"The Fallen Church: From the Ambivalence of the Ellipse to the Ambiguity of Its Fragments "

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to explore the transition from ambivalence to ambiguity within architectural discourse. Drawing upon Gilles Deleuze’s concept of “le monde à deux étages”, ambivalence can be interpreted as a movement within a “two-storey”, binary world—characteristic for mannerism, baroque, but also the avant-garde, as emphasized by Siegfried Giedion. In contrast, ambiguity represents a hesitation among the world’s multiplicities, offering a more nuanced approach to engaging with architectural spaces. This approach, embracing uncertainty and a multiplicity of meanings, provides a framework for the case study on the adaptive reuse of the “Fallen Church,” a 17th-century ruin in Grottole, Italy. This methodology enables the structure to encapsulate diverse histories and envision various futures, opening up a possibility for engagement with the fragmented realities of today.