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Editorial

Alessandro Luigini — 2023-02-14

Architectural Model Point of View. Miniature and Its Representation Beyond Words

Giulia Bertola — 2023-02-14

With this article, the author intends to reflect on the role of the plastic model and its representation through the use of photography and images as a means of narrating the architectural project, arguing that they are very often more effective than words. This reflection stems from the contemporary debate on the role of the model in the era of digitisation and its tendency to become an increasingly autonomous object. Moreover, with the progressive spread of digital technologies and the ease of access to software and devices for producing, storing, manipulating, transmitting and sharing images, the number of images in circulation has increased dramatically (Pinotti, 2016). The expressive capacity of the model is manifested not only through its materiality but also through two-dimensional visual representations, which contribute to further reflexive reading of the project. In this context, we intend to present a practical case concerning the creation of two-scale maquettes and the production of photographic images of preferential views of the model aimed at the dissemination of the project.

From Aleph to Emoji. Semi-Serious Critique of Icons’ Affordance in the Digital Ecosystem Design

Letizia Bollini — 2023-02-14

The paper proposes a critical reflection on the use of icons –silent images– capable of communicating functionality, interactions and emotions, within digital communication ecosystems with particular reference to the mimesis/realism dichotomy and the concept of affordance as criteria for designing and decoding the visual message.

Images in Dialogue: How They Talk and What They Say

Gianluca Camillini — 2023-02-14

As well as being tasked with clearly communicating textual and written contents, as communication designers and design scholars, we are also, and above all, responsible for visual ones, deciding how to convey these contents; the point of view and emphasis, authorship and interpretation of the designer ensure that the communication becomes a tale, a story made up of symbols and images. The transposition from the semantic to the visual plan takes place through various types of operations which ensure that the original content is always different from its visual translation, even if only very slightly. To carry out this process we use images with different kinds of relationships which allow us to visualise, condense and convey complex concepts that would otherwise be difficult both for graphic designers to translate and users to understand. Taking into consideration a series of case studies coming from different fields pertaining to the visual sphere, this text focuses its attention on the dialogue between the images, understanding how they talk to each other, and which relationships contribute to the construction of a narrative.

War and Peace between Words and Pictures. The Picturebooks As Neutral Ground for the Dialectics between Graphic and Verbal Languages

Enrico Cicalò — 2023-02-14

This article discusses the relationships that have been established throughout history between drawn pictures and written words. An almost epic interweaving of war and peace emerges between the two languages that, depending on the times, cultures and contexts, have sometimes prevailed one over the other, have sometimes allied themselves, and then again fought and imposed themselves on each other. Despite the fact that this diatribe never seems to reach a conclusion, there are some fields in which the two languages seem to succeed in dialoguing in unpredictable and surprising ways. One of these is the picture book, a neutral field in which the longstanding struggles for supremacy between graphic and verbal languages seem to disappear, whereas they instead dialogue and experiment together in new forms of narration. Words and images here renounce their traditional meanings and configuration, defining unusual forms of wordless books, which go far beyond the classic and almost predictable format of the silent books.

Performative Readings. Warja Lavater’s Wordless Tales

Daniele Colistra — 2023-02-14

In this essay we will analyse the graphic work of Warja Lavater, author of numerous stories made exclusively with pictograms. From 1962 to 1982 the Swiss artist created 24 books, initially conceived as ‘artist’s books’ but which were soon also used as a pedagogical tool. Lavater’s illustrated books can be divided into two groups: 19 Folded Stories, published between 1962 and 1967 by Basilius Presse, and 5 Imagineries, taken from as many stories by Perrault and published by the Parisian publisher Maeght between 1965 and 1982. Regardless of the artistic value of these works, we will focus on the relationship between diegesis and image sequence, trying to understand the semantic effectiveness of this narrative mode. We will also try to evaluate whether the pictograms –considered individually and arranged in sequence– are able to favour the development of a ‘spatial thought’ or whether they should be understood exclusively as refined style exercises. We will then consider some applications in the pedagogical field and, finally, we will analyse in more detail the artist’s first and last work, trying to evaluate the stylistic evolution and the different relationships between sign, symbol and content.

‘Captions Not Included’. Notes on the Architects and ‘Their’ Images

Fabio Colonnese — 2023-02-14

Architects not only produce images of their projects but also take pictures of the reality around them, eventually appropriating of pictures made by others. In particular, this process of mediated assimilation of reality is quite hard to define as it follows many different criteria that tend to turn the pictures themselves into analogical devices oriented to the design development. Often, a fundamental step of the process is to make them wordless images by removing (intentionally or not) the caption. This action opens the pictures to a wide range of interpretations and uses (as well as misinterpretations and abuses) that are part of the omnivorous creative process of the architects. In order to frame the phenomenology of this process in the extended field of the 20th century art production, this article proposes a chaotic assemblage of major and minor episodes whose considerations indirectly reflects both the mostly unconscious process of the architects and the ‘under-construction’ mental scheme of the author. In this sense, this early, partial, subjective map provides no answers but questions and conjectural work-areas to be tested through further connections and developments.

