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GUEST DIRECTOR: EL EQUIPO MAZZANTI + HORIZONTAL SPACES THAT LEARN TO... SPAZI CHE IMPARANO A... WITH AN INEDITED TEXT BY GIANCARLO MAZZANTI AND TEXT BY CARLOS MEDELLÌN + MARIA VICTORIA LONDOÑO

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EDITORIALE

-Dopo l’oggetto e la sua materialità quali altre condizioni potrebbero propiziare in ciò che progettiamo e costruiamo? -Qual è la condizione performativa dell’architettura? -Come possiamo promuovere nuove relazioni o comportamenti? -Qual è il futuro dell’architettura? -Come si può indurre azioni, eventi e relazioni che trasformino lo spazio? -Come può l’architettura imparare ad essere? Il concetto di questa edizione nasce come una scusa per mettere in discussione la nozione di queste domande, e da lì, l’idea di “funzione architettonica” come un significato statico di utilità, che deriva dalla comprensione architettonica modernista. Vogliamo rivalutare il concetto di efficacia spaziale al servizio della produttività e capire come l’esistenza di altre forme può propiziare le relazioni e l’eventuale ridefinizione dell’utilità di una edificazione. Al concepire l’architettura come uno dei mestieri che possibilmente influisce di più nella trasformazione della vita e della costruzione materiale del mondo, possiamo capire come, in generale, è anche un elemento che si definisce tramite le strutture di controllo, dove l’utente gioca il ruolo d’un attore che deve essere disciplinato e controllato dal concepire spazi, relazioni e circolazioni progettati per essere il più efficaci possibili. In generale all’interno dei giornali d’architettura si parla poco sugli effetti che produce questa visione e noi crediamo che questa edizione è l’opportunità per evidenziare le pratiche che si allontanano da questa nozione e che ripensano al tipo di relazioni che l’architettura genera da condizioni tali come: -L’assenza di un programma, il vagare, lo smarrimento, il giocare, le anomalie e la ludica, concetti legati all’idea dell’utente come coautore attivo In questo senso i progetti presentati in quest’edizione sono strutture che propiziano condizioni di vivibilità centrati nelle relazioni umane e che diventano Spazi che imparano a: giocare, educare, potenziare, dialogare, partecipare, attuare, crescere, ad essere riconosciuti... In breve, ad essere un evento.

Questo numero speciale di IQD Magazine è stato curato dall’ufficio di Architettura El Equipo Mazzanti e dalla Fondazione Horizontal, che nell’ambito delle alleanze cerca nuove idee per riflettere e produrre spazi sostenibili e diversificati, in cui l’infrastruttura sia pubblica e svolga un ruolo fondamentale come luogo d’incontro e partecipazione cittadina inclusiva. Nel Equipo Mazzanti e Horizontal, siamo convinti che la capacità d’impatto dell’architettura non si basi in se stessa, come oggetto, ma in ciò che è capace di propiziare in termini di comportamento umano e relazioni socioculturali; ed è da lì che nasce l’opportunità di mettere i nostri progetti e le nostre idee in dialogo e produrre nuove prospettive sull’uso dello spazio. Continuando con questa idea, comprendiamo lo spazio oltre la sua condizione astratta, lo pensiamo piuttosto da un concetto più ampio, che implica la sua costruzione da parte di molteplici attori umani e non umani che sono collegati in momenti e luoghi specifici. Questa edizione di IQD vuole mettere in dialogo una serie di progetti in tutto il mondo, che dalla suddetta prospettiva hanno avuto un impatto sulla sfera architettonica e sui contesti specifici in cui sono impiantati. Ciò che questi progetti hanno in comune è che il loro valore non risiede esclusivamente nel loro design, ma in quello che generano. La discussione disciplinare e la investigazione che parte dal mestiere sono alla base della pratica professionale dell’architetto. Lo sviluppo delle condizioni materiali e tecniche ci permette di operare in forma tale che la discussione sull’oggetto architettonico sia data dalla stessa architettura. Ciononostante l’interesse del Equipo Mazzanti e di Horizontal è quello di questionare lo status quo della pratica, e guidare i nostri processi di design partendo dal rischio e la continua ricerca di nuovi campi d’azione. Costantemente lavoriamo partendo da domande come: -Dopo l’oggetto e la sua materialità quali altre condizioni potrebbero propiziare in ciò che progettiamo e costruiamo? -Qual è la condizione performativa dell’architettura? -Come possiamo promuovere nuove relazioni o comportamenti? -Qual è il futuro dell’architettura? -Come si può indurre azioni, eventi e relazioni che trasformino lo spazio? -Come può l’architettura imparare ad essere? Il concetto di questa edizione nasce come una scusa per mettere in discussione la nozione di queste domande, e da lì, l’idea di “funzione architettonica” come un significato statico di utilità, che deriva dalla comprensione architettonica modernista. Vogliamo rivalutare il concetto di efficacia spaziale al servizio della produttività e capire come l’esistenza di altre forme può propiziare le relazioni e l’eventuale ridefinizione dell’utilità di una edificazione. Al concepire l’architettura come uno dei mestieri che possibilmente influisce di più nella trasformazione della vita e della costruzione materiale del mondo, possiamo capire come, in generale, è anche un elemento che si definisce tramite le strutture di controllo, dove l’utente gioca il ruolo d’un attore che deve essere disciplinato e controllato dal concepire spazi, relazioni e circolazioni progettati per essere il più efficaci possibili. In generale all’interno dei giornali d’architettura si parla poco sugli effetti che produce questa visione e noi crediamo che questa edizione è l’opportunità per evidenziare le pratiche che si allontanano da questa nozione e che ripensano al tipo di relazioni che l’architettura genera da condizioni tali come: -L’assenza di un programma, il vagare, lo smarrimento, il giocare, le anomalie e la ludica, concetti legati all’idea dell’utente come coautore attivo In questo senso i progetti presentati in quest’edizione sono strutture che propiziano condizioni di vivibilità centrati nelle relazioni umane e che diventano Spazi che imparano a: giocare, educare, potenziare, dialogare, partecipare, attuare, crescere, ad essere riconosciuti... In breve, ad essere un evento.

EDITORIAL

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EDITORIAL

S O M M A R I O

By Giancarlo Mazzanti

SPACES THAT LEARN TO PLAY

SPACES THAT LEARN TO EDUCATE

- Nicolás Paris - A Space for Us

- Keré Architecture - Gando Primary School

- Sol Aramendi - The Migrant Camera

- Toys:Paramaribo Waterfront Participatory Events - Collective Intelligences / Zoohaus - AKOO

- The Wall: Triennale di Milano - Frida Escobedo - Civic Stage

SPACES THAT LEARN TO GROW

SPACES THAT LEARN TO RECOGNIZE

- Marinilla Educative Park

- La Casita / Restorative Justice House in Bogotá

SPACES THAT LEARN TO PARTICIPATE

SPACES THAT LEARN TO PERFORM

- Maria Grasso - Entrance

- Concorso “Kindergarten The Illusion”

SPACES THAT LEARN TO EMBRACE

SPACES THAT LEARN TO DIALOGUE

- Barrancabermeja Public Space Canopy

- 21 Kindergartens del Atlántico - WORK AC - Edible Schoolyard

- Santa Fé University Hospital - Raumlabor - Spacebuster

SPACES THAT LEARN TO ...

- Text by Carlos Medellín and Maria Victoria Londoño

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Amale Andraos Dan Wood Sam Dufaux Jason Anderson Mette Blankenberg Dina Braendstrup 150 Tobias Herr

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Michael Murphy Axel Timm Jan Liesegang Cécile Oberkampf Manfred Eccli Olga Maria Hungar

Cyril Marsollier Jesung Park Mike Robitz Michael Blancato Maggie Tsang Lisa Bianchi

Frida Escobedo Alessandro Arienzo Fernando Cabrera

MOBILE ACTIVATOR: SPACE BUSTER II

CIVIC STAGE

Giancarlo Mazzanti Carlos Medellin Juan Carlos Zapata Juan Esteban Parra Luz Rocío Lamprea Laura Pachón Carlos Medellín Humberto Mora Simon Escabi

Sol Aramendi

EDIBLE SCHOOLYARD AT P.S.216

Giancarlo Mazzanti Carlos Medellin Juan Manuel Gil Natalia Canal Juliana Zambrano Simon Escabi Stanley Schulz

MIGRANT CAMERA

BARRANCABERMEJA PUBLIC SPACE CANOPY 21 KINDERGARTENS DEL ATLÁNTICO

LIVING PARAMARIBO

MARINILLA EDUCATIVE PARK 30 Giancarlo Mazzanti Carlos Medellín Manuela Dangond Maria Sol Echeverri Aldo Sicilia 60 Juan Manuel Gil Juliana Zambrano Nicolas Paris Olivier Dambron Patricia Gualteros Sebastián Negret Yuli Velásquez

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SANTA FE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

LA CASITA

Carlos Medellín Pablo Londoño Julián Bejarano Stefany Cañón Juliana Van Hemelryck Nicolás Paris Sebastián Rivera

Giancarlo Mazzanti Fredy Fortich Rocío Lamprea Alberto Aranda Ana Varona César Grisales Clara Vila Daniel Cely Diego Casas Dorotea Rojas Felipe Pombo Manuela Dangond Juan Carlos Zúñiga Juan Sebastián Muñoz Juan Sebastián Tocaruncho Lorenza Baroncelli Julián Gaviria Juan Manuel Gil Julián Otalora Laura Luque Juliana Zambrano Marcela Gómez Maria Sol Echeverry Patricia Gualteros Sebastián Corredor Trinidad Guzmán

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Carlos Medellín Pablo Londoño Camila Parra Juan Francisco Rodriguez Enrique Cavelier Juana Salcedo Josephine Philipsen Alejandro Rodriguez

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CREDITS CONSTELLATION COSTELLAZIONE CREDITI Nicolás Paris

ROOM FOR US

THE WALL: TRIENNALE DI MILANO

Giancarlo Mazzanti Carlos Medellin Camilo Magni Maria Mazzanti Mariana Bravo Irene Todero Ivan Samaniego Andrea Fajardo Natalia Marín

ENTRANCE

The constellation is made up of every member that participated in the design of the projects comprised on this issue, shown here referenced to the actual location of the project. More than a sum of individual buildings, this map can be read as a recognition of the collective efforts behind each project.

