Videos by Fernando Gutiérrez H.
The research provides evidence from Mexico City and Veracruz’s historic centres. It touches on br... more The research provides evidence from Mexico City and Veracruz’s historic centres. It touches on broader topics, such as urban policies of emergency that have sought to reduce crowds in public spaces, social control and surveillance, and how different groups have resisted to these policies.
Some social uses and physical features of public spaces in historic centres in Mexico have changed during the ongoing pandemic. My research examines how emergency policies have responded to the pandemic, trying to avoid gatherings in public places, and thus, to minimize COVID-19 transmissions. As a consequence, some groups have resisted to leave or find alternative ways to return to public places. Some of these groups use public spaces for essential needs, such as living, earning an income or finding companions.
Note: this material is part of a working paper. It was presented at the 'Emergency' roundtable at UCL Urban Laboratory in December 2020. 3 views
Papers by Fernando Gutiérrez H.
Espacio público en la ciudad mexicana del siglo XXI, 2025
ARK -Finnish Architectural Review , 2025
Urban Matters Journal, 2024
Journal of Urban Design , 2023
The implementation of city lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic exposed some social ine... more The implementation of city lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic exposed some social inequalities in Mexico. The paper evaluates the effects of the closure of the Alameda Central, a public park in the Historic Centre of Mexico City. It examines how its closure affected some vulnerable populations, including homeless people, beggars, street vendors, buskers, and male sex workers, to the extent that they resisted leaving or found ways to return to public space. The research shows how Mexican COVID-19 policies tended to overlook the diversity of populations making use of public space, and their various necessities.
URBAN DESIGN International , 2020
The paper portrays the Plazuela de la Campana, a historical small square in the Port of Veracruz,... more The paper portrays the Plazuela de la Campana, a historical small square in the Port of Veracruz, Mexico that fell into ill-use and was revived with a strategy of music and dance events. The case demonstrates how music and dance became a new tradition that nurtures a collective attachment to the Plazuela and contributes to it being regarded as heritage. The privately initiated revitalisation borrows potency from prior nostalgic memories and traditions to overpower the past notoriety of the square. Dance and music, besides creating pleasant associations, effectively build a network of friendships that engages people in the square and through which the history of the place becomes remembered. All these effects deepen the meaningfulness of the Plazuela, which fosters personal affection towards the square and ultimately, it is proposed, translates into a general appreciation-a lesson to be learned for emerging urban planning practices.
Revista Política y Cultura, 2017
En la actualidad, las ciudades son analizadas desde una visión que concentra aspectos políticos, ... more En la actualidad, las ciudades son analizadas desde una visión que concentra aspectos políticos, económicos, demográficos y ecológicos; estas dimensiones conforman el fenómeno urbano, dinámico y cambiante. Definiciones tradicionales de espacio público tienden a generar arquetipos como la plaza, el parque y la calle; así como concentrarse en el espacio “donde todos los ciudadanos tienen derecho a acceder”. Sin embargo, en relación a las ciudades contemporáneas y el espacio urbano, poco se ha discutido sobre la correspondencia entre espacio público y cualidades inmateriales, que trascienden la forma urbana. En este sentido, esta serie fotográfica muestra a la Alameda Central como un espacio de resistencia social ante las dinámicas políticas, económicas, sociales y culturales que tienen lugar en el Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México. Así, este espacio público se ha convertido en un lugar de encuentro, batalla y resistencia en donde convergen intereses de usuarios antiguos, nuevos ocupantes, autoridades y marcos regulatorios, instituciones culturales e históricas. De esta manera, partiendo del valor simbólico e importancia histórica de este espacio público, esta serie busca generar un argumento visual a través de las imágenes capturadas durante ocho horas en el mismo día. Las fotografías intentan plasmar diferentes connotaciones de la Alameda Central: como manifestación de un espacio regulado y expresión de desplazamiento urbano, como lugar de vida fuera de la ley y muestra de segregación socio-espacial, como elemento articulador de procesos de regeneración urbana y receptáculo de memorias y experiencias de usuarios... como reflejo de acontecimientos sociales, políticos, económicos, culturales e históricos.
