Saper vedere Bruno Zevi

Paraphrasing the title of one of Bruno Zevi's most widely read books is the prod of the attempt to explain the vigor of his solicitation: how to look at architecture. The issues that Zevi discussed in the now distant 1948, still seem to be very timely. Since then the tools for gaining knowledge and for the design of architecture have changed, but our gaze seems to be affected by a myopia that, today more than in the past, does not allow us to see beyond the glossy images of contemporary architecture. Since then, architecture had become weak - in response to the weak thinking of the Vattiana conception - subsequently it liquefied - following the issues of the uncertain society identified by Bauman - and it currently tends even to dehumanize – betraying its own role of art in the service of man. Therefore, today more than ever, it is necessary to know how to look at architecture in order to give it the right interpretation in society. The help comes from a not too distant past - only seventy years have passed since the publication of that book and a hundred since the birth of its author - but in the meantime there has been a more and more consolidated - especially in the context of studies of quantum gravity - idea that only space exists. The debate on space is in fact still completely open and sees two different philosophical conceptions opposed: the first, wants space to exist in itself as an entity; while the second observes space as a relation. In any case, space is always the measure of itself, which in architecture does not seem to hold up. Starting from these considerations, we want to verify the topicality of the reflections on Zevi's space. Knowing how to look at Bruno Zevi is therefore the attempt, immersed in current architectural landscapes, to give an answer to the following questions: is the spatial interpretation of architecture still the measure of the value of this art? How can all the other interpretations of architecture be considered derivatives of the spatial one?