Memories and Atmospheres: Learning from the Pammatone Complex in Genoa

Paper presented at the 5th International Congress on Ambiances "Sensory Explorations: Ambiances in a Changing World." Lisbon: October 8–11, 2024. We need memories to co-generate affective atmospheres, which are unique to the extent that they develop from analogies with other experiences. The greatest atmospheric engagement occurs in spaces resonating with our embodied habits, emotional affinities, and body memories. This paper investigates strategies that make a space memorable and observes how memories trigger the atmospheric potential of certain places. Our case study is the Pammatone business and housing complex designed by Franco Albini and Franca Helg in the Piccapietra district in Genoa in the mid-20th century. We purposely selected a building that resulted from an enduring atmospheric praxis rather than an attempt to induce sensorial oversaturation: Albini and Helg were pioneers in teaching how to stage atmospheric spaces—long before the current “atmospheric turn.”