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La costellazione è composta 120 da tutti i membri che hanno partecipato alla realizzazione dei progetti compresi in questo numero, qui riportati facendo riferimento alla posizione effettiva del progetto. Più di 90 una somma di singoli edifici, questa mappa può essere letta come riconoscimento degli sforzi collettivi dietro ogni progetto. 60

Maria Giuseppina Grasso Cannizzo

Invited Practices:

GANDO PRIMARY SCHOOL Diébédo Francis Kéré Village community of Gando

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

El Equipo Mazzanti Horizontal Maria Giuseppina Grasso Cannizzo Nicolás Paris Kéré Architecture / Foundation Sol Aramendi Raumlabor Berlin Frida Escobedo Taller de Arquitectura Work AC Zoohouse/ Inteligencias Colectivas

Categories are:

image: Santa Fé University Hospital Mobile Activator: Space Buster II material practice: 21 Kindergartens del Atlántico Edible Schoolyard at P.S.216 Edible Schoolyard at P.S.216 trans-formation: The Wall: Triennale di Milano Civic Stage process: Living Paramaribo Akoo otherness: La Casita The Migrant Camera activation: Marinilla Educative Park Gando Primary School configuration: Concorso “Kindergarten The Illusion” Room for us

AKOO

Zoohaus Taller de Santos Carpintero Eliseo Participantes en el taller IC RED Malabo

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programmatic strategies: Barrancabermeja Public Space Canopy Entrance 30

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SPACES THAT LEARN Category is programmatic strategies: Like toys, these spaces are not defined by having fixed structures; on the contrary, their rules come from its means as spontaneous and indeterminate environments. These characteristics allow the space to play with “abnormal” programs that foster new behaviors or relationships for self-discovery, integration, and the construction diverse identities.

La categoria è una strategia programmatica: come i giocattoli, questi spazi non sono definiti da strutture fisse; al contrario, le loro regole derivano dai suoi mezzi come ambienti spontanei e indeterminati. Queste caratteristiche consentono allo spazio di giocare con programmi “anormali” che promuovono nuovi comportamenti o relazioni per l’auto-scoperta, l’integrazione e la costruzione di identità diverse.

JOIN THE POINTS! UNISCI I PUNTI!

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BARRANCABERMEJA PUBLIC SPACE CANOPY

A SPORTS SCENARIOâ&#x20AC;¦ 8

The Barrancabermeja public canopies were the result of a governmental initiative to endow certain sectors of the city, with an ample history of social issues, with new public recreational facilities. Our aim was to create an open space that gave true relevance to the role of the community in the construction of a city. In this context, the buildings not only acts as sport centers, but as tools for promoting any sort of activities ranging from sportive, ludic, economic, to academical,

cultural and social. The canopy itself is a prototype that is meant to be replicated in nine different locations as it is based on a modular system composed of elongated rhombuses, that grows creating an adaptable, unfinished structure suitable for transformation. The versatility of the system allows the building to stop, bend or open whenever needed, respecting the existing vegetation whilst adapting to varied topographic conditions.

The canopy itself is a prototype that is meant to be replicated in nine different locations as it is based on a modular system composed of elongated rhombuses, that grows creating an adaptable, unfinished structure suitable for transformation. The versatility of the system allows the building to stop, bend or open whenever needed, respecting the existing vegetation whilst adapting to varied topographic conditions.

More than a static sports scenario, we wanted to create an interactive, highly configurable space, where users were able to actively transform the atmosphere within the canopy. Through a set of devices like fans, water aspersers and adjustable lights, the temperature, humidity and lighting of the ambient can be altered by its users through a smartphone app, thus changing the perception of space itself. Other interactive devices include swings, TV screens and speakers that play music streamed through the app. These devices, beyond gimmickry, create a personalized experience of the space according to each userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s demands, and multiply the range of possible activities within. The playful and open character of the canopies has meant that residents of the sector actively use and take care of them, as the buildings have become not only a central meeting point, but recognizable landmarks and a reason of pride amongst them.

â&#x20AC;ŚTHAT LEARNED TO PLAY Other interactive devices include swings, TV screens and speakers that play music streamed through the app. These devices, beyond gimmickry, create a personalized experience of the space according to each userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s demands, and multiply the range of possible activities within. The playful and open character of the canopies has meant that residents of the sector actively use and take care of them, as the buildings have become not only a central meeting point, but recognizable landmarks and a reason of pride amongst them.

AN INSTALLATION 12

DIP / INTO Dreamcatcher è il soggetto del DIP / INTO: l’immagine, presa in prestito da una leggenda degli Ojibwe, non è la rete magica di Asibikaashi, tessuta con rami di salice, fibre naturali, piume di uccelli sacri e perline per imprigionare i brutti sogni e far scivolare dolcemente sui dormienti, attraverso lacune, i pensieri rassicuranti della luce dell’alba. Non è un talismano che cattura la luce e consente di guardare l’aria giocare con la piuma è solo un dispositivo cangiante e permeabile in ogni punto ed in ogni direzione, capace di dispensare nutrimento alla immaginazione innescando reazioni di stupore e meraviglia. È un oggetto prezioso e incantatore: l’oro che ricopre la superficie dei tubi, colpito casualmente dalla luce, emette improvvisi e vividi bagliori. È una foresta di tubi metallici oscillanti, di altezza e diametro differenti: guardata dall’esterno, a seconda del punto di vista, svela possibili varchi o si mostra impenetrabile.

Il suo preciso posizionamento tra due spazi contigui non dà scampo, impone l’ attraversamento: penetrati al suo interno, i corpi in movimento innescano reazioni a catena provocando interferenze che alterano la geometria complessiva, moltiplicano paesaggi istantanei ed irripetibili, sprigionano vibrazioni sonore. È un volume ingannevole che cela una cavità segreta in cui fortuitamente trovare riparo, nell’evenienza in cui si moltiplichino senza controllo collisioni di tubi e stridori assordanti. Nell’attraversamento un gesto avventato potrebbe mettere in pericolo l’incolumità di altri corpi in movimento: ogni decisione richiede perciò prudenza, riflessione e valutazione preventiva della ampiezza delle oscillazioni, implica dunque assunzione di responsabilità e movimenti conseguenti. Dreamcatcher è un DIP / INTO sonoro, registra e amplifica il rumore della vita.

MARIA GRASSO TRIENNALE DI MILANO

DIP / INTO Dreamcatcher is the subject of the DIP / INTO (painting): the image, borrowed by a Ojibiwe legend, is not Asibikaashiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s magic net, which is woven of willow branches, natural fibers, feathers from sacred bird and beads in order to capture the bad dreams and let the reassuring thought coming with the dawnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s light slip gently on the sleepers. It is not a talisman designed to catch the light and allowing us to see the air playing with the feather. It is only a device both iridescent and permeable in every point and every direction, nourishing imagination and triggering astonishment and wonder. It is an object both precious and charming: the gold covering the iron pipes, randomly hit by the light, shines with sudden and vivid flashes, It is a forest of metallic oscillating pipes of different height and size: seen from

the outside, depending on the point of view, shows possible passages or it becomes impenetrable. Its precise position between two different spaces offers no alternatives, forces the visitor to go across. Once inside, the moving bodies start chain reactions, provoking movements that alter the overall geometry, generating instant and unrepeatable passages, producing sound vibrations.

â&#x20AC;ŚTHAT LEARNED TO PLAY It is a deceptive space hiding a secret cavity where the visitor may accidentally find a safe cache, in case the crash of collisions and the deafening noises become unbearable. While crossing, a reckless gesture could create danger for the safety of other bodies in motion: each choice therefore needs caution, attention and a preliminary evaluation of the amplitude of the oscillations. It implies taking responsibility and moving coherently. Dreamcatcher is a sound DIP / INTO (painting), recording and amplifying the sound of life.

