3.1 Agenda and programme development by Cristina Manta

S IMU L T A N E OUS REALI TI ES INCLUSIVE | EXLUSIVE | COEXISTING AN ANTI MANIFESTO

CONTENTS Cristina Manta Courtney McLoughlin Auguste Juozapaviciute Alistair Hume

I. CONTEXTUALISING THE IDEA OF MANIFESTO II.SIMULTANEOUS REALITIES AGENDA THE ROLE OF THE ANTIMANIFESTO AND THE DIALECTIC APPROACH III. SIMULTANEOUS REALITIES INCLUSIVE REALITY | THESIS IV. SIMULTANEOUS REALITIES EXLUSIVE REALITIES | ANTITHESIS V. SIMULTANEOUS REALITIES COEXISTING REALITIES | SYNTHESIS VI. CONTEXTUALISING CASTLEFIELD TERRITORIAL ANALYSIS CIRCULATION

VIADUCTS APPROPRIATION EVOLUTION OF THE RAILWAY

VII. INDIVIDUAL APPROACH TO THE AGENDA

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CONTEXTUALISING THE IDEA OF MANIFESTO Manifestoes have a history of arising in moments of social, cultural, political and economic crises and confusion, aiming for change and challenge of the “status quo”, rather than the mere representational or interpretational image of reality. Their aim is to set directions, condense ideas and intentions, fit to the purpose of collective desire, acting as catalyst for power within a society. The origins of the word (from the Latin “manifestum”, meaning clarity) indicate the simplifying, unifying purpose of a manifesto, as means of creating order out of chaos. Charles Jencks writes in the introduction of "Theories and manifestoes of contemporary architecture" (Jencks&Kropf, 1997: 7) that manifestoes “inspire fear in order to create unity and orthodoxy” and that a good manifesto mixes “terror, runaway emotion and charisma with a lot of common sense”. Thus, a manifesto is born from the imperative need for stability (which is why institutions are being constructed and reconstructed in a period of crisis in society) as a result of an “explosion of emotion” cumulated in a confusing and shifting setting, threatening with the disappearance of values and rules. Its expression lies in powerful metaphors which are “jack-hammered into our minds, like a painful experience”, the way through which awareness of certain factors is raised and actions are taken in accordance with. They are “repetitive, incantatory, responding to the imperatives of history, hoping to ward off catastrophe with magic or logic” (Jencks&Kropf, 1997: 10) As no new structure can be raised as long as the previous one has not collapsed, manifestoes often consist in radical and violent breakthroughs. Manifestoes have proved to be essential for the society to overcome the crisis and to move forward and to reconstruct itself. They are essential turning points informed by the “restless self-transformation”, “back-and-forth jumps in the

search of the new” and key “shifts in culture and development” (Jencks&Kropf, 1997: 9) of their authors. However, manifestoes suggest a singularity in perspective and indicate absolute, generic attitudes, which operate in a vacuum and ignore other potential directions. The failure of manifestoes lies in their misunderstanding of reality and how life functions. They provide solution based on the idea of change at a macro level, in a singular context, as opposed to the multiple changes acting at the micro level, given the multitude of contexts depending subjects. These subjects (people etc) create a level of unpredictability which requires more than one way of solving the arising problems. Instead, the manifesto evolves around the idea of control and interference in the natural growth of organism, which consequently produces disturbances in their balance, which in turn produces long-term unintended consequences. Thus, the manifesto promotes the idea of stability, by covering up and ignoring the tensions which accumulate underneath and which sooner or later lead to the failure of the entire system, given its centralized layout. The next manifestoes would rise as a reaction to the failure of the previous, but would provide solutions based on the same frame of thinking, which inevitably would lead to the same development pattern.

Our [anti]manifesto will consider the widespread implications of our perspective through the dialectic method, and aims to challenge the restrictions imposed by the idea of manifesto.

SIMULTANEOUS REALITIES AGENDA AND THE ROLE OF THE ANTI MANIFESTO

The antimanifesto defines potential solutions, posing key questions in the future development of the site, rather than setting rigid directions and restrictions, in the spirit of a manifesto. An antimanifesto exposes the flaws of the manifesto, but it does not represent a solution in itself. It suggests multiple solutions, by considering all homogenous and heterogenous components acting in specific context.

Thesis - Inclusive/Objective Realities

Our questions target and attempt to define the different realities which include (objectively)| exclude (subjectively)| and coexist in our urban fabric (such as the way technology affects our sense of place| non-place, intangible markets and the identification of pattern typology). Castlefield catalysed our interest in simultaneous realities; its role in the urban fabric has changed over time (therefore its temporal context changes, and people understand it differently as time passes). It is a collage of places and non places, the overall image of which depends on the perceiver (everyone has their own places and non places). Yet Castlefield has a wealth of history which social, economic and technological systems have begun to cling to and objectify. Our aim is thus to balance subjective and objective realities simultaneously into a coherent image of site, relevant in time and space. We will consider a multitude of realities and situations in our territory. We arrive at this via a dialectic approach as diagrammed on the right hand side.

