Gustavo Diéguez and Lucas Gilardi, architects www.plugandlivesystem.blogspot.com
Both were born in Buenos Aires (1968) In 2006 Gustavo Diéguez and Lucas Gilardi began to develop projects under the pseudonym of a77, though they had been associated with numerous experiments well before then. The a77 architects are very hands-on with their construction projects. Their work involves creating a variety of everyday objects that reach architectural size proportions. They combine art, architecture, sociology and urban planning in their projects and have a particular interest in reusing industrial debris, recycling for experimental housing, creating temporary institutions, activating social dynamics in public spaces and the self management of cultural spaces. They teach urbanism and project design at Universidad de Palermo and Universidad de Buenos Aires, respectively. Design as social tool a77 architectural lexicon (text and interview by Franco Raggi, published in Abitare N°506) (text and interview by Franco Raggi, published in a77 are Argentinean architects who explore spatial and functional concepts of nomadism, ephemerality and transition using the rough-and-ready yet symbolically-charged language of the humble packing crate to build open-ended structures that can be assembled and dismantled according to need and the desire to bring different groups of people together. When fitted into left-over places as temporary occupiers of time and space, their autonomous, unstyled structures advocate the need for unburdened, non-rhetorical, “alternative” landscapes. Their interiors and buildings are made by hand using simple though not unsophisticated materials. They see space as a Their interiors and buildings are made by hand using simple though not unsophisticated materials. potential organism to which, for example, a plywood prosthesis may be hung or attached “if needed” to create a children’s play space. Or they might brutally recycle old trailers to emphasize their basic function, repaint and fix them in place above a sloping man-made vegetable plot. To this diversity is coupled the social and collective use of these objects redeemed by graphic design and new uses;; a diversity that may serve as a catalyst and condenser of small acts of social communication. In their own words: “Self-build means proving to yourself that you can do certain things in a way that amounts to a real alternative, that you don’t need outside help, that if you want to do something, the power to do it lies literally in your own hands…” F.R.
Self-build. Self-build means proving to yourself that you can do certain things in a way that amounts to a real alternative, that you don’t need outside help, that if you want to do something, the power to do it lies, literally, in your own knowledge and hands. The need to do this can be for economic reasons as well as personal. This way is cheaper, but even more importantly;; it’s a way of getting involved in the physical construction, not just its design. This personal involvement helps you discover not only the pleasure of building things, but also something that design concerns, which are often remote, can never offer, which is direct contact with the materials and shapes that belong to specific places, and the gradual discovery of what each individual material or shape have to offer. Getting up close like this means that building acquires a special kind of subjectivity that brings it closer to forms of art and craftwork. We all like industrial objects, both aesthetically and physically, but this attachment becomes greater when we can transform them into personal objects. Constructing things with what you have at hand is a work philosophy that not only activates the imagination, but also makes the fulfillment of dreams possible. It is not about defending realism, but quite the opposite.
Recycling. We think recycling creates a double challenge. Ethically, it means helping to conserve precious materials or objects, and this gives us an enormous satisfaction of doing things is as much aesthetic as ethical. This also means that ethics can be seen as one way of utilizing the resources and opportunities available to us. Aesthetically, it implies the transformation of something no longer considered useful into something imaginative. The result of all this can have both practical and philosophical value.
Function-Emotion. The question of form versus function provides one of architecture’s great dilemmas. Form is linked to aesthetic emotions;; function is connected to mechanical and social emotions. Our job is to find the emotion and its most suited context. In this sense, physical involvement in building something can be seen as one way of activating senses and memory. When something we have done satisfies both aesthetic and functional needs, we feel genuinely moved.
Pantheon of boxes. a77 workplace and community hall. Piedrabuena Neighborhood. GCPBA. Buenos Aires. 2009
Living-Learning. Quality of life can be improved in any context. What counts is the creativity and imagination each individual inhabitant puts into appropriating a given physical context and the extent to which the context makes this possible. We appreciate that people, through our projects, learn that they can do a lot with scarce resources and very little help, and also do it with passion, like it’s just for them.
