Hamlet

Campomarzio’s proposal for the “Unfolding Pavilion: Little Italy” is a site specific attempt of rethinking John Hejduk’s unbuilt project for the “Cemetery of the Ashes of Thought” (1975), which was conceived to be built on the same site of Gino Valle’s Social Housing Complex on the Giudecca island (1980-86). This project is the result of Hejduk’s personal reaction to the work of Aldo Rossi. The American architect and artist of Czech origin traveled to Zurich in 1973 for an exhibition combining his and Aldo Rossi’s work at the ETH. This encounter was an upsetting one, making him reconsider all his previous work. According to Michael Hays: 

«What struck Hejduk in Rossi’s work was not simply a typology of reduced forms comparable to Hejduk’s own (as a contemporaneous critic aptly described them “a few finished elements that are geometrically precise, insisted on in an almost obsessional manner, fixed in time and continuously refined ); it was, rather, the discrepancy between Rossi’s stated intent to subsume all of the architectural Imaginary into a finite, iterable categorization of types and the dimensions of Rossi’s work that eludes and exceeds such enclosure. Hejduk saw the heterogeneities and singularities that geometry cannot hold. In the Modena project Hejduk noticed, for example, the estrangements and detournements form Ledoux’s ideal city at Chaux, Boulle’s cenotaph, and Piranesi’s Campo Marzio, even Hannes Meyer’s little-known 1923 cemetery project; and also allusions to the paintings of de Chirico, Sironi, and Morandi, the films of Fellini and Visconti, and the novels of Raymond Chandler and Raymond Roussel. Hejduk heard the multimedia murmur behind Rossi’s silence. The daemons of the analogous city whispering to him. And he wondered about unleashing all that Rossi had suppressed.»

Hejduk’s response to Rossi’s analogous city was the “Cemetery of the Ashes of Thought”, in which he included his previous project of the Wall House 3 (1974) standing as a colored floating sentinel across the lagoon, overlooking the Molino Stucky and his proposal for a radical and symbolic architecture, a “columbarium” defined by low walls with holes, holding containers with ashes and plaques with the titles of canonic Western literature.

“Hamlet” is an attempt to revive the ghost of the unbuilt project for the “Cemetery of the Ashes of Thought” (1975). This enigmatic proposal was conceived by John Hejduk for the same site of Gino Valle’s Social Housing Complex (1980-86), where the Unfolding Pavilion is taking place, as a response to the call by the organizers of the 1975 Venice Biennale to raise awareness of the degraded state of Giudecca island. This is Hejduk’s full description of the project:

«The Molino Stucky Building’s exteriors are painted black. The Molino Stucky Building’s interiors are painted white. The long, extended walls of the Cemetery for the Ashes of Thought are black on one side and white on the other side. The top and end surfaces of the long extended walls are grey. Within the walls are one-foot square holes at eye level. Within each one-foot-square hole is placed a transparent cube containing ashes. Under each hole upon the wall there is a small bronze plaque indicating the title, and only the title of a work, such as Remembrance of Things Past, The Counterfeiters, The Inferno, Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, etc. Upon the interior of the walls of the Molino Stucky Building are small plaques with the names of the authors of the works: Proust, Gide, Dante, Milton, Melville, etc. In the lagoon on a man-made island is a small house for the sole habitation of one individual for a limited period of time. Only one individual for a set period of time may inhabit the house, no others will be permitted to stay on the island during its occupation. The lone individual looks across the lagoon to the Cemetery for the Ashes of Thought.»

John Hejduk, Mask of Medusa, ed. Kim Shkapich (New York: Rizzoli, 1985), 80.

La proposta di Campomarzio per “Unfolding Pavilion: Little Italy” è un tentativo site specific di ripensare il progetto non costruito di  John Hejduk per il “Cimitero delle Ceneri del Pensiero” –Cemetery of the Ashes of Thought – del 1975. Questo progetto era stato sviluppato per essere costruito sulla stessa area del Complesso di Eilizia Popolare dell’Isola della Giudecca di Gino Valle (1980-86). Questo progetto è il risultato della reazione personale di Hejduk al lavoro di Aldo Rossi. L’architetto americano di origine ceca aveva soggiornato a Zurigo nel 1973 per una mostra che combinava il suo lavoro di ricerca all’ETH con quello di Rossi, quest’incontro era stato traumatico e l’aveva spinto a riconsiderare tutto il suo lavoro precedente. Secondo quanto riporta Michael Hays:

«What struck Hejduk in Rossi’s work was not simply a typology of reduced forms comparable to Hejduk’s own (as a contemporaneous critic aptly described them “a few finished elements that are geometrically precise, insisted on in an almost obsessional manner, fixed in time and continuously refined ); it was, rather, the discrepancy between Rossi’s stated intent to subsume all of the architectural Imaginary into a finite, iterable categorization of types and the dimensions of Rossi’s work that eludes and exceeds such enclosure. Hejduk saw the heterogeneities and singularities that geometry cannot hold. In the Modena project Hejduk noticed, for example, the estrangements and detournements form Ledoux’s ideal city at Chaux, Boulle’s cenotaph, and Piranesi’s Campo Marzio, even Hannes Meyer’s little-known 1923 cemetery project; and also allusions to the paintings of de Chirico, Sironi, and Morandi, the films of Fellini and Visconti, and the novels of Raymond Chandler and Raymond Roussel. Hejduk heard the multimedia murmur behind Rossi’s silence. The daemons of the analogous city whispering to him. And he wondered about unleashing all that Rossi had suppressed.»

La risposta di Hejduk alla città analoga di Rossi fu il “Cimitero delle Ceneri del Pensiero”, nel quale include il suo lavoro precedente per la Wall House 3 (1974), questo frammento resiste come una colorata sentinella galleggiante sull’acqua della laguna veneziana, fronteggiando il Molino Stucky e la sua proposta per una architettura radicale e simbolica: un “columbarium” definito da basse mura nelle cui forature trovano posto dei contenitori cinerari e delle placche che riportano i titoli di numerosi testi canonici della letteratura occidentale.
“Hamlet” è il tentativo di portare in vita il fantasma di questo progetto non realizzato del 1975. Questo enigmatico lavoro fu proposto da John Hejduk per lo stesso luogo in cui sorge il grande complesso residenziale di Gino Valle – dove trova posto l’Unfolding Pavilion – come risposta problematica alla richiesta degli organizzatori dell Biennale di Architettura di Venezia del ’75 che volevano la consapevolezza sullo stato di degrado in cui versava l’Isola della Giudecca.
Quella che segue è la descrizione che da Hejduk del progetto:

«The Molino Stucky Building’s exteriors are painted black. The Molino Stucky Building’s interiors are painted white. The long, extended walls of the Cemetery for the Ashes of Thought are black on one side and white on the other side. The top and end surfaces of the long extended walls are grey. Within the walls are one-foot square holes at eye level. Within each one-foot-square hole is placed a transparent cube containing ashes. Under each hole upon the wall there is a small bronze plaque indicating the title, and only the title of a work, such as Remembrance of Things Past, The Counterfeiters, The Inferno, Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, etc. Upon the interior of the walls of the Molino Stucky Building are small plaques with the names of the authors of the works: Proust, Gide, Dante, Milton, Melville, etc. In the lagoon on a man-made island is a small house for the sole habitation of one individual for a limited period of time. Only one individual for a set period of time may inhabit the house, no others will be permitted to stay on the island during its occupation. The lone individual looks across the lagoon to the Cemetery for the Ashes of Thought.»

John Hejduk, Mask of Medusa, ed. Kim Shkapich (New York: Rizzoli, 1985), 80.