Edoardo Fabbri
Università Roma Tre (edoardo.fabb@gmail.com; ORCID: 0009-0002-6744-6552).
Architecture as an aporia. For a magical overcoming of the impasse
Abstract: This contribution addresses the contemporary crisis within the context of current socio-environmental emergencies, questioning the ethical and political role of design and of the architect. While the city and urbanization are among the primary causes of global crises, designers are called upon to formulate sustainability strategies that often remain confined to technical and managerial solutions. These approaches, while engaging with issues such as inclusivity, participation, and environmental impact, tend not to challenge the economic and political models that underpin them, often remaining in tacit alliance with neoliberal ideology. The text thus questions the possibility of an ethical design practice that can critically engage with the contradictions inherent in the act of designing itself. Rather than proposing direct solutions to social suffering or environmental disaster, the article seeks to elaborate a new design approach capable of confronting the aporias of its own practice – thus avoiding contributing to the very crises it aims to resolve. Through a comparison between Franco Basaglia’s “destituent and tightrope-walking” approach and the more managerial and reactionary stance of Le Corbusier, the article proposes a vision of architecture not as an exercise in control, but as a practice capable of inhabiting the impasse, transforming it into a critical and generative opportunity. In this sense, aporia becomes the very hallmark of a radical design thinking – one able to rupture reality and renegotiate the meaning of contemporary dwelling.
Keywords: Architecture; Le Corbusier; Franco Basaglia; Aporia; Design.