Could a repetitive matrix be considered a cliché?

The already thought compositions which they make up time by time a new and different subject, could look like the result of some independent mathematical calculations. Cliché, ment as a repetition of different pieces, in our project, creates an operational and random matrix at first sight, while is the result of a compositional study where “Metamorfosi Urbana” borns, which is a synthesis of the needing to combine different urban realities and contexts in a playful composition to join all the pieces in harmony.

The creative process has seen our attention focused on the elements present in the surroundings of our homes based in Palermo, Gangi and Alassio, that could be reached directly from our windows. Collecting photos taken from different points of view, we got an archive of images that has been analyzed, processed and decomposed, looking for the most interesting details that appears on every architecture that has been photographed. The most important element that has been the “fil rouge” in our preliminary research, was actually the huge diversity: the challenge we have set ourself was focused right on storytelling all the differences that clearly appears on the architectures in our home towns. The pieces extrapolated from the architectural context has been included in an abacus of independent elements, reworked by an automatic generator able to compose a fictitious building, which its parts can be replied endless times. All the elements that mostly got our attention were the colors and the decorations on the facades of buildings, as well as the totally different approach to the design and disposition of the windows.All the images has seen the decomposition of each distinctive elements highlighted by us; as we extrapolated all the parts from their context, the new imaginary architectures took shape, telling the different realities and identities of belonging.

The final composition consists in the union of the extrapolated pieces of the original buildings. We created some images with a grotesquely and almost random aesthetic. The random though just appear in the aesthetic but not in the creation process which has been studied to get harmony between shapes, volumes and colors.The new homes naming comes from the streets where the original buildings are located.

This project has been realized during the Workshop “Moving Lines” in May 2020 which took place in the Faculty of Architecture in Genova ah the Department of Architecture and Design (DAD).