreme spatial value that embrace
traditional Mediterranean contexts are the basis of the the urban dynamics and create possibilities for
research. Their compact fabrics are micro-regulated spontaneous uses due to their environmental, spatial,
by small spatial devices and connectors capable of sensorial and emotional components.
becoming part of the mass and regulate transitions. Space components and attributes related to specific
Here the urban or semi-urban spaces become use meanings, to the appropriation and to the sensorial
doorsteps, giving a opportunity to small environments experience, can only come from a wise and
to be capable of building a dense spatial dimension. appropriate regulation of architectural space relations.
The alleys, the penetration spatial structures at the Traditional fabrics have experienced over time the
urban scale, the covered passages and the interstices density8 of spaces and thus offer the principles of
are gradients, areas of proximity. They define the proper proportions, space measurement, spatial
presence of built environments and are identified as emotion, mediation and moderate dialogue.9
protected urban interiors, which embrace the
individual and therefore are appropriate for a domestic
3. Types of Doorstep Spatiality
dimension of inhabiting public space. The meanings of the in-between spaces are
Very interesting for this theme are the compact
fabrics of the blocks where the porosity of the masses 8
Density generated by the material and immaterial stratification
has structured over time permeable “thicknesses” between spaces and relationships.
9
Extracted from Secci, C., and Thibault, E. 2005. “Espace
which articulate complex doorstep configurations, Intermédiaire. Formation de Cette Notion chez les Architectes.”
capable of stratifying the entrance to the family In La Société des Voisins, edited by Haumont, B., and Morel, A.
pg. 23-35. “(...) During CIAM 9 another conception emerges,
cosmos through an experience of transition, of within the contributions made by the architects of Team 10. It
initiation to a private and intimate interior. The is no longer simply enough to provide collective services but to
prepare a complex space from the start for the daily life of the
constitution of shady spaces builds a “other” space in inhabitants that may be lived outside of their homes” [4].
 The Articulations of the In-between Realm in Sardinia 633

modifying themselves in narrow/medium/wide/very including the different historical regions of Gallura,

wide-mesh (S, M, L, XL). The historic settlement Barbagia, Campidano and Sulcis provides a
structures, the ways of inhabiting spaces, and the comparative synthesis of the different architectural
shapes of the living systems which are rooted in the translations of doorstep relationships.
territory in response to morphological conditions and Doorstep spaces are the areas defined by shadow
to anthropological and geographical dynamics, are a volumes, mass extrusions projecting indefinite
source of knowledge of living places and provide pertinence spaces, entrance solutions that embrace a
themes and instruments to the contemporary habitat minimum vestibule, external stairs suitable for several
project. The exploration of some Sardinian contexts, uses and stasis (Figs. 1 and 2). Places for “staying” that

Plan—1:50
Plan—1:50

Front—1:500
Front—1:500
(a) (b)

Plan—1:50
Plan—1:50

Front and section—1:50

Front and section—1:50

Axonometric view—1:500 Axonometric view—1:500

(c) (d)
Fig. 1 Synoptic chart. Type of doorstep in the different historic settlement structures: (a) the door; (b) the rural cluster;
(c) architectural scale of the door; (d) architectural scale of the rural cluster.
634 The Articulations of the In-between Realm in Sardinia

Plan—1:500
Plan—1:500

Front—1:500 Front—1:500

(a) (b)

Plan—1:50
Plan—1:50

Front and section—1:50

Front and section—1:50

Axonometric view—1:500 Axonometric view—1:500

(c) (d)
Fig. 2 Synoptic chart. Type of doorstep in the different historic settlement structures: (a) the room; (b) urban cluster;
(c) architectural scale of the room; (d) architectural scale of the urban cluster.
 The Articulations of the In-between Realm in Sardinia 635

