MANIFESTO | MÓNICA HIDALGO

MANIFESTO

Re-reading stories of houses in spain THERAPEUTIC ARCHITECTURE

BY; MÓNICA ANDREA HIDALGO PÉREZ

INFO THIS MANIFESTO IS WRITTEN BY THE EXCHANGE STUDENT OF MEXICO: MÓNICA ANDREA HIDALGO PÉREZ, IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ALICANTE. WITH THE COLLABORATION OF GERMAN STUDENTS IN ARCHITECTURE: SANDRA KESSELMEIER AND VERA MARSCHALL. UNDER THE COORDINATION AND SUPERVISION OF THE ARCHITECT DR. JAVIER SANCHEZ MERINA.

INDEX 4,5.- Architectural projects 4, the subject, themes and objectives 6,7.- Stories of houses 8,9.- Choosing a house... telling a story 10,11.- Technical research of the house 12,13.- Criteria of my choice. Making a video 14.- Therapeutic architecture 15.- Working with schizophrenia

16,17.- A new ending to the the original story 18,19.- Action drawings + techniques 20.- Microarchitecture methodology 21.- Analysis of emotions and solutions 22,23.- Microarchitecture, developing and final result 24,25.- Final task, architectural responses 26,27.- My experience working in a international multidisciplinary team 28.- Bibliography 29,30.- MANIFESTO

ARCHITECTURAL PROJECTS 4 We believe architecture is part of specific stories, of affections and dreams, of interpersonal projects, besides being the result of a negotiation and the unexpected.

This course is built around a series of articles, "Stories of Houses"

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‘’THERAPEUTIC ARCHITECTURE’’ Nature’s imagination is richer than ours. In that sense, there are defects, disorders and diseases that can play a paradoxical role, by bringing out latent powers, developments, evolutions, forms of life, that might never be seen, or even be imaginable, in their absence. It is the

paradox of a disease, and turns into a “creative” potential.

In this course we worked with MENTAL diseases.

One should redefine the concepts of “health” and “disease” and to see them in terms of the ability of the organism to create a new

organization and order, one that fits its special, altered disposition and needs, rather than in the terms of a rigidly defined “norm.”

The application of this belief into architecture will form a central theme of this Project.

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How can an architect design a house for his older sister who has just become a widow?

What can an architect offer when his client, who is confined to a wheelchair, asks for a complex design that will become his world?

And when art lovers offer total freedom for the design of their house?

The houses analysed have been selected for

their good architecture and for having been designed by a famous

architect.

But more than that, there is also an indispensable ingredient of having clients tell a passionate story that

generates the project.

Stories of Houses include information about the clients, their requests and needs, without which one cannot begin to understand the final result.

In this course we focused on the examples built in Spain. We deconstructed these single-family homes that are classified in the books of architecture as works of authorship, and gave them value to their origins that belongs to cultural realities.

Since these homes were built during the 20th Century, cultural concepts, generating these projects, have changed in our contemporary society. This fact allowed us to rethink and

update these architectures through transformations, extensions, demolitions, etc.

READING THE STORIES…

Can Lis and Can Feliz in Mallorca, by Jørn Utzon After having to abandon the construction of the Sidney Opera House in 1966, the Danish architect Jørn Utzon on his way home, made an intermediate stop at Mallorca. The island fascinated him to such a degree that he decided to build a summer house there. It was located facing the Mediterranean, on a cliff near a small fishing village and he gave it the name of his wife, Lis. In 1994, he felt obliged to move from his house, which had turned into a place of pilgrimage for architects. Utzon built another house, Can Feliz, also in Mallorca, but this time its location is kept a total secret.

Small House for a Kolonihaven, by Enric Miralles In 1996 the Spanish architect Enric Miralles was asked to design a little wooden house near Copenhagen, a project that he elaborated with his wife, Benedetta Tagliabue. The result was a house that came to reflect a family lifetime. They gave their small daughter a miniature chair and she started to play with it, taking her first steps with it and moving it. Like if trying to draw these movements on the floor, the parents generated the plan of the house. From its limits a timber framework was brought to life which forms the volumes which embraces, exactly like a dress, the movement of the girl with her chair and the adults sitting around the table. The house varies in height. It has a very low ceiling in the children's room but becomes higher by the sitting room for adults. Seen through its section, the house captures this passage of time the house grows with the inhabitant, from being a child to become an adult.