SPACES THAT LEARN Category is configuration: The production of knowledge becomes a dialog between pedagogy, educational dynamics and working methods within a flexible place. Beyond having a strictly defined configuration, the space is dematerialized and the interaction and moments of exchange between users redefines the environment. To educate is, to grow and to develop ideas able to transform relationships and collective imaginaries.

La categoria è configurazione: la produzione di conoscenza diventa un dialogo tra pedagogia, dinamica educativa e metodi di lavoro all’interno di un luogo flessibile. Oltre ad avere una configurazione rigorosamente definita, lo spazio è dematerializzato e l’interazione e i momenti di scambio tra utenti ridefiniscono l’ambiente. Educare è, crescere e sviluppare idee in grado di trasformare relazioni e immaginari collettivi.

COMPLETE THE GAPS! COMPLETA I CARATTERI! Use this / Utilizza questi:

CONCORSO KINDERGARTEN THE ILLUSION

The development of a new infrastructure for the ASPAEN Kindergarten in Cajicá was an invitation to rethink the relationship between the school and the environment and territory in which it is located, as well as a unique opportunity to propose new spatial strategies that provide flexibility and dynamism to the educational project, through the multiplication of learning experiences. This proposal presupposes that space is a hidden curriculum, and in this sense the spatial proposal of the project, “place without end”, is a mechanism that serves for the development and strengthening of children’s abilities: a universe to discover with emotion and amplify the senses.

“The journey back to childhood is a possible path towards the humanization of architecture, conceived not as a mere and only functional response to certain needs, but as a way to articulate the relationship of man with his environment; an architecture of rich experiences, of sensitive perceptions, of emotionallylinked spaces that allow an appropriation of places through the game”. Clara Eslava, Miguel Tejada.

This proposal presupposes that space is a hidden curriculum, and in this sense the spatial proposal of the project, “place without end”, is a mechanism that serves for the development and strengthening of children’s abilities: a universe to discover with emotion and amplify the senses.

A KINDERGARTEN… 19

â&#x20AC;ŚTHAT LEARNED TO EDUCATE

More than being just a container, architecture can be, in itself, a learning mechanism -an instrument with the potential to redefine how we learn-. The proposal for the learning environment poses open, adaptable, multifunctional and interchangeable environments where activities can take place both individually and as a group, in areas that promote the relationship between the exterior and the interior of the spaces. The configuration of learning environments provides a manageable scale for children. Small patios, corners and interstitial spaces that allow spontaneous encounters, new games, and the possibility of creating different routes to go to one same place. This approach poses an alternative to the traditional school architecture, one of corridors and closed classrooms, fostering new behaviors, events and interactions. Each learning environment is made up of articulated classrooms that can work independently or integrated with movable walls or sliding doors. A covered area invites to extend educational activities outdoors while offering a covered play space for rainy days. Linked to these, the learning environments within the architectural proposal also include a space for an orchard and large playgrounds.

NICOLAS PARIS A SPACE FOR US

For his residency in Paris, the artist transformed Kadist Art Foundation into a temporary classroom or a place for learning and exchange. Inspired by the so-called “Garage Universities” in Latin America, the workshops brought together a wide range of participants across many disciplines and sought to redefine the functions traditionally fulfilled by an art institution. “Garage Universities’ developed in Latin America due to a lack of accessible public or private universities. They became formal places dedicated to every kind of theoretical or practical learning. Living and working in Bogotá, Colombia, Paris has watched entire neighborhoods be transformed by these complex shadow economies.

Aware of the social role of art, the artist analyzes the social structure in which the educational system is produced and makes art and pedagogy overstep their defined spaces. Paris hopes to encourage unexpected encounters and mutually evolving knowledge systems based on equality. At Kadist, the series of workshops he conceived generated a barter economy where people exchanged reflections and expertise rather than services and objects.

A GALLERY… 23

Situated in a modular architecture inside the Foundation that the artist specially designed, this exhibition was a way to consider how we live together. Unlike a “Garage University” where the curriculum is motivated by professional opportunities, the project by Nicolás Paris was led by a loose association of ideas. Interested in creating collective spaces of exchange that may generate different types of aesthetic and social experiences, Nicolás Paris defined the exhibition within a “folding architecture”. This space, which was meant to fold and unfold like a sheet of paper capable of taking different forms, was used for hosting the workshops, as well as for displaying the diagrams, drawings and sculptures which resulted from the events. Following the workshops and events, the artist rearranged and reinstalled some of the elements displayed in the exhibition space. With this, Paris aimed to replicate and echo the flow of ideas that continuously took place during the different time frames of the activities.

…THAT LEARNED TO EDUCATE

FOLD THE PAGE AND DISCOVER! PIEGA LA PAGINA E SCOPRI COSA C’È!

SPACES THAT LEARN La categoria è l’attivazione: invece di essere spazi costruiti per risolvere i requisiti tecnici, l’architettura acquisisce un valore sociale come catalizzatore per l’articolazione comunitaria. Questi progetti sono schemi per contenere programmi significativi basati su ciò che è necessario in un contesto, attivati da persone che si riuniscono e imparano insieme. I progetti diventano luoghi per la costruzione di comunità e per favorire un senso di appropriazione e orgoglio. sensi individuali di orgoglio e appartenenza

Category is activation: Rather than being spaces built to solve technical requirements, architecture acquires a social value as a catalyst for communal articulation. These designs are layouts to contain meaningful programs grounded to what is needed in a context, activated by people gathering and learning together. The projects become places for building communities, and to foster a sense of appropriation and pride. individual senses of pride and belonging.

The building works as a system conceived on the idea of growth and expansion capable of providing spatial opportunities to accommodate the needs and desires of future users. It can be thought of as an unfinished network of spaces that can connect to similar pieces in order to increase their impact on the urban fabric.

The educational park aims to become a meeting place around learning, defined as a practice based on the building of knowledge through the dialogue between people and the built and natural environments. More than a building, Marinillaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Educative Park is a public space itself.

The Marinilla Educative Park offers the community a space where their cultural identities can be expressed, recognized and, mainly, promoted and preserved. The building was conceived as an open space, where relevant traits of the paisa culture like gardening, planting, playing guitar, drinking coffee or simply resting on a hammock take place around classrooms that are constantly exposed to the townÂ´s weather and natural environment.

TO EMBRACE

FO LD

EDUCATIVE PARK

MARINILLA

A SCHOOL…

…THAT LEARNED TO EMBRACE

The project was suddenly transformed into a communal garden, open to everyone afterhours: an educative program performing as a communal center, a music hall or a local park. Thanks to these strategies, the building has proven highly successful in terms of local appropriation. Due to its inside-out configuration, the activities within have multiplied and the use hours extended. Not only so, it has become a recognizable landmark among its neighbors, who visit it often to water their plants.

In order to involve the community and trigger appropriation among users, we arranged a workshop with a few citizens of Marinilla with the objective of understanding their hopes and expectations towards the new building. In a symbolic exercise, they drew their own bills with elements that characterized Marinillaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s community, and â&#x20AC;&#x153;boughtâ&#x20AC;? the design from us. Once the building was constructed, we invited the residents of the sector to an inaugural opening where they brought plants of their own. The project was suddenly transformed into a communal garden, open to everyone afterhours: an educative program performing as a communal center, a music hall or a local park. Thanks to these strategies, the building has proven highly successful in terms of local appropriation. Due to its inside-out configuration, the activities within have multiplied and the use hours extended. Not only so, it has become a recognizable landmark among its neighbors, who visit it often to water their plants.

GANDO PRIMARY SCHOOL

A SCHOOLâ&#x20AC;¦ 32

The Gando Primary School is Francis Kéré’s first building in his home village. In order to maximize results with the minimal resources available, a clay/mud hybrid construction was primarily used. Clay is abundantly available in the region and is traditionally used in the construction of housing. These traditional clay-building techniques were modified and modernized in order to create a more structurally robust

construction in the form of bricks. The clay bricks have the added advantage of being easy to produce while providing thermal protection against the hot climate. However, despite their durability, the walls must still be protected from damaging rains with a large overhanging tin roof. Many houses in Burkina Faso have corrugated metal roofs which absorb the heat from the sun, making the interior living space intolerably hot.

To avoid such a situation, the roof of the Primary School was pulled away from the interior and a perforated clay ceiling with ample ventilation was introduced. This drystacked brick ceiling allows for maximum ventilation, pulling cool air in from the interior windows and releasing hot air out through the perforated ceiling. In turn, the ecological footprint of the school is vastly reduced by alleviating the need for air-conditioning.

The three classrooms are separated by protected buffer zones, used as outdoors spaces that the children can use to study and play.

â&#x20AC;ŚTHAT LEARNED TO EMBRACE Although the plans for the Primary School were drawn by Francis Kere, the success of the project can be attributed to the close involvement of the local population. Traditionally, members of a whole village community work together to build and repair homes in rural Burkina Faso. In keeping with this cultural practice, low-tech and sustainable techniques were developed and improved so that the Gando inhabitants could participate in the process. Children gathered stones for the school foundation and women brought water for the brick manufacturing. In this way, traditional building techniques were utilized alongside modern engineering methods in order to produce the best quality building solution while simplifying construction and maintenance for the workers. Thanks to the whole villageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s involvement in the construction process, the Primary School soon became a landmark of community pride and collectivity. As the collective knowledge of construction began to spread and inspire Gando, new cultural and educational projects have since been introduced to further support sustainable development in the village.