Antithesis - Exclusive/Subjective Realitie

Synthesis - Co-Existing Realities

SIMULTANEOUS REALITIES INCLUSIVE REALITY | THESIS

' "The abolition of distance” as an essential feature of contemporary human condition and elaborating on the growing possibilities of instantaneousness and simultaneity in human experience.' (Sirowy, 2010: 152)

Drawing from strands of our individual takes on realities, (economically, culturally and technologically, dualistically) and using theoretical texts we envisage the contemporary city as a simultaneous realities existing in a compressed manner.

Further to this our realities in terms of economics technology and culture have become systems and processes due to the instant nature of the contemporary city. There has been a transition from the ‘space of place’ to the ‘space of flows’ (Castells 1996: 375). It’s due to this that localities become Realities clash and combine in the city with ‘instantaneousness’ dislocated and absorbed in an abstracted way into these (Sirowy, 2010: 152) and are inclusive of one another, resulting functional networks. in the compression of space but also the loss of place. The human experience thus becomes more chaotic yet in terms of Given this scenario, should architecture mirror these place more monotonous and one dimensional.These realities processes or react against them? operate simultaneously but sometimes incoherently with one another and can converge on spaces producing fragmented environments.

The Convergence of Reality

Objective realities Wherby everyone exists in the same spatial plane; each a component of an all encompasing physical world that could be called ideal ovjective reality.

SIMULTANEOUS REALITIES

EXCLUSIVE REALITIES | ANTITHESIS

'Every kind of ignorance in the world all results from not realizing that our perceptions are gambles. We believe what we see and then we believe our interpretation of it, we don't even know we are making an interpretation most of the time. We think this is reality.' (Wilson, R.- 'Real Reality')

Our antithesis elaborates on the notion of subjectivity; not all information is objective, or tangible. Emotional response to a situation or place is unique to each person and depends on many physiological and psychological factors; our inability to concretise our emotions in objective or quantitative terms means that an experience of place is not transferrable from person to person. Instead, every conscious individual (human or otherwise) constructs their own reality tunnel, based on what they know and understand, and how they feel. One could envision a city where realities diverge according to social and economic groups, and stagnancy results; non places can be understood

The Divergence of Reality

to exist outside of one’s reality tunnel, and may exist outside of many 'reality tunnels'(Wilson, 2009: 187). A self-perpetuating cycle of urban decay and stagnation in the non-place results. In this model of simultaneous reality, although a plethora of urban interpretations (or models) exist, they can never be empathically shared, only verbally communicated. Thus we arrive at a certain sad solitude in the urban fabric, in that we can never truly share our urban experience, or affirm that our reality is ‘real’. We live in an imagined city, that we share with countless others, all of whom live in their own simulated cities (Baudrillard 1981)

Subjective realities Whereby every conscious being constructs a model of their existence, as a response to their sensual input. It remains forever unaffirmable.

SIMULTANEOUS REALITIES

COEXISTING REALITIES SYNTHESIS

'Building may respond meaningfully to a specific way of life by integrating different and sometimes heterogeneous conditions' (Sirowy 2010:158)

To begin to synthesise we must make the assumption that what we see is real and can be defined by constants; we are unified by living on the same spatial plane. We must try to find coherence not only with the objective realities which shift and change but also integrate the subjective realities and thus coexist in a both a dynamic yet constantly relevant frame of thinking to the users.

our own interpretations. This requires one to assume that what we see exists, while we aknowledge at the same time the existence of other subjective realities.

Our synthesis is trying to bridge the gap between overlapping objective and subjective realities, by creating a continuous flow between disparate fragments, which are essentially part of the same objective reality plane, while maintaining their individual Our synthesis takes both of these points of view into account characteristics. in equal measure; although we can never confirm or deny the existence of our surroundings according to our perceptions, How can architecture maintain its meaning in the context of we can find constants with what we perceive linguistically, and a transient world and thus be relevant to the simultaneous infer an objective spatiality and existence, from which we make realities, both objective and subjective? The Coexistence of Realities

Coexisting realities

Whereby all conscious beings have their own individual reality, that can overlap and influence the realities of other beings; whilst unaffirmable, we are all unified by linguistic agreement that what we perceive justifies our existence.

CONTEXTUALISING CASTLEFIELD TERRITORIAL ANALYSIS

Evolution of the Site treated as the Coexistence of Old and New Conditions

CIRCULATION

Location

Public-Private

This summary of some of the general routes, circulation channels and land usage in terms of private and public is intended to contextualise Castlefield in its current state. These begin to look at the objective realities of our environment in terms of Castlefield, it is important to state here that not all objective realities may be coined in terms of the tangible, for example private and public is a socially constructed notion and technological and economic realities of the site are objective yet can be seemingly intangible. To further develop this analysis of the territory we should explore the site through the lens of the subjective realities of the individual. We propose to do this in a methodology borrowed from Kevin Lynch. We will ask people to draw the territory in terms of routes, nodes and edges and overlay them to gain a more nuanced understanding of the site. We realise that we can never do meaningful analysis of the territory including every single individual personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reality and so this alludes towards a synthesis between the objective and subjective realities of the territory.

