LA MEMORIA COME LOCUS. IL PROGETTO ATTRAVERSO LA RELAZIONE TRA OGGETTO E ARCHETIPO

The Art of Memory uses analogy through the association of images and places for the classification of information. The technique combines elements of human thought with spatial and architectural constructions. The aim of this technique was to synthesise the most significant number of notions, constructing the most comprehensive knowledge. The place was a physical environment or an architectural space simple to remember. Simultaneously, the images, i.e. the concepts, were symbols of what was to be remembered. The effect of this technique, explored by many authors until the end of the eighteenth century, led to the systematisation of words and places, allowing them to be traced back to architectural types. Although these techniques disappeared due to different factors, it is possible to use the tools of mnemonics to study and master theoretical concepts related to architectural design (understood as a process). “The memory palace” is the tool for constructing an analytical sorting programme that allows the links between the object (or architectural project) and archetype (or instrumental model for study) to be defined. Five key points can lead to the construction of the memory palace containing the theoretical knowledge about the project: identifying an archetype, developing a logical path, recognising hierarchy levels, using memory icons, defining a reading matrix. The narrative, together with the coding system, transforms the project into a research product. The project, in this way, can be grasped into a logical cognitive process. This abductive inference leads to continuous questioning of the sequence of successive steps from case to rule. The research presents the steps for constructing a memory palace elaborated within the Architectural Design Theory Studio course, held during the first semester (October 2020 - February 2021) of the third year of the degree in Science of Architecture at the Politecnico di Torino. The aim is to use the analogy (in terms of the memory palace) as an instrument in experimenting with design theory.