Although the plans for the Primary School were drawn by Francis Kere, the success of the project can be attributed to the close involvement of the local population. Traditionally, members of a whole village community work together to build and repair homes in rural Burkina Faso. In keeping with this cultural practice, low-tech and sustainable techniques were developed and improved so that the Gando inhabitants could participate in the process.

Thanks to the whole villageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s involvement in the construction process, the Primary School soon became a landmark of community pride and collectivity. As the collective knowledge of construction began to spread and inspire Gando, new cultural and educational projects have since been introduced to further support sustainable development in the village.

Children gathered stones for the school foundation and women brought water for the brick manufacturing. In this way, traditional building techniques were utilized alongside modern engineering methods in order to produce the best quality building solution while simplifying construction and maintenance for the workers.

SPACES THAT LEARN TO DIALOGUE Category is otherness: To give voice to people and its’ desires, architecture becomes a living archive of their memories, experiences and stories. The value of these projects lies in its strategic construction as tools to foster collectiveness, memory and for its ability to be mean for understanding “the other”. Architecture is an excuse to dialogue, to build encounter moments within specific topics within spaces. The success lies in its capacity to host both individual and collective moments of of emancipation for unequal and segregated minorities.

La categoria è alterità: per dare voce alle persone e ai suoi “desideri”, l’architettura diventa un archivio vivente dei loro ricordi, esperienze e storie. Il valore di questi progetti sta nella sua costruzione strategica come strumenti per promuovere la collettività, la memoria e la sua capacità di essere media per comprendere “l’altro”. L’architettura è una scusa per dialogare, per costruire momenti di incontro all’interno di argomenti specifici all’interno degli spazi. Il successo risiede nella sua capacità di ospitare sia momenti individuali e collettivi di emanazione per le minoranze univoche e segregate.

FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS SEGUI LE INSTRUZIONI Use this / Utilizza questo:

LET’S BUILD A LITTLE MAN COSTRUIAMO UN PICCOLO UOMO 1

Fold the strip by the middle to find the hips

Fold / Piegare Cut / Tagliare

Piega la stringa a metà per trovare i fianchi

LOWER HALF META’ INFERIORE

TOP HALF META’ SUPERIORE

Cut by the middle Taglia a metà

3 Fold outside Piega verso l’esterno

Fold to find the middle Piega e trova la metà

In the top half cut 3 strips with the same size Nella sezione superiore taglie 3 stringhe con la stessa misura

8 External strings are the arms Le stringhe esterne sono le braccia

9 Fold outside Piega verso l’esterno

4 Fold inside Piega verso l’interno

Flip to work in the back Gira la stringa

10 Fold outside Piega verso l’esterno Repeat points 3-4 with both strips to build the legs Ripeti i punti 3-4 con entrambe stringhe per creare le gambe

Repeat points 9-10 with both strips to build the arms Ripeti i punti 9-10 con entrambe stringhe per creare le braccia

Flip to work in the front Gira la stringa With the middle strip build the head and the neck Con la stringa in mezzo crea la testa e il collo

5 Knees / Ginocchia Fold inside Piega verso l’interno

Fold outside Piega verso l’esterno

Fold inside Piega verso l’interno Fold outside Piega verso l’esterno

Fold inside Piega verso l’interno

Fold outside Piega verso l’esterno

Ankles / Caviglie Forehead Fronte Nose Naso

Profile view Vista di profilo Chin Mento Neck Collo

Thinking about spaces for restorative justice within the juvenile criminal responsibility system means to think about spaces for responsibility, repair and reintegration. Responsibility that is demanded to the offender at the time of recognizing his infraction within the legal framework; reparation that the offender must carry out to righten the damage he/she has caused to the victim and his family; and reintegration of the offender back into the society, followed by the restitution of rights. Spaces that account for these three principles must then be based on a versatile architecture. It must open spaces for offenders to recognize their responsibility and restore the victim and his/ her family, either practically or symbolically; and also offer possibilities for reintegration. In this sense, an architecture for restorative justice must have as one of its main virtues the possibility to create flexible and dynamic spaces: spaces that can serve for the intimate and personal processes of recognition of responsibility, but in turn can support collective dynamics when carrying processes of restoration with the victims and the larger community.

AN OLD HOUSEâ&#x20AC;Ś 39

Space Configuration 1:

Space Configuration 2:

Same space, two different activities, one by light and another one in the dark

Same space with all the different activities at the same time Configurazione spaziale 2:

Configurazione spaziale 1:

Stesso spazio con tutte le diverse attività allo stesso tempo.

Stesso spazio, due diverse attività, una alla luce, l’altra nell’oscurità.

Sound Box:

Video Box:

Used to listen and record different testimonies.

Used to visualize stories and desires. Scatola di video:

Scatola d’audio: Utilizzata per ascoltare e registrare diversi testimoni.

La Casita -The little house, as the project is known-, as a physical space, is not simply the backdrop scenery where victims and offenders meet. La Casita is a living space in which, among other things, memory is being built day by day. It is therefore urgent to create a space where victims and offenders can make their experiences visible; a space that serves for the creation, collection, exhibition and dissemination of narratives and the construction of memory, and that in exchange opens up new experience possibilities for the visitor who inhabits it.

We believe that this first set of actions will serve as a starting point to further develop a model to reconcile architecture and space with the values of restorative justice present in La Casita. While making the pedagogical processes visible, we expect to widen the impact of La Castita beyond its walls and into the educational system itself.

Utilizzata per visualizzare le diverse storie e desideri.

Space Configuration 3:

Space Configuration 4:

All the different activities at the same time but in different spaces.

The both video activities at the same time but in different spaces.

Configurazione spaziale 3:

Configurazione spaziale 4:

Tutte le diverse attività allo stesso tempo ma in spazi diversi.

Entrambe le attività di video allo stesso tempo ma in spazi diversi.

Drawing Box: Used to propose possible solutions to their problems. Scatola di disegno: Utilizzata per proporre possibili soluzioni ai loro problemi.

…THAT LEARNS TO DIALOGUE 41

MIGRANT CAMARA

A CAMERA OBSCURAâ&#x20AC;¦ 42

New York-based, sociallyengaged artist and architect Sol Aramendi created a portable 10’ x 10’ canopy tent devised like a camera obscura. A dark chamber, with light admitted through a hole, produces an inverted image of the outside scene on the opposite wall. The design was prompted through her “Workers Studio” workshops, which engaged day labourers in art strategies advocating for labour rights. Migrant Camera was made out of blackout fabric, with six perforations

and interchangeable lenses, and built by day labourer and unionised hands. Containing a small box-like space, the tent borrowed its aesthetics from New York’s worker shelters, and would fit in one suitcase. The informal architecture, the outcome of dialogical practices between union workers and day labourers, was first placed at Queens Museum in Flushing Meadow Park overlooking the Unisphere, a 1964 World Fair icon featuring the slogan “Peace Through Understanding”.

Due to its portability, which referenced the nomadic condition of these workers, allowed the re-activation at El Museo del Barrio, The High Line, The Bronx Museum, Photoville, Corona Plaza and at the Queens Council of the Artsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; block party. Deeply engaged with local circumstances, Aramendi created a social space for the community, and through highly symbolic formal and functional aspects, overturned coexisting realities, deconstructing the physical and psychological qualities of the built environment and the society that inhabits it.

â&#x20AC;ŚTHAT LEARNS TO DIALOGUE

Migrant Camera offered a space for public gatherings to learn about the invisibility of migrant workers through conversation. Once inside, the world, seen upside down, paralleled the work conditions of immigrants and their rights. The different lenses enabled new perspectives of the immediate social situation to unseen participants, while migrant workers discussed their jobs. Although fundamental in the development and safety of city and society, are commonly undervalued and ignored positions, such as builders, cleaners, cooks, carers for children and the elderly. Due to its portability, which referenced the nomadic condition of these workers, allowed the re-activation at El Museo del Barrio, The High Line, The Bronx Museum, Photoville, Corona Plaza and at the Queens Council of the Artsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; block party. Deeply engaged with local circumstances, Aramendi created a social space for the community, and through highly symbolic formal and functional aspects, overturned coexisting realities, deconstructing the physical and psychological qualities of the built environment and the society that inhabits it.

SPACES THAT LEARN Category is process: Understanding space as a process rather than a result. The opportunity to design places based on establishing bonds of trust and strengthening individual and collective notions of citizenship. To participate is a way to consolidate spaces from aspirations, negotiations and relationships that are forged between people and architecture.

La categoria è processo: comprendere lo spazio come un processo piuttosto che un risultato. L’opportunità di progettare luoghi basati sulla creazione di legami di fiducia e sul rafforzamento delle nozioni individuali e collettive di cittadinanza. Partecipare è un modo per consolidare gli spazi da aspirazioni, negoziazioni e relazioni forgiate tra persone e architettura.