Routes

Vertcal Grain of Castlefields - Density Breakdown

Horizontal Grain of Castlefields - Density Breakdown

Circulatory Fabric of Castlefields - Combined

landmarks the canal routes

SUBJECTIVE MODELS OF TERRITORY

In order to get a more nuanced understanding of the territory we have asked individuals (locals or not) to mark their usual routes and their notion of a landmark and edge (according to Kevin Lynchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s definition of paths, landmarks and edges) on the map of the site. The survey confirms the status of Castlefield as a nonplace, as most of the people use the site as a transient space, in order to reach the city centre or Salford. The usual routes intersect under the viaducts, being delimited by the canal, considered an edge by most individuals. The routes have different purposes from business ownership to residential or leisure, the site also being used as a detour from the crowded city centre. The most popular landmarks consist in the Museum of Science and Industry, the canal, the viaducts, the roman ruins and Duke 92. Most of the individuals interviewed consider the viaducts a powerful characteristic of Castlefield and see it as a unifying element, rather than an edge.

VIADUCTS APPROPRIATION

DIVERGING SPATIAL REALITIES

Land use diagram showing how the homogenous condition of the arches has been appropriated by commerce to create diverging uses/realities.

EVOLUTION OF THE RAILWAY

AN OVERLAP OF TEMPORAL REALITIES

The evolution of the railway and its use reinforces the idea of continuity between different temporal planes, slightly taking different directions, while at the same time maintaing a common axis, one trans-temporal plane.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AugĂŠ, M., & Howe, J. (2008). Non-places. London: verso. Baudrillard, J. (1994) [1981] Simulacra and Simulation. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press Benedikt, M. (1987). For an architecture of reality.Lumen Books. Burdett, R., &Sudjic, D. (2011). Living in the endless city.Phaidon. Castells, M. (1996), The Rise of the Network Society. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers DeSilvey, C., & Edensor, T. (2012).Reckoning with ruins. Progress in Human Geography. Jackson, F. (1986). What Mary didn't know. The Journal of Philosophy, 83(5), 291-295. Jackson, F. (2003).Mind and illusion. Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement, 53, 251-271. Jencks, C., &Kropf, K. (Eds.).(1997). Theories and manifestoes of contemporary architecture. Bath: Academy Editions. Lo, A. W., & MacKinlay, A. C. (2011). A non-random walk down Wall Street. Princeton University Press. Mitchell, W. J. (1995). City of bits. Cambridge, MA: MIT press. Schulz, N. (1980). Genius loci. Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture. Sirowy, B. (2010). Phenomenological Concepts in Architecture: Towards a User-oriented Practice. Arkitektur-ogdesignhĂ¸gskoleni Oslo. Wilson, R. A. (2009). Everything Is Under Control. HarperCollins e-books. Wilson, Robert. "Real Reality" [Retrieved 20 October 2013]

Anant i -mani f est o

S IMU L T A N E OUS REALI TI ES INDIVIDUAL AGENDA AND PROGRAMME PROPOSAL CRISTINA MANTA

I. INDIVIDUAL PROPOSAL: AN OVERVIEW

CONTENTS

LAYERS OF ANALYSIS

II. THESIS | PLACE MANCHESTER TOWN HALL III. ANTITHESIS | NON-PLACE THE VIADUCTS AND POTATO WHARF, CASTLEFIELD ELS ENCANTS MARKET, BARCELONA

IV. HETEROTOPIA SAGRADA FAMILIA, BARCELONA

V. SYNTHESIS COEXISTING REALITIES | SINE FUNCTION VI. CONTEXTUALISING CASTLEFIELD: CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE CIRCULATION FLUCTUATING CONDITION OF THE TERRITORY

VII. INTERPRETATION OF THE SINE FUNCTION "ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE'

VIII. PALIMPSEST DETAIL LAS ARENAS, BARCELONA DTAIL TRANSLATED INTO SPATIAL STUDIES

IX. PROGRAMME EXPLORATION: AMNESIA RESEARCH AND INSTANTANEITY CENTRE TYPES OF USERS ANTITHETICAL EXPERIENCES ACTIVITIES AND INTERACTION BETWEEN USERS DIURNAL DIAGRAM THE INSTANTANEITY EXPERIENCE SEQUENTIAL EXPERIENCE

X. CONCLUSIONS AND DIRECTION BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDIVIDUAL PROPOSAL | CRISTINA AN OVERVIEW

The treatment of PLACE| NON-PLACE| HETEROTOPIA montages brought to surface the underlying theme of simultaneous realities, manifesting themselves at cultural and social levels, coexisting, in converging ways as well as diverging ones, affecting each other, directly or indirectly and creating new reality planes. Given our agenda , I am interested in the dynamics of patterns in the creation of places and non-places. The applied dialectic method led to the representation of convex and concave functions which, connected horizontally create a sinusoid pattern. By tracing a horizontal line trough the function, simultaneous points are released, similar and at the same time belonging to different time-space frames. How can this pattern explain the development of Castlefield and how is it relevant to the predicament of future scenarios? And in this context, how do the simultaneous active points connect so as to create in architecture which can transmit â&#x20AC;&#x153;direct esthetics of the realâ&#x20AC;? (Benedikt, 1987: 10), in a media saturated environment?