Nomadism. Many of our projects are nomadic, because they’ve toured many different exhibitions, living in them as non-specialists. This nomad status in certain contexts enables us to work in a variety of situations and disciplines. Other projects were intended to be nomadic in public city spaces, in the hope of reawakening people’s participation in Other projects were intended to be nomadic in public city spaces, in the hope of reawakening people and interaction with the spaces around them, and boosting their appropriation of and sense of belonging to those spaces through social activity. We did this in Mataró in 2009 (We Can Xalant) and we now intend to take the experiment a step further in Buenos Aires with the Nomadic Cultural Center and other institutions in the south of the city.
Mental processes and form. Creating form can be the outcome of several processes – rational, intuitive or random – and there are people who adapt better to one rather than another. Of course, the artistic component can sometimes carry more weight. However, our creations combine all three processes. We are more rational when we have to think about costs, schedules and functions, for example, and more intuitive when we physically create the montages we’ve imagined or seen in various publications, using models and images. And we are sometimes more random in our approach when we come across an unexpected material or accidentally discover a new combination. Form gradually starts to define itself as structures progress and, to varying extents and in varying proportions, when rational and intuitive processes start interacting with each other.
Poverty, simplicity, crisis. Poverty, as a lack of resources, encourages imagination and adaptability and enriches experience. The creation of objects from found or very cheap materials doesn’t necessarily imply any shortcomings on the aesthetic front. Aesthetics is free and available to everyone. It’s a very powerful tool that can provide a lot of satisfaction and should be utilized more often. For this reason, we see economic crisis as an opportunity to make things.
Urban ecology. We realize that ecologists’ proclamations reflect real concerns and deserve attention, as much in terms of waste reduction as well as for small-scale energy saving. We can see this clearly when we recycle something we’ve built: we consume less energy and fewer resources when we make use of what already exists. But we’re not interested in a kind of technocracy that dictates what does and doesn’t qualify as sustainable architecture, or in the industry that has grown up around “green” issues. We live and act in artificial urban contexts that are also part of our nature. We think there should be a kind of real “urban ecology”, some vital connection between inhabitants and context. We need to be aware of what is around us and how to take care of it.
Technology. We adapt technology to the economic resources available for each individual project. We create architecture for the environment we live in and the technological possibilities it offers. The challenge we set ourselves is to achieve what we want using the means at our disposal. We aren’t low-tech activists, but we like using low-tech forms.
Waste and Crate. Generally speaking, using industrial waste is the cheapest way to develop a poetical form of expression.
Nomadic-Ephemeral-Temporary. To us these three words aren’t alternatives, but complementary modes of action tailored to the needs of individual projects. These are urban and architectural categories that outline useful ways of thinking at the present time.
2006
Plug in Festival! Nomadic institution
Collective exhibition. 1st. International Festival of Design. Metropolitan Center of Design. CMD. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires 1st prize. competition Contenedores de diseño para el mundo. A set of three modules to set up a cultural center inside a port container. Plug and live system containe catalog. A transformable system of 18 wooden boxes.
2006
Postal Box
Ephemeral institution Colective exhibition Estudio Abierto Centro. Curator: Ana Batistozzi Postal Palace of Buenos Aires. Postal Palace of Buenos Ministerio de Cultura. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires Postal Box was an institution related to communication, inside the Palacio de Correos (Postal Palace) in Buenos Aires. Multidisciplinary interventions about communication forms.
2007-2008
Plug Out Unit Brasil Collective exhibition Moradias transitorias: Novos espaços da contemporaneidade. Curator: Nicola Goretti. Grupo AG Complexo Cultural da República: Museu Honestino Guimarães. Brasilia SESCSP Vila Mariana. Sao Paulo An exploration about forms of transitory habitats. A dwelling modular system made of the same 18 boxes.
