65sion of bewilderment. Just as an inner richness can be discov-
ered in simplicity, conversely, the multifariousness and con-
trastiveness of complex structures can be held together by the
unity of a ‘difficult whole’ (Venturi 1966).
A spatial situation is experienced as complex not solely
by virtue of its structural properties, but also when it permits
or stimulates a multiplicity of options for action and move-
ment. As a rule, then, the increasing penetration of the situ-
ation by an observer yields ‘an infinite fullness of interpre-
tations’ (Friedrich Hölderlin), and leads gradually towards
an enrichment and deepening of perception. The facets and
variants of individual and collective appropriations of spaces
are revealed by continuous > use to be growing steadily in
complexity.
Finally, the contradiction of both/and, which seems at
least initially to call into question the well-considered char-
acter of an architectural > concept, leads to stimulating
multifacetedness and ambiguities. Deployed in an exorbi-
tant or uncontrolled fashion, on the other hand, complexity
leads to indeterminacy or a lack of > orientation, and hence
to the sensation of being overwhelmed, or else arouses the
impression of a mannered and arbitrary jumble. Employed
in a purposeful way, it brings particular delight to puzzle
out or see through the figurative variety, complications and
obscurities of an architectural order that is nonetheless ul-
timately recognizable, and one that consequently fosters its
expressivity.
Literature: Venturi 1966In an architectural composition, the beholder experiences the
comprehensibility of the form and the intentions of its au-
thor. Speaking to him or her through the commensurability
and stringency of this formal composite, is a peculiar ‘will
to composition’, which in qualitative terms goes beyond the
outward appearance of the forms and their combination. InComposition