Research Articles by Silvia Colmenares
Attention to the mechanisms by which certain architectural configurations are able to adapt to ch... more Attention to the mechanisms by which certain architectural configurations are able to adapt to change defines a field of interest that has only been growing since the mid-twentieth century, after overcoming the exclusive dilemma between form and function. However, the influence of strategies based on the principle of free plan is still much greater than that of other proposals that are not based on the independence between supporting structure and distributive organization. The aim of this work is the definition of a genealogy for the idea of the plan of equivalents that is proposed as an alternative model of functional indifference, establishing a connection between the logics of pre-bourgeois domestic architecture and the most recent examples of programmatic experimentation in housing. The re-interpretation of some iteration techniques of elements developed in the 60s by the most critical generation with canonical modernity, together with the analysis of their associated operative vocabulary, will allow an outline to an approach of the inhabiting patterns based on the systematic proliferation of the room as a generic piece.
Proyecto, Progreso, Arquitectura, 2014
The capitalist system has generated two of the most extreme spatial models of functional indiffer... more The capitalist system has generated two of the most extreme spatial models of functional indifference: on the one hand, the technified and repeated space of the high-rise office building, incarnated by the “typical plan” and, on the other, the diaphanous and extensive space of the large container, which responds to the logic of what we will call “single plan”. In the buildings constructed for the American automobile and military industries is the germ of a type that would serve as a model for the new spaces for consumption of goods and services of the post-industrial city. In that city, the identification of the skyscraper with the centre and the container with the periphery is still valid, because the necessary density of the first and the extensive occupation of the second mean that it is impossible to invert the terms. However, both represent the strictly pragmatic development of the principles of the “free plan” as a generic operating system, giving rise to large constructions that test the resistance to the scale of the type itself. Taking the characteristic neutrality of the “single plan” as a reference, the text analyses the behaviour with regard to the change of size of its two complementary configurations: the large hypostile hall and the clear-span pavillion.
Constelaciones, 2014
From the hypothesis of the neutral as a possibility for architecture, the text explores the path ... more From the hypothesis of the neutral as a possibility for architecture, the text explores the path between the ‘typical plan’, as distinctive of the tall office building and retroactively theorized by Rem Koolhaas, to the notion of infrastructural ‘support’, as defined at the context of the reconstruction of the European city after WWII by John Habraken. This path is presided by the permanent reference to the modern principles of the ‘free plan’ as essentially expressed by Le Corbusier in the dom-ino scheme. Thereby, the scheme itself becomes a ‘type’ around which gravitate even contradictory arguments promoting functional indeterminacy as a mechanism to neutralize the plan.
Conference Papers by Silvia Colmenares
ACSA 2018 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, 2018
The temporary and collective appropriation of public spaces has become a way of pointing out the ... more The temporary and collective appropriation of public spaces has become a way of pointing out the failure of their institutional management. But through the whole system of locally produced opportunities of engagement, a tendency to execute this appropriation by the performance of domestic scenes can be identified. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to describe this growing tendency to reclaim what is public by showing its capacity to be used as private, and among those, the ‘beach’ will be described as a model. Being the perfect incarnation of the idea of human fellowship in the open air, the beach regulates itself through its very un-programmed usage. This might be the reason why its genuine conditions have been tentatively replicated at the core of some highly urban scenarios. However, this experience oriented design examples seem to be just a rehearsal of what a real beach should be. Relying on the physical properties of the sand and the colourful atrezzo accompanying sunbaths, they fundamentally fail to engage the radicalness of the beach concept. If the topical image of relaxed individuals is superseded, by-default distribution of space, access control, cleansing and security issues come to the fore. At a time when it is no more ‘under the pavement’, the beach can still gear the debate about public space in our cities.
It is a commonplace today that democratic structures guarantee the participation of everyone, but... more It is a commonplace today that democratic structures guarantee the participation of everyone, but if we look closer into what really happens we see that this is achieved not without some cost. This cost usually takes the form of too long procedures, bureaucracy and therefore, loss of interest. The ‘action’ is limited to the ‘election’. In a general climax of increasing speed, our urban environment changes so slowly that a whole generation is needed to visualize it. But small communities are making the difference. They are taking the command, occupying empty plots, activating public spaces and managing the collective means at hand. They have decided just to do it. All these seminal experiences are building a new way of place-making. Even if they are scattered around the globe, some common qualities can be identified. By the inversion of the classical deductive method they predicate a new direction along the line that links analysis to action. As many of the action art techniques (i.e: performance, happening and installation) they are not a means to an end, but ends in themselves. They are worth being considered just because they have been done. To unravel the institutional stagnation is perhaps their only aim. This paper investigates the relationships between the participative changing processes that are taking place within the contemporary city and the artistic practices that proliferated during the 50's and 60's, being both of them experiences where making and showing prevail over telling or knowing.
