Le cromie del costruito storico di Ortigia

An active on-going experimentation, carried out within a Laboratory, should take account of the chromatic effects produced by the incidence of light on the amber surfaces of the worked stone. The cut of the stone, the working of the shapes, the alterations, the roughness and the degradation are the first parametric elements that may determine an initial impact of iridescent shades of colour. Everything begins with the dominant role, in chromatic terms, carried out by the brightness emanated by the stone under the effect of the sun’s rays, highlighted following a strategic temporal arc. Light, the amount and its manner of impacting the stone, are fundamental to determine the chromatic variations of the evocative setting of Ortigia that faces onto the promenade or the spectacular public square of the cathedral. Chromatic effects that, like colour, are particularly brilliant as the stone takes on particular tones, embodying evocation and states of mind and, moreover, they may psychologically and emotionally involve the actor of the scene. All is in tune with the theories of Goethe and Kandinsky, according to whom every chromatic tonality may provoke emotions and engage the spectator. The research is focused on the ambients of the historical fabric of a place where the architectonic scenes on the ancient network of roads represent, for students of architectonic culture, in a careful reading of the stratified architecture, the true reservoir of learning and a genuine workshop of stone.