The House of the Rain (Santander), by Juan Navarro Baldeweg Returning from America, where he had spent five years researching art and architecture in the Institute of Technology Massachusetts (MIT), Juan Navarro Baldeweg received his first commission from his brother to design a weekend house in the hills of the Cantabria. The house is a manifestation of his conceptual investigations but, yet like a box of resonance, it needed an inhabitant to listen to it. The House of Rain draws its name from the climatic conditions that surround it. The stratification of building materials - stone, glass and zink - creates the impression that the rain transforms the house; dressing it, changing its textures and colours, resounding in it.

Blas House in Sevilla la Nueva (Madrid), by Alberto Campo Baeza Having a steep and “uncomfortable” site yet with a beautiful view over the horizon, a professor of literature in Madrid approached the architect, Alberto Campo Baeza, to design a house for his family where they could “listen to music”. As a present he gave the architect a beautiful book of poetry, as it were provisions for starting the design process. Thus, the client directed the architect whose world-wide reputation was recognised for his poetic treatment of natural light. With this mutual cultural understanding between the client and the architect, a house was being born where one listens to the music within the silence. In Blas house one finds peace within oneself and gains freedom. The experience is deeply personal, based on reflections; forgetting and remembering and relating oneself with the environment.

House in Corrubedo (Galicia), by David Chipperfield An author of prestigious architecture in Europe, Asia and America, the British architect, David Chipperfield decided in 1996 to design his family holiday house in a small fishing village in the North of Spain. It was in Corrubedo, the same place the legendary Spanish architects Manuel Gallego and Alejandro de la Sota used to spend their vacations. It was a place in front of the wild sea and unique dunes that represented a complete contrast to their hectic urban life in London.

Houses in the San Matías Neighbourhood (Granada), by Juan Domingo Santos The work initiated in 1989, It started with the City Council showing interest in renovating a deteriorated neighbourhood in the centre of Granada known for prostitution, which led to Juan Domingo Santos receiving a commission to renovate one of the old brothels. Observing basic principles of community life, the architect sought to generate the project from the neighbours’ interests. By negotiating about parts of their dwellings, a game was established which allowed all members to enjoy spaces that they had been longing for. If one is able to ask the neighbours for a cup of sugar or pinch of salt or to water the plants the architect asked himself why not to go one step further and ask, in the same natural manner, if one could borrow part of their living room or some other spaces they were not using but which one felt really necessary for one’s needs. Without a doubt, negotiation, as a concept, is already an architectural element. With it, new architecture is created which shows a special consideration towards its habitants, and refuses arrogant postures that have broadened the gap between society and architecture.

Casa en Never Never Land (Ibiza) by Andrés Jaque.

In spite of the story of an Ibiza that has been Institutionalised as an alternative to the boring, alienating, Industrialised West -a story that has been successfully exploited as a product for the global consumption -the commonplace isla experience is generally somewhat more complex. The House in Never Never Land explores the role played by architecture, as a practice of technological restitution of social relations, in assembling spheres of intimacy together with those of group actions and other in which the images of desire are produced. It explores the way that the design of the material systems used as a basis for every day experience can help us allow this to happen in different áreas.

Spiritual Retreat House (Sevilla), by Emilio Ambasz Located on a hill overlooking a lake, the House of Spiritual Retreat, designed by Emilio Ambasz 1975, is presented as a very strong hieratic, only after the last lap on the road. This site was once a treeless prominence, it is now surrounded by olive trees. Two high and rough white stucco walls, making a right angle, creating a surround for the house, and defining the main entrance. The balcony is a feature reminiscent of Andalusian architecture and a remarkable example of regional craftsmanship composed of over 3,000 pieces: provides a breathtaking view of the lake and the surrounding landscape. To access the balcony, two metal ladders are provided cantilever designed so that an invite to climb. In the high walls, there are waterfalls in the handrails excavated, as deep grooves. The water rushing down, generated at the bottom of the stairs and the semicircular central part, a lot of sound. When the visitor go to the terrace, where the water originates, the sound becomes quieter, until it seems to be totally silent.

CHOOSING A STORY…

House in La Moraleja (Madrid)

by Miguel Fisac

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HOUSE IN LA MORALEJA (MADRID) BY MIGUEL FISAC It was at the beginning of the 1970’s when the engineer Pascual de Juan Zurita decided to build a house in a wood of oak trees close to the airport of Barajas North of Madrid.

