From "in-between" to "through" space. Scenarios for today's Padova

The problem of in-between space has been the main topic over a long period of reflection on contemporary architecture and cities, and has produced a significant accumulation of thoughts on the form of contemporary space. The basic premise to the problem of in-between space is the possibility of identifying homogeneous and finite parts, on which the concept of a city of parts may be founded. The concept of in-between space is based on the idea that there is an essentially void and formally non-structured space between solid objects, i.e., an “otherness” between empty space and formed matter. “In-between” is thus defined by negation. The only possible measure of it is, strictly speaking, the distance between its non-edges: this dimension, while reacting with the dimensions and shapes of the boundaries, generates a number of formal features of in-between space. In-between space has been a necessary complement to the finiteness of the parts, which lie on it as shapes on the background; at the same time, it has been the unresolved portion of urban composition, where aporias arise within the urban space of a compact city. It has been described as a non-structured field, fluid and elusive, on the borders of which non-interacting solids rise. At some point, from once being a residual background, in-between space has become resourceful, overwhelming in its potential, differences and diversity: it has been chosen as a favourite culture medium for research on urban public spaces which were presumed to be freed, unforeseen, capable of hosting various and unexpected relationships; it has been acknowledged as both urban space and collective territory. It is unaccomplished, open, malleable space, available for manipulation and transformation. If the formal crystallisation of finite and composed parts fits the principle of Alberti’s concinnitas, and is extremely unlikely to add or subtract anything without undermining the Vitruvian symmetry between the whole and its parts, the incorporeity of in-between space allows it to host any object and to be activated, transformed, "tidied up". Although all this is in fact consistent in the hypothesis of the clear-cut otherness between shaped matter and amorphous immateriality, the solidity of such a Manichean separation begins to break down. The hypothesis of a less clear duality between space and matter – which finds some uncertain similarities in the theory of relativity and in quantum physics – together with the hypothesis of the increasing liquidity of contemporariness presents us with new models of architectural and urban space, in which the fundamental requisites of the idea of in-between space are invalidated. The loss of finiteness of architectural objects and their shapes and the chaotic sprawl of built matter, all mean that it is increasingly difficult to fit the parts within the whole; the solid parts appear less as lithospheric plates surrounded by stagnant waters, and more as rafts floating on fluid, slowly drifting masses. The idea of the city of parts is replaced by that of the city of layers, and the dual paradigm of figure and background is replaced by a model composed of borderless, extensive layers, which overlap, intersect, fuse and react with each other. Tidy built matter appears as a temporary concretion, a state of excitation of an extensive space-time continuum which is revealed when it is [de-]formed by differences of density and energy. The idea of the otherness between space and matter, as well as that of an interaction in the distance between massive bodies through in-between space, is replaced by a vision moulded according to the physical concept of the field which permeates anything and can be bent, folded, thickened or thinned; be elastically or plastically weak, revealing its softness; it may harden into stiff segments, solidify or liquefy, and yet keep its consistency. The urban space between objects becomes a blurred mixture across things and implies a shift from a paratactic composition, in which discrete distances between finite parts may be measured, towards a composition of layers, which works on the space of sprawling, overlapping and intersecting entities, accommodating many unexpected relationships. Besides eroding and breaking the boundaries of in-between space in order to extend it greatly, such a model amplifies the system of possible formal and functional relationships and multiplies the number of scalar ratios within the field; it defines a complex structure, which is, par excellence, able to generate collective space for contemporary society. As a forma urbis parallel text to this vision, we briefly describe here a project ongoing at the Research Laboratory on Architectural Design, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Padova, designing scenarios for transforming an area of Padova which is emblematic of the condition of in-between space today. The area of our case study covers about 300 hectares north-east of the city centre of Padova. Its northern boundary is flanked by the Padova-Venice railway line, and the whole area already contains several expressways, complex junctions and roundabouts, as well as industrial districts, shopping malls and residential urban fabric. According to our hypothesis, planned transformations include: a new city hospital for Padova and a university campus for medical studies and research, implementation of infrastructures to improve accessibility with new facilities such as parking lots, intermodal hubs, a local railway stations, densification of residential fabrics, recycling of former industrial districts, and an urban park with sports, leisure and healthcare facilities. This large-scale project will work on urban and landscape areas, overlapping and intersecting at several layers on differing scales, such as green areas, water networks, infrastructural paths with urban forms and irregular fragments and textures, which [de-]form open ground to create scenarios of public space for today's city.