Papers by Sebastián Trujillo-Torres
Utilizing tactful strategies through the medium of elemental mobile architectures for street vend... more Utilizing tactful strategies through the medium of elemental mobile architectures for street vendors in Ahmedabad, notable alterations can be catalysed in the urban environment by proposing alternate relationships towards the immediate surroundings that not only improve habitability but actually extend public space in the quest of a more equitable system.
ARCHITECTS PLAY deals with the understanding of the role of the architect in India and the possib... more ARCHITECTS PLAY deals with the understanding of the role of the architect in India and the possibility of re-imagining it. The possibility of re-orienting it towards pragmatic, yet imaginative practices, which respond to spatial circumstances through an -apparently simple- playful approach, a playful disposition. A disposition were agency is collectively exercised by dexterity, strategy and situation awareness, subverting restrictions into advantages and therefore outwitting the stringent structures of power: how can we re-evaluate our processes of knowledge production (and creative making) in a day-to-day basis, through a disposition intrinsically within us?
Estudios sobre Arte Actual, 2020
This paper deals with the gap that exists between two realities of practice: that which is ideali... more This paper deals with the gap that exists between two realities of practice: that which is idealized by architects, and that of its actual performative reality. The breach between preconceptions and circumstances that opens towards a spectrum of practice where architects play. A spectrum of practice where pragmatic yet imaginative roles are figured and lead towards playful dispositions, which are capable of subverting restrictions into advantages and outwitting stringent power structures.
Dearq
Este articulo busca teorizar condiciones de la practica arquitectonica contemporanea, a traves de... more Este articulo busca teorizar condiciones de la practica arquitectonica contemporanea, a traves de la tematica de arquitectos colombianos que hayan trabajado fuera del pais, lo que se denomina la cu...
This project starts with a lari. A street cart, very common in many urban contexts of India. This... more This project starts with a lari. A street cart, very common in many urban contexts of India. This project begins by proposing alternatives to appropriate public spaces and offer resources to confront scarcity (while harnessing frugality). Is a proposal for moving markets; changing spaces we could dare to call moving homes.
This is a project of essential, minimum design, frugal prototyping and collaborative explorations. A project of learning and sharing that, almost coincidentally, results in enquiries of architectural theory. A proposition of methodologies based on the essential action of play; of participating, negotiating and, ultimately, changing the world with small, collective gestures. A ponder into issues of knowledge production in the global south, in parallel to a political initiative of decolonizing: decolonizing the mind by structuring our own methods of thought, capitalizing on our capabilities and rearranging our priorities as spatial agents.
This is an inquest into the technology of jugaad -an attitude of frugal improvisation and innovation widely used in India- which accounts for great possibilities of use in the field of design, of spatial practice. A reconsideration of reutilizing those existing thought+material processes, within our field of practice. A gap in that field, in which we can play.
Slum clearing operations in Vadodara are unambiguous demonstrations of structural violence agains... more Slum clearing operations in Vadodara are unambiguous demonstrations of structural violence against marginalized communities: this essay explores such processes as historic erasures structured within complex and complementary stages (ideal exclusion, epistemic subordination and physical removal). A naturalized mechanism of the prevalent power structures, based on the perpetuation of specific forms of experiencing the urban environment within given spatial and conceptual orientations. Such orientations are aligned with an ideal movement of the ‘backward’ onto the ‘forward’: the forcible movement of the ‘scheduled’ city into the realms of the ‘general’. This paper is a theoretical dissertation of such oppressive practices, yet a disclosure on the possibility of resistance since -on a second instance- proposes a set of exercises that contest them. In this manner, through different spatial enquiries -mapping, story boards and landscape interventions- a play methodology is underscored: an alternative to invisibly subvert pre-stablished
ARCHITECTS PLAY deals with the understanding of the role of the architect in India and the possib... more ARCHITECTS PLAY deals with the understanding of the role of the architect in India and the possibility of re-imagining it. The possibility of re-orienting it towards pragmatic, yet imaginative practices, which respond to spatial circumstances through an -apparently simple- playful approach, a playful disposition. A disposition were agency is collectively exercised by dexterity, strategy and situation awareness, subverting restrictions into advantages and therefore outwitting the stringent structures of power: how can we re-evaluate our processes of knowledge production (and creative making) in a day-to-day basis, through a disposition intrinsically within us?
As LUDIC CIRCUMSTANCE -a playful situation developed in an aimless way- the composed paper/board ... more As LUDIC CIRCUMSTANCE -a playful situation developed in an aimless way- the composed paper/board game proposes to recreate different sets of relationships present in the urban environment of Ahmedabad (India) that concern the habitation of cattle and its relationship with the living/built environment.
Utilizing tactful strategies through the medium of elemental mobile architectures for street vend... more Utilizing tactful strategies through the medium of elemental mobile architectures for street vendors in Ahmedabad, notable alterations can be catalysed in the urban environment by proposing alternate relationships towards the immediate surroundings that not only improve habitability but actually extend public space in the quest of a more equitable system.
Books by Sebastián Trujillo-Torres
As a game through which children re-live particular challenges of architectural practice, this bo... more As a game through which children re-live particular challenges of architectural practice, this book is consolidated as an extension of a theoretical essay (Architects Play [or the circumstances for coacting agency]) that proposes to view architectural production and design processes as ‘playing’ scenarios. It is the representation of the non-linear, collective and dexterous developments by which architects co-act in the exercise of agency, in such a manner that children can easily understand the challenges that contemporary, middle-range practices undergo on a daily basis, though (hopefully) fun procedures.