El campo del reciclaje industrial ha dado pie a profundas reflexiones respecto a la tradicional o... more El campo del reciclaje industrial ha dado pie a profundas reflexiones respecto a la tradicional oposición entre ruina y conservación. Especialmente hoy una parte de la profesión ha concentrado su pensamiento en esas estrategias de actuación sobre lo construído, como lugar desde donde recuperar un nuevo sentido para la arquitectura, con un atisbo de esperanza semejante al que en el siglo XIV tuvieron los arquitectos del renacimiento con los restos romanos.
Hoy sabemos que las intervenciones sobre esas arquitecturas industriales no pueden ser realizadas con las mismas actitudes que han producido mucha de la construcción insustancial de los últimos tiempos. Por ello se propone un listado de acciones trasnsitivas que adquiere voluntariamente la forma de una simple sucesión : llenar, vaciar, limpiar, evocar, artealizar, localizar, borrar, camuflar, ampliar… Una sucesión clara y aséptica, como una mera enumeración, que evita las relaciones entre estrategias,
despojándolas de toda intencionalidad narrativa o ideológica. Se trata de un catálogo de acciones posibles que, desde el estudio de las relaciones entre lo existente y lo proyectado, en el contexto de la arquitectura industrial, tal vez contribuya a un debate más general sobre el estado en que se encuentra la propia disciplina.
I CONGRESO DE INVESTIGACIÓN SOBRE PAISAJE INDUSTRIAL, Oct 2011
El campo del reciclaje industrial ha dado pie a profundas reflexiones respecto a la tradicional o... more El campo del reciclaje industrial ha dado pie a profundas reflexiones respecto a la tradicional oposición entre ruina y conservación. Especialmente hoy una parte de la profesión ha concentrado su pensamiento en esas estrategias de actuación sobre lo construído, como lugar desde donde recuperar un nuevo sentido para la arquitectura, con un atisbo de esperanza semejante al que en el siglo XIV tuvieron los arquitectos del renacimiento con los restos romanos. Hoy sabemos que las intervenciones sobre esas arquitecturas industriales no pueden ser realizadas con las mismas actitudes que han producido mucha de la construcción insustancial de los últimos tiempos. Por ello se propone un listado de acciones transitivas que adquiere voluntariamente la forma de una simple sucesión : llenar, vaciar,
limpiar, evocar, artealizar, localizar, borrar, camuflar, ampliar… Una sucesión clara y aséptica, como una mera enumeración, que evita las relaciones entre estrategias, despojándolas de toda intencionalidad narrativa o ideológica. Se trata de un catálogo de acciones posibles que, desde el estudio de las relaciones entre lo
existente y lo proyectado, en el contexto de la arquitectura industrial, tal vez contribuya a un debate más general sobre el estado en que se encuentra la propia disciplina.
La acción de "conservar" aparece como un nuevo campo de actividad para los arquitectos, especiali... more La acción de "conservar" aparece como un nuevo campo de actividad para los arquitectos, especialistas o no, que puede resultar determinante para la propia revitalización de la disciplina. Partiendo de esta observación, presente en la exposición Cronocaos (R. Koolhaas. Venecia, 2010) el texto propone la reactivación programática como primera estrategia para la conservación. A través del concepto de ruina, se analizan dos intervenciones llevadas a cabo recientemente en París. La primera de ellas, en el Palais de Tokyo (Lacaton & Vassal. 2001) nos conduce hasta el término "a-ruinar", entendido como extraer de la ruina. La segunda, en el Centro Georges Pompidou (R. Rogers y J.F. Bodin. 2000) se ajusta al significado más común de "arruinar" en el sentido de precipitar al desastre. Ambas dan cuenta de la disparidad de criterios de intervención y de su estrecha relación con el proyecto socio-cultural del cual son instrumento, lo que induce a pensar que la conservación del llamado "patrimonio arquitectónico del siglo XX" transciende la propia arquitectura y requiere nuevas formas de "gestión".
rita_ 11 [Selección de Textos de Investigación] by Silvia Colmenares
rita_, May 2019
La relación entre el hombre y el territorio está siempre mediada por la particular comprensión de... more La relación entre el hombre y el territorio está siempre mediada por la particular comprensión de dónde se encuentra el punto de partida. Esta situación seminal debe describirse antes de que se pueda llevar a cabo cualquier acción. Tradicionalmente, la actitud moderna hacia lo existente ha estado definida por una actitud de "tabula rasa", por la eliminación de rastros pasados como única forma de lograr lo nuevo. Los planes visionarios para París de Le Corbusier suelen tomarse como un caso paradigmático de este ideal de un comienzo despejado que todavía hoy persigue al arquitecto cada vez que se enfrenta al diseño de una intervención a gran escala, como se hace evidente en ciertas obras de OMA. Por otro lado, el término “terrain vague” comenzó a usarse durante las últimas décadas del siglo pasado para describir un vacío alternativo; uno que no reclama un estado cero de las cosas, sino que admite la información incrustada de un lugar, aunque sea escasa. Esta lectura posmoderna del territorio, promovida primero por el arte, la fotografía y el cine, fue luego absorbida por la práctica arquitectónica con la promesa de construir otro tipo de origen donde lo no normativo y lo accidental son bienvenidos. La confrontación de estas dos expresiones bien conocidas evidencia la problemática condición neutral del vacío, al tiempo que cuestiona nuestra disposición actual hacia el territorio.
