Arhitectura 5-6/2024 (713-714)

"Terroir is the most radical form of the spirit of place, of its identity. It brings together the taste of the earth (remember Heidegger's discussion of the 'lithic character of stone' in The Origin of Art?) and that which is evanescent above it: its light and warmth, winds and rainfall, the balance of the seasons. What is more, terroir reminds us how cultural the concept of nature is, because it also encompasses things man-made: the size of the vineyards and the way they are laid out and processed throughout the year, and the way the vines are laid out and processed during the year, and the must and wine are pressed, by blending or ageing, which intensifies all these data. The most interesting way to understand all these things is to participate in a vertical: to disgorge the same wine from successive years to see how it has grown in value through ageing and how, even within the same wine, from the same parcel, all the variables in the terroir mean that no two wines are ever identical. In one year there was more sun and drought and therefore more sugar in the berry; in another the opposite. Which goes back to saying that every good wine is individual and unique in its nuances and complexity, virtually infinite. If we accept this concept as (also) applicable to architecture, we will see that those motifs that C. Norberg Schulz as attributes of the spirit of place are infinitely more nuanced in terroir and that, yes, we can use terroir as an interpretant of already existing architecture on a pro/pre-eminent site in general." (Augustin Ioan)Together we will savor not only ideas and insights, but also a glass of fine wine to experience terroir in all its forms. Let's decipher the infinite complexity of places and see how architecture, like wine, can reflect the uniqueness of every corner of the world.