När hem blir till museum - atmosfärer för en patisk estetik. Axel Munthes Villa San Michele & Jacques d'Adelswärd Fersens Villa Lysis

Sammanfattning: Villa San Michele and Villa Lysis, formerly homes to Swedish doctor Axel Munthe and baron Jacques d’Adelswärd Fersen, now stand as two museums in Capri, Italy. The essay investigates their current state through a phenomenological tour, complying with Tonino Grifferos’s theory of a neo-phenomenological and philosophic “pathic aesthetic”. This theory argues for the presence of the beholder in their so-called “felt-body” with acts as a receptor for atmospheres of emotional spaces. The essay question: How is the architecture of Villa San Michele and Villa Lysis, as it is today, able to represent the past lives of Munthe and Fersen and their self-image? Other questions the essay attempts to answer are: What are the effects of the shift of the architecture’s original function, and what are the consequences? By analyzing the received atmospheres of the subject’s felt-body of visits to the villas, coupled with an account for the villas’ journey into existence and Munthe and Fersen’s lives the essay question can be answered. The purpose of the essay is to bring about new knowledge to both villas that both represent the island to this day. The conclusion of the investigation mounts that the villas do represent their owners, thanks to their preserved state, the unique COVID-19 conditions as well as their expressive qualities. However, the subjective reception of the atmospheres present speaks for the owners of the villas, in their own unique way, unique to the visitors’ own experience. The consequences of the shift in function from home to museum culminate in a new life of the villas enabling more people to get to know Munthe and Fersen in their own pathic manner.