by virtue of their right-size, 10 become areas of contexts, offer experimentation material for the study
opportunity, complex boundaries that assimilate the of the project and guide the re-creation of the fabric.
multiplicity of everyday life and the cultural practices
4. The Door
that underlie the “living”, including the contemporary
one, avoiding the individual simplifications. The dispersed settlement form of the “stazzo” (Fig. 3)
The lesson of the historical consolidated fabrics (rural built unit supporting the agriculture/pastoralism
offers itself to the contemporary project. The work and life), typical of the contexts of the Gallura
discovering and understanding of the structures and (historical region of north Sardinia), structures the
substructures of the habitat create opportunities and relationship between inside and outside in a direct way
thematic richness. The appropriateness and necessity (Fig. 1a). Only the “door” filters the dialogue with the
of the relational space of consolidated habitats, outside, in other words with the farm.
analyzed below, pose sense questions to the practice of It is in fact a habitat which is apparently structured
the architectural project and state the meanings and by single points, an aggregate of a few units structuring
layers of the places of living at different scales. a dual habitat form that consists of domestic space and
The habitat project is called to weave lines of rural space. The dwelling looks towards the extension
continuity with the existing and constitute an evolving of the grazing and cultivation space, supporting a
architectural fact within the process/habitat. It is subsistence economy, and affirms the control and
possible to weave the weft of what is real, manipulate protection of the land. The relationship with the outside
the layers of the system/habitat by implementing the coincides, therefore, with the administration, control
fabric and reinforcing the relational weaving with thin, and protection of land.
stratified and indeterminate patterns. The plan The relation with the outside space is simple, there
articulation, the section generation, and the accurate are no spatial complexities which define intermediate
survey of the settlements “found” 11 in the analyzed settings. The symbiosis between the dwelling and the
whole farm is in direct relation with the rural space
10
In this case the definition of the right-size is referred where the dwelling finds its settlement reasons.
particularly to the suitability of the spatial solutions, to the
living cultures, to the system of situations that everyday life put The introduction of the door is as follows: It is a
sin to the habitat space. linear limit that marks an extended relationship with
11
The concept of “as found”, extracted from the work that the
Smithson brothers shared together with the photographer Nigel landscape and divides two contiguous domestic
Henderson, is an important reference for the work. The grid spaces—the dwelling and “rural square” in front of
presented at the CIAM 9, entitled “Urban Reidentification” is
structured in a photographic description of “human it—a proximity area embraced by the articulation of the
associations”, pictures of daily life. The pictures illustrate the expansions of the house and of its support spaces that
“as found”. The Smithson write: In architecture, the “as found”
aesthetic was something we thought we named in the early welcomes “staying” opportunities and working
1950 when we first knew Nigel Henderson and saw in his practices such as the processing of raw materials. The
photographs a perceptive recognition of the actuality around his
house in Bethnal Green: children’s pavement play-graphics; projection of the daily life to the outside of the house is
repetition of “kind” in doors used as site hoardings; the items in revealed by this proximity space, an outdoor living
the detritus on bombed sites, such as the old boot, heaps of
nails, fragments of sack or mesh and so. Setting ourselves the room, extroverted by nature towards the extending of
task of rethinking architecture in the early 1950, we meant by the pasture, which is comfortable, due to its
the “as found” not only adjacent buildings but all those marks
that constitute remembrance in a place and that are to be read specific equipment and furniture, as well as to its spatial
through finding out how the existing built fabric of the place
had come to be as it was. Hence our respect for the mature trees
as the existing “structuring” of a site on which the building was found” as to make it specific place. Thus the “as found” was a
to be the incomer ... As soon as architecture begins to be new seeing of the ordinary, an openness as to how prosaic
thought about, its ideogram should be so touched by the “as “things” could re-energise our inventive activity [5].
636 The Articulations of the In-between Realm in Sardinia

Fig. 3 The “stazzo”–Gallura, 2014.

