Spazio ibrido. Disposizioni strutturali dello spazio relazionale

The research, titled Hybrid Space. Structural Dispositions of Relational Space, investigates theories and architectural examples that explore the new public‐private realms of contemporary mixité. It examines the uses and forms of a singular architectural‐urban environment — defined as hybrid — which is particularly evident today in densely built cities, especially within heritage contexts. In such places, spontaneous and induced phenomena of spatial organisation and use unfold horizontally and/or vertically, responding to a society and economy increasingly oriented toward cultural production and consumption, integration, and network‐based logic. These are unconventional living spaces, marked by novel functional, social and morphological relationships. Despite bringing together traditionally heterogeneous aspects, such spaces are traversed by today’s lifestyles — more inclusive of diversity, deeply embedded in virtual reality and accelerated in pace. Hybrid space now tends to emerge more often spontaneously than through deliberate design. In the stratified fabrics of European and Mediterranean cities — complex, dense, and horizontally developed — human activities naturally integrate via spatial syncretism that allows their simultaneous coexistence. Conversely, in the layered systems of the North‐American vertical city — characterised by rigid geometries, equal density yet vertically organised — functions are inserted more artificially, creating new spatial forms and fluid configurations enabled by contemporary technical and technological means. In these contrasting contexts, significant urban transformations generate hybrid spaces to be understood within an instinctive or rational multifunctional logic, where relationships between public, social, working and private life increasingly intertwine, seeking new, interrelated and hybrid configurations — both material and immaterial. This dynamic leads to inevitable architectural implications, reorganising space and time differently from the traditionally separated places where such relationships once occurred. The concept of hybrid in architecture thus provides a crucial starting point for rethinking the relationships between form, function and urban context. Rooted in biology, the term has taken on a broader meaning in contemporary architecture, describing spatial typologies that combine heterogeneous elements in dynamic configurations. This dynamism reflects the challenges of contemporary life, where the complexity of human needs translates into spaces capable of accommodating multiple uses and fluid relationships. Research into hybridism focuses not only on multifunctional buildings but also on how space itself can become a medium for integrating social, cultural and spatial diversity. In the contemporary city, the notion of hybrid space is particularly relevant, as the integration of horizontal and vertical elements can create places of connection and interaction that transcend the traditional dichotomy between public and private realms. The research analyses how the interaction of these two systems can become a design key for addressing future challenges, producing spaces capable of adapting to social and urban transformations. Future perspectives include exploring models that promote a balance between density, quality of life and sustainability, assuming hybrid space as a structural device able to mediate between collective needs and the evolution of economic and cultural systems.