The fact that there is Gypsy architecture may surprise quite a few
people, for Gypsies are regarded as nomads who roam through
the world and settle now here, now there, never stay long in one
place, and consider everything that normal citizens find important
to be an unreasonable restriction of their freedom. Nevertheless,
in southeastern Europe, there exists a remarkable architecture created
by Gypsies. It seems to have been created from a dream: Unreal,
abstruse, and colourful, it is a composition of all the architectural
styles of this world.
Uninfluenced by any deeper knowledge of architectural culture,
each family head chose the style, size and finishings on the basis
of his own personal tastes or memories of travels, houses and
things seen in other countries. The result has been the creation of
bizarre and fantastic jumbles of buildings that it is hard to classify
in terms of western stylistic features. Very often the houses are the
result of enormous jigsaw puzzles created from an assembly of images
or photographs of various different buildings, and their execution
precisely follows these crazy guidelines, perhaps because they
are incomprehensible to those carrying out the project.
Otherwise, how could one possibly explain Indian-style roofs
crowning neoclassical buildings, mansard roofs on structures of
improbable style, Frenchified Chinese pagodas, heterogeneous
assemblies of diverse and contrasting elements.
The structures, the villas gradually soften their bizarre and fantastic
imagery the closer they are built to European countries. Undoubtedly,
the cultural influence of neighbouring countries already
immersed in the culture and lifestyle of Europe has helped to 'contaminate
' the owners and bring their dwellings, the expression of
their wishes, more into line with the ruling culture.
What, however, remains staggering is the quality of the execution
of the complex decorations, of the architectural elements and
buildings that are very often contrasting, of widely differing façades
surmounted by steepling roofs of no practical use whose only
function is to represent, through their lack of proportion and absolute
needlessness, the financial and social power of the family.
Besides pieces of sculpture that are undoubtedly ritual and symbolic
and originating from Indian culture, suns with spiny rays, various
forms of pinnacle, geometrical moons, zoomorphic decorations,
the tops of the roofs bear metalwork inscriptions giving the
date of building and the name of the family or that of the wife, symbolizing
a desire for display and the proclamation of ownership.
Renata Calzi and Patrizio Corno are architects based in Milan.
Carlo Gianferro is a photographer living in Rome.weiterlesen