characters. “Lu linnu”, an arbour made by the weaving units, is defined each time by proportions and size of
of vine branches, defines a shadow volume inside of the space. Shadow volumes and different settings of the
which you can sit on a stone monolith. doorstep space characterize the spaces that face the
The use of the doorstep space is a cultural entrance of the house and include “staying”
phenomenon that therefore also characterizes the rural opportunities embracing a space of intermediate scale
and isolated living of the “stazzo”. The dialogue with between private and semi-public spheres. The
the outside is, in this case, wider and in mutual relation “gradients” which structure the connection with the
with the dimension of the ancestral surroundings of agricultural space behind living units, provide the
naturalness, not concerning urban facts. space for controlled transits and for the work practices
that are related to the post-production of the crop.
5. Rural Clusters
The gap-spaces between volumes create mediation
The aggregation of multiple housing units around a interstitial settings which gather different use purposes
central common space (Fig. 1b), which depends on the derived from space appropriation and from the strong
territory infrastructure according to a fish-bone domestic and rural characterization. Small-scale
arrangement scheme on the main road, offers the built connecting devices are suitable for regulating passages
example of a rural cluster12 which assembles a family between the central common space and the metabolic
clan and creates a section used for production based, agricultural areas of the single living units (Fig. 4).
originally, on a subsistence economy. Spaces of mediation are capable of regulating scale
The articulation of the empty space between the relations and articulating the outside space that is
volumes/dwelling and the volumes/support-units treated as regimented fluid.
reaches certain levels of complexity in clarifying the The affirmation of the different scales of empty
nature and vocation of spaces and different settings. spaces is at the base of the habitat of the rural cluster.
The hierarchy of open spaces, diversified in “rural The habitat “rules”, the different ways of “staying” in a
square”, interstice, court and “pertinence” adjacent to place, the dialogue and relations of a neighborhood
12 system synthesised in the nucleus of the “medaus”
They talked about “cluster” during the 10th CIAM of
Dubrovnik (1956) in order to define a specific model of human (historical aggregation of dwelling units that gravitate
association, a grouping based on a relational system. (See: around the middle common space). This settlements
Smithson, A., and Smithson, P. Urban Structuring: Studies of
Alison & Peter Smithson, London/New York 1967). model is typical of the Sulcis. Those dwelling units are
 The Articulations of the In-between Realm in Sardinia 637

Fig. 4 The hollow space structured by the aggregation of several living units–Sulcis, Santadi, 2015.

Fig. 5 The room–Campidano, Cabras, 2014.

explained and legible within the determination of single land unit, welcomes pass-through possibilities
characters and space vocation. towards the “rooms”, portals and interstices between
buildings.
6. The Room
These three devices (room, portal and interstice)
The “bark” shape of the blocks with wide-mesh of govern the dialogue with the multiplicity of the urban
the town of Cabras (Fig. 5) (small town in central space of the street, alley and widening spaces. In
Sardinia near Oristano), constituted by the contiguity particular, the “room” absorbs the complexities of the
of buildings that structures the urban façade of each relationships of the doorstep spaces, translates the
638 The Articulations of the In-between Realm in Sardinia