He chose the architect Miguel Fisac, who was then well known for his many patents, more than a hundred newspaper articles, numerous lectures, and had already built a substantial amount of work.

Despite the modest commission, the client managed to persuade the famous architect. Fisac accepted with the condition that he could respect the oak trees to the maximum and could take this opportunity to research further with his inventions and with the engineer’s knowledge about the use of the concrete.

The development of the architect It is difficult to understand the powerful expression behind Fisac’s work without making reference to his life.

Within that context, it seems paradoxical that in the many texts written about him on the occasion when he won the National Prize for Architecture (2003) or when he had received the Golden Medal for Architecture in 1994, no reference was made to the close relationship between the evolution of his work and of him as a person.

From a very early age, Miguel Fisac had undertaken a search for personal references. He combined his architecture studies, which were interrupted by the Civil War, with a deep search into the Christian Spirit.

At that moment architecture mainly emerged as a question of monumental styles that mourned the Spanish Empire. When in 1942 Fisac graduated from the School of Architecture in Madrid, he told us that “as we were only ten who graduated, there was a lot to be done. A month later I was commissioned a work and I plunged in without thinking.” Already in his first project, to transform a lecture theatre into a chapel dedicated to the Holy Spirit, Fisac started his experimental research. Very soon he gained experience from the huge amount of work he had, “because there was nothing”, putting into practice his innumerable inventions: Fisac’s brick, his first patent from 1951, which managed with its inclination to hide the joint to the next one in order to seal and isolate more efficiently, his window systems, the concrete “bones” (structure), the stands for lamps and furniture and the flexible moulds made of plastic and rope that gave the concrete a soft aspect. The 1950’s was a period of intense activity which came to revolutionise the facets of the Spanish churches, until in 1955 when he left Opus Dei. That same year Fisac started his journey alone around the world. It was as if he was embarking upon a new search for references, visiting many works of architecture. Disappointed by the purist vision of the Modern Movement, which Fisac criticised as being “inhuman rationalism”, it was in this journey that he discovered Asplund’s work and Japanese architecture.

A mental itinerary for designing the project What for? The brief asked for a house for a couple with seven children and Pascual’s mother.

Where? Before drawing or deciding on building materials for the house in La Moraleja, it was important to study the wood of oaks that grew on the 2600 m2 site. It was a site, which also at the time of the commission, was affected by busy air traffic from the airport of Barajas that passed directly over the land.

How? Fisac drew the plan of the house respecting the beautiful oaks. From the entrance hall, one is led into a big common space, which is without any partition walls but organised by the soft curves of the facade. It consists of a living room and an area for conversations and listening to music by the chimney, both with a view to the south. At the other end, with a view to the north towards Guadarrama, there is the area to play bridge and the dining hall. From here one has a direct access to the nucleus of the kitchen, a laundry and an ironing room, the servant’s bedroom and a patio, which has an independent entrance and includes the laundry line. Privacy for the office and the family’s bedrooms was achieved by a covered patio. Due to the inclination of the site, the access to the basement is also at ground level. Here the garage, the chauffeur’s bedroom, a play area for the children, and changing rooms for the swimming pool were arranged.

To enclose these spaces, Fisac made use of one

of his inventions which enlisted the flexible qualities of the concrete. In the house in La Moraleja, white concrete was poured into flexible plastic moulds in order to transmit the quality of the paste and weight of the concrete, leaving its tactile appearance soft and spongy. Additionally, these concrete panels were especially designed so as to incorporate double-glazed windows that were fastened with neopreno and thus they would be sound proof against the noise of the flying aeroplanes.

“I don’t know what”. Despite the reconstruction after the fire in the house in 1997 and the recent alterations which the new owners did without consulting the architect, the house maintains the powerful plastic qualities of the concrete and the technical solutions of air tightness.

Different tones of greens and browns from the oak trees draw out forms and textures changing with the rays of the sun and project onto the cedar walls and openings as well as onto the white concrete walls. What Miguel Fisac designed for the

enjoyment of the family was “a fraction of humanised air.”

By continuously rethinking, Fisac formulated a methodology of

how to start a project.

With the questions: What

for? Where? How? as well as an “I don’t know what”, he started a series of reflections which had to be responded to in order to achieve a work of architecture.