The relation between man and territory is always mediated by the particular understanding of where does the point of departure stand. This seminal situation needs to be described before any action can take place. Traditionally, the modern attitude towards the existing has been defined by a ‘tabula rasa’ approach, that is, the erasure of past traces as the only way to bring about the new. Le Corbusier’s visionary plans for Paris are usually taken as a paradigmatic case for this ideal of a cleared-out departure, which still today haunts the architect every time he is confronted with the design of a large scale intervention, as is made evident at certain works by OMA. On the other hand, the term ‘terrain vague’ started being used during the last decades of the past Century to describe an alternative emptiness; one that claims no zero state of things, but admits instead the embedded information of a place, even if it is scarce. This postmodern reading of the territory was first promoted by art, photography or films, and then absorbed into the architectural practice with the promise of building up another kind of origin where the non-normative and the accidental are welcome. By the confrontation of these two well known phrases, the neutral condition of emptiness itself is problematized, interrogating at the same time the nature of our current disposition towards the territory.
Papers by Silvia Colmenares
JIDA
The goal of this paper is the formulation of a methodological proposal for the teaching of archit... more The goal of this paper is the formulation of a methodological proposal for the teaching of architectural design focused on the combination of work with the model and the manufacture of prototypes. For this, the specific competencies that this practice mobilizes will be discussed in contrast to other apparently similar ones such as the production of maquettes. While the digital model is a technical system that processes, according to internal standards and external conditions, certain information for the preparation of another, the prototype is a partial physical model of a specific part of the project whose operation states a technical or material resolution of the model. Dealing with prototypes is not the creation of models that "work", but to shape an idea in order to know its strengths and weaknesses, therefore identifying new directions for the next generation of more detailed and refined prototypes. What the prototype teaches us is to learn from error.
It is a commonplace today that democratic structures guarantee the participation of everyone, but... more It is a commonplace today that democratic structures guarantee the participation of everyone, but if we look closer into what really happens we see that this is achieved not without some cost. This cost usually takes the form of too long procedures, bureaucracy and therefore, loss of interest. The ‘action’ is limited to the ‘election’. In a general climax of increasing speed, our urban environment changes so slowly that a whole generation is needed to visualize it. But small communities are making the difference. They are taking the command, occupying empty plots, activating public spaces and managing the collective means at hand. They have decided just to do it. All these seminal experiences are building a new way of place-making. Even if they are scattered around the globe, some common qualities can be identified. By the inversion of the classical deductive method they predicate a new direction along the line that links analysis to action. As many of the action art techniques (i.e...
espanolDesde la hipotesis de lo "neutro" como posibilidad para la arquitectura, el text... more espanolDesde la hipotesis de lo "neutro" como posibilidad para la arquitectura, el texto explora el camino recorrido desde la "planta tipo", caracteristica de la edificacion en altura y teorizada por primera vez de forma retroactiva por Rem Kool-haas, hacia la nocion de "soporte infraestructural", enunciada en el contexto de la reconstruccion de la ciudad eutopea tras la Segunda Guerra Mundial por John Habraken. Un camino que esta presidido por la referencia constante a los principios modernos de "planta libre" expresados de forma esencial por Le Corbusier en el esquema Dom-ino, que se constituye asi como "tipo" en torno al cual gravitan los argumentos, en ocasiones contradictorios, que promueven la indiferencia funcional como mecanismo de neutralizacion de la planta. EnglishFrom the hypothesis of the neutral as a possibility for architecture, the text explores the path between the "typical plan", as distinctive of the tall...
