In Praise of Penumbra

Agostino De Rosa is an Architect and Full Professor at Iuav (Italy) and at VIU. He has written several books and essays on the theme of representation, the history of images and land art. He is editor of the critical edition of perspective works and treatises by Minims monk Jean Francois Niceron (1613- 1646). He worked with an international team on the Roden Crater project (Painted Desert, Arizona USA), designed by American light artist James Turrell (1943), currently on construction. Alessio Bortot, architect, is Doctor Europaeus in Architecture, City and Design, with a specialization in Representation since 2016. He was professor in the courses of "Descriptive geometry", "Advanced technologies for representation" and "Digital 3D modelling" at the Iuav University in Venice, at the faculty of Engineering in the University of Padua, at the IED in Venice and at the Ecole National Superieure des Travaux Publics in Yaounde (Camerun). He worked as a research fellow focusing on topics such as History of Representation and Advanced Technologies for Architecture. He is author of several publications in Italy and abroad. At the present time, he works as a research fellow in IRIDE (Research Infrastructure. Integral Design Environment) - the department of excellence in Iuav University (Venice). Francesco Bergamo is an architect and scholar with a Ph.D. in Sciences of Design. He is currently adjunct professor and research fellow at the Universita Iuav di Venezia, Dipartimento di Culture del Progetto. His research and publications focus mainly on theories, history, methods, and technologies of drawing and on acoustic ecology, with a specific focus on contemporary forms of representation and on the relationship between visual and sonic culture. He has worked with the composer John Luther Adams and with the artist James Turrell. He has conducted research on stereotomy, on the theoretical and pictorial work of Jean-Francois Niceron and on painted perspectives upon vaulted surfaces.

Chapter 1 Introduction A Eulogy to Penumbra Chapter 2 At the Edges of Transparent Language Chapter 3 Eden to Eden: At the Dawn of the Name Chapter 4 'In the Womb Yet Out-of-Doors': Penumbra and the Spaces In-Between Chapter 5 The Warmth of Death: Alexander Brodsky and the Necropolis in the Womb of the Metropolis Chapter 6 A Path to the Light: Variations and Multiple Dimensions Chapter 7 Charged Space: The Anatomy of the In-between Chapter 8 Efficiency Versus Game: Twilight Spaces for Homo Ludens Chapter 9 Seeking the Almost: Designing Shade Chapter 10 Rhythmic Alternation: Metaphors of Light, Dark and Shadow Chapter 11 The Intimacy of Neglect: Thresholds, Interconnectedness and Unexpected Glimpses Chapter 12 As If Without Time: The Nuclear Twilight Zone Chapter 13 Things In Themselves: The X-Ray and Its Embodied Space Chapter 14 Projecting the Indeterminate and Enigmatic: The Painting of Marco Tirelli Chapter 15 Subliminal Blueprints for Other Dimensions: The Time-warped Sanatorium of the Quay Brothers Chapter 16 From Another Perspective - The Shadowy World of Domesticity Contributors About Architectural Design