Some Facets of Visual Thinking in Architecture

Abstract

In the Perception of the world that surround us, the contrast between two relative terms such as “the mental cognition” and the “visual perception” does generate the concept of “Visual Thinking”. This kind of Thinking can be considered, at the same time, “generator” and “outcome” of that “mental or reference models” which might be able to «restore the millennial task of architecture: the material and symbolic processing of man’s living space» by their function. From the ancient past until today, we can find many definitions of Visual Thinking: historical, clinical-scientific and neuroscientific, anthropological, phenomenological, metaphorical. In this sense, Rudolf Arnheim (1904–2007) did contribute with his specialistic and distinctive ideas. In fact, he did numerous and fascinating studies on Visual Thinking, as well as on Psychology of Art, Dynamics of Architectural Form, the Power of the Center. Thus, it becomes clear that Vision can be a parameter of both the architectural and artistic project, while studying his works. Is also well known that when Filippo Juvarra was sure that «the one who sees nothing, then nothing thinks» the meaning of his words was that “the one” cannot entertain an interactive, conscious and constructive relationship with the world around him. In this paper we try to apply some of the briefly illustrated Arnheim’s theories of Vision, in particular the Power of the Center and the Dynamics of Architectural Form, through a critical review of some Filippo Juvarra’s drawings (without forgetting that the Architect is still widely known for his particular relationship the “value of design addressing” and the “conceptual function” of his sketches and drawings).