NULLUS LOCUS SINE GENIO

text by Adriano Dominici

Writing something that might inspire a reflection on the artistic dialogue between music and architecture is a task that I would have willingly renounced. Speaking of art, and even worse, of artistic mash up is a bit like masturbation: when you’re done you always feel like a testicle. But I could not waste this intuition of referring to masturbation as art (or if you want the art of masturbation) therefore I would like to make a few comments.

What has always fascinated me about a particular place, environment or city is its ability to express itself with a unique voice, conveying its own character and identity. This spirit, called genius loci, was originally representative of the patron deity of a place, but today identifies more with the cultural meaning attributed to a city.

The term genius loci is also used in architecture today to establish a phenomenological approach to the study of the environment and serves as a valuable tool for bringing attention to the sociocultural component of analysis. The priority of the postmodern metropolis, as evidenced by many architects, landscape architects and sociologists, is the complexity, the polysemy, the syncretism, the eclectic tradition of different cultures that have created a specific urban patchwork in each city. From this pattern one can conclude that unlike Italian medieval towns, where Schultz identified a strong and unique genius loci, the multiple identities that coexist in the postmodern city allow for the existence of multiple genius loci inspired by the different souls who live in it. This process of multiplication of identity is easily perceived through music.

You do not need history books to see how every city has always been a musical and architectural laboratory simultaneously, giving rise to different genres and styles that have evolved and expanded over time, adding to the character of a particular place. It is not difficult to find examples to quote, it is almost impossible to find uncontaminated genres, but it is embarrassing.