Editorial – RASSEGNA 87
François Burkhardt
“We always bury ourselves even underground” (Hans Hollein)
Presenting underground architecture as a topical subject may seem somewhat eccentric or even provocative. However, as demonstrated by the history of architecture – including modern architecture – it is a subject that, for various reasons, has always been relevant in the practice of building in every era, from the time of the cavemen to the age of skyscraper cities. Since the mid 18th century in particular, growth in urban population density has increasingly underscored the decisive role played by the organization of the urban subsoil, which houses important infrastructures. From the simple basements found in virtually all houses to the intricate network of pipelines for the distribution of fluids and water drainage, and transport systems with tunnels and subway and railway stations, many different functions and structures are tied to the concept of underground space. Outside urban areas, the reasons that drive to the exploitation of subterranean space increase. The bunkers of the Atlantikwall, the famous military defense line built by the Germans, the French Maginot Line and the Réduits in the Swiss Alps are subsoil constructions, and today they have become chilling tourist attractions or therapy and experimentation centers that probe human psychology and physiology. Thus, the focus has shifted from the function of the subsoil as a purely structural and technical reality to evaluation of the quality of lived space and the psychological phenomena of perception tied to it.
In short, we could say that the horizon as such, whose measure is the uppermost line of the Earth's crust, cannot serve as the defining element of subterranean architecture. Hans Hollein was right when he commented that one can easily build upwards while making a structure appear to be subterranean and, inversely, descend into the soil, creating rooms illuminated by overhead lighting and thus eliminating the visitor's usual impression of darkness. With works such as the Mönchengladbach Museum and the project for a bank office in Vienna, Hollein shows us that, in cities, the use of underground spaces restores green surfaces to citizens, while also using natural lighting for the rooms below. With the Mönchengladbach project, he demonstrates that it is possible to organize the interpenetration of artificially lit dark spaces, areas illuminated by a combination of overhead and artificial lighting, and areas illuminated naturally through the façades.
Indeed, the basic problem is lighting, the human attraction to light in darkness: a natural reflex in all of us. Humans experience underground living in different ways, depending on their individual psychological makeup. Some fear the dark whereas, in others, depth triggers a sense of claustrophobia that creates anxiety, alters the metabolism and, in some cases, leads to complete disorientation. The rapport between light-space and the living experience of the atmosphere of a building is fundamental for the psychology of visual perception. In densely populated Japanese cities, for example, it is not unusual to find restaurants located on the second or third floor below ground level. They are completely devoid of natural light, a concept that would be unthinkable in our Western culture.
We plan to focus on this aspect in the projects we have chosen to present in this issue. Are underground or semi-underground spaces truly suitable places to live and work every day? Is living in them something “natural” or is it an absurd idea that can endanger our physical and psychological balance? Moreover, what can architecture do to produce quality that, if necessary, can offset what underground spaces lack in order to create an attractive, pleasant and suitable environment in which humans feel at home both physically and psychologically? Considering the growing anxieties and neuroses of postindustrial societies, which risk becoming primary destabilizing factors, I think that these questions are not only topical but that they also deserve closer examination, applying the knowledge we have gained from fields such as the design of microenvironments for space exploration. In any event, this hope does not apply to underground architecture alone. In this sense, the psychology of perception still offers very few results that can be exploited by architecture, and this is precisely our objective: asking all professionals involved in designing underground spaces to pay closer attention to subjects and trends that are vital for all of us.
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