Ambiguity and tension are everywhere in an architecture
of complexity and contradiction. Architecture is form
and substance--abstract and concrete-and its meaning derives
from its interior characteristics and its particular context.
An architectural element is perceived as form and
structure, texture and material. These oscillating relationships,
complex and contradictory, are the source of the
ambiguity and tension characteristic to the medium df
architecture. The conjunction "or" with a question mark
can usually describe ambiguous relationships. The Villa
Savoye (5): is it a square plan or not? The size of Vanbrugh's
fore-pavilions at Grimsthorpe (6) in relation to
the back pavilions is ambiguous from a distance: are they
near or far, big or small? Bernini's pilasters on the Palazzo
di Propaganda Fide (7) : are they positive pilasters or negative
panel divisions? The ornamental cove in the Casino
di Pio IV in the Vatican (8) is perverse: is it more wall or
more vault? The central dip in Lutyens' facade at Nashdorn
(9) facilitates skylighting: is the resultant duality resolved
or not? Luigi Moretti's apartments on the Via Parioli in
Rome (10): are they one building with a split or two
buildings joined?