Dearq 28 by Sebastián Trujillo-Torres
Nuevas situaciones, nuevas ideas , 2020
A partir de una serie de resultados prácticos —proyectos de diseño e investigación urbana—, este ... more A partir de una serie de resultados prácticos —proyectos de diseño e investigación urbana—, este artículo expone varias reflexiones metodológicas y propuestas disciplinares en colación a referentes que van construyendo de modo paulatino un marco teórico para cada una de las temáticas. Empieza con la justificación del formato del manifiesto y su relación con el método práctico empleado, continúa con las definiciones iniciales de infraestructuras y sus connotaciones políticas, para luego establecer el problema (la violencia estructural) y sugerir alternativas preliminares (la solidaridad activa). Seguidamente, se consolida la propuesta metodológica de infraestructuras leves y su relación con la no violencia, para concluir en un llamado a la invención disciplinar.
Dearq 29 by Sebastián Trujillo-Torres
Colombia desde Afuera / Colombia from the Outside, 2021
Este artículo busca teorizar condiciones de la práctica arquitectónica contemporánea, a través de... more Este artículo busca teorizar condiciones de la práctica arquitectónica contemporánea, a través de la temática de arquitectos colombianos que hayan trabajado fuera del país, lo que se denomina la cuarta geografía. Para esto, propone una metodología de mapeo que permita establecer inferencias a partir de la caracterización de los procesos y estructuras que componen seis proyectos distintos, representativos de campos operativos contrastantes. * This article seeks to theorize conditions of contemporary architectural practice, through the
theme of Colombian architects who have worked outside the country; something which is called
the ‘fourth geography’. For this, a mapping methodology is proposed, which allows to establish
inferences from the characterization of the processes and structures that make up six different
projects, representative of contrasting operational fields.
Dearq 38. Urbanismos bottom-up by Sebastián Trujillo-Torres
Dearq 38. Urbanismos bottom-up, 2024
Como parte de un esfuerzo de investigación más amplio, este artículo tiene como contexto las cond... more Como parte de un esfuerzo de investigación más amplio, este artículo tiene como contexto las condiciones actuales y potenciales de la venta ambulante en India, como constante en la construcción de ciudad. Comienza por examinar ciertos prejuicios utilizados para justificar su exclusión de las narrativas de planificación y diseño urbano, luego de mapear y analizar metódicamente el diseño y las características infraestructurales de casos de estudio seleccionados. De esta manera, la venta ambulante se investiga como un tipo de sistema infraestructural en sí mismo, que es una constante urbana que manifiesta conjuntos inconstantes de procedimientos y procesos, cuyas características temporales y espaciales son en apariencia incompatibles con las comprensiones convencionales de planificación y diseño. Por lo tanto, este artículo no solo pretende legitimar las prácticas espacial-sistémicas de estas infraestructuras como recurso, sino también esbozar pistas que re-imaginen futuros más equitativos para estas.
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Papers by Sebastián Trujillo-Torres
This is a project of essential, minimum design, frugal prototyping and collaborative explorations. A project of learning and sharing that, almost coincidentally, results in enquiries of architectural theory. A proposition of methodologies based on the essential action of play; of participating, negotiating and, ultimately, changing the world with small, collective gestures. A ponder into issues of knowledge production in the global south, in parallel to a political initiative of decolonizing: decolonizing the mind by structuring our own methods of thought, capitalizing on our capabilities and rearranging our priorities as spatial agents.
This is an inquest into the technology of jugaad -an attitude of frugal improvisation and innovation widely used in India- which accounts for great possibilities of use in the field of design, of spatial practice. A reconsideration of reutilizing those existing thought+material processes, within our field of practice. A gap in that field, in which we can play.
Books by Sebastián Trujillo-Torres
Dearq 28 by Sebastián Trujillo-Torres
Dearq 29 by Sebastián Trujillo-Torres
theme of Colombian architects who have worked outside the country; something which is called
the ‘fourth geography’. For this, a mapping methodology is proposed, which allows to establish
inferences from the characterization of the processes and structures that make up six different
projects, representative of contrasting operational fields.
Dearq 38. Urbanismos bottom-up by Sebastián Trujillo-Torres
This is a project of essential, minimum design, frugal prototyping and collaborative explorations. A project of learning and sharing that, almost coincidentally, results in enquiries of architectural theory. A proposition of methodologies based on the essential action of play; of participating, negotiating and, ultimately, changing the world with small, collective gestures. A ponder into issues of knowledge production in the global south, in parallel to a political initiative of decolonizing: decolonizing the mind by structuring our own methods of thought, capitalizing on our capabilities and rearranging our priorities as spatial agents.
This is an inquest into the technology of jugaad -an attitude of frugal improvisation and innovation widely used in India- which accounts for great possibilities of use in the field of design, of spatial practice. A reconsideration of reutilizing those existing thought+material processes, within our field of practice. A gap in that field, in which we can play.
theme of Colombian architects who have worked outside the country; something which is called
the ‘fourth geography’. For this, a mapping methodology is proposed, which allows to establish
inferences from the characterization of the processes and structures that make up six different
projects, representative of contrasting operational fields.