LAYERS OF ANALYSIS

The personal agenda and the programme speculation are the result of the juxtaposition and interaction of the following layers of analysis: the initial reaction to the teritorry and the corresponding group agenda were enriched by the study of the place and non-place montages, followed by the Barcelona study trip, which added another layer of inquiery into nonplaces and heterotopias and catalysed an interest in spatial arrangements such as the grid layout, as well as in the study of an old-new connection detail, all the patterns thus identified in the previous exercises being reinterpreted through the lens of magical realism in Marquez's and Borges' novels. All these layers have constantly undergone permutations in order to allow space for additional insights from different perspectives, thus influencing each other, in a non-linear order.

The PLACE montage is based on two ideas: firstly, the genius loci is not a passive process, but rather an active one, evolving according to the shifting needs and behavior of the users, based on a set of constant common values; secondly, a PLACE is not merely a place in itself, but rather the cumulation of all the places which we have experienced. In “Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture”, Norberg-Schulz identifies the components of place as being space and character and the two psychological functions involved are orientation and identification, the two themes which organize the montage.

THESIS|PLACE | TOWN HALL

“a place is a function of time...” (Genius Loci, Norberg-Schulz)

PLACE INCLUSIVE realities intepreted as a CONCAVE function

+ PLACE + PLACE + PLACE =

PLACE

Diagram of the quality of a place of being a sum of places

IDENTIFICATION Norberg-Schulz also says that a place “is a function of time”, adapting itself to the needs of the people of Manchester, either at a collective level (Irish festival, Christmas Market, Community gatherings, protests) or at an individual level (weddings), Town Hall becoming a sum of consequent places. Finally, the identification component is interpreted through the idea of the reproduction of an image, in different ways, such as drawing, photography, impressionistic painting from the 19th century, or the exploration of the dynamics between history and present, between reality and memory.

ORIENTATION In the orientation part, Town Hall is considered at the centre of a circular Manchester, as the focal point which concentrates the main routes in the city centre, offering a historically rooted, powerful symbol, a set of values, as opposed to Piccadilly Gardens, which arguably is a non-place. Town Hall and Albert Square are further analyzed based on Kevin Lynch’s five components of the image of the city: paths, nodes, edges, districts and landmarks. However, Lynch states that these components are not enough to create a powerful image of the city, unless they are strengthened through overlapping different images, either of the same place, or a different one, in order to create familiarity through repetition. In this case, the typology of the Town Hall architecture, its horizontal and vertical structures makes it easy for one to relate to it and therefore create a relationship with it based on memory. All these lead to the identification component.

ANTITHESIS| NON-PLACE|CASTLEFIELD “a patchwork world” (Reckoning with ruins, DeSilvey)

The montage interprets the non-place consisting in the viaducts and Potato Wharf as being an urooted spaces (Auge), with no integrity of their own: they seems to be floating, dissolving, lacking mass, existing only as long as one passes through it. There seems to be no sense of identity, but rather a transient character, prone to change. Consequently, this produces an “objectified” experience of the site, appearing to be artificial, similar to a movie set (which explain the exaggeration of the human scale in relation with the viaducts). As opposed to the PLACE theme of verticality-horizontality, the NONPLACE presents a lack of direction, focal points or a sense of hierarchy, which is why the viaducts create confusion and the impression of a loop.

While walking through the site, one’s identity temporarily reconstructs itself through interpretation and analysis, followed by the loss of the sense of place. Thus, elements on the site can easily be replaced by patches from different environments: in this case, the Potato Wharf concrete structure is confounded with one of the unfinished communist monolithic civic centers in Bucharest, Romania, left over after the fall of the regime, buildings which “don’t fall intro ruin after they are built, but rather rise into ruin before they are built” (“Reckoning with ruins”).

A non-place is essentially a discontinuity in the continuous line of In this case the idea of repetition, rather than strengthening the image memories (a PLACE being a cumulation of places, while the non-places of the site, dilutes it, creating confusion by overlapping different reality being the gaps between places), which in turn creates a discontinuity in a planes. person’s sense of identity/ belonging.

PLACE PLACE PLACE PLACE PLACE PLACE PLACE NONNONNONNONNONNONEXCLUSIVE realities intepreted as a CONVEX function

Diagram showing the non-place as being the gaps between places.

NON-PLACE |ELS ENCANTS MARKET

BARCELONA

Els Encants Market in Barcelona represents a canopy which houses a collection of "non-places', in the sense of the transient nature of the act of selling and buying goods, with no local identity. The space becomes "objectified", being designed as a continuous ramp connecting different stalls, selling a varied range of "generic" products, from antiquities to light installations.

Due to the crowded aspect, the market encourages fast movement through it and raises no awareness of the spatial qualities within. Instead, it creates a sequence of "shards" (given the reflective nature of the canopy as experienced from within) which, as one looks upward, breaks down the space into seemingly endless pools of people and objects, making it impossible for one to localize oneself.

PLACE

PLACE PLACE PLACE PLACE PLACE PLACE NONNONNONNONNONNON-

Diagram showing the non-place as being the gaps between places.

Fragamentation leads to tension between the parts and the whole, leading to accumulation (convergence), which in turn leads to divergence.

Sagrada Familia describes layers of heterotopia, as understood by Fouccault, since it brings together opposing spaces, the space of religion and the space of tourism. The cathedral’s primary function as a space of prayer and ritual, in a sacred environment, in which one feels tied to the Catalan tradition and to the wider roots of Catholicism, seems to have been replaced by the idea of of a touristic attraction, its unusual treatment of the facades and interior creating an exotic setting for exploration. Thus, the Sagrada Familia, as originally envisioned by Gaudi becomes diluted in the presence of cameras capturing people separated from the character if the surroundings. The large queues waiting to enter the cathedral create a spirit of anticipation, which add another layer of ‘otherness’ to it.

