The (dis)embodiment of architecture. Reflections on the mirroring effect of virtual reality

Virtual reconstructions increase and change our perception of space: indeed, they transform the space into a false reality where our mind and our body temporarily occur to live. Full of details or, on the contrary, free of too fantastic images of interiors, upper floors and lightening systems, virtual reconstructions reflect what we think the space might be: or, actually, do they reflect what we wish the space was? Virtual reconstructions give birth to a third category of space: a place, different from both the real conditions of the archaeological remains and the position we really occupy. The present paper aims at discussing the results of embodying our own person into a fictitious virtual volume, on one hand, and the compulsory effects of disembodiment of architecture to understand each part and component of a whole architectural project. Examples of the results of these special relationships between the body of a building and the body of the person moving through it will be presented. Finally, considerations on the real effects and imagination of perceiving the volumetric space through virtual reconstructions will be accordingly debated.