Space as an Event. : From Lina Bo Bardi's Teatro Oficina to Giancarlo Mazzanti's Santa Fè Hospital

Abstract

Over time, the term performance has acquired a negative connotation, linked to contemporary pressures towards excellence. However, a deeper analysis of the concept reveals its potential as a tool for activating and promoting human action.

The principle extends to architecture, in which the design actions of subverting, grafting, hybridising, central to a performative work, can determine a process aimed at action. An emblematic example is Bo Bardi's Teatro Oficina in São Paulo in which the traditional theatrical prototype is altered by favouring a visual continuity between city and stage.

Such performative devices trigger a higher degree of interaction when they are placed in places with greater spatial rigidity, such as places of care. In Mazzanti's project for the Santa Fè hospital in Bogotá, the actions aim at subverting the isolation of environments. Interior gardens and permeable facades encourage interaction and well-being, transforming the healthcare experience from a closed context to one of sharing and openness. The work, both theatrical and architectural, through performative devices can become an activator of experiences and meanings, stimulating new relational dynamics.