Bitácora Arquitectura, Jun 1, 2017
Infra-ordinario es un estudio urbano de la plazuela de la Campana, un espacio público en el centr... more Infra-ordinario es un estudio urbano de la plazuela de la Campana, un espacio público en el centro histórico de Veracruz, México. El término " infra-ordinario " se refiere a acontecimientos diarios, acciones y hábitos que son anodinos y pasan casi inadvertidos, como caminar, descansar y recrearse en la plazuela. Este estudio muestra la manera en que la vida urbana de este espacio público emerge por medio de eventos ordinarios y cómo la morfología urbana y la historia conforman el espacio social. El artículo presenta la plazuela de la Campana como un ejemplo en el que la dimensión temporal –los cíclicos ritmos semanales de uso y las memorias e historias de las personas– conforma un proceso de regeneración urbana del espacio público. Este proceso incluye el análisis y la creación de escenarios urbanos con base en el entendimiento del pasado y el presente, a fin de formar las bases de posibles transformaciones de la plazuela.
Infra-ordinario is an urban study of the small plaza [plazuela] de la Campana, a public space in the historic center of Veracruz, Mexico. The term " infra-ordinary " (infra-ordinario) refers to everyday events, actions, and habits so ordinary – such as walking, resting and entertaining in the plazuela – that they are nearly unnoticeable. The study shows how the urban life of this public space emerges by means of everyday events and how the urban morphology and history shape the social space. This essay shows the plazuela de la Campana as an example where the temporal dimension –the recurring weekly rhythm of use and people's memories and histories– gives shape to a process of the urban regeneration of public space. The process includes the analysis and creation of urban scenarios on the basis of understanding the past and the present and with the eventual goal of giving form to the potential transformations of the plazuela.
RUA - Red Universitaria de Urbanismo y Arquitectura, 2015
Este ensayo analiza el Panóptico de Jeremy Bentham bajo estudios del filósofo Michel Foucault y e... more Este ensayo analiza el Panóptico de Jeremy Bentham bajo estudios del filósofo Michel Foucault y el psicoanalista Jacques Lacan, mediante el concepto de la mirada y el ojo de poder. La prisión es discutida partiendo de una descripción espacial, geométrica y simbólica; retomando los aspectos inmateriales dados por el cambio de conductas en los prisioneros, guardias y espectadores. Este ensayo argumenta que el poder del panóptico radica en la combinación y estudio de mecanismos de control físico y mental, mismos que han evolucionado en la actualidad a través de la arquitectura y la tecnología, derivando a su vez en nuevas estructuras de control y poder determinadas por factores espaciales y haciéndose evidentes en la afectación de determinados comportamientos humanos. Este ensayo concluye en la discusión sobre el papel de la arquitectura como artefacto legitimador de poder y sus nuevas manifestaciones en la tecnología y configuración espacial.
Revista Bitácora Arquitectura, 2016
Este artículo comenta algunos aspectos de los estudios fenomenológicos de la vivienda a partir de... more Este artículo comenta algunos aspectos de los estudios fenomenológicos de la vivienda a partir de La
poética del espacio (1958) de Gaston Bachelard. Para ello, se explora el argumento teórico del topoaná-
lisis en lugares íntimos y cómo ha permeado en el estudio teórico de la arquitectura. Posteriormente,
se discute la importancia de la descripción de la casa a través de las ensoñaciones y las memorias,
para analizar las implicaciones, críticas y consecuencias de los estudios fenomenológicos en la vivienda
contemporánea. El artículo concluye en que el entendimiento del espacio doméstico más allá de sus
cualidades espaciales puede propiciar un acercamiento transdisciplinario a través de la arquitectura.
Palabras clave: casa, espacios íntimos, fenomenología, topoanálisis, Bachelard
Abstract
This paper addresses some aspects of the phenomenological studies on housing after Gaston
Bachelard's The Poetics os Space (1958). For this purpose the theoretical argument of
topo-analysis in intimate places is explored, and how it has permeated the theoretical study
of architecture. Subsequently, the importance of the description of the house through daydreaming
and memories is discussed, to argue the implications, critical thinking and consequences
of phenomenological studies in contemporary housing. The paper concludes that
the understanding of domestic space beyond its spatial qualities can foster an interdisciplinary
approach through architecture.