HOUSE IN LA MORALEJA (MADRID) BY MIGUEL FISAC

GENERAL FLOOR PLAN

ELEVATIONS & SECTION

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B-B’

C-C’

D-D’

E-E’

CRITERIA OF MY CHOICE

The main reason why I like this house is the play of materials, almost like an optical illusion, how can you make, a hard and resistant material like concrete, look really soft and smooth? On a facade?

At first, I was very intrigued about how Fisac has managed to create such large windows without any additional structural support and, at the same time, they are really isolated from the noise of the airport. Later I discover he used neopren on the frames and double glass.

I think is beautiful the way architecture and landscape dialogue in this house and I really liked that he decided to respect the existing trees, and even integrate them to the Project.

I find fascinating, in the story, that Fisac always was looking to innovate, not only in materials, also he created a methodology for design, and I think that is just as important as the drawings and construction itself I made a video explaining some of the things I value the most in an architectural work…

The best things in life are those little moments when you truly understand that we have a limited time on Earth, and we have no way to know when our time is up. Then... you begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one you had… That little moments are what really matter, because they make big things happen…

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MAKING A VIDEO‌

With architecture is the same‌ We have the ability to materialize an expression of the soul and creativity. That can manifest it and transcend it in real life. Design is about creating -not just habitable spaces- but generate emotions, feelings and sensations. Being connected with ourselves, nature, loved ones, family, friends, everything. Capture the spirit of the client and the essence of the space.

THERAPEUTIC ARCHITECTURE Therapeutic architecture can be described as the people-centered, evidence-based discipline of the built environment, which aims to identify and support ways of incorporating those spatial elements that interact with people physiologically and psychologically into design.

Architecture is an important factor in people's lives when they are well; when they experience ill-health and are less able to cope it becomes even more important.

We aim to show how

architecture can contribute to mental health and mental health promotion, combining psychotherapeutic methods with architectural design to create healing healthcare environments that can enhance and support the care and treatment process.

This project explores the design of specialized

residential architecture for people with mental health problems, it aims

This project provides a fascinating insight into the effect that architectural design can have on all of us, but particularly on those with mental health problems.

to understand how architectural design interacts with the therapeutic milieu, the care programs, and actually living in the spaces.

WORKING WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA‌ Us as a team, we decided to work with schizophrenia.

It is very difficult to understand this disorder in terms of treatment and therapy and we had to learn a lot about it.

Personally, I am very happy to have chosen this disease, because at some point I managed to understand how people live with this disorder and what they need to feel in safe in a environment where they can be free and express themselves without having to be inmates.

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder often characterized by abnormal social behavior and failure to recognize what is real.

Common symptoms include false beliefs, unclear or

confused thinking, auditory hallucinations, reduced social engagement and emotional expression, and lack of motivation. Individuals with schizophrenia

may experience hallucinations (most reported are hearing voices), delusions (often bizarre or persecutory in nature), and disorganized thinking and speech. Social withdrawal, sloppiness of dress and hygiene, and loss of motivation and judgment are all common. There is often an observable pattern of emotional difficulty, for example lack of responsiveness, impairment in social cognition and symptoms of paranoia. Social isolation commonly occurs. Difficulties in working and longterm memory, attention, executive functioning, and speed of processing. The person may be largely mute, remain motionless in bizarre postures, or exhibit purposeless agitation, all signs of catatonia. About 30

to 50% of people with schizophrenia fail to accept that they have an illness or their recommended treatment.

People with schizophrenia are likely to have additional conditions, including major depression and anxiety disorders; the lifetime occurrence of substance use disorder is almost 50%. Social problems, such as long-term unemployment, poverty, and homelessness are common. The

average life expectancy of people with the disorder is ten to twenty five years less than the average life expectancy.

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A NEW ENDING FOR THE STORY‌

The engineer Pascual de Juan Zurita and his wife really enjoyed living in the house that Fisac had created for them, it was a perfect house only for them and their seven lovely children. Finally they had enough space to play and a separate room for every single one of them. The relationship between the owner and the housekeepers were really good as well, everyone lived in perfect harmony.