Unsilently Crushing: a Didactic Proposal Through a Wordless Novel

Paola Cortiana — 2023-02-14

The article, moving from the preference of young people for stories that are characterized by crossmediality and multimodality, focuses on a genre that enhances the iconic code, setting aside the verbal one: wordless novel. Born in the 1920s, it continues to be widespread, allowing you to explore narrative universes in a new and inclusive way. The article focuses on a pedagogical reflection on Crushing, a recent work by Sophie Burrows (2021), which addresses key issues for adolescents: fear of loneliness, lack of communication, desire to meet. Wordless texts have been promoted for years in the pedagogical field because they foster inferential processes and stimulate comprehension skills through the use of visual metaphorical constructs; they encourage the interpretive ability through five educational advantages: the adoption of a universal and democratic language; the activation of the reader’s protagonism; hospitality understood as taking care of others; attention to diversity; and openness to beauty.

Visual Telling for a Biblia Pauperum. Immersive Narrativity in the Chapel VIII at Sacro Monte in Varese

Maria Pompeiana Iarossi — 2023-02-14

Located along the slopes of the north-western pre-Alpine arc, the Sacrimonti, erected between the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 18th century in the Piedmont and Lombardy areas, represent not only an important historical and artistic contribution to the Unesco World Heritage, but also some examples of real experiential, immersive and inclusive paths, designed to reach even the least literate users with a powerful didactic and catechetical message, without the need for any textual integration. The paper analyzes the architectural structure of the chapel VIII, L’Incoronazionedi Spine [The Crowning with Thorns], and its interaction both with the total structure of the monumental path designed in 1604 by Bernascone on Monte Velate of Varese and with the sculptural group and the cycle of frescoes, revealing its nature as a real storyboard, aimed at narrating one of the most dramatic episodes of the Jesus’ passion and at raising an empathic relationship with the faithful who observe the setting through the external openings.

Silent Books. A Space of Imagination Where the Language of Illustration and Photo-Literature Meet

Giulia Mirandola — 2023-02-14

By reading silent books with pictures and photographs, a space of imagination is created, that is suitable for the development of thought, logics and critical judgement already at an early age. I will show, by means of a case study, what happens within a visual book club in a European, multilingual primary school in Berlin.The article draws a seamless line between some editorial projects implemented in Italy in the 1970s and more recent research and cultural mediation experiences in this field. In addition to the practical value of these initiatives, the ethics of vision is emphasised. Which material and reading methods can be used to affirm visual models that can help children freely define the relationship between images and the interpretation of reality? Finally, silent books include tactile and multisensory books. How can a visually impaired person participate in the visual reading experience based on wordless, tactile and multisensory books? Starting from this question, which may sound paradoxical, my article comes close to an extreme limit, a turning point and, at the same time, a bridge between the study of silent books and the latest developments in the field of reading accessibility.

Ex-Movère. Narrating Places with Images

Alessandra Palma — 2023-02-14

Through paintings, engravings, short texts it is possible to know a place and at the same time discover the propensities, interests, ideological inclinations of each author. Engravings, paintings, photographs, clips are indispensable materials for the architect who intends to recompose places fragmented by the events of history, such as archaeological sites. The drawings of Jean-Pierre Houël, Karl Friedrich Schinkel, the photographs of Josef Koudelka and the reworkings of Massimiliano Gatti, although distant in time, have in common the story of the natural harmony between architecture, archeology, and nature. The Percorsi architettonici of Sergej Michajlovič Ėjzenštejn introduce the way of doing architecture of Dimitris Pikionis and Pierre-Louis Faloci: editing is used as a method to compose sequences of spaces. The conclusion refers to the role of drawing as a tool in architecture with reference to a research project underway at the PhD ‘Architecture, Arts and Planning’ of the University of Palermo.

The Opera in Images. Iconography of the Mise-en-Scène in the 19th Century

Manuela Piscitelli — 2023-02-14

The project of the mise-en-scène has a highly visual nature and is expressed in images. The digitization of many archives of historical theatres made available a vast repertoire of images, the analysis of which allows us to understand the phenomenon of the mise-en-scène in its historical roots and evolution. The present research focuses on the repertoire of stage images investigated in their intrinsic nature as visual and communicative artifacts, classifying them according to the purpose of the representation and the techniques of execution to reconstruct the role that images played in defining a theatrical imaginary of places and costumes. The articulation of the paper will distinguish three different types of images, each investigated in its visual and technical characteristics. The first concerns the visual component of the project, which was expressed through the sketches, both regarding set design and costumes. The second typology is that of visual witnesses of the stage for dissemination purposes, whose distribution was mainly entrusted to illustrated periodicals. Finally, the third typology includes the images for promotional purposes of the nascent poster advertising.