Keywords: housing, intimate spaces, phenomenology, topo-analysis, Bachelard
Conference Presentations by Fernando Gutiérrez H.
Past, Present and Future of Public Space. 5th International Academic Conference, 2024
This paper engages with long-standing debates around public space, social exclusion and sanitisat... more This paper engages with long-standing debates around public space, social exclusion and sanitisation. Within urban literature, policies have been criticised for fostering excessive social surveillance, potentially eroding urban life and undermining the political functions of public spaces. Drawing on these debates, scholars in Mexico City have argued that urban regeneration policies in the historic centre have led to the 'homogenisation', 'sanitisation' and gentrification of historic public spaces (
Conference of Latin American Urban Research in Dialogue , 2020
COVID-19 is changing significantly how we live in cities and use public spaces currently. In resp... more COVID-19 is changing significantly how we live in cities and use public spaces currently. In response to the ongoing pandemic, the Mexican authorities have implemented a variety of urban policies seeking to reduce COVID-19 transmissions. The national authorities in Mexico have advised residents to stay at home and avoid public gatherings. Then, the State and municipal government have implemented this national advice through urban policies for total or partial closures of public spaces since mid-March, in some areas the restrictions have not been lifted yet. These lockdowns were implemented particularly in public spaces in historic centres across the country. A great variety of residents visit public spaces in historic centres for commercial, leisure, cultural or economic purposes.
The article analyses how urban policies have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in two Mexican cities, presenting evidence from the historic centres of Mexico City and Port of Veracruz. The study combines methods of ethnographic research, analysis of photographs, systematic observations of the closed public spaces, newspapers and policy analysis. The paper seeks to evaluate how urban policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have transformed public life in public spaces in historic centres, analysing the social, economic and spatial consequences of the policies in the Mexican context. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is transforming the public life of historic centres and affecting some lower-income groups who live in or make their living in public spaces, to the extent that they have resisted to leave or find alternative ways to return to public places.
ACHS 5th Biennial [Book of Abstracts], 2020
Understanding of urban heritage goes beyond tangible, intangible evidence or designations of heri... more Understanding of urban heritage goes beyond tangible, intangible evidence or designations of heritage. Everyday life can be understood as a culture with specific spatial qualities with relevance for discussions of urban heritage. The term ‘everyday life’ often evokes a range of ordinary activities such as playing, walking, commuting, reading, sitting and so on, typically repetitive quotidian activities, and how they take place (De Certeau, 1984; Amin, 2008). On their own, practices of everyday life may seem universal but, coming together in a particular way, they become an important representation of what people value in cities, including historic public spaces. Public spaces designated as heritage may be valued exactly because of the quotidian activities or memories associated with them. Quotidian practices are, therefore, revealed through people’s usage patterns of urban places. When such patterns are meaningful to a community, they may well even be regarded as heritage.
This paper aims to analyse the relationship between urban heritage and everyday life in historic public spaces. Based on ethnography and observational methods, the paper will present evidence from the Alameda Central, located in the west side of Mexico City’s historic centre and one of the oldest public parks in the continental Americas planned in 1592. The national government recognised the historic centre, including the Alameda, as a protected heritage area in 1980 and UNESCO declared it as World Heritage Site in 1987. Since then, the Mexican government have enacted urban policies, which have focused on the conservation of urban layout and/or restriction of ‘undesirable’ practices, such as street vending or begging. However, less attention has been given to how different groups have engaged in the Alameda Central on a daily basis. Recognising quotidian practices in the Alameda and the historic centre may help to understand how heritage is experienced on day-to-day.
The paper portrays La Plazuela de la Campana, a historical square that fell into ill-use and was ... more The paper portrays La Plazuela de la Campana, a historical square that fell into ill-use and was revived with a strategy of music and dance. The case demonstrates how they became a new tradition that nurtures collective attachment to the place and contributes to it being regarded as heritage. The privately initiated revitalization borrows potency from prior nostalgic memories and traditions to overpower the past notoriety of the square. Dance and music, besides creating pleasant associations, effectively build a network of friendships that engages people in the square, and through which the history of the place becomes remembered. All these effects deepen the meaningfulness of the place, which fosters personal affection to it and ultimately, it is proposed, translate into a general appreciation – a lesson to be learned for emerging planning practices.