Some years later, the children were not children anymore, they started to married and moved to another houses with their own family. But all of them always were thinking on the house in Moraleja as 'HOME'. Although most of them didn't live near by, the house was never empty, always there was someone on visit. On holidays, the house seemed to burst from all the people, Pascual and his wife, the seven sons and the 15 grandchildren.

Several years later, Pascual's wife died... everyone were sad because his father was living alone. It seemed that he will never could recuperate of his lost, so, he died two years later...

But... then, the big question was: Who will inherit the house? Of course, everyone loved the house where they grew.

But they decided to give the house to the youngest brother because he had five children, all of them younger than 15 years.

He was married to a beautiful russian woman and they were a charming family. The house started to fill with life and joy again...

But suddenly...

Paula, one of the girls, with just 8 years, started to act in an unusual way and the family was very concerned because the doctors said that it was something unknow and strange, specially for a little girl.

The diagnostic: childhood schizophrenia.

At first, they were shocked because it was something atypical and they didn't know anything about the disease. So they started an intense research to help this little girl, they talked with many therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, neurologists and they finally realized that it wasn't impossible. It was going to be hard, for sure, but worth it.

Two years later, today, she is receiving her treatment and she is trying to adapt and live a normal life.

The father contact us to help all the family adapting the house (the lovely house of his childhood) to their particular way of living, Paula as well.

He thinks that all changes are difficult, but always for better.

He told us that his father Pascual would be really proud of him.

So, let's get started.

ACTION DRAWINGS In this exercise we had to draw the client in some areas of the house doing different activities or actions in order to analyze and understand how the disease affects their daily lives and be able to propose architectural solutions according to different situations.

Also, each drawing have a different technique, because, our course was composed mostly of exchange students from different countries, so we shared different drawing techniques we use in our universities.

Action: Sunny day on the pool | Technique: Hand drawing

For me, this was a drawing where I wanted to put myself in the place of Paula, enjoy a sunny day in the pool seen through her eyes. I tried to represent the visual hallucinations, the false beliefs and the confused thinking.

Action: Sunny day on the pool | Technique: Hand drawing This is a second versi贸n of the first drawing.

I tried to specifically represent the false belief that the water of the pool is poisoned by some type of substance that comes from the trees and is in the air, so she can not enjoy the pool in the same way that their family.

ACTION DRAWINGS

Action: Washing hands | Technique: Hand drawing + digital design This drawing express some of the auditory and visual hallucinations that Paula has.

Maybe she can not see them, but she feels that someone is always observing her in all the actions she does and sometimes they make comments about her. She never feels totally alone, because these presences are always by her side.

Action: drawing | Technique: digital design The idea is to create a special place where Paula can be herself and express freely as possible. I proposed a geodesic dome that consists of four parts: 1. A lower part where she can freely draw and paint on the walls, where she can express everything she sees and feels.

2. The second part consists of mosaics with vibrant color (I took as inspiration the mosaics of the Alhambra), this gives joy and reminds her that she is a girl like others and she has the right to enjoy their childhood as much as others.

3. The third part is the top of the geodesic dome, this is made of glass to allow sunlight illuminate the interior, projecting around different shadows.

4. The fourth part is inside the dome, a large empty space to allow her dance, jump, lie down, or whatever she wants to do.

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MICRO-ARCHITECTURE METHODOLOGY Micro-architecture refers to architectural solutions that can be adapted to the human body. For this exercise, first, we did a deep analysis of the characteristics of the disease and then made a synthesis to develop a methodology of study to find possible solutions that could fit the human body. This, to be able to create a micro-model

representing a proposal resolution in an architectural level (structure) but developing it into a model that can be used, something close to the body.

Methodology of analysis, synthesis and design Think about the good things of schizophrenia and focus just on these.

Choose the main emotions that Paula can feel every day: Fear, confusion, bravery, happiness, love.

Investigate the definitions and characteristics of these emotions.

Analyze specific events or actions that make her feel these emotions.

Analyze how we can help her or what we can provide her to overcome these emotions

Positive aspects about schizophrenia: -She has a special and different intelligence.

-She has the ability to develop some skills more than other normal children.

-She is the god in her own world.

-She can learn to live with hallucinations and even, control them or turn them to her advantage

FEAR

Distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., wheter the threat is real or imagined.

She feels fear of what?

-The voices in her head -Scary hallucinations -Someone following her

-Loosing her head, going crazy -Not achieve anything in life -Not having a normal childhood.

How we can help her?