HETEROTOPIA | SAGRADA FAMILIA

SYNTHESIS Axonometric of space consisting of anchoring points, which create divergent and convergent directions.

The synthesis brings together both the inclusive reality of the PLACE as well as the diverging realities of the NON-PLACES and results in the integration of cyclical and linear time-space frames.

The combination between the concave function and the convex one (correspoding to the intepretatiotion of inclusive and exclusive realities) results in a sine function, which describes periodic phenomena, as a response to the repetition pattern seen in the study of places and nonplaces. The sine function creates infinite series of values, both negative and positive. By tracing a horizontal line through the sine function, fixed points are described (converging to 0) , common and periodical, although belonging to different temporal and spatial planes. These fixed points can be intepreted as constant or anchoring points, which applied to the teritorry, develop a series of elements (such as the viaducts) controling the circulation flow and people's behaviour. The anchoring points can generate converging and/or diverging directions.

landmarks the canal routes

CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE

DIAGRAM BY COURTNEY MCLOUGHLIN

Routes and convergence point

The study of people's usual paths through the teritorry reinforced the image of Castlefield as a space of transience , a non-place. The routes converge at the intersection between the viaducts, the canal and Potato Wharf. The pathways through Castlefield usually describe shortcuts from /to the city centre and present turning points, or points in which the routes change their uniform setting ( for exmple a turning point from MOSI to the roman ruins and further to the viaducts). These points thus create fragmented , heterogenous paths, which in turn generate a dispersed notion of the territory. When asked about their idea of landmarks / spaces of interest on the site, the interviewd people could not easily point them out. Consequently, the routes could be intepreted as "gaps" between two destination points, representing a blurred image for most of the people passing through Castlefield, an idea which could be extrapolated to other (non-)places in Manchester.

The outline of the viaducts controls the circulation on the territory, forming divergeing paths. The viaducts thus can be seen as anchoring points throughout Castlefield

Divergence directed by the viaducts

One’s temporary “gaps” in a route, between two destination points

Routes and turning points diagram

Viaducts as anchoring points

Circulation and destination points density

THE FLUCTATING CONDITION OF THE TERRITORY Heterogenous conditions repeat themselves periodically on the teritorry , the sine fucntion applying.

The layout of the viaducts also describes transience from spaces of compression to spaces of semi-expansion to spaces of expansion.

Other fluctuating conditions can be observed in the vertical section of the three viaducts.

The reaction to the teritorry generates three types of simoultaneous active realities: the objective reality, the perceived reality (the reality which replaces the objective one) and the 'gap' reality (the lack of spatial and temporal coordinates, allowing the possibility to be filled with any type of reality).

LAYOUT OF THE VIADUCTS BY ALECKSANDRA GAVRIKOVA

INTERPRETATION OF THE SINE FUNCTION IN ‘ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE’ “In the future it will always be Monday.” (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

The diagrams represent the village of Macando striked by the 'insomnia ' plague, the effects of which would degenerate into progressivel loss of memory, from semantic difficulties to the inability to distinguish the functions of objects for one another .In order to not fall into the "quicksand of forgetfulness , the main character invents a 'memory machine', which would act as a spinning disctionarry, capturing the knowledge which one would need in order to maintain independece over one's actions.

' The artifact was based on the possibility of reviewing every morning, from beginning to end, the totality knowledge acquired during one’s life'.

NETWORK OF PATHS AS OPPOSED TO A LINEAR PROCESS

MACONDO’S EVOLUTION DIAGRAM NESTED INTERVALS IN BORGES’ ‘FICCIONNES’

In his book, Marquez interprets the flow of time in a society, with its patterns of compression, expansion, cycles , depicting the ‘mood’ of the contemporary world: “rush” and instantaneous experiences. Through Macondo, his site of conflict between oldnew, traditional-modern, global-local, the writer raises questions about the equilibrium between rush and isolation, about the position of culture in the context of globalization, about the negotiation between the digital culture and the traditional culture. The structure of time in “100 years of solitude” is similar to the nested intervals of the sine function. The parallel between the beginning and the end create a loop, a life-time consumed in one instance, the characters appearing to be living in an indefinite present (we experience a similar effect through the instant access to a digitized world). Simultaneity leads to amnesia (the 'insomnia plague' in the book and the effects of which correspond to the SD syndrome, characterized by a progressive breakdown of conceptual knowledge), the forgetting disease counting here as a meditation on knowledge, memories, consciousness.

Similarly, Borges’ “Ficcionnes” develop using the same sine function stressing the relationship between infinite time loop, nested intervals and fixed points.

LAS ARENAS, BARCELONA

1:2 STUDY MODEL DEMOLITION SEQUENCE

PALIMPSEST DETAIL | LAS ARENAS

DETAIL 1:5 ON A1

The chosen detail comprises of the connectection between the original bull-ring brick facade and the new retention system of conrete arches. Steel beams 'sandwich ' the brick facade between the concrete arches . The system raises the question of compressed elements, while connecting to the simoultaenous realities agenda, through the different temporal planes (old-new) as well as the different spatial structures ( the gap between the two facades of the building , or the gap between the ground level and the brick facade).

