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The architecture referred to in the title \u201cArchitettura fondata dal tempo \u2013 architettura sfondata dal tempo\u201d is an igloo. It is an elemental, organically formed house. The igloo is loosely covered with stone slabs and panes of glass. At its edge it makes contact with the point of a wedge that seemingly \u201cpushes\u201d the igloo to induce rotation. The wedge, an open metal frame, is made up of stacked and erected panes of glass. A spotlight directs a ray of light onto them from the exterior. Energy penetrates the layers of glass and reaches the igloo\u2019s dome in multiple refractions. It then hits a different kind of light on the inside: a fine blue fluorescent tube that gushes out of an empty green wine bottle.<\/p>\n
The work was created in 1977 and was presented for the first time in the Galleria Salvatore Ala in Milano. Here it was titled \u201cPietre del selciato e vetri rotti della casa distrutta riattivati per l\u2019arte in una galleria \u2013 in un museo\u201d (Stones from a Pavement and Broken Panes of Glass from a Destroyed House Reactivated for Art in a Gallery, a Museum). Photos of the work with this title were published extensively. The \u201cArchitettura\u201d received its present title after Mario Merz constructed it as a part of a long-term installation in the Hallen f\u00fcr Neue Kunst in April 1984. Urs Raussm\u00fcller had purchased the dynamic work in 1979 and presented it in a group exhibition in the St\u00e4dtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich in the same year. In 1982 he included it in an exhibition in the Kunsthalle Basel before giving it a permanent place in Schaffhausen in 1984.<\/p>\n
In the Hallen f\u00fcr Neue Kunst the \u201cArchitettura\u201d is placed so that a view leads through the windows to the other side of the street. The buildings there are made of the same material: stone and glass. They are more stable and orderly than Merz\u2019s nomad domicile, but they may not be as enduring. \u201cArchitecture is a sometimes mathematical, sometimes decorative construction; but it is always a housing construct to give people a social dimension. There is no architecture as such, just architecture that serves a purpose. (\u2026) When I made the igloo, I acted with a power of vision. The igloo is not just the elementary form but also the point of departure for fantasy.\u201d (Merz in: Mario Merz, Mus\u00e9e d\u2019art moderne de la ville de Paris and Kunsthalle Basel, 1981)<\/p>\n
This text is an excerpt from the Raussm\u00fcller publication <\/em>Mario Merz: Archittetura fondata dal tempo \u2013 archittetura sfondata dal tempo, 1977 (2009) which is part of the popular<\/em> Mario Merz Series. The series highlights (so far) eight outstanding works by Mario Merz by means of knowledgeable texts and large-format illustrations. All publications can be ordered individually or as a complete set in the Raussm\u00fcller bookshop<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n