A 18 wooden boxes story A circular story in three chapters. “Those boxes came out from Brazil as something without value. Now they're coming back to that country turned into art. They went from low to upper class.” Link: http://es.scribd.com/doc/58095265/a77-18-cajas
2009
We Can Xalant/ Mobile constructions for ephemeral actions in public spaces Workshop/Project
Concept: a77 (Gustavo Diéguez & Lucas Gilardi) Project and construction: a77 + Pau Faus Organised and produced by: Trànsit (I+D+i) / Can Xalant. Centre de Creació i Pensament Contemporani de Mataró. Project developed within the context of : Disonancias Activa (Catalonia). Project developed within the context of : Disonancias Laboratory of Nomadic architecture and self-construction. Workshop. Participants: Roser Caminal, Àngel Escalera, Mauro Giovannini, Oriol Gran, Mercè Jara, Mariana López, Ester Mecías, Joan Navarro, Cèlia Prats, Ivan Riba, Xavier Rodríguez, Meritxell Romanos, Raül Roncero, Bernat Sancho, Sandra Sàrrias, Patricia Ward, Marta Xibillé. Place: Mataró, Barcelona. 2009 Link: http://wecanxalant.blogspot.com/
In 2006 Can Xalant (Centre for the Creation of Visual Arts and Contemporary Thought in Mataró) invited the Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata to place in its courtyard one of his well known installation pieces Xiringuito Mataró. In Japanese artist no time the centre’s community identified deeply with the piece and it became an icon of the institution.After a fire destroyed the piece in mid 2008, Can Xalant contacted a77, about building a new structure in its place. The centre’s courtyard is the stage for an important number of activities throughout the year, as well as the setting for the annual Efimer Club-Portes Obertes event held in July to commemorate the closing of each cycle with different musical and multimedia performances. Can Xalant chose a77 after learning about the firm’s work with creating nomad structures. The multimedia performances. Can Xalant chose a77 after learning about the firm centre wanted to take its artistic projects and socio-cultural initiatives into public spaces to reach a greater public beyond the physical setting of the cultural centre. a77's response included, not only the proposed reconfiguration of the centre- piece of Can Xalant’s courtyard, but also the construction of additional, mobile units. a77’s mobile units would allow Can Xalant’s to move into a public space, formulating a new complimentary concept to its project open doors (portes obertes). Team members of I+D+i, part of Trànsit Projectes, suggested incorporating the program Activa Disonancias in Catalonia;; and after an open selection process through an international call for applications, Pau Faus, a Catalan architect, was invited to participate in creating the new structure for Can Xalant’s courtyard. And so a collaborative effort was born between A77’s team from Argentina and Pau Faus, a member of the collective movement Osservatorio Nomade Barcelona The construction—understood in this project as an exercise in social visibility—can be defined as a multifaceted task. On one hand, there was the physical material manifestation of the project. On the other, a social network was defined for both the task of producing the structure and for carrying out future applications of the structure and mobile units. In this spirit, a series of programs for the community of Mataró was designed, specifically with themes relating to childhood with a focus on children in the local community. Salonnières, a group of local artists, led a three-week workshop with children from the Obert Center, located in the same neighborhood, to discover and imagine with the participants the potential uses from the Obert Cente of the objects a77 and Pau Faus were to build. The project team would face the challenge of exploring new strategies in analysis and intervention;; applying dynamics of collaborative efforts;; develop new thoughts on mobile and flexible architectural structures for cultural uses.
