Spaces of Collective Creation. The House-Museums of Giacomo Balla and Lina Bo Bardi

Abstract

This work investigates two historic house museums dedicated to multidisciplinary creators: Casa Balla, Giacomo Balla’s residence in Rome, and the Glass House, Lina Bo Bardi’s home in São Paulo. Both individuals integrated their creative studios into their domestic spaces, sharing them with other enthusiasts of creativity and art. In both locations, two dimensions intertwine: living and creating, resting and working, family space and social space. Our research explores how these museums’ spatial configurations embody the distinct creative visions of their former inhabitants. Methodologically, we have identified various plastic and spatial oppositions, as well as esthesic and rhythmic categories, that constitute the sensitive organization of the exhibition spaces. While the spatiality of Casa Balla reflects a mode of creation that is characteristic of an aesthetics of experimentation, the Glass House embodies a way of creating characteristic of a rational-functionalist aesthetic.