-A calm down melody -A security blanket -Ways to express emotions and feelings

CONFUSION

BRAVERY

Can not distinguish between real and unreal.

Quality of mind/spirit to meet or face courageously difficulties, danger, fear, etc.

She feels confusion about what?

-Real and unreal -The voices in her head

She must feel brave of what?

-The treatment and the evolution of her disease -Life itself and society

-The characteristics of her disorder -Her everyday decisions

How we can help her?

-Ways of expression: painting, making music, dancing, sports, writing.

-Try to live a normal childhood -Face the hallucinations and their consequences.

How we can help her?

-Make her feel strong -Give to her ways/spaces to express and grow as a normal child -Try to improve her strenghts and abilities.

HAPPINESS

State of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.

What makes her feel happy?

-Play with other children -When she feels free to express and do whatever she wants

-Know that she is improving on treatment -Feel normal -Share quality time with her family

How we can help her?

-Providing her a safe and comfortable space to grow.

-Make her feel that she has the freedom to move and express.

LOVE

A feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child or friend

What makes her feel love?

-Protection and support from her family

How can we make her feel always the love and protection of her family?

A SECURITY BLANKET

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MICROARCHITECTURE

Based on the analysis of emotions that we previously did, the security blanket is developed with unusual materials that do not seem what they really are, we decided to play with the materials as Fisac did. On one side we have the soft and warm cotton representing the love and protection of his family, and on the other side we have the mirror texture that allows her to always remember that she is more than her condition and she can achieve great things, it gives the courage to go out into the world and be successful like any normal person.

“Architecture adapts to the client’s emotions’’

We decided to create a mini geodesic dome which represents the protection Paula feels when she is in an environment that allows her to express and be herself despite her condition, it allows her to develop their skills in a safe and comfortable space. So this make her feel the security that she is able to grow even out of this safe area and live a normal life.

Besides this, she has a special ability to express their

emotions through art, leaving a trail everywhere she goes to, and this helps her to feel productive and have a way to show all the special things she sees and feels, making it easier for her and her family to show to

the world how amazing it could be to live with this disorder...

FINAL RESULT

ARCHITECTURE THAT REACTS TO THE CLIENT EMOTIONS

As an organic being

According to our microarchitecture we wanted to develope our project in a way, that reacts to the emotions of Paula, that the house respond to her needs without having to ask for.

Our projects is a lot about connection from inside and outside and how much Paula likes to open herself to the environment and express herself through art, music, dancing, etc. With this argument we thought: The function of the facade's walls is to separate the inside from the outside ambient, creating a

what if we give her the oportunity to eliminate this physical barrier and create a whole private space inside and, even outside the house? So she can have contact with the nature and run free in his own house without having to be private space for the habitant,

inmate inside rigid walls?

ACTION?

LIGHT?

SOUND?

REACTION

REACTION

REACTION

So, we take the wooden parts of the

facade for this transformation.

We created three different systems 'intelligent pannels' that react to the sound, light and emotions.

The walls, that are supposed to separate the inside from the outside are now connecting spaces. So she can be free to run, walk or dance in and out of the house without a physical limitation.

Thus, Paula can choose the aspect of opening and connection with the environment depending on what she feels

When children laugh and make loud noise, this parts of the facade just open allowing them to run to the garden and pool. 

These panels can also react to light and sound.  To regulate the light in the house  To help Paula to face and deal her emotions  To allow the children to have fun and play with Paula as a normal girl

Night: everything closed Morning: Some light to wake up people When silent: a little light When loud: everything open

Also we created a special private space for her, that is connected with his room through the wooden wall that creates a fascinating stair where she can go up to the tree and just disconnect of everything. She can go there when she needs to be alone, relax or when she is afraid of something, this gives her the security that she has an exclusive place for her, away from the noise and where she can clarify their thoughts and be free to express their feelings, even hide herself there and get invisible between the leaves. With an amazing view.

In this way we connect the inside with the outside and also in this connection we created an oportunity to disconnect.

MY EXPERIENCE WORKING IN A INTERNATIONAL MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM I think one of the hardest things about working with people from different countries was to achieve mutual agreements where we could integrate the views of all of us, although, I was very surprised that many times we thought the same ideas or

complement each other arguments very well.

Language was also a complicated issue, because none us has English as a mother tongue, so many times we had difficulty explaining our ideas, in terms of language.