XI Seminario - Morfología Urbana y Resiliencia
Este ensayo aborda el estudio urbano desde la fenomenología, discutiendo la ciudad y el espacio p... more Este ensayo aborda el estudio urbano desde la fenomenología, discutiendo la ciudad y el espacio público a partir simbolismos, significados y percepción humana; partiendo de las descripciones que surgen desde la geografía humanista y la filosofía fenomenológica en la segunda mitad del siglo XX. La fenomenología en el espacio ha sido extensamente estudiada por filósofos, teóricos y geógrafos; estas dimensiones han permeado a la arquitectura y ciudad de manera cada vez más discutida. Este ensayo se centra primeramente en el trabajo fenomenológico de Gaston Bachelard (La poética del espacio, 1958), Maurice Merleau-Ponty (Fenomenología de la percepción, 1962), Yi-Fu Tuan (Topophilia, 1974) y David Seamon (Geografía del mundo vivido. Movimiento, descanso y encuentro, 1979). De esta manera se discuten las implicaciones de entender el fenómeno urbano y el espacio público a través de las imágenes de apropiación, sentido de lugar, memoria y afecciones urbanas, percepción, experiencia y amor del lugar; así como las repercusiones de este entendimiento en el ámbito urbano.
Thesis Chapters by Fernando Gutiérrez H.
During the last decades, conservation of heritage and sustainability have been debated, where a p... more During the last decades, conservation of heritage and sustainability have been debated, where a plethora of definitions have conceptualised both notions in urban development and the built environment. However, little attention has been given to unified sustainability and heritage as one concept, and the implications of this emergent concept in the urban renewal of historic areas in cities.
Books by Fernando Gutiérrez H.
Participación comunitaria en proyectos de espacio público y diseño urbano durante la pandemia de la COVID-19: Experiencias y reflexiones de Iberoamérica y el Caribe, 2021
En este artículo reflexiono sobre el significado del espacio público durante la pandemia por la C... more En este artículo reflexiono sobre el significado del espacio público durante la pandemia por la COVID-19. El artículo presenta evidencia sobre el cierre de la Alameda Central en el Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México. El objetivo es analizar la forma en la que distintas poblaciones respondieron al cierre de la Alameda. Mi intención no es proveer recomendaciones a políticas públicas o lineamientos de diseño urbano durante o posteriores a la pandemia, ni intento argumentar que solamente poblaciones informales o vulnerables usan y se benefician de la Alameda, ni tampoco propongo que solamente estos grupos han sido los únicos afectados durante la pandemia. Mi propósito es reflexionar sobre la relación entre espacio público, necesidades básicas y significado de lugar.
People-Centred Methodologies for Heritage Conservation: Exploring Emotional Attachments to Historic Urban Places, 2021
[Chapter's abstract]
Observational methods have the potential to illustrate the ways that people... more [Chapter's abstract]
Observational methods have the potential to illustrate the ways that people occupy and appropriate historic urban places. These observations can be recorded and mapped to reveal the everyday rhythms of these places. They can document patterns of urban life that are seldom considered in the conservation of historic public spaces and cultural heritage. Observations can provide an image of ethnographic surveys, thus producing a new layer of information on the relations of people in space at different times. In this chapter, we discuss how examining such micro-geographies helps to understand the embodied experience and the rise of everyday urban social networks. The chapter portrays the Plazuela de la Campana in Veracruz, a historic square that fell into disuse and was revitalised by deliberate policies and local initiatives which brought traditional music and dance into the square. The case demonstrates the importance of observation methods as part of a mixed research methodology for historic public spaces. It reveals how folkloric events became part of everyday life in the square, nurtured collective place attachment and contributed to it being regarded as local and everyday urban heritage.