The Music Video Performance Encounter Across Borders As a Creative Community-Building Experience for Social Cohesion Among Young People. The European Project CommUnity

Maria Grazia Proli — 2023-02-14

One of the most widespread problems among young people, leading to serious forms of social unrest, is the lack of a sense of social inclusion and belonging. For this reason, the Project CommUnity. Build Communities - Create Peace! (2019-2021) involved eleven partners from seven European Countries –Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and Croatia– in order to build up and develop a cross-generational intercultural dialogue through the creation of communities of people who share a passion for the arts and music. A group of seven persons, chosen among students, graduates and junior researchers of the University of Florence, was created for the development of a musical and theatrical video performance on the issue of an of intercultural dialogue among peoples. The intercultural music band worked under the supervision of the University of Florence research team, through the implementation of art-based methodological approaches, and the ‘design thinking’ process. This paper focuses on the importance of creativity and art-based approaches in building communities, while it underlines the relevance of the artistic and cultural contexts within which their members can share visions and experience. Through the video images the evocative power of Florence landscape is clearly emphasized: when the performers meet different people in the midst of monuments, squares, ancient buildings and real or metaphorical bridges across the Arno River.

Images Avant la Lettre. The Mystery of Ink Blots in Psychology, Design and Art

Michael Renner — 2023-02-14

The paper starts out with a figure of speech –avant la lettre– and points, through a review of literature, to a variety of disciplinary explanations regarding processes before language was ever spoken. This leads to three categories regarding the relationship of images and language in the context of visual arts and visual communication. Some images depend on the linguistic message, some are framed by a linguistic message, and some are independent of a linguistic message. Images which are independent of language are used in the paper to differentiate processes avant la lettre in two case studies. The first case study is an in-depth discussion of the projection of individual traits through the ink-blot images of the Rorschach test. The 10 plates of this psychometric test are supposed to reveal processes avant la lettre that are characteristic for an individual psyche. The second case study shows how ink-blot images are used to train communication designers and how the projection of individual traits is a means to develop a unique result. To conclude the discussion, projection, as a process avant la lettre, is employed in order to describe the effect of ink-blot images as a dimension of any aesthetic experience.

Images vs Words: a Study for a Visual Rhetoric

Michela Rossi — 2023-02-14

The universality of figurative arts underlines the expressive potential of images, while ideograms document the origin of writing in drawing, demonstrating its ability to configure itself as a language through the development of recognizable codes. The relationship between word and image results from the common ability to conform in language thanks to their complementary roles: the precision of words and the immediacy of images. Advertising was the first to apply the communicative effectiveness of images, deepening their study with reference to the articulations of words. Verbo-visual rhetoric underlines the common intent to make the message convincing through recognizable structures such as coded figures. The parallel between rhetoric, art and technique of verbal language, and the construction of images goes beyond advertising, but this represents the starting point in finding new applications for this powerful union. The effectiveness of images is the reason for the growing importance of visual communication in digital media, made accessible precisely by the development and adoption of intuitive graphic interfaces, which encourages the development of a new visual rhetoric. This study collects the first results of an experimentation conducted in the didactic field, aimed at verifying the possibility and modalities of the visual transposition of rhetorical figures, overcoming the need for textual elements.

An Archaeology of Images. Investigation Into the Imaginative World of Robert Venturi

Francesca Sisci — 2023-02-14

The research presented aims to investigate the theoretical work of the American architect, Robert Venturi, starting with the question: what was his dreamlike, imaginative, and creative world composed of? What role did the images that populated it play out and how were they transformed? From European explorations, through the book Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture, to the realization of Mother’s House, the study seeks to shed light on the evolution of theoretical thought through the observation from the images that Robert Venturi selected for himself, and which thus constitute themselves an archive of the visual and spatial research he conducted. It is thus from the images collected or taken that an attempt has been made to reconstruct the connection between visual perception, image, and theory.

Books That Are Like Walking in Quiet Spaces: Artist’s Books, Unreadable Books, Prebooks and Their Heirs

Valentina Valecchi — 2023-02-14

This paper’s aim is to be a comparative investigation of artist’s books of the second half of the twentieth century and a selection of books in the current realm of children’s publishing, in order to establish significant points of contact and intersection between the two worlds, even though they are considered distant and separate.In both arenas, it is possible to identify books characterised by the absence of verbal and iconic code and by multi-sensory communication relying almost exclusively on paratextual elements. The forerunner of these experiments seems to be Bruno Munari’s Libri Illeggibili [Unreadable Books] series, a selection of artwork that forgoes text in favour of an aesthetic function alone, which gave rise to new research, including I Prelibri [Prebooks] by Munari himself, which is a series of twelve books that differ in colour, material, and shape and that lack a narrative. The latter is a model that will become a source of inspiration, in more recent years, for the likes of Katsumi Komagata or Hervé Tullet, who are today authors of innovative ‘open works’whose communicative effectiveness derives from the hybridisation of artistic languages.