Labilità e ambiguità del tipo. Note a partire da un progetto "ibrido".

The concept of architectural type, far from being a fixed or immutable notion, is revealed as a dynamic design mechanism capable of generating adaptive and hybridisable spatial configurations. Drawing on a critical re-reading of emblematic historical precedents – from Hadrian’s Villa to the Certosa di Ema, from the Abbey of St. Gall to the Bank of England – the essay investigates how the hybridisation of diverse typologies has historically contributed to the articulation of architectural forms that are both complex and flexible. Through typological reference, the design process becomes responsive to context, materials, construction technologies, and contemporary constraints, allowing for spatial configurations that exceed the scalar and programmatic boundaries of their origins. Within this framework, type operates as both trace and architectural promise – a generative rule that remains open to continuous variation and re-elaboration. This theoretical enquiry is grounded in two Milanese case studies: Giovanni Muzio’s Palazzo dell’Arte and mare culturale urbano, a centre for artistic and cultural production designed by the Bunker practice. The latter originates from a provisional manifesto which, through metaphoric and imagistic language, defines the architectural space as luminous, flexible, performative, and in ongoing dialogue with its urban context. Realised on a peripheral site in Quarto Cagnino, the complex is organised around a cardinal circulation spine connecting a series of autonomous and programme- specific pavilions: theatres, ateliers, public spaces, a bistro, offices, rehearsal rooms, and guest accommodations. The translucent enclosure that defines the site operates simultaneously at the scale of the city as interface, scenographic backdrop, and environmental filter. The project exemplifies the operational potential of typological hybridisation: modular articulation of volumes, functional synergies across heterogeneous programmes, integrated management of spatial connectivity, and a systemic architectural capacity to accommodate variable patterns of use and evolving programmatic scenarios.