One of the main trouble we had was to focus on the positive things of schizophrenia, as it is quite a complicated disorder and was easy to get lost in the negative aspects and to feel sorry for the girl or want to isolate her from society, which was definitely not the aim of the project‌ when this happened, we returned to the list that we made about the positive things of schizophrenia and the list of emotions.

Micro-architecture was a challenge since the beginning, at first it seemed to us a crazy and pointless task, but later we discovered that it help us so much to develop the final task easier. The materials, the construction itself and the final video was an adventure in which we worked together until go mad to achieve a great work and we felt satisfied with the final result.

The final drawings were also an exciting task, we wanted to fly and give to the girl the best home as possible, I think even, at some point, we loved the girl and her family, although this did not exist, we fell in love with the project and we wanted to create the best project ever.

In the end, I think we got a pretty good job‌ and the day of the final presentation we felt very happy and proud with our work.

I am very happy to have worked with this two amazing girls and I will never hesitate to work again with them, they are very intelligent, kind, fearless and passionate about architecture, just like me.

TEAM 4

BIBLIOGRAPHY http://storiesofhouses.blogspot.com.es/ http://re-readingstoriesofhousesinspain.blogspot.com.es/ http://re-readingstoriesofhouses3.blogspot.com.es/ http://re-readingstoriesofhouses2.blogspot.com.es/ http://re-readingstoriesofhouses.blogspot.ca/ https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esquizofrenia http://www.fundacionfisac.org/ https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Fisac

INDIVIDUAL VIDEO https://youtu.be/yJmNyqpTpXw MICROARCHITECTURE VIDEO https://youtu.be/Yud8asFI8Ss MAKING PROCESS MICROARCHITECTURE VIDEO https://youtu.be/xBsn-Q-Zy2E

http://www.coam.org/ Special thanks to ‘’Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Madrid”for providing us all the documentary archive of the house in la Moraleja

M A N I F E S T O

I think the course of Projects 4 it developed around the idea of how to face a project and how to encourage the creative process, to originate a personal methodology of design. It made us question how to move from ideas to paper and how to generate those ideas, because architecture is not just do a great drawing and create a marvelous building.

I believe that architecture is a multidisciplinary complex science, that grows around so many other sciences, arts, mathematics, and basically everything since you are born until you die. And some architects don't realize or consider the importance of create atmospheres, ambients, because it is amazing how a certain space can make you feel a lot of things and influence your daily life, your feelings, emotions. Everyone of us have been in a place that make us feel great for the simple fact of being there, and the question is: how to generate this? not just design hard walls with windows, floor and a ceiling with expensive and luxury finishes. But to propitiate sensations, feelings and create great moments at the same time. I believe that, in this course, beyond having learned about therapeutic architecture, and the stories behind projects, and the relationship between the architect and the client, we have learned different methods to question the space and its justification into a physical shape.

I think in the current education system of architecture, we are taught to draw, how to build, building systems, materials and a host of technical issues, but not very often teaches us how to approach the project, how to take the client's story as an inspiration to the design process and let take that as an starting point to build not just a building, but to create an intimacy space that generate particular feelings depending on the specifical needs of the client, to capture this story in a physical essence of a space, generate familiar feelings and let them live forever in it.

Also we learned to live the architecture in different ways, we traveled a lot and met places and interesting people and we really understand that the best architecture is not the biggest or the most expensive building designed by the best architect of the moment, we met very simple architecture that makes you feel a lot of things and they are still great architecture.

I loved meet and work with amazing people from different countries, different cultures and I appreciate so much the talent of everyone to express themselves through art, to have such sensitivity to create and draw brilliant things, I think we are all united by the passion for architecture and we want to build a better world.

And perhaps many of the projects that we developed during this course are not credible, real or executables, but they could be the start of amazing projects because they are based on a deep analysis and a solid justification, with more work they can become very interesting projects, and if not, they will stay in our memory forever, as the crazy and uncommon course that made us blow our mind and imagination and that it drove us mad... where we traveled a lot and had so much fun exploring -and creating-

stories of Spain.

unforgettable Thank you.

Specially dedicated to the Architect Jos茅 Carlos Santillana Mondrag贸n.

Thank you for pushing me to always think bigger and motivate me demanding more of me every day. You made bloom in me the passion for architecture.