Los principios de la sustentabilidad en la planeación y el desarrollo de tecnología: vivienda y transformación urbana, 2017
Resumen: este estudio parte del entendimiento de la Social Practice Theory (SPT), los Socio–Techn... more Resumen: este estudio parte del entendimiento de la Social Practice Theory (SPT), los Socio–Technical Systems (STS) y la Actor–Network Theory (ANT), de las que se discuten sus implicaciones, desde la arquitectura y el espacio doméstico, para con ello generar un cambio de comportamientos hacia un consumo sostenible. Se presentan las discusiones y resultados como casos de estudio desarrollados en el Taller de Construcción Sustentable I (TCS–I) de la Universidad Iberoamericana Ciudad de México. Este estudio argumenta que la arquitectura, específicamente el espacio doméstico, ofrece la posibilidad de diseminar las conceptualizaciones ponderadas en SPT, STS y ANT, y así contribuir a la promoción de un consumo sostenible.
Palabras clave: consumo sostenible, hábitos, prácticas sociales, espacio doméstico.
Abstract: this study is based on an understanding of Social Practice Theory (SPT), Socio–Technical Systems (STS) and Actor–Network Theory (ANT). It discusses their implications for architecture and domestic space, in order to generate behavioral changes that promote sustainable consumption. The discussions and results are presented as case studies developed at the Sustainable Construction Workshop (TCS-I) of the Universidad Iberoamericana, in Mexico City. This study argues that architecture, specifically domestic space, has the potential to disseminate the concepts proposed in SPT, STS and ANT, thus contributing to the promotion of
sustainable consumption.
Key words: sustainable consumption, habits, social practices, domestic space.
Uploads
Videos by Fernando Gutiérrez H.
Some social uses and physical features of public spaces in historic centres in Mexico have changed during the ongoing pandemic. My research examines how emergency policies have responded to the pandemic, trying to avoid gatherings in public places, and thus, to minimize COVID-19 transmissions. As a consequence, some groups have resisted to leave or find alternative ways to return to public places. Some of these groups use public spaces for essential needs, such as living, earning an income or finding companions.
Note: this material is part of a working paper. It was presented at the 'Emergency' roundtable at UCL Urban Laboratory in December 2020.
Papers by Fernando Gutiérrez H.
Infra-ordinario is an urban study of the small plaza [plazuela] de la Campana, a public space in the historic center of Veracruz, Mexico. The term " infra-ordinary " (infra-ordinario) refers to everyday events, actions, and habits so ordinary – such as walking, resting and entertaining in the plazuela – that they are nearly unnoticeable. The study shows how the urban life of this public space emerges by means of everyday events and how the urban morphology and history shape the social space. This essay shows the plazuela de la Campana as an example where the temporal dimension –the recurring weekly rhythm of use and people's memories and histories– gives shape to a process of the urban regeneration of public space. The process includes the analysis and creation of urban scenarios on the basis of understanding the past and the present and with the eventual goal of giving form to the potential transformations of the plazuela.
poética del espacio (1958) de Gaston Bachelard. Para ello, se explora el argumento teórico del topoaná-
lisis en lugares íntimos y cómo ha permeado en el estudio teórico de la arquitectura. Posteriormente,
se discute la importancia de la descripción de la casa a través de las ensoñaciones y las memorias,
para analizar las implicaciones, críticas y consecuencias de los estudios fenomenológicos en la vivienda
contemporánea. El artículo concluye en que el entendimiento del espacio doméstico más allá de sus
cualidades espaciales puede propiciar un acercamiento transdisciplinario a través de la arquitectura.
Palabras clave: casa, espacios íntimos, fenomenología, topoanálisis, Bachelard
Abstract
This paper addresses some aspects of the phenomenological studies on housing after Gaston
Bachelard's The Poetics os Space (1958). For this purpose the theoretical argument of
topo-analysis in intimate places is explored, and how it has permeated the theoretical study
of architecture. Subsequently, the importance of the description of the house through daydreaming
and memories is discussed, to argue the implications, critical thinking and consequences
of phenomenological studies in contemporary housing. The paper concludes that
the understanding of domestic space beyond its spatial qualities can foster an interdisciplinary
approach through architecture.
Keywords: housing, intimate spaces, phenomenology, topo-analysis, Bachelard
Conference Presentations by Fernando Gutiérrez H.
