Affiliation:
1. University of Maribor, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Transportation Engineering and Architecture, Maribor, Slovenia
Abstract
Envelopes are an important topic in the study of architecture and urbanism
and have a profound impact on our daily lives. They form boundaries, edges,
enclosures and joints with ecological, territorial and representational
functions that have social, cultural, economic, technological, environmental
and political significance. Referring to warnings about capsular
civilisation, this paper promotes the metaphorically telling concept of
capsularity, in order to overcome terminological inconsistency as a
characteristic phenomenon that denotes enclosures at different scales. It
includes both capsules as small-scale cellular units on an architectural or
industrial design scale - referred to as units of individual capsularity -
and extended structures and territorial enclosures as manifestations of
collective capsularity. Furthermore, a typology of collective capsularity is
proposed. While complete and permeable envelopes entail physical spatial
demarcation, diffuse envelopes are based on a technological system of
control and surveillance. However, diffuse envelopes also complement both
complete envelopes and permeable envelopes, forming masked capsular hybrids.
After contextualising the proposed typology according to accessibility and
its representation, the ambivalences of collective capsularities are
considered through the lens of three selected and distinctive co-existing
effects: Freedom/ Control, Reality/Simulation and Seclusion/Exclusion. These
effects present the concept and associated discourse as critical, pertinent
and stimulating for imagining, inventing, proposing and implementing
democratic, participatory and caring urban(istic) activities. The exposed
typology and narratives of antagonisms involved in the operation of
capsularities propose further research, policy development and planning
directed towards the decapsularisation of contemporary space and promote
democratic and caring possibilities for urban living in the future.
Publisher
National Library of Serbia
Subject
Urban Studies,Visual Arts and Performing Arts,Architecture
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