14/04/2026
Space has to fit with function, right? Actually, the exact same function is translated in different ways through time and space.
In order to understand this, I think we have to take a quick look at churches. The logic of spiritual spaces has basically remained the same for centuries, despite changes in terms of layout occurring because of needs, reforms, and architecture itself. You can feel the same spirituality in a contemporary church and in an ancient one, even if they have very different structure and patina. Religious spaces have just one function: to make you feel spiritual. But have you ever seen a more variegated collection of variations of the exact same function? Think about Borromini’s Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza and Tadao Ando’s Church of the Light. If we think about space as the shared feelings we feel inside it, and we isolate space from its physical structure, we can see that it remains basically always the same.
Actually, a function is a shared emotional response. Feelings and atmosphere are different things. Feelings are what you are looking for, not functionality. Atmosphere is the tool to reach a feeling, and it is what a physical structure gives you. Hence, you can get a shared emotional response through different architectures.
Of course, feelings are personal, and this is why we have so many variations of the same space.