extrovert component of the traditional habitat of the personalisation. Small loggias, generated by the
northwest area of the Campidano (Fig. 5) (another extrusion of the volumes above, create a shadow
historical region, corresponding to the most extended volume which seams perfectly suitable for a “seat”
plain in south-west Sardinia). The “room” introduces between inside and outside, between private and
the typological anomaly [6] that reverses the collective, between the dwelling and the common court
introversion characters of the courtyard-house of the (Fig. 6).
Campidano and opens a passage space between public Half-closed spaces are gathered by undefined
and private, a volumetric doorstep-device that boundaries, which increase the thickness of the
structures a possibility setting fully inside the dwelling, dwelling’s perimeter. Those spaces set up the
it is the main space of it, but focused to the dialogue multiplicity of outside space next to the dwelling.
with the outside space of the road and with the court The mountain habitat has therefore a complex urban
(Fig. 2a). structure, which translates into architectural facts, at
It is the entrance room, the centripetal cell of the the domestic scale, the relations of closeness excluding
dwelling, the exit to the back courtyard, and the all forms of cohabitation and modulating the dialectic
continuation and projection of the outside layers of proximity.
“living-room”. It is a doorstep device extended over the The areas of the “not inside” and “nor outside”,
entire thickness of the building which doubles, if neither public nor private, neither individual nor
necessary, to follow the growth process of the dwelling collective translate in Aritzo small size doorstep spaces,
and to ensure always a direct connection between the thickened by sections with vertical development which
outside of the road and the outside of the back court. affirm, once again, the exclusiveness of the
neighborhood space, its “other” nature of urban space,
7. Rur-Urban Mountain Habitats
its relational and plural vocation in creating
The fabric of the mountain urban habitat weaves comparisons between several human phenomenons,
connectors and relational gradients that modulate between private micro-settings, and between different
spatial relationships at the neighborhood scale by living spaces.
measuring and modifying the scale jumps of urban
8. Urban Vestibules–Aritzo
space (Fig. 2b).
The settlement forms, rooted in the soils of half of The spatial complexities of the Sardinian mountain
the coast line, have limited areas and a network of urban fabric introduce configurations of the
internal connections that develop the architectural intermediate space extremely suitable for the
theme of the articulation of different levels. modulation of the proximity relations. Abrupt direction
Long and narrow blocks structure contiguous living changes and covered passages hierarchies (Fig. 7) the
units with vertical development and double façades. relationship between the dwelling and the road through
The basic “cell”, with a clear role of structural the interposition of intermediate spaces that welcome
containment of soil, includes wine cellars and storage transits and passages, domestic work, stasis, enjoyment
units, while the rooms contained in the units at higher of the outdoor living-room. The definition of a spatial
levels welcome domestic spaces with privileged thickness that assimilates the tensions between the
entrance. domestic space and the plurality of the urban situations
The dwelling proximity space, which includes the enriches with possibilities of the daily life outside the
entrance and the support spaces, creates small areas dwellings.
suitable for spontaneous uses, for appropriation and The interruption of the urban space extension can be
 The Articulations of the In-between Realm in Sardinia 639

Fig. 6 The dwelling proximity space: vestibules, covered passages, a “spatial thickness” and loggias–Barbagia, Aritzo, 2014.

structured through the articulation of an abrupt change

of direction that in the point of greater tension
half-closes the space in section. A place of
decompression, an area of transition, within which the
space changes its nature, the urban “fluid” is
compressed insinuating and adapting itself to the
domestic scale (Fig. 8).
The section, which articulates the transition to an
“urban inside”, states the entrance moment in another
place, clarifies the contact between two different space
natures and welcomes its tensions.
A doorstep spatiality is, again, a intermediate space
full of urban and domestic meanings capable of
generating an intense spatial experience that explains
space mutations.
In those case studies (Figs. 7 and 8), it is possible to
read the articulation of a place of initiation to the
private sphere, place of decompression, a complex
architectural fact that translates the abandonment
Fig. 7 One place of initiation to the private
sphere–Barbagia, Aritzo, 2014. of a multiple urban condition and the introduction to a
640 The Articulations of the In-between Realm in Sardinia

Fig. 8 Interstitial spaces–Barbagia, Aritzo, 2014.

domestic microcosm, albeit still collective. logic of processual continuity that is at the base of the
The abrupt change of direction through the passage settlement phenomenon.
in an “under” space introduces to an intimate space
9. The Interstice
around multiple living units which face it and project
into it outside living-rooms, laundries and small spatial The urban solid of Aritzo, strongly hierarchical in its
occasions capable of welcoming practices of domestic interior, makes legible the substructure of the
work. A small common court, as defined by the fine-grained spatial connectors which cut portions of
Recovery Manuals of Sardinia [7], a scenery of compact and dense urban fabric.
domestic purposes, whose permanent furnishings set Interstitial spaces that infiltrate within the built
up the “scene” of “staying” in a measured relational mass assimilate several living units that are projected
dimension, that offers multiple possibilities of use, is into it (Fig. 8), and that share its margins creating
enriched by the density of architectural and domestic comfortable and personalised spaces. Small
facts and comfortable due to its characters and pergolas are suspended from one side to the other
environmental elements. of the alley, half-closing the entrance to the dwelling.
The dwelling, the garden and the tools, essential for The portion of the alley under the shade is suitable for
the domestic metabolism, are necessary elements other interpretations of the open outside living-room,
suitable for the life dimension which is enriched by the according to the ways of living which are typical of
whole frame in which they are included. places with temperate weather and extroverted
The urban vestibules are suitable places, constantly characteristics: several human phenomenons, between
redefined by use and intensified by new architectural private micro-settings, and between different living
and urban facts that stratify the habitat according to a spaces.
 The Articulations of the In-between Realm in Sardinia 641

