Calligraphy of the thought: Drawing and writing in Vittorio Gregotti

Abstract

This paper focuses on the close correlation between drawing and writing in the architecture of Vittorio Gregotti, in order to understand how both constitute symbiotic tools for his praxis, and showing how the practice of architecture and theoretical thought in Gregotti are to be understood as one. Drawing and writing constitute inscriptions of his ideas, a calligraphy that expresses his understanding of architecture as a conceptual reality, regardless of its later physical construction. It is therefore essential to comprehend how theoretical thought in Gregotti is materialized in the architectural project. For this purpose, based on Gregotti’s drawings and writings, this paper aims to underline the deep importance of drawing and writing as complementary processes related to the symbiotic connection between theory and praxis in his work. Considering both tools as a mechanism for visualizing the author’s ideas, we intend to prove that drawing and writing are close components of his expression and the development of a thought that, in the process of being materialized, acquires physical shape, strength and coherence, becoming perceived by others.