CUT AND FOLD TO CREATE DOORS AND WINDOWS TAGLIA E PIEGA PER CREARE PORTE E FINESTRE Use this / Utilizza questo:

FOLD FOLD

CUT

In 2016 the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) – as part of its mission to support cities in Latin America and the Caribbean to improve the quality of life of its urban citizens – launched the Paramaribo Urban Rehabilitation Program, with the aim to contribute to the socio-economic revitalization of Paramaribo’s historic center.

Intended to revert the physical deterioration of the historic center and trigger a sustainable revitalization process, the project has been thought mainly from two aspects: climate-smart strategies to adapt and mitigate the environmental risk, and community appropriation and social inclusion strategies.

A CIT Y… 48

Paramaribo’s historic center was designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2002. Developed during the 16th and 17th centuries, the historical center is considered a unique example of the fusion between European and indigenous South American culture, architecture and construction techniques. In 2016 the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) – as part of its mission to support cities in Latin America and the Caribbean to improve the quality of life of its urban citizens – launched the Paramaribo Urban Rehabilitation Program, with the aim to contribute to the socio-economic revitalization of Paramaribo’s historic center.

Paramaribo´s waterfront is the biggest and most important public space inside the historical center area defined as world heritage by UNESCO. This framed the waterfront as the main element to consider inside the urban interventions component of the rehabilitation program. Intended to revert the physical deterioration of the historic center and trigger a sustainable revitalization process, the project has been thought mainly from two aspects: climate-smart strategies to adapt and mitigate the environmental risk, and community appropriation and social inclusion strategies.

LIVING PARAMARIBO

â&#x20AC;¦THAT LEARNED TO PARTICIPATE

Through a participatory methodology –that grounds it bases to the use of games and toys as a common language of dialog between the different actors involved– the design team developed a series of workshops and a collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data that gave the primary tools to propose a public space project that promotes the social, economic and environmental transformation of the intervention area, based on a long-term sustainability strategy that can become a replicable model in other areas of the city. The development of playful strategies of co-creation and spatial interventions that horizontal promotes, allowed the design team to approach and recognize the aspirations of the actors involved on the project, and include their voices in the Final Master Plan, looking to promote the transformation of the built space through the interconnection of local networks of work. The final proposal conceives the designer as a facilitator and articulator of local initiatives and community empowerment, capable of structuring means that translate the wishes and needs of an individual or community into the spatial context they inhabit.

AKOO

Akôo is a project promoted by AECID, developed at the Cultural Center of Spain in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea and framed within Collective Intelligences, a research platform that works with emergence technology. Its objective is to learn from informal knowledge that is considered peripherical and that we believe it is necessary to put back into the center and interact with it through new construction prototypes. Akôo is one of these prototypes. It is an infrastructure of cultural self-management and also a meeting space, a place for study or collaborative work and a small stage, where to submit cultural activities proposals. All Akôo is designed and built in workshops that rescue local knowledge through an emergence behavior of the community that will use and manage the

space later on. The result is a structure of reused iron rounds that rests on a surface foundation made with wheel rings. Its cover, a woven surface that provides shade, is designed with different local techniques learned during the process, but introducing a more accessible material. You can find all the technical documents of the Akôo and its assembly process licensed under a CC By SA seal on Inteligencias Colectivas web site. That is because we want Akôo to keep learning from its context, but also to “spread the word” and enable other communities to learn from Akôo.

where to submit cultural activities proposals. All Akôo is designed and built in workshops that rescue local knowledge through an emergence behavior of the community that will use and manage the space later on. The result is a structure of reused iron rounds that rests on a surface foundation made with wheel rings. Its cover, a woven surface that provides shade, is designed with different local techniques learned during the process, but introducing a more accessible material. You can find all the technical documents of the Akôo and its assembly process licensed under a CC By SA seal on Inteligencias Colectivas web site. That is because we want Akôo to keep learning from its context, but also to “spread the word” and enable other communities to learn from Akôo.

A MEETING SPACE… 53

The design and construction process of the Akôo lasted two weeks, but its capacity for learning and evolution has had a much longer process. At first, we worked in open workshops with the community of the cultural center to identify the needs that we had to solve. Later, we designed itineraries in Malabo, to identify the emergence technologies that are hidden in its streets and from which the project could learn. We also identify artisans and builders who could help us. All together designed the proposal, the community center workers with local artisans and ourselves. We developed the construction during the second week. Artisans and workshop participants worked on the metal structures, the wooden benches and the woven cover. At the beginning the cover was designed using Nipa, a local plant tissue. After a debate with the center’s manager we had to change materials because the local authorities consider nipa a material from the past, so it was frowned upon. Two years later, we were lucky to return to Malabo for another workshop. This time we should work in rocking chairs using wood and local fabrics. We could see how the Akôo had continued learning. People used it intensely and its roof has been rehabilitated, now using the nipa that we wanted to use the first time. The Akôo is always learning.

…T

HAT LEARNED TO PARTICIPATE

We developed the construction during the second week. Artisans and workshop participants worked on the metal structures, the wooden benches and the woven cover. At the beginning the cover was designed using Nipa, a local plant tissue. After a debate with the center’s manager we had to change materials because the local authorities consider nipa a material from the past, so it was frowned upon. Two years later, we were lucky to return to Malabo for another workshop. This time we should work in rocking chairs using wood and local fabrics. We could see how the Akôo had continued learning. People used it intensely and its roof has been rehabilitated, now using the nipa that we wanted to use the first time. The Akôo is always learning.

FOLD

Category is trans-formation: Architecture is defined as a mechanism capable of promoting innovation and challenge usual relating patterns. Its value does not reside on its physical and material properties, but on the changing effects that it produces. By exploring architectures that suggests rather than forces, it is possible to transform the social realm.

FOLD

La categoria è la trasformazione: l’architettura è definita come un meccanismo in grado di promuovere l’innovazione e di sfidare i consueti schemi relativi. Il suo valore non risiede sulle sue proprietà fisiche e materiali, ma sugli effetti mutevoli che produce. Esplorando architetture che suggeriscano più che forze, è possibile trasformare il regno sociale.

FOLD

A WALL...

Architecture as art was the main subject of the exhibition at the Pirelli HangarBicocca which belongs to the XXI Triennale International Exhibition of Milan. The curators of this space considered the exhibition as a “Space Mechanism” which sought to take the visitor beyond the practical experience of architecture. El Equipo Mazzanti used this reflection to pose a critic to the hyper functionalism of architecture. This proposal sought to transform the wall - an architectural element traditionally used to divide realities, separate and isolate different realms into an entity that creates

communities, where everyone is accepted: an open, unfinished space, empty of meaning and flexible, which becomes a piece of art as users manipulate it, while turning them into performative artists themselves. This exhibition transformed the wall into a sensual space, a lamp, a dress, a movie theatre, a bed, a stage, an infinite space subject to the movements from each visitor/artist that went through the wall.

where everyone is accepted: an open, unfinished space, empty of meaning and flexible, which becomes a piece of art as users manipulate it, while turning them into performative artists themselves. This exhibition transformed the wall into a sensual space, a lamp, a dress, a movie theatre, a bed, a stage, an infinite space subject to the movements from each visitor/artist that went through the wall.

This proposal sought to transform the wall - an architectural element traditionally used to divide realities, separate and isolate different realms - into an entity that creates communities,

How do we change an element whose architectural function is static and make it permeable, multifunctional and flexible so it can be adapted by the reality of each user? The installation proposed a game in which the role of the wall varied, thus engaging with the participants in different ways. Unlike traditional walls, this flexible, veiled and translucent toy ceased being a dividing surface and generated an interior space for wandering. The wall opens up to a variety of possibilities to explore and different situations to generate: it becomes a shadows theatre, a gateway, a hiding place and tries to change the sense of physical and rigid space for one without a specific use. As visitors pass through the wall, they become actors themselves, while other observers are invited to interact with them. By pushing the membrane, the shapes are distorted, and actions acquire a new meaning. The idea of this game is to illustrate how architectural elements can be thought over to change their meaning and promote new perceptions.

â&#x20AC;ŚTHAT LEARNED TO PERFORM

O D E B O C E S G E A A T D I S FR V I C I C

The Civic Stage is a 15-metre diameter circular platform that tilts with body weight providing the speaker(s) with a podium to address the audience. It is a surface that becomes a stage only when an interested collective decides to give someone or some group agency.

When not in use, this tilting stage design therefore has no centre or specific focal point. It presents itself as an open space to collectively propose, discuss, and create a new understanding of public space through its use.