DETAIL TRANSLATED INTO SPATIAL STUDIES DETAIL TRANSLATED INTO SPATIAL STUDIES

MASSING STUDIES

PERIODICAL CIRCULATION AND SIMULTANEOUS VIEWS

THE PERIODICAL FUNCTION PRO JECTED ON BOTH VERITCAL AND HORIZONTAL PLANES ‘gap’ reality

objective reality

‘gap’ reality

perceived reality

The relationship between the detail components led to potential spatial organization patterns, by exploring different axonometric and section views. The "spaces" thus correspond to the three types of realities identified on the territory: the objective reality would correspond to the main structure, the 'gap' reality to the inbetween spaces and the perceived reality to the 'tunnels' connecting the main structural components. From each arrangement different types of circulation could be derived.

The massing studies combine the grid pattern inspired by Barcelona's Eixample and the corresponding diagonal, with the idea of the spiral and the sine wave, creating a repetitive experience of the spaces. The function allows simoultaneous views of different spaces and could be applied to both horizontal and vertical planes.

PROGRAMME EXPLORATION

AMNESIA RESEARCH AND INSTANTANEITY CENTRE The instantaneousness of the contemporary world leads to the impression that the present time acts as an indefinite, continuous loop.

Diagram of amnesia nursing homes in Manchester, neither of them being located in Castlefield.

Castelfield

The programme proposes an architecture emarging from cultural speculations, evolving around the idea of spatial deformations, as seen in “ One hundred years of solitude” and the “Library of Babel”. The resulting architecture would raise awareness of the way we perceive our environment and the way we understand knowledge, through the creation of 'ambiguous spaces', open to interpretation, which act as instant experiences, to which we need to adapt every time as if for the first time, the idea of a-priori knowledge here being useless. The programme is dedicated both to amnesia pacients (case in which the building would act as an anchoring point to their progressive loss of memory) as well as to the wider public (in order to challange to notion of 'present').

TYPES OF USERS

MAIN USERS

CAUSES AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS ENVISIONED BY THE PROGRAMME

ALZHEIMER SEMANTIC DEMENTIA EPISODIC AMNESIA

CAUSES: lack of understanding of the experience of the person affected by amnesia disease

CAUSES: digital culture, the abolition of places in the face of instant access, through a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;clickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

FAMILY AND FRIENDS

The programme envolves users suffering of different types of amnesia and aims to create an 'anchoring' environment for them , being constantly subjected to relatable spaces and environments, as well as to a wider number of people with a better, more insightful understanding of their condition.

EFFECTS: the difficulty in relating to the ones affected by the disease leads to a potential gap in communication

The programme creates an environemnt in which the families and friends of the ones suffering of an amnesia condition have the possibility of exsperiencing instance-like spaces in order to better understand the desease and its effects.

THE INSTANTEXPERIENCE CONSUMER

EFFECTS: separation from our environment and from the present time, replacement with a perpetual present, lacking meaning (past) and direction (future).

The programme challenges the way in which we relate to our environment, through the manipulation of spaces which make it hard for the user to recreate a temporal pattern and to make use of his previous understanding of space.The ultimate purpose is to give meaning to the present, by bringing people to the notion of them being connected to everything, while not being in touch with anything.

VISITORS

ANTITHETICAL EXPERIENCES THESIS

ANTITHESIS

MAIN USER EXPERIENCE

GENERAL PUBLIC EXPERIENCE

The programme brings together two types of experiences, for the main types of users (pacients and general public, including family and friends), which express themselves in an antithetical relationship. The centre for amensia treatment and reasearch would provide an anchoring experience into the present time, by creating familiar enivironments, through the simulation of the past-future thread of memories (translated into spaces) for each individual, depending on the type of amnesia he/ she suffers from. This part of the rogramme can be intepreted as the thesis. On the other hand, the centre for instantaneousness experience creates an unfamiliar, 'unrooted' environent, which shifts our perception of space and function and therefore makes us requestion our relationship with dayto-day practices.

ACTIVITIES AND INTERACTION BETWEEN USERS

CIRCULATION DIAGRAM FOR MAIN USERS

MAIN ZONING DIAGRAM

AMNESIA AREA RESEARCH AREA

The detail and the three types of realities are further explored in relationship with one another, which leads to three possible types of circulation, dedicated to the three user types. These circulation patterns present different degrees of intersection with one another, considering the relation between the users.

family and friends of main users

main users (pacients)

visitors (students, general public) CIRCULATION DIAGRAM FOR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS

The circulation layout dedicated to the amnesia pacients comprises of a series of 'gap realities'spaces which eventually would lead to a more anchored perception of the objective reality.

RESEARCH AREA

objective reality

‘gap’ reality INSTANTANEOUS EXPERIENCE AREA

RESEARCH AREA

perceived reality

INTERACTION AREA

The three types of realities discussed correspond to one of the three main areas: the objective space (the research spaces, interaction spaces), the gap space (nursing homes for the pacients) and the perception space (the manipulated spaces which create instance-like experiences).