The article analyses how urban policies have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in two Mexican cities, presenting evidence from the historic centres of Mexico City and Port of Veracruz. The study combines methods of ethnographic research, analysis of photographs, systematic observations of the closed public spaces, newspapers and policy analysis. The paper seeks to evaluate how urban policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have transformed public life in public spaces in historic centres, analysing the social, economic and spatial consequences of the policies in the Mexican context. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is transforming the public life of historic centres and affecting some lower-income groups who live in or make their living in public spaces, to the extent that they have resisted to leave or find alternative ways to return to public places.
This paper aims to analyse the relationship between urban heritage and everyday life in historic public spaces. Based on ethnography and observational methods, the paper will present evidence from the Alameda Central, located in the west side of Mexico City’s historic centre and one of the oldest public parks in the continental Americas planned in 1592. The national government recognised the historic centre, including the Alameda, as a protected heritage area in 1980 and UNESCO declared it as World Heritage Site in 1987. Since then, the Mexican government have enacted urban policies, which have focused on the conservation of urban layout and/or restriction of ‘undesirable’ practices, such as street vending or begging. However, less attention has been given to how different groups have engaged in the Alameda Central on a daily basis. Recognising quotidian practices in the Alameda and the historic centre may help to understand how heritage is experienced on day-to-day.
Thesis Chapters by Fernando Gutiérrez H.
Books by Fernando Gutiérrez H.
Observational methods have the potential to illustrate the ways that people occupy and appropriate historic urban places. These observations can be recorded and mapped to reveal the everyday rhythms of these places. They can document patterns of urban life that are seldom considered in the conservation of historic public spaces and cultural heritage. Observations can provide an image of ethnographic surveys, thus producing a new layer of information on the relations of people in space at different times. In this chapter, we discuss how examining such micro-geographies helps to understand the embodied experience and the rise of everyday urban social networks. The chapter portrays the Plazuela de la Campana in Veracruz, a historic square that fell into disuse and was revitalised by deliberate policies and local initiatives which brought traditional music and dance into the square. The case demonstrates the importance of observation methods as part of a mixed research methodology for historic public spaces. It reveals how folkloric events became part of everyday life in the square, nurtured collective place attachment and contributed to it being regarded as local and everyday urban heritage.
Palabras clave: consumo sostenible, hábitos, prácticas sociales, espacio doméstico.
Abstract: this study is based on an understanding of Social Practice Theory (SPT), Socio–Technical Systems (STS) and Actor–Network Theory (ANT). It discusses their implications for architecture and domestic space, in order to generate behavioral changes that promote sustainable consumption. The discussions and results are presented as case studies developed at the Sustainable Construction Workshop (TCS-I) of the Universidad Iberoamericana, in Mexico City. This study argues that architecture, specifically domestic space, has the potential to disseminate the concepts proposed in SPT, STS and ANT, thus contributing to the promotion of
sustainable consumption.
Key words: sustainable consumption, habits, social practices, domestic space.
Some social uses and physical features of public spaces in historic centres in Mexico have changed during the ongoing pandemic. My research examines how emergency policies have responded to the pandemic, trying to avoid gatherings in public places, and thus, to minimize COVID-19 transmissions. As a consequence, some groups have resisted to leave or find alternative ways to return to public places. Some of these groups use public spaces for essential needs, such as living, earning an income or finding companions.
Note: this material is part of a working paper. It was presented at the 'Emergency' roundtable at UCL Urban Laboratory in December 2020.
Infra-ordinario is an urban study of the small plaza [plazuela] de la Campana, a public space in the historic center of Veracruz, Mexico. The term " infra-ordinary " (infra-ordinario) refers to everyday events, actions, and habits so ordinary – such as walking, resting and entertaining in the plazuela – that they are nearly unnoticeable. The study shows how the urban life of this public space emerges by means of everyday events and how the urban morphology and history shape the social space. This essay shows the plazuela de la Campana as an example where the temporal dimension –the recurring weekly rhythm of use and people's memories and histories– gives shape to a process of the urban regeneration of public space. The process includes the analysis and creation of urban scenarios on the basis of understanding the past and the present and with the eventual goal of giving form to the potential transformations of the plazuela.
poética del espacio (1958) de Gaston Bachelard. Para ello, se explora el argumento teórico del topoaná-
lisis en lugares íntimos y cómo ha permeado en el estudio teórico de la arquitectura. Posteriormente,
se discute la importancia de la descripción de la casa a través de las ensoñaciones y las memorias,
para analizar las implicaciones, críticas y consecuencias de los estudios fenomenológicos en la vivienda
contemporánea. El artículo concluye en que el entendimiento del espacio doméstico más allá de sus
cualidades espaciales puede propiciar un acercamiento transdisciplinario a través de la arquitectura.