For a political of temporary constellations We Can Xalant is a hypothesis about the dimensions of visibility.It consists of putting into evidence a constellation of resources and people belonging to the same environment on the suspicion that their proximity hides relational configurations, latent affinities and objective projections. The proposed objective of the project required an intensive task of communication to produce the interaction of the various players all in proximity and a blog was created as a tool for communication as well as a collective work platform in a transformation effort. An ongoing effort, the project’s work continues to develop along three lines: An ongoing e 1. In terms of materials, the first objective was the recovery of materials salvaged from the fire that destroyed Tadashi Kawamata’s installation as well as locating and recovering discarded supplies for two simple reasons: physical proximity to the site and inexpensive costs. A local waste management company gave its support to the project by giving the project team access to salvaged supplies and materials at its recycling centre. Nearby campsites were contacted about campers in disuse and three units were acquired.Then a laboratory of nomadic and self-built architecture was convened. Over a week period, the collective construction was undertaken. The underlying structure of Kawamata’s piece was recovered and conditioned;; while two of the campers were remodelled, using parts from a third. One of the campers was integrated into the existing structure at its highest point, creating a multipurpose room, overlooking the Mediterranean. The second one was used to create a mobile module for artistic and social activities in public spaces. The ramp, built to raise one of the campers into the structure, was then transformed into a sloping garden after it served its initial purpose. 2. In terms of the social element of the construction, it is based on the identification, assessment of e 2. In terms of the social element of the construction, it is based on the identification, assessment of efforts and definition of ways to proceed by the players most closely involved in the project. This process has resulted in the construction of a network of individuals and groups to define lines of action and put them into effect. Numerous meetings with a local association of neighbours also made it possible for members of the community to become involved in future activities involving the nomadic module—CX-R. The unit was inaugurated in a public space during an event during which the neighbors brought their cultural activities and merged them with the proposals of the resident artists of Can Xalant. The neighbors brought their cultural activities and merged them with the proposals of the resident artists of Can Xalant. following day, the entire installation was inaugurated in the garden as the stage for Can Xalant’s annual concert organized by the Efímer Club with music bands from different countries. 3. In the middle of these two lines exists a third;; a temporary element. It is a wager on the collective construction of time: an attempt to capture the ephemeral or fleeting politics of the moment. The list of activities programmed for We Can Xalant’s fixed and mobile structures has begun to feed on different proposals presented by artists for future events. Different social and artistic projects are reserving the CX-R for upcoming events.The typical institutional constraints mark, Di shape and establish identities, however a physical place, room or the creation of a habitat is a statute of time. But how long can we withstand the ephemeral? The question has been a driving force behind the project’s work. In the face of an uncertain response, it may be preferable to focus on the idea associated with the name from which the project originated. ‘We can’ has been a widespread political campaign slogan in recent times. Can means 'house' and Xalant 'fun' in Catalan. We Can Xalant widespread political campaign slogan in recent times. Can means 'house' and Xalant 'fun' in Catalan. fuses the project’s name and concept into an implicit response. Indeed, everyone enjoyed themselves and had fun, and that in itself is enough.
Children’s workshop directed by Les Salonnières
Workshop/ Laboratory of nomadic architecture and self-construction
Portes Obertes Festival. Efimer Club. Can Xalant. 2009/2011
Can Xalant courtyard. Winter and snow. 2010
First trip of the caravan CX-R
Festival in Mataró public space
Zona intrusa project. 2010
Camping, caravaning, arquitecturing project. 2011
2010
Taller de Juegos Workshop/Project
Co-authors: a77/ Pau Faus/ Les Salonnières Collaboration: Universidad de Palermo, Primary Schools N°20, N°21 y N°22, AECID (Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo), Galpón Cultural Piedrabuenarte Workshop participants: Federico Salvador, Sofia Meirelles, Maria Cecilia Arrupe, Esteban Xavier Alvarez, Mailen Romero, Diego Domingos Braga, Yaziel Juarbe, Gabriela Gonzáles Alcalde, Martín Flugelman, Rosario Talevi, Martín Cabrera, Ignacio Núñez, Francisco Provedo, Alejandra Ibáñez, Maria del Mar Abos, Ana María Betancur, Marcela Sinclair, Paola Salaberri, Paula Valentini. Place: Galpón Cultural Piedrabuenarte. Barrio Luis Piedrabuena. Buenos Aires (Argentina) Link: http://juegos-piedrabuenarte.blogspot.com/
