Measure/out of measure. Four renderings of time

The increasingly sophisticated and complex methods for measuring space in the design field seem to divert attention from another dimension: time, which remains an out-of-measure element despite the technological advances. This contribution draws attention to four solutions adopted in different ages and cultural contexts to represent and measure with images a transcendent element like time. Piranesi’s admiration for Roman antiquities brings him to preserve their memory by crafting drawings that show the meticulousness of the archaeologist, the collector’s enthusiasm for ancient finds, and the passionate observer of a grandiose past: the measure of time becomes real in the immediacy of representation. For Gandy, a visionary artist, the present and the future coincide. The beginning and end of the project are two aspects that both evoke deep emotions, having the same rhythm as human life. Rossi finds his way to exorcise the end by recreating with memory the images of past experiences to conceive new projects, in a circular motion beyond any measure. Superstudio tempers its radical critique when the Continuous Monument encounters monuments of the past: its unstop- pable journey through space seems to pause for a moment of reflection on time. In all these cases, a significant element always appears: the personal evaluation of time that cannot overlook the existential factor, as human experience remains the only possible measure.