A PLATFORM... 63

Under the title New Publics, the Lisbon Architecture Triennial 2013 presents a three-monthlong public programme that aims to be the central stage of the plurality witnessed in the production and dissemination

of contemporary spatial practice, with the goal of providing a platform that will allow for the articulation of clear agendas with larger civic ambitions. It presents itself as a stage to materialize the

multiplicity of arguments and collectively propose, discuss, and create affective strategies for structural change. In the field of spatial practice, the condition of plurality that Hardt and Negri allude to is visible in the many ways in which architecture is made manifest today. As it is now apparent, this new way of working hardly ever results in building, and it makes it is easy to argue that the professional sphere is changing, diversifying, morphing. That we are getting close, closer to a new way of practicing and understanding the dynamics that come at play in contemporary spatial operation. But as noted above, to sustain and truly make effective this “multiplicity of singularities,” we not only have to realize their potential as a collective, but as Hardt and Negri claim, their ambitions must also be channeled through a political platform. And here is where we need to questions, “whether and how these singularities can act together politically.” And going further, how can we filter and direct these actions without hegemonizing them and truly open legitimate spaces for alternative practice?

…THAT LEARNED TO PERFORM Under the title New Publics, the Lisbon Architecture Triennial 2013 presents a threemonth-long public programme that aims to be the central stage of the plurality witnessed in the production and dissemination of contemporary spatial practice, with the goal of providing a platform that will allow for the articulation of clear agendas with larger civic ambitions. It presents itself as a stage to materialize the multiplicity of arguments and collectively propose, discuss, and create affective strategies for structural change. In the field of spatial practice, the condition of plurality that Hardt and Negri allude to is visible in the many ways in which architecture is made manifest today. As it is now apparent, this new way of working hardly ever results in building, and it makes it is easy to argue that the professional sphere is changing, diversifying, morphing. That we are getting close, closer to a new way of practicing and understanding the dynamics that come at play in contemporary spatial operation. But as noted above, to sustain and truly make effective this “multiplicity of singularities,” we not only have to realize their potential as a collective, but as Hardt and Negri claim, their ambitions must also be channeled through a political platform. And here is where we need to questions, “whether and how these singularities can act together politically.” And going further, how can we filter and direct these actions without hegemonizing them and truly open legitimate spaces for alternative practice?

FOLD AND DISCOVER! PIEGA E SCOPRI!

SPACES THAT LEARN Category is a material practice: Space can be indeterminate, unstable and exchangeable. Its material capacity and formal intelligence can be expanded, replicated or standardized. This is not a constrain for archiving singularity or uniqueness. On the contrary, these characteristics are a mean to produce spaces that can grow and adapt to different physical circumstances and social aspirations. And that can be modified in time according to future needs.

La categoria è una pratica materiale: lo spazio può essere indeterminato, instabile e scambiabile. La sua capacità materiale e l’intelligenza formale possono essere ampliate, replicate o standardizzate. Questo non è un limite per archiviare singolarità o unicità. Al contrario, queste caratteristiche sono un mezzo per produrre spazi che possono crescere e adattarsi a diverse circostanze fisiche e aspirazioni sociali. E questo può essere modificato nel tempo in base alle esigenze future.

FOLD INSIDE

FOLD OUTSIDE

21 K I ND D E L E R A GT AL R Á T N T NI E C S O

A SYSTEM…

The Atlántico department is a region of vast plains, large rivers and variable climatic conditions. A region historically affected by poverty, which was hit by severe floods in 2011 that damaged public infrastructure and deteriorated living conditions. The construction of the kindergartens responded to two fundamental needs: rapidly replacing the infrastructure affected by the floods, and expanding the scarce educational coverage for early childhood. The main design challenge was to find a quick and inexpensive way to develop as many kindergartens as possible, contributing to the establishment of a government presence. The project is a modular and systematic design of 21 kindergartens in various urban and semi-urban environments. More than an architectural object for a specific location, we developed an open system composed of modules and association patterns, capable of adapting to different topographic, urban and programmatic circumstances. In the 21 kindergartens the notions of function and efficiency are transgressed by the idea of the game as a fundamental spatial concept to generate new cognitive experiences.

As this is a project designed under a modular system, closed spaces are presented as independent and self-sufficient modules, that also share a quick and simple construction process. This organization enables the system to perform depending on the different geographic conditions and the immediate context with great freedom: it is able to fold, retract (to configure central spaces or courtyards), twist to embrace preexistences (trees, ponds, topographic accidents), stretch (to define edges), or rotate and wind up (to create central pathways). The social impact of this layout has been remarkable in terms of its implementation, with 21 different buildings having been constructed in a very short time frame. This strategy has allowed the governance to extend its educational coverage to remote areas with minimum budgets, as well as implementing themselves forthcoming projects based upon this configuration. Where constructed, these kindergartens have become a central place of meeting and a reason of pride for the region.

As this is a project designed under a modular system, closed spaces are presented as independent and self-sufficient modules, that also share a quick and simple construction process.

…THAT LEARNED TO GROW

This organization enables the system to perform depending on the different geographic conditions and the immediate context with great freedom: it is able to fold, retract (to configure central spaces or courtyards), twist to embrace preexistences (trees, ponds, topographic accidents), stretch (to define edges), or rotate and wind up (to create central pathways). The social impact of this layout has been remarkable in terms of its implementation, with 21 different buildings having been constructed in a very short time frame. This strategy has allowed the governance to extend its educational coverage to remote areas with minimum budgets, as well as implementing themselves forthcoming projects based upon this configuration. Where constructed, these kindergartens have become a central place of meeting and a reason of pride for the region.

LOCATION _ Santa AREA _12,000

Marta

LOCATION _ Santa AREA _12,000

EL CARMEN AREA _12,000

Marta

AREA _12,000

MANGA RUBIO 23 MODULES

Marta

AREA _12,000

Marta

SAGRADO CORAZÓN 23 MODULES

LOS ALMENDROS 19 MODULES

LOCATION _ Santa AREA _12,000

Marta

LOCATION _ Santa AREA _12,000

AREA _12,000

Marta

LAS PALMAS 23 MODULES

LA CANDELARIA 2 15 MODULES

AREA _12,000

Marta

LOCATION _Santa AREA _12,000

AREA _12,000

Marta

MUNDO23FELIZ MODULES

LOCATION _ Santa AREA _12,000

AREA _12,000

23 MODULES

LOCATION _ Santa AREA _12,000

AREA _12,000

COLEGIO CANDELARIA 23 MODULES

LOCATION _Santa AREA _12,000

AREA _12,000

Marta

JUAN23 MODULES XXIII

PLAZA CEMENTERIO 23 MODULES

LOCATION _ Santa AREA _12,000

Marta

FINCA LA CRUZ

23 MODULES

LOCATION _ Santa

Marta

LA CENTRAL

23 MODULES

Marta

LA VICTORIA LOCATION _Santa

LAS MERCEDES

23 MODULES

Marta

CORAZÓN DE ARENA LOCATION _Santa

23 MODULES

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Marta

LA CANDELARIA

23 MODULES

LOCATION _ Santa

Marta

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VILLA ESTADIO

23 MODULES

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LA CAROLINA

23 MODULES

Marta

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SECTOR MATADERO LOCATION _ Santa

CENTENARIO

23 MODULES

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Marta

23 MODULES

LOCATION _ Santa AREA _12,000

Marta

BARRIO LOS ROBLES 23 MODULES

The Edible Schoolyard program, founded by Alice Waters in Berkeley, CA, integrates organic gardening and cooking into the public school curriculum. WORKac’s Edible Schoolyards—the first in New York—are designed to be learning tools, introducing a fresh food and a sustainable agenda into the schoolyard. At PS 216 in Brooklyn, WORKac transformed a half acre of parking lot into a vibrant teaching garden, adding a Kitchen Classroom and Greenhouse. The building’s three programs are expressed as connected physical parts: the blue rubber “systems wall,” the “decorated shed” of the kitchen classroom, and the greenhouse. The Systems Wall’s playful volumes clad in a bright blue rubber coating, condense all of the building’s systems into one zone, including a 1500-gallon reclaimed water cistern. The roof angles over the greenhouse and the kitchen classroom maximize the collection of rainwater to irrigate the garden. In the second Edible Schoolyard, in Harlem, the rooftop teaching garden, complete with a greenhouse, bridges ESY’s existing classroom and storage spaces and provides a new outdoor connection to a courtyard container garden outfitted with playful planters.

A GARDEN… 72

E D I B L E S C H O O LYA R D The Edible Schoolyard program, founded by Alice Waters in Berkeley, CA, integrates organic gardening and cooking into the public school curriculum. WORKac’s Edible Schoolyards—the first in New York—are designed to be learning tools, introducing a fresh food and a sustainable agenda into the schoolyard.

The Systems Wall’s playful volumes clad in a bright blue rubber coating, condense all of the building’s systems into one zone, including a 1500-gallon reclaimed water cistern. The roof angles over the greenhouse and the kitchen classroom maximize the collection of rainwater to irrigate the garden.

At PS 216 in Brooklyn, WORKac transformed a half acre of parking lot into a vibrant teaching garden, adding a Kitchen Classroom and Greenhouse. The building’s three programs are expressed as connected physical parts: the blue rubber “systems wall,” the “decorated shed” of the kitchen classroom, and the greenhouse.

In the second Edible Schoolyard, in Harlem, the rooftop teaching garden, complete with a greenhouse, bridges ESY’s existing classroom and storage spaces and provides a new outdoor connection to a courtyard container garden outfitted with playful planters.

