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1. Good afternoon to everyone. In this work we would like to highlight the risks that the imbalance between the three Vitruvian components entails, in particular, when the role of the structure within the design process is underestimated inevitably leading to a marked gap between idea and realization. 2. In architecture, a structure is the resistant organism that allows a building to keep its shape and position unchanged while dealing with gravity, atmospheric agents and natural events. 3. To this definition, of a technical nature, we can immediately associate another one of a more general nature, conceived to identify, even conceptually, the architectural organism as a whole, definitively summarized by Leon Battista Alberti in his essay. 4. Furthermore, the way of thinking about this unitary system has always been influenced by the personality and character of the designer. The shape of the building depends on a conscious choice that gives the building the ability to transmit a message, to present itself with a more or less hidden meaning to represent the aesthetic will of the creator. 5. The reference to the Vitruvian triad, as basis of unitary conception of design and the consequent reference to compositional coherence, is far from being dated. The bond between the components is so binding that it cannot be dissolved under any circumstances. The final result of a building is always the result of the coexistence, and competition, between the structural, organizational and formal components. 6. In order to indicate a hypothetical direction of investigation regarding the different structural conceptions developed over centuries, not only from a chronological point of view but also from a designing point of view, we tried to identify three main categories in which the Vitruvian Firmitas exhibits: Predominant, Declared, Integrated. A series of representative examples of how the structure has been interpreted to characterize an artifact are highlighted. A fourth category, admittedly contradictory, has also been identified, Denied Firmitas. 7. Predominant Firmitas is when the structural language is called to play a decisive role in the creative process of a building until it becomes its dominant feature. The structural aspect is predominant compared to the other components, distributive or formal, and the resistant organism informs the whole construction becoming itself representation. 8. In the Nuraghi, for instance, the highly evocative form is the result of a particular construction technique based on the so-called pseudo-arch. The adopted technology was adapted at the same time for both representative and functional purposes. The chimney effect created by the realized pseudo-dome allowed for a change of air useful for maintaining an adequate internal microclimate. In another example of the same structural system, like the tomb of Agamemnon, is the symbolism that completely permeates the form. 9. The curved walls in solid bricks of Eladio Dieste give the walls greater stiffness, making them more resistant to vertical loads. At the same time, they embody the very image of the building which is represented by the sinuous trend of the walls; the supporting structure is form. 10. In the Philips Pavilion the "curtains" consist of thin concrete shells made using a construction technique tested for the occasion by the contractor. A system based on concrete slabs, measuring 1.0 square meters, prefabricated on site, and subsequently assembled in elevation. The slabs were curved and left to mature on suitably shaped piles of sand and then fixed in the space created by two networks of steel cables hooked to the support poles. A sort of large, completely self-supporting curtain that makes the structure coincide with the shape of the building. 11. In more recent times, other architects have tried their hand at creating structural forms. Among these are Tadao Ando and Zaha Hadid who created iconic buildings starting from different assumptions, but still reaching a final form entirely realized from the load-bearing structure of the building. 12. Declared Firmitas When the structural language is clearly stated, but not predominantly, and organically integrates with the other components of the architectural project. The supporting structure is the main component and openly declares its role in the architectural composition; in the overall design the spatial progressions are often kept in view giving rhythm and balance to the final configuration. 13. The classical Greek temple is the supreme example of this approach. The ordering module interpreted by the Doric column is at the same time structural matter and overall design, space measure and constructive evidence. In the following centuries the load-bearing elements become increasingly slender and tall, up to the apotheosis of the Gothic cathedrals. With steel technology, the elements become thinner forming a grid that contains the space, always measured and marked by the design of the structural parts. 14. With the advent of reinforced concrete, the structural frame is definitively freed from the envelope allowing for extreme formal and compositional freedom and is often used in an evident way by caging the space and simultaneously freeing up large internal surfaces to be used freely. Also, steel used as a regulating element that guarantees substance and order. 15. Integrated Firmitas When the structural conception influences, like the other components, the architectural composition, without clearly declaring itself. The three components are in perfect balance. Structure, function and form come together in a single entity where each plays its role at the service of the whole and without any of the components prevailing over the others. 16. The Pantheon shows us how this perfect integration is possible. Roman concrete allows the creation of a vaulted space without showing itself, without highlighting its powerful presence, and gives the space below a unique quality, both intimate and social. Villa Savoye is the incarnation of the Lecorbusian Five Points and was made possible by the technology of reinforced concrete which, with the thinning of the pillars, highlights the compositive freedom without representing oneself, without showing one's ability, but remaining integrated into the overall design. 17. In the Sydney Opera House, the shells that cover and protect the halls for the performances are made of prefabricated reinforced concrete elements covered with ceramic panels without ever highlighting their structural complexity. Finally, in the House on the Waterfall, technology allows Wright to integrate with nature, highlighted by the reinforced concrete 'tray' terraces that stretch out into the surrounding environment. 18. Negated Firmitas When the representative image of the building becomes the ultimate (and only) purpose of the architecture and the other components are annihilated in order to achieve this purpose. However, while a building can also, even absurdly, derogate from the distributional aspect, it certainly cannot disregard the supporting structure. Without the structure a volume cannot keep its shape. 19. Whichever is the building technology, any complex construction is now considered anyhow possible. The feeling of absence of (building) constraints directs the invention of ‘new shapes’ towards the individual research of amazing by exalting the “diversity”, “originality”, “uniqueness”. 20. Behind any construction it must be an idea that informs and guides all design choices. In all the cases mentioned the strength of the idea conditions the development of the construction, without ever disregarding the structural component to be exploited for the desired purposes. The technology is adapted to realize the designer's idea. 21. However, the desire to create a representative image completely disconnected from the functions and spaces that the building contains (case d), makes the structure loses its expressive and propositional character becoming a simple support for the covering. The complex forms created, independent of the supporting structure, often turn out to be detached from the original design idea. 22. Today creativity is freer, designers are in the conditions of dominating technique from the instrumental point of view. But are they also in the condition for putting it in the “service of the spirit”? The designer should have in mind what he is looking for, he has to evaluate and decide, hopefully basing on a principle of inner coherence and necessity, concerning the work to realize. The designer can keep the rudder of research firmly towards the final solution by finding the balance between the Vitruvian components and avoiding formal and communicative drifts that could affect the unity of the composition and the overall ethics of the building.