Taller de Juegos (Playground Workshop) was done next to the collective ‘Les Salonnières’ (Barcelona) and Pau Faus (Barcelona). The workshop was a community work for the conception and construction of a children’s playground next to the Galpón Cultural PiedraBuenArte (GCPBA) of Buenos Aires. The GCPBA is a self-managed local center made for the neighbors of the Luis Piedrabuena district. Through its cultural and artistic work, the GCPBA aims to strengthen social links within the neighborhood of thisurban environment with significant socioeconomic problems. Following this ideas, the workshop was seen as a great opportunity. On one hand to create a new meeting point for and by the neighborhood, and on the other hand to link the GCPBA to different educational institutions. After several meetings, the project could count on the participation of all the public elementary schools in the neighborhood and of the University of Palermo in Buenos Aires. The workshop was divided in two parts of a week each. The first part, ‘Imagining the Game’ coordinated by the collective Les Salonnières, was about working with different groups of primary school students about the concept of collective Les Salonnières, was about working with di ‘Game’. Many recreational activities were held around the GCPBA. Some design ideas started to appear. During that week, the kid’s begun to imagine the new playground through their games, dreams and designs. The second part, ‘Building the Game’ coordinated by the architects a77 and Pau Faus, was mainly attended by university students, primarily from architecture. The aim was here to interpret the ideas expressed during the first week of university students, primarily from architecture. work by the kids, and try to build them. To do so, we had to meet with our ‘clients’ (the primary school children) to find out the way to formalize their demands. Their common demand was to imagine the game as a circuit where many activities were put together: climbing, sliding, screaming, swinging, jumping, etc. We started testing some possibilities with the few material we had. Later on, we purchased (or borrowed from the neighbors) the necessary material to start building. Once the construction began, the constant presence of curious and anxious children around us, allowed us to ‘test’ continually the construction began, the constant presence of curious and anxious children around us, allowed us to ‘test the different parts of the playground. The whole work was completed only in five days. After the construction was finished, we organized an opening day for the new Playground. During that day, students from the three schools of the district visited the game and checked out if any of what they had imagine was built there. Nowadays, the game is still working. We’ve been told that many changes had been done in order to adapt the playground to the local context. Hopefully those adjustments meant that we achieved our main goal, that is to create a new meeting point for the neighbors of the district.
Meeting with the authorities of the three schools
Workshop Imagining the game directed by Les Salonnieres
Designing circuits of game with students of architecture
A great circuit of games
Workshop: Children´s drawings interpretation
Workshop of construction.The skyline of Piedrabuena neighbourhood
Playground finished
Day 1 with the schools
2011-12
Centro Cultural Nómade Cultural lab in the public space Concept, design and construction: a77 (Gustavo Diéguez and Lucas Gilardi) Institutional network: a77, Proa Foundation, cheLA (Centro Hipermediático Experimental Latinoamericano), CMD (Metropolitan Center of Design) Places: South of Buenos Aires: La Boca, Parque Patricios, Barracas Link: http://centroculturalnomade.blogspot.com/
The Nomad Cultural Center is a project of urban pedagogy whose goal is to generate bonds with the community and to find in it a fertile ground for learning, with active participation channels through experimentation, workshops, laboratories and other actions alike. The project was designed with repurposed materials, built with a recycled shipping container and furniture made from recovered wood. Its first stop was La Boca, a neighborhood that lives in the dichotomy of being a major tourist trap and the home of many people in need, and that sits next to one of the most polluted rivers in the world: the Matanza Riachuelo. The nomad cultural center also toured Parque Patricios and Barracas neighborhoods, both in the southern part of the city, where it were incorporated activities related to technology and design. The nomad cultural center will continue in operation during 2012.
2011-12 Necochea Pavillion Workshop/project
Concept and construction: a77 (Gustavo Diéguez & Lucas Gilardi) Institution: Ministry of Infrastructure. Secretary of Planning and Housing. Government of the Province of Buenos Aires Project: PNUD ARG/08/027. United Project: PNUD Nations Development Programme. Workshop of collective construction Participants: Luca Amighetti, Carlos Participants: Luca Aquino, Libertad Baldiviezo, Facundo Bence Pieres, Juan Pablo Berbery, Martin Cabrera, Gimena De Franco, Tomas della Vecchia, Julián Duran, Martin Flugelman, Matias Garcia Sotillo, Matias Gomes Fantasía, Daniel Infante, Francesco Milano, Agustin Mosquera, Francesco Milano, Alberto Nanclares, Ignacio Nuñez, Marco Panizzi, Rodrigo Perez de Pedro, Jose Salom, Simona Solórzano, authorities of the Club Eugenio Neco- chea and parents of the kids that play football in the club. Place: Club Eugenio Necochea, Villa Hidalgo, Partido de San Martin. Provin- ce of Buenos Aires.
Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYMdzQX9RGc
Development and construction of architectural devices, community facilities and urban projects for neighborhoods in an emergency situations. Reconquista River Basin. AIP (Priority intervention Area) a77 will continue to implement social actions for participatory design and construction during 2012. (PNUD programme)