INTERACTION AREA

The circulation of the families and friends of the pacients presuposes the transience from an objective reality plane to a perception one, describing a loop-circulation (in which the 'gap' element is strong, considering the implications of the relationship with the suffering ones) to another objective reality place, essentially an interaction space with the pacients.

CIRCULATION DIAGRAM FOR GENERAL PUBLIC

The circulation of the general public is similar to the one described previously, with the difference that for them the 'gap' reality element is less strong, without the emotional bond present in the case of families and friends.

GENERAL DIURNAL DIAGRAM

The diurnal diagram presents the sepration of functions and the activities which take place in the centre. The programme ensures that the pacients are being cared after, with no disturbace from the general public in the testing areas. However, families and friends can acces the building and interact with the instantexperience areas in more integrated way, their activities overlapping at points with those of the pacients. Interaction is encouraged, in the last part of the day, as part of an inclusive environemnt.

SEPARATION OF FUNCTIONS

INSTANTANEOUS EXPERIENCE AREA

DIAGRAMS EXPLORING WAYS IN WHICH THE ‘INSTANTANEOUS EXPERIENCE ROUTE’ CAN BE MANIPULATED

THE INSTANTANEITY EXPERIENCE

“To remove a space from its usual function is to open it up to interpretation for viewers, users, readers[….] The resulting enigmatic spaces, where opposite logics coexist and where obscure meanings appear, turn interpretation into the paramount architectural experience.” ( Ambiguous spaces, NaJa & deOstos)

The diagrams explore the potential experiential relationship between the three types of reality discussed (objective, gap and perceived) and analyze the way in which a visitor can circulate through them and relate to them, by replacing one with another throughout his/her trajectory. For example, between two objectively real spaces, the inbetween space describes a type of 'gap' reality in which the usual function has been replaced with another. At this point the typical A to B process is suspended, as the previous knowledge of such spaces cannot be applied, and is instead replaced with the perceived/ imagined reality (a new reality plane in which we create another approach to the environment than the one we are used to).

objective reality

‘gap’ reality

perceived reality

SEQUENTIAL EXPERIENCE

The sequence conveys the idea of experiencing

time and place as an INSTANCE, moments belonging to an indefinite present, lacking past and future. This effect can be acheived by creating a series of spaces which question the simoultaneous existence in mutiple planes. As the usual function of elements is replaced (for example walls become ceilings and viceversa) spaces become open to intepreatation. A potential way in which these effects can be achived is through the use of mirroring and spatial illusions.

CONCLUSIONS AND DIRECTION

The proposed programme questions the meaning of the present time in the sense of the the ability to relate to our immediate environment, as opposed to the 'present' as an indefinite time loop, lacking past and future, a pattern identified in the contemporary society. Speculations are made on what may happen when the functions we have been exposed to are replaced with 'gap realities'. The scheme needs to be further developed and concretized and the first step to it can be the actual testing on the territory in order to better understand the way in which people connect to instancy.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Augé, M., & Howe, J. (2008). Non-places. London: verso. Baudrillard, J. (1994) [1981] Simulacra and Simulation. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press Benedikt, M. (1987). For an architecture of reality.Lumen Books. Bloom, H. (Ed.). (2009). Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. Infobase Publishing. Borges, J. L. (1986). Ficciones El Aleph Informe De Brodie: Edition Rustica (Vol. 118). Fundacion Biblioteca Ayacuch. Burdett, R., &Sudjic, D. (2011). Living in the endless city.Phaidon. Castells, M. (1996), The Rise of the Network Society. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers DeSilvey, C., & Edensor, T. (2012).Reckoning with ruins. Progress in Human Geography. Haase, F. A. (2007). Conceptions of Criticism. Cross-Cultural, Interdisciplinary, and Historical Studies of Structures of a Concept of Values. Jackowski, N.; Ostos, R. (2008). Pamphlet Architecture 29: Ambiguous spaces: NaJa & deOstos (Vol. 29). , Princeton Architectural Press. Jencks, C., &Kropf, K. (Eds.).(1997). Theories and manifestoes of contemporary architecture. Bath: Academy Editions. Lynch, K. (1960). The image of the city (Vol. 11). the MIT Press. Lo, A. W., & MacKinlay, A. C. (2011). A non-random walk down Wall Street. Princeton University Press. Marquez, G. G. (1998). 100 Years of Solitude. Mitchell, W. J. (1995). City of bits. Cambridge, MA: MIT press. Rascovsky, K., Growdon, M. E., Pardo, I. R., Grossman, S., & Miller, B. L. (2009). ‘The quicksand of forgetfulness’: semantic dementia in One Hundred Years of Solitude. Brain, 132(9), 2609-2616. Schelling (Ed.). (2000). Through the kaleidoscope: the experience of modernity in Latin America. Verso. Schulz, N. (1980). Genius loci. Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture. Sirowy, B. (2010). Phenomenological Concepts in Architecture: Towards a User-oriented Practice. Arkitektur-ogdesignhøgskoleni Oslo. Tschumi, B. (1994). Event-cities III. MIT. Wilson, Robert. "Real Reality" [Retrieved 20 October 2013] Zamora, L. P. (1995). The visualizing capacity of magical realism: Objects and expression in the work of Jorge Luis Borges. Magical realism: Theory, history, community, 21-37.