â&#x20AC;¦THAT LEARNED TO GROW

enjoy meals with vegetables harvested from the school’s organic garden. By engaging a child’s sense of curiosity through material and form, the buildings encourage children to think about the way the building’s systems and the garden work together, and to consider their own relationship to the environment. P.S./M.S. 7 in East Harlem serves 500 Pre-K through 8th grade students, in a neighborhood with limited access to fresh produce and some of NYC’s highest levels of poverty and obesity.

PS 216’s 550 students work with professional gardeners and chefs in garden and kitchen classes. With a diverse student body and multi-cultural community of families, the neighborhood’s demographics inform the curriculum, and the students’ growing understanding of nutrition in turn influences their families. The Kitchen Classroom provides space for thirty students to prepare and enjoy meals with vegetables harvested from the school’s organic garden. By engaging a child’s sense of curiosity through material and form, the buildings encourage children to think about the way the building’s systems and the garden work together, and to consider their own relationship to the environment. P.S./M.S. 7 in East Harlem serves 500 Pre-K through 8th grade students, in a neighborhood with limited access to fresh produce and some of NYC’s highest levels of poverty and obesity.

SPACES THAT LEARN TO BE Category is Image: More than the space per-se, what its important in these projects is their ability to recognize new ways to connect with users and foster relationships that can change the way in which an activity, a situation or a context is perceived. A project becomes relevant to people when architecture: is capable of becoming a communication tool, when it´s image becomes part of a collective imaginary, and by modifying -in its everyday use- the limits that separate citizens from institutions.

FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS! SEGUI LE INSTRUZONI! Use this / Utilizza questo:

1. Fold the page halfway 2. Fold the page by the white borders of the gray boxes 3. Cut by the dashed gray lines of the boxes 4. Pull by the middle line and discover the POP-UP effect! 1. Piega la pagina a metà 2. Piega la pagina per i bordi bianchi delle scatole grigie 3. Taglia per i bordi grigi segmentati delle scatole 4. Tira la pagina dalla linea bianca in mezzo e scopri l’effetto POP-UP!

La categoria è immagine: più che lo spazio per sé, ciò che è importante in questi progetti è la capacità di riconoscere nuovi modi di connettersi con gli utenti e favorire relazioni che possono cambiare il modo in cui viene percepita un’attività, una situazione o un contesto. Un progetto diventa rilevante per le persone quando l’architettura: è in grado di diventare uno strumento di comunicazione, quando l’immagine diventa parte di un immaginario collettivo e modificando, nel suo uso quotidiano, i limiti che separano i cittadini dalle istituzioni.

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The building was conceived as an expansion of the existing Santa Fe Hospital, a strong institution that seeks welfare through medical and scientific innovation, as well as its patient-oriented attention. The project was expected to complement and renew several facilities within the medical center, while consolidating an iconic image for the institution. The project’s key location -between two of Bogota’s main avenues- meant that it had to perform as an urban connector, a catalyzer for new activities and human relationships, while keeping in touch with the medical center’s architectural language: a complex of modern, brick-clad buildings. The new building had to be able of dialoguing with the existing complex not only on a functional level, but also on a representational plane: through its materiality. Given the requirement for continuity throughout the whole medical center, the building adopts a brick membrane façade: a contemporary read on the traditional masonry system that characterizes the previous buildings.

The building was conceived as an expansion of the existing Santa Fe Hospital, a strong institution that seeks welfare through medical and scientific innovation, as well as its patient-oriented attention. The project was expected to complement and renew several facilities within the medical center, while consolidating an iconic image for the institution. The project’s key location -between two of Bogota’s main avenues- meant that it had to perform as an urban connector, a catalyzer for new activities and human relationships, while keeping in touch with the medical center’s architectural language: a complex of modern, brickclad buildings. The new building had to be able of dialoguing with the existing complex not only on a functional level, but also on a representational plane: through its materiality. Given the requirement for continuity throughout the whole medical center, the building adopts a brick membrane façade: a contemporary read on the traditional masonry system that characterizes the previous buildings.

A HOSPITAL… 78

The goal of designing a space that not only accomplished quantitative needs but also attended qualitative factors was key for recognizing patients’ and staff’s deeper needs. Indeed, the whole building is based upon the premise that space itself can fasten healing times, light up patients’ moods, and thus improve the recovery process. The façade itself not only works as a representational element, but as an intricately configurable membrane that regulates the amount of sunlight that penetrates each space. But mainly, this brick skin allows for a greater relationship between the patients and the outside world, assuring maximum openness for the rooms, while ensuring privacy where else needed. A solarium on the ninth floor brings nature within the building, allowing patients to water the plants and be in touch with nature. These resources have proven highly effective as stimulus on the recovery process and have reassured core humanist values within the institution.

…THAT LEARNED TO BE RECOGNIZED

SPACEBUSTER

The bubble can be accessed through the passengerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s door. The membrane acts as a semi permeable border between the public and the more private. THE GENERATOR is an experimental building laboratory for instant, participatory building practices

in public space. Central issues of the research include: construction principles, new geometries for furniture and lightweight construction buildings, as well as new usage possibilities and multiple programs for people to meet and interact in public.

SPACEBUSTER is - as are all pneumatic spaces of raumlaborberlin - a tool which allows through its mobile, transparent, instant architecture to develop and explore the qualities and possibilities of public space, seeking out new urban frontiers by transforming nomadic, transgressive, and transitory spaces. Build on a step van and an inflatable space coming out of its back, the SPACEBUSTER can host up to 80 people. The bubble can be accessed through the passengerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s door. The membrane acts as a semi permeable border between the public and the more private. THE GENERATOR is an experimental building laboratory for instant, participatory building practices in public space. Central issues of the research include: construction principles, new geometries for furniture and lightweight construction buildings, as well as new usage possibilities and multiple programs for people to meet and interact in public.

A MOBILE BUBBLEâ&#x20AC;Ś 83

SPACEBUSTER interacts with the architectural and the social space and its conditions. It opens urban space for temporary collective uses thus changing and transforming it. The visitors are part of the SPACEBUSTER and modify it by inhabiting it. This way the surroundings become the backdrop of the scene as viewed from the inside and the SPACEBUSTER a stage in terms of a public theater piece. Depending on the program taking place the space is furnished with desks, chairs, dinner tables in different layouts. As the flexible structure of the bubble can adjust to the surrounding it squeezes underneath a bridge, wraps around a tree or casts the pattern of a fence or the profile of a faรงade. The Generator consists of two components: hardware and software. The hardware is a workstation designed for mobility. A set of several flight cases can be assembled as two workbenches containing the necessary tools for eight people to work on site using simple wood slats and plywood as building materials. The software is a set of construction plans and instructions for modules, which are developed for easy assembly. The modules can be assembled into chairs, tables, and shelves, as well as walls and shelters.

â&#x20AC;ŚTHAT LEARNED TO BE RECOGNIZED

SPACEBUSTER interacts with the architectural and the social space and its conditions. It opens urban space for temporary collective uses thus changing and transforming it. The visitors are part of the SPACEBUSTER and modify it by inhabiting it. This way the surroundings become the backdrop of the scene as viewed from the inside and the SPACEBUSTER a stage in terms of a public theater piece. Depending on the program taking place the space is furnished with desks, chairs, dinner tables in different layouts. As the flexible structure of the bubble can adjust to the surrounding it squeezes underneath a bridge, wraps around a tree or casts the pattern of a fence or the profile of a faĂ§ade. The Generator consists of two components: hardware and software. The hardware is a workstation designed for mobility. A set of several flight cases can be assembled as two workbenches containing the necessary tools for eight people to work on site using simple wood slats and plywood as building materials. The software is a set of construction plans and instructions for modules, which are developed for easy assembly. The modules can be assembled into chairs, tables, and shelves, as well as walls and shelters.

learning

ˈləːnɪŋ/ noun 1. The acquisition of knowledge or skills through study, experience, or being taught. space

speɪs/

noun 2. The dimensions of height, depth, and width within which all things exist and move.

We can easily recognize the way in which architecture can modify and shape behaviors; opening spaces for actions and foster interactions. It seems obvious as well, how architecture can control and operate as an instrument of power. In other words, we have become aware that to build is to govern, that is to say, to organize, direct and control. A paradigmatic example is the Panopticon, a space for control. As a penitentiary typology that allows for a 360-degree field of vision, it allows the guard to see the entirety of the inmate population. The Panopticon aims for a psychological effect: to feel you are being watched day and night. This can be translated into the idea of a society that in its totality, through its institutions, observes and controls its members. Is it surprising, as already Foucault pointed out, that prisons resemble factories, schools,barracks and hospitals.1 Architecture has become more and more controlling as a field; a mean to discipline the members of society in all its spheres.

From this perspective architecture can be thought of as the design of spaces that “teach” us something, i.e: behaviors, actions, interactions, feelings, sensations. It is as simple as saying that built spaces affect humans and the way in which

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1. Cf. Foucault, Michel. 1995. Discipline and Punishment: The Birth of the Prison. USA: Vintage books. Ag 172. Translated by Allan Sherdan.

