Veils and velocities

Robert Kirkbride

doi:10.18682/cdc.vi48.1385

Robert Kirkbride

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18682/cdc.vi48.1385

Keywords: Alberti; architecture; body; decorum; empathy; habit; history; identity; ornament; period; product design; style; upstream; Vitruvius

Abstract

The bonds of fashion and the constructed environment are deep, tectonically and culturally. In medieval spiritual meditation, the mind was built in the image of a
walled city whose buildings were “clothed” by moral understanding; in Renaissance Florence, the philosopher-doctor Marsilio Ficino recommended that planetary colors be worn
and applied as architectural ornament to assist in contemplation and judgment. Linked
etymologically, our habits (abitudine), clothing (abito), and buildings (abitazione) are the
revealing ornaments of our minds, preparing us for everyday life. The array of artifacts and
accessories that extend from clothing to shelter furnishes the imagination with ingredients
for personal and shared memory and identity. This article will consider several historical
and contemporary examples.

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