Palabras clave: casa, espacios íntimos, fenomenología, topoanálisis, Bachelard
Abstract
This paper addresses some aspects of the phenomenological studies on housing after Gaston
Bachelard's The Poetics os Space (1958). For this purpose the theoretical argument of
topo-analysis in intimate places is explored, and how it has permeated the theoretical study
of architecture. Subsequently, the importance of the description of the house through daydreaming
and memories is discussed, to argue the implications, critical thinking and consequences
of phenomenological studies in contemporary housing. The paper concludes that
the understanding of domestic space beyond its spatial qualities can foster an interdisciplinary
approach through architecture.
Keywords: housing, intimate spaces, phenomenology, topo-analysis, Bachelard
The article analyses how urban policies have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in two Mexican cities, presenting evidence from the historic centres of Mexico City and Port of Veracruz. The study combines methods of ethnographic research, analysis of photographs, systematic observations of the closed public spaces, newspapers and policy analysis. The paper seeks to evaluate how urban policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have transformed public life in public spaces in historic centres, analysing the social, economic and spatial consequences of the policies in the Mexican context. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is transforming the public life of historic centres and affecting some lower-income groups who live in or make their living in public spaces, to the extent that they have resisted to leave or find alternative ways to return to public places.
This paper aims to analyse the relationship between urban heritage and everyday life in historic public spaces. Based on ethnography and observational methods, the paper will present evidence from the Alameda Central, located in the west side of Mexico City’s historic centre and one of the oldest public parks in the continental Americas planned in 1592. The national government recognised the historic centre, including the Alameda, as a protected heritage area in 1980 and UNESCO declared it as World Heritage Site in 1987. Since then, the Mexican government have enacted urban policies, which have focused on the conservation of urban layout and/or restriction of ‘undesirable’ practices, such as street vending or begging. However, less attention has been given to how different groups have engaged in the Alameda Central on a daily basis. Recognising quotidian practices in the Alameda and the historic centre may help to understand how heritage is experienced on day-to-day.
Observational methods have the potential to illustrate the ways that people occupy and appropriate historic urban places. These observations can be recorded and mapped to reveal the everyday rhythms of these places. They can document patterns of urban life that are seldom considered in the conservation of historic public spaces and cultural heritage. Observations can provide an image of ethnographic surveys, thus producing a new layer of information on the relations of people in space at different times. In this chapter, we discuss how examining such micro-geographies helps to understand the embodied experience and the rise of everyday urban social networks. The chapter portrays the Plazuela de la Campana in Veracruz, a historic square that fell into disuse and was revitalised by deliberate policies and local initiatives which brought traditional music and dance into the square. The case demonstrates the importance of observation methods as part of a mixed research methodology for historic public spaces. It reveals how folkloric events became part of everyday life in the square, nurtured collective place attachment and contributed to it being regarded as local and everyday urban heritage.
Palabras clave: consumo sostenible, hábitos, prácticas sociales, espacio doméstico.
Abstract: this study is based on an understanding of Social Practice Theory (SPT), Socio–Technical Systems (STS) and Actor–Network Theory (ANT). It discusses their implications for architecture and domestic space, in order to generate behavioral changes that promote sustainable consumption. The discussions and results are presented as case studies developed at the Sustainable Construction Workshop (TCS-I) of the Universidad Iberoamericana, in Mexico City. This study argues that architecture, specifically domestic space, has the potential to disseminate the concepts proposed in SPT, STS and ANT, thus contributing to the promotion of
sustainable consumption.
Key words: sustainable consumption, habits, social practices, domestic space.