The loggia The loggia

The door The room

In plan—direct relation In plan—passage space In plan—the doorstep In plan—the hollow

space

In prospect In prospect In prospect In prospect

Section Section Section Section

Axonometry—the threshold that Axonometry—the threshold that Axonometry—the threshold that

Axonometry—the threshold in solid
crosses the solid digs the solid digs the solid

(a)

The connectors and The common court

The urban vestibules The interstice
relational gradients

In plan—a hinge In plan—the fine-grained In plan—modulation of the In plan—the substructure of the

spatial connectors proximity relations fine-grained spatial connectors

In perspective—the “under” In perspective—the portion of In perspective—interstitial In perspective—interstitial

space the alley spaces that infiltrate within spaces that infiltrate within

Axonometry—the interruption of the Axonometry—connectors Axonometry—connectors and Axonometry—the hollow of

urban space extension relational gradients the block

(b)
Fig. 9 Synoptic chart. Reading of different types of in-between space: (a) types of doorstep in Sardinia; (b) the scale jumps
of urban spaces in the rur-urban mountain habitats.
642 The Articulations of the In-between Realm in Sardinia

10. Conclusions different-nature environments. The redrawing of the

selected socio-spatial systems, in generative terms,
The critical13 reading of the living places returned
describes project themes, constitutes meta-projects
by this research work can be considered as a project
that are suitable for the definition, articulation and
form, as material useful to the creative process, to the
diversification inside several advanced project phases.
processes of generation and production of project
The reduction in the size of “reality” and the
elements. The survey conducted on the consolidated
completion of specific models lead to the
habitats, specifically the Sardinian ones, is operative
abandonment of the diagram non-contextual
project field. At the basis of this, there is the creative
abstraction and introduce the complexity of the
process, which is intended as the modification of
real/specific space on which the project can be
reality, and the project intended as dialogical action
structured by modifying its fabric (layers).
with the context and the design of the urban space as
relation complex between the rules that govern each References
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examples of forms of the state of things, of the Contemporaneous. Barcelona: Editorial Gustavo Gili. (in
Spanish)
principles underlying the settlements and of the
[2] Mumford, E. 2002. The CIAM Discourse on Urbanism,
reasons that are at the basis of such forms-the 1928-1960. London: MIT (Massachusetts Institute of
representation 14 of the sections and of the plan Technology) Press.
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Modernité Critique, Autourdu CIAM 9 d’Aix-en-
the project feeding it and providing work materials
Provence-1953. Marseille: Editions Ibernon. (in French)
(affirming thought and development themes) (Fig. 9). [4] Secci, C., and Thibault, E. 2005. “Espace Intermédiaire.
As already mentioned, the habitat contemporary Formation de Cette Notion chez les Architectes.” In La
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Paris: Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de l’homme,
existing, must translate itself in complementary terms, Ministère de la Culture. (in French)
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Centri Storici della Sardegna. Roma: DEI Tipografia del
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13
The adjective “critical” refers to the conception of
architecture, intended as artistic practice and as constitution of
a critical distance from reality. Critical is intended within its
meaning of implementation of analytical thought by means of
specific tools of the subject.
14
Rappresentation: explanatory description, it is due to the
relation between architecture and reality, the most effective
form of criticism and knowledge essential tool.