The article is original in that it broadens the scope of the previous disciplinary culture to explain the reasons for the new centrality that the soil project is acquiring in the field of landscape research. The soil question became a specific field of research and experimentation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Russia, Europe and the United States, as part of multifaceted considerations of the consequences of industrialisation on agricultural production and in relation to the food crises in various countries in the second half of the nineteenth century. From a methodological point of view, the article proposes to take up the thread of these often forgotten studies and to broaden the horizon of reflection to include agriculture, territories, settlement systems and landscapes. It makes it possible to identify lines of continuity, ruptures, radical transformations and sudden returns in architectural culture, which are important for a better articulation of conceptual categories and operational tools in the contemporary discussion and reflection on 'soil design'. In terms of impact, the proposed case study represents a happy discovery that will hopefully open up a new line of research for the field of landscape architecture. Raoul Heinrich Francé, a prolific biologist, philosopher and populariser of science, was born in Hungary in 1874 and lived in Germany between 1902 and 1943: his written material - now almost never cited - directly influenced modern architecture and urban planning in Germany. On the one hand, the narratives and images of soil published in his numerous books more than a century ago allow us today to outline the structures and figures of the spatial imagery required to give form to an extremely complex entity (soil) that is not immediately visible due to the many variable processes taking place at the microscopic level in the thickness below the surface. On the other hand, a review of his work allows us to identify some of the theoretical underpinnings of that 'biocentric' vision, according to which life reproduces and maintains itself in space and time with sophisticated self-regulating mechanisms in a seamless selective relationship with the physical environment. Already a century ago, Francé's vision included not only plants, animals and fungi in the community of living beings (based on "mutual help"1), but also protozoa and even bacteria, in addition to human beings.
L'articolo è originale in quanto amplia il campo dell'antecedente cultura disciplinare per fondare le ragioni della nuova centralità che il progetto di suolo sta acquisendo nel campo della ricerca sul paesaggio. La questione del suolo diventa un campo specifico di ricerca e sperimentazione tra la fine del XIX e l'inizio del XX secolo in Russia, in Europa e negli Stati Uniti, nell'ambito di considerazioni multiformi sulle conseguenze dell'industrializzazione sulla produzione agricola e in relazione alle crisi alimentari di diversi paesi nella seconda metà del XIX secolo. Dal punto di vista metodologico l'articolo propone di riprendere il filo di questi studi, spesso dimenticati, e allargare l’orizzonte della riflessione all'agricoltura, ai territori, ai sistemi insediativi e ai paesaggi. Permette di individuare linee di continuità, fratture, trasformazioni radicali e improvvisi ritorni nella cultura architettonica, importanti per meglio articolare categorie concettuali e strumenti operativi nella discussione e nella riflessione contemporanea sul 'soil design'. Dal punto di vista dell’impatto, il caso di studio proposto rappresenta una felice scoperta che ci si augura possa aprire un filone di ricerca nuova per il settore dell'architettura del paesaggio. Raoul Heinrich Francé, prolifico biologo, filosofo e divulgatore scientifico, è nato in Ungheria nel 1874 e vissuto in Germania tra il 1902 e il 1943: il suo materiale scritto - oggi quasi mai citato - ha influenzato direttamente l'architettura e l'urbanistica moderna in Germania. Da un lato, le narrazioni e le immagini sul suolo pubblicate nei suoi numerosi libri più di un secolo fa, ci permettono oggi di delineare le strutture e le figure dell'immaginario spaziale necessario per dare forma a un'entità estremamente complessa (il suolo) che non è immediatamente visibile a causa dei numerosi processi variabili coinvolti a livello microscopico nello spessore sotto la superficie. D'altra parte, rivedere la sua opera ci permette di individuare alcuni fondamenti teorici di quella visione 'biocentrica' secondo cui la vita nello spazio e nel tempo si riproduce e si mantiene con sofisticati meccanismi di autoregolazione in un rapporto selettivo senza soluzione di continuità con l'ambiente fisico. Già un secolo fa, la visione di Francé includeva nella comunità degli esseri viventi (basata sul 'mutuo aiuto'1) non solo piante, animali e funghi, ma anche protozoi e persino batteri, insieme agli esseri umani.
‘Das Edaphon’. Raoul H. Francé and The Ecology of Soil
Protasoni
2021-01-01
Abstract
The article is original in that it broadens the scope of the previous disciplinary culture to explain the reasons for the new centrality that the soil project is acquiring in the field of landscape research. The soil question became a specific field of research and experimentation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Russia, Europe and the United States, as part of multifaceted considerations of the consequences of industrialisation on agricultural production and in relation to the food crises in various countries in the second half of the nineteenth century. From a methodological point of view, the article proposes to take up the thread of these often forgotten studies and to broaden the horizon of reflection to include agriculture, territories, settlement systems and landscapes. It makes it possible to identify lines of continuity, ruptures, radical transformations and sudden returns in architectural culture, which are important for a better articulation of conceptual categories and operational tools in the contemporary discussion and reflection on 'soil design'. In terms of impact, the proposed case study represents a happy discovery that will hopefully open up a new line of research for the field of landscape architecture. Raoul Heinrich Francé, a prolific biologist, philosopher and populariser of science, was born in Hungary in 1874 and lived in Germany between 1902 and 1943: his written material - now almost never cited - directly influenced modern architecture and urban planning in Germany. On the one hand, the narratives and images of soil published in his numerous books more than a century ago allow us today to outline the structures and figures of the spatial imagery required to give form to an extremely complex entity (soil) that is not immediately visible due to the many variable processes taking place at the microscopic level in the thickness below the surface. On the other hand, a review of his work allows us to identify some of the theoretical underpinnings of that 'biocentric' vision, according to which life reproduces and maintains itself in space and time with sophisticated self-regulating mechanisms in a seamless selective relationship with the physical environment. Already a century ago, Francé's vision included not only plants, animals and fungi in the community of living beings (based on "mutual help"1), but also protozoa and even bacteria, in addition to human beings.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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OASE 110-The project of the soil_Protasoni.pdf
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