AGENDA EXPLORATION

TYPES OF REALITIES ACTIVE ON THE SITE

CONVERGENCE POINT IN THE DIVERGET ROUTES ROUTES

SIMOULTANEOUS REALITIES AS A SINE FUNCTION

POINTS OF CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE ON THE SITE

The site analysis revealed the relationship between elements belonging to different realities, creating a pattern of compression and expansion layouots, further explored through the studyof Barcelona grid plan, the Eixample Given our agenda , I am interested in the dynamics of patterns in the creation of places and non-places. The applied dialectic method led to the representation of convex and concave functions which, connected horizontally create a sinusoid pattern. By tracing a horizontal line trough the function, simultaneous points are released, similar and at the same time belonging to different time-space frames (anchoring points). The way in which the sine wave is intepreted is through the study of Marquez' "100 years of solitude" and Borges' "Fictionnes".

OBJECTIVE REALITY

GAP REALITY

IMAGINED REALITY

POINTS OF COMPRESSION AND EXPANSION ON THE SITE

How can this pattern explain the development of Castlefield and how is it relevant to the predicament of future scenarios? And in this context, how do the simultaneous active points connect so as to create in architecture which can transmit “direct esthetics of the real” (Benedikt, 1987: 10), in a media saturated environment?

THE VIADUCTS AS BOTH OBJECTIVE REALITY AND INTEPRETED REALITY

INTERPRETATION OF THE SINE WAVE IN THE VIADUCTS SECTION

FRACTURED ROUTES | DIVERGENCE POINTS | GAPS

LAYERS OF ANALYSIS AND THE SINE FUNCTION INTEPREATION INTERPRETATION OF INFINITY AND INTERVALS IN BORGES’ AND MARQUEZ’S LITERATURE MAGICAL REALISM

DETAIL STUDY

VIADUCTS AS AN ANCHORING POINT

SINE FUNCTION AND MAGICAL REALISM “In the future it will always be Monday.”

ANCHORING POINTS

In his book, Marquez interprets the flow of time in a society, with its patterns of compression, expansion, cycles , depicting the ‘mood’ of the contemporary world: “rush” and instantaneity. Macando stresses the conflict between old-new, traditional-modern, global-local, the writer raising questions about the equilibrium between rush and the isolation created by instantaneous flexibility and about the negotiation between the digital culture and the traditional cultures. The structure of time here is nested, similar to the intervals interpretation. The similarities between beginning and end create a loop, a life-time consumed in one instance, the society described appearing to live in an indefinite present ( the way in which the digital culture informs our “loss” of time and space, due to the network system and the instant "click" access)

CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE AS DICTATED BY VIADUCTS

STUDY OF HETEROTOPIAS INTERPREATION OFBARCELONA GRID PLAN

Simultaneity of forces leads to amnesia (the insomnia plague as described in the book and the effects which correspond to the SD syndrome- a clinical syndrome characterized by a progressive breakdown of conceptual knowledge , or semantic memory), the forgetting disease counting here as a meditation on knowledge, memories, consciousness. The contemporary world, although creates a level of comfortability and easier access to key areas in our lives, might also contribute to the idea of “loss of space and time”, by developing a series of overlapping pathways, the simultaneity of which forces one to develop gaps in memory, between two spatial and temporal points.

STUDY OF NON-PLACES

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE INTEPRETATION STUDY OF PLACES

SITE SPATIAL QUALITIES CRISTINA MANTA | COEXISTANCE IN THEORY

LAS ARENAS DETAIL

RETHINKING SPACES

REALITIONSHIP BETWEEN DIFFERENT REALITIES TRANSLATED INTO SPACE

PROGRAMME EXPLORATION INSTANTANEITY CENTRE The experiential sequence conveys the idea of rethinking space and

knowledge and of exploration of time and place as an INSTANCE , moments stuck in time with no past and no future, in an indifenite present. This effect can be acheived by creating a series of spaces which question the a-priori knowledge about routes one can take, about simoultaneous existence in other places. The usual function of elements is replaced,(for example wall become ceilings and viceversa) spaces become open to intepreatation The programme further developed would raise the question of architecture acting as a cultural speculation, evolving around the idea of spatial and literal deformation, as seen in “ One hundred years of solitude” and the “Library of Babel”. The resulting architecture would raise awareness of the way we perceive our environment and the way we understand knowledge, through the creation of ambiguous spaces, open to interpretation, which act as instant experiences, to which we need to adapt every time as if for the first time, the idea of a-priori knowledge here being useless. The programme is dedicated both to amnesia pacients (case in which the building would act as an anchoring point to their continual loss of memory) as well as the wider public (with the .)purpose of rethinking our understanding of space and time

MAIN ZONING RESEARCH AREA

AMNESIA AREA

RESEARCH AREA

EXPLORATION AREA

SECTION AND PLAN STUDY OF SPACES BASED ON THE DEATIL

PROJECTION OF THE SINE WAVE ON GRIDS

EXPERIENTIAL SEQUENCE

OVERLAPPING SINE WAVES IN CREATING VIEWS

SIMULTANEOUS REALITY PATHS

MASS STUDIES

REPLACING THE USUAL FUNCTION OF ELEMENTS

CRISTINA MANTA | COEXISTANCE IN THEORY