Proyecto Progreso Y Arquitectura Issn 2171 6897 2014 05 Vol 10 N 10, May 1, 2014
Reservados todos los derechos. Ni la totalidad ni parte de esta revista puede reproducirse o tran... more Reservados todos los derechos. Ni la totalidad ni parte de esta revista puede reproducirse o transmitirse por ningún procedimiento electrónico o mecánico, incluyendo fotocopia, grabación magnética o cualquier almacenamiento de información y sistema de recuperación, sin permiso escrito del Secretariado
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Research Articles by Silvia Colmenares
Conference Papers by Silvia Colmenares
Hoy sabemos que las intervenciones sobre esas arquitecturas industriales no pueden ser realizadas con las mismas actitudes que han producido mucha de la construcción insustancial de los últimos tiempos. Por ello se propone un listado de acciones trasnsitivas que adquiere voluntariamente la forma de una simple sucesión : llenar, vaciar, limpiar, evocar, artealizar, localizar, borrar, camuflar, ampliar… Una sucesión clara y aséptica, como una mera enumeración, que evita las relaciones entre estrategias,
despojándolas de toda intencionalidad narrativa o ideológica. Se trata de un catálogo de acciones posibles que, desde el estudio de las relaciones entre lo existente y lo proyectado, en el contexto de la arquitectura industrial, tal vez contribuya a un debate más general sobre el estado en que se encuentra la propia disciplina.
limpiar, evocar, artealizar, localizar, borrar, camuflar, ampliar… Una sucesión clara y aséptica, como una mera enumeración, que evita las relaciones entre estrategias, despojándolas de toda intencionalidad narrativa o ideológica. Se trata de un catálogo de acciones posibles que, desde el estudio de las relaciones entre lo
existente y lo proyectado, en el contexto de la arquitectura industrial, tal vez contribuya a un debate más general sobre el estado en que se encuentra la propia disciplina.
rita_ 11 [Selección de Textos de Investigación] by Silvia Colmenares
The relation between man and territory is always mediated by the particular understanding of where does the point of departure stand. This seminal situation needs to be described before any action can take place. Traditionally, the modern attitude towards the existing has been defined by a ‘tabula rasa’ approach, that is, the erasure of past traces as the only way to bring about the new. Le Corbusier’s visionary plans for Paris are usually taken as a paradigmatic case for this ideal of a cleared-out departure, which still today haunts the architect every time he is confronted with the design of a large scale intervention, as is made evident at certain works by OMA. On the other hand, the term ‘terrain vague’ started being used during the last decades of the past Century to describe an alternative emptiness; one that claims no zero state of things, but admits instead the embedded information of a place, even if it is scarce. This postmodern reading of the territory was first promoted by art, photography or films, and then absorbed into the architectural practice with the promise of building up another kind of origin where the non-normative and the accidental are welcome. By the confrontation of these two well known phrases, the neutral condition of emptiness itself is problematized, interrogating at the same time the nature of our current disposition towards the territory.
Papers by Silvia Colmenares
Hoy sabemos que las intervenciones sobre esas arquitecturas industriales no pueden ser realizadas con las mismas actitudes que han producido mucha de la construcción insustancial de los últimos tiempos. Por ello se propone un listado de acciones trasnsitivas que adquiere voluntariamente la forma de una simple sucesión : llenar, vaciar, limpiar, evocar, artealizar, localizar, borrar, camuflar, ampliar… Una sucesión clara y aséptica, como una mera enumeración, que evita las relaciones entre estrategias,
despojándolas de toda intencionalidad narrativa o ideológica. Se trata de un catálogo de acciones posibles que, desde el estudio de las relaciones entre lo existente y lo proyectado, en el contexto de la arquitectura industrial, tal vez contribuya a un debate más general sobre el estado en que se encuentra la propia disciplina.
limpiar, evocar, artealizar, localizar, borrar, camuflar, ampliar… Una sucesión clara y aséptica, como una mera enumeración, que evita las relaciones entre estrategias, despojándolas de toda intencionalidad narrativa o ideológica. Se trata de un catálogo de acciones posibles que, desde el estudio de las relaciones entre lo
existente y lo proyectado, en el contexto de la arquitectura industrial, tal vez contribuya a un debate más general sobre el estado en que se encuentra la propia disciplina.
The relation between man and territory is always mediated by the particular understanding of where does the point of departure stand. This seminal situation needs to be described before any action can take place. Traditionally, the modern attitude towards the existing has been defined by a ‘tabula rasa’ approach, that is, the erasure of past traces as the only way to bring about the new. Le Corbusier’s visionary plans for Paris are usually taken as a paradigmatic case for this ideal of a cleared-out departure, which still today haunts the architect every time he is confronted with the design of a large scale intervention, as is made evident at certain works by OMA. On the other hand, the term ‘terrain vague’ started being used during the last decades of the past Century to describe an alternative emptiness; one that claims no zero state of things, but admits instead the embedded information of a place, even if it is scarce. This postmodern reading of the territory was first promoted by art, photography or films, and then absorbed into the architectural practice with the promise of building up another kind of origin where the non-normative and the accidental are welcome. By the confrontation of these two well known phrases, the neutral condition of emptiness itself is problematized, interrogating at the same time the nature of our current disposition towards the territory.