Theatron Bogotá Credits: Theatron

SPACES THAT LEARN TO... S P A Z I C H E I M P A R A N O A . . .

Theatron Bogotá Credits: Theatron

Plan of the Panopticon - Source: The works of Jeremy Bentham vol. IV, 172-3

they relate to each other and their environment. This should not seem strange insofar as traditionally the architectural object is conceived and designed with a purpose and to fulfill a function.2 But what does it mean, then, to talk about spaces that learn? It means, first of all, to change the epistemological perspective of the architectural analysis, that is to say, to rethink the relationship between the architect and/or the user, inhabitant or visitor ––the subject–– and the built space –– the object––. We tend to think, from a customary perspective, that the use of a space depends on its form, and that, in turn, its form follows a given function. Needless to say that traditionally the architectural form has been conceived as a solid figure meant to last forever. The question that arises from this analysis of the architectural process is how modifiable are technique form, and function when considered as independent variables. And if one of these variables changes, do the other two remain the same? How seriously should we take Vitruvius’ firmitas principle?3 How firm and static is the architectural object? Throughout this text, we would like to think how the built space couldn’t be thought of as a fixed, unchangeable object that stems from the architect’s will. As a matter of fact, we would like to propose a reading of the architectural object from its vibrant, unstable, and contingent materiality. This comprehension of architecture’s materiality arises precisely in direct opposition to the principle of firmitas. 2. The Idea that forms follows function in the modernist architectural discourse appears in all its expression in the work of Louis Sullivan: “form ever follows function, and this is the law. Where function does not change form does not change. The granite rocks, the ever-brooding hills, remain for ages; the lightning lives, comes into shape, and dies in a twinkling. It is the pervading law of all things organic, and inorganic, of all things physical and metaphysical, of all things human and all things superhuman, of all true manifestations of the head, of the heart, of the soul, that the life is recognizable in its expression, that form ever follows function. This is the law. Sullivan 1896: 110 f. Sullivan, Louis Henry 1988: The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered [1896]. In: Public Papers. Hrsg. von Twombly, Robert. Chicago, 103-113. 3. As it is well known, in the canonical treatise De Architectura Vitruvio identifies three guiding principles for architecture: firmitas, venustas and utilitas, that is to say: firmness/solidity, beauty, and utility. Although the text was written between the 27 and the 23 B.C, the validity of this definition is still discussed nowadays within architectural discurse.

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What would happen if instead of thinking architecture as a static grounded object, we think it as a “subject” that can change and adapt altogether to new uses and practices? This change of perspective stages how architecture can modify itself to learn to be something else beyond its original function. The pedagogical openness of the built space allows us to understand the contingency of architecture in itself; the resistance that offers every time we tend to categorize it and control it. The way in which a space can unfold itself is not necessarily pre-given and not always pre-dictable. To put it in words of Manuel DeLanda, this idea of materiality allows us to “understand that any complex system, whether composed of interacting molecules, organic creatures or economic agents, is capable of spontaneously generating order and actively organizing itself into new structures and forms.”1

Metro Theater Bogotá, by Manuel Ribas. Credits: Felipe Restrepo Acosta

The epistemological shift we propose is that of observing the learning process of architecture and to show this process’ emancipatory nature. It is precisely through this analysis that we can understand how architecture can open up possibilities of emancipation in repressive contexts, or scenarios where underrepresented groups and minorities can find a safe space. In other words, how the other, in mainstream capitalism, can find a place to affirm themselves within a society where space has been built in many cases precisely to exclude them. A good example of this process is the nightclub Theatron in Bogota, Colombia. Originally built as the Metro Riviera cinema theater, it was located in one of the trendiest areas in Bogota during the early 60s, in the traditional neighborhood of Chapinero. The theater operated as such until the late 80s, hosting the crowded premier of blockbusters like Jaws (1975) or E.T (1982). By then, the urban depressed area of Chapinero, abandoned by its original inhabitants and now swarmed by 1. De Landa, Manuel. 2004, “Material Complexity” in Digital tectonics. Edt by: Leach, N., Turnbull, D. and Williams, C. J. K., Wiley. Foucault, Michel. 1995. Discipline and Punishmen

Theatron Bogotá Credits: Theatron

cheap business, forced the Metro Theater to turn into a dodgy cinema for loners seeking for some pornographic distraction. In 1995, the Metro Theater became an evangelical church hosting now massive, multitudinous religious meetings. Simultaneous to this process, Chapinero became the harbor for the gay underground night in Bogota. The “pink rumba” at that point, used to take place in hidden spaces, where basement people gathered to run away from the repressive everyday life of the Capital. In 2002 the evangelical church left the building, and the raising diverse area gave birth to a new destination: a gay club that changed the face of the neighborhood, the landscape of “pink” nightlife in Bogota, also helping Chapinero to be instituted as the gay neighborhood of Bogota: from now on called “Chapigay”. As Robert Venturi pointed in Learning From Las Vegas, “When circumstances defy order, order should bend or break: anomalies and uncertainties give validity to architecture.”2 Theatron has more than ten thousand square meters that host thousands of people from all over the world every weekend providing them with a massive entertainment experience. Since then the club has expanded its limits opening a new room every year. Fifteen years later, with thirteen thematic spaces, it became an “adults theme park “, constantly changing and moving. Perhaps this dynamic and chameleonic feature of Metro Theater/Theatron, its capacity to modify according to its audience, is one of the aspects that has allowed it to be one of the longest-running clubs in Bogotá; or is it maybe the mirror of a society that fights and seeks more and more for spaces of diversity, creativity and otherness. This struggle of underrepresented minorities staged in spaces able to transform themselves is well shown in the North American documentary film from 1991 Paris Burning. The 2 Venturi, Robert, 1977 Learning From las Vegas. The MIT press. Pag 41.

documentary stages how the dynamics of segregation in terms of race, class and gender within Drag Queen culture have clear spatial repercussions in how space is modified and can be used and embraced. The documentary shows how the skills of representation of “realness” in the performances of the drag queens are guided to achieve aspirational desires and how these desires have repercussions on the use of space. In the film, the problem of segregation is explored explicitly. The categories used for the drags to compete and challenge themselves in the balls and dances carried out in House of Labejia, tackle categories such as “City vs. Country Side”, “Executive realness”, “Couture night” or “Urban Girl”. These classifications draw clear imaginaries created by a society of commodity that are formalized in great commercial passages of exclusive areas in the great cities, where iconic and glamorous institutions such as Prada, Armani or Chanel have their boutiques; places where the street itself becomes a catwalk. The documentary illustrates the consequence that these imaginaries have over the use of the body. The bodies of white citizens of New York are shown as carefree and nonchalant. This image contrasts with the protagonists of the narrative who are constantly recognized, by society but also by themselves, as poor, segregated, and marginalized. This becomes clear when the gay black characters express their aspirations to experience, temporarily, certain privileges that in economic and social elites are irrefutable facts. Venus Extravaganza, one of the main characters of the story, expresses such sentiment when she says: “I would like to be a spoiled, rich white girl [...] They do not really have to struggle with finances.” And it is precisely right here where space becomes crucial, and from where architecture´s static character is diluted by aspirational desires: the deliberate imitations of the drags are transformed into space. The static, elitist, heteronormative,

Theatron Bogotá Credits: Theatron

The Vitruvian Triangle

Aesthetic beauty experiential enjoyment artistry VENUSTAS (beauty)

Structura integrity durability construction quality

Functional adequacy usefulness satisfies programmatic requirementes

FIRMITAS ( fi r m n e s s )

UTILITAS (function)

racist, and hegemonic conception that is given to space is deconstructed when is used as an ever-changing scenario to perform. Space itself is in drag. It is perhaps this tactic that allows building dynamic spaces through theatricalizing mainstream behaviors and identities. A performance driven by the categories that guide the limitless interpretations that we can have about us and the world we inhabit. House of Labejia is a place born from the desire to express and use the body beyond the limits and boundaries that privileges and stable identities dictate. The House modifies according to these contingent and fluid identities. Then again, what does it mean to talk about spaces that learn? Perhaps it can mean to talk about the moment when architecture loses its sheer character of object and becomes a “subject”. This means, when the materiality of the architectural object becomes vibrant and changeable in unpredictable ways. It is when a place acquires the capacity to change and be modified along with people’s desires and aspirations. When the relation between function and form changes, and form can be defined beyond function. Yes, Spaces can learn to become something else than themselves. They can can go beyond or even perhaps against its original function. A space can learn to be a place where, in turn, we can learn to be someone else. Rupaul says: “We’re all born naked and the rest is drag.” By Carlos Medellín & Maria Victoría Londoño (horizontal)

* Il muro usato per appendere i disegni impara ad essere un tavolo. * La scrivania che Ă¨ stata utilizzata per creare modelli impara ad essere un modello. * Il modello che era una rappresentazione di un edificio Ă¨ usato come palcoscenico. * Il palcoscenico che ospitava uno spettacolo Ă¨ utilizzato come luogo di lavoro collettivo. * Il luogo che un tempo era un edificio per contenere abitudini specifiche impara ad appropriarsi di eventi illimitati * E lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;evento impara ad essere architettura.