Layers of

Contemporary
Architecture

edited by
Luigi Spinelli
Architectural Design and History
 Architectural Design and History

Layers of
The Bookseries Architectural Design and
History intends to explore the relationships
between architectural design and the

Contemporary
contemporary city, with a particular focus
on the contexts where urban transformations
relate to the preservation and promotion of
historical heritage. By intersecting various

Architecture
theories, techniques and practices, the
contributions aim at unfolding the complex
identity of the architectural culture, fostering
connections and exchanges among
different disciplines, and enhancing a
strategical and evolutionary conception
of architectural heritage.
The Bookseries is promoted by the Polo
Territoriale di Mantova of Politecnico di
Milano, which is the seat of the UNESCO
Chair in Architectural Preservation and
Planning in World Heritage Cities.
All the published volumes undergo a blind
peer-review process, which the Scientific
Committee manages through the cooperation
of qualified external referees.

Scientific Committee
Federico Bucci (Politecnico di Milano, Polo
Territoriale di Mantova, Italy)
Ángela García de Paredes (Universidad Politécnica
de Madrid, Spain)
Jean-Philippe Garric (Université Paris-1, France) edited by
Luigi Spinelli
Jian Long Zhang (Tongji University, China)
Guillermo Aranda Mena (Royal Melbourne Institute
of Technology, Australia)
Quintus Miller (Università della Svizzera Italiana,
Switzerland)
Eduardo Souto de Moura (Politecnico di Milano, Polo
Territoriale di Mantova, Italy)
Ana Tostões (Universidade Técnica de Lisboa,
Portugal)
Elisa Valero Ramos (Universidad de Granada, Spain)
Yael Moria (Shenkar College, Israel)
George Zillante (University of Adelaide, Australia)
 6 Preface III. Resurfacing
Guillermo Aranda-Mena
182 Ángela García de Paredes
and Ignacio Pedrosa.
Layers of Architectures to Display
Contemporary Architecture I. Overlapping
edited by Luigi Spinelli Time in Space
12 Paulo David. Elena Montanari
Editorial coordination
Dwelling on the Land-sea
Elena Montanari 212 Níall McLaughlin.
Threshold: «Circular»
How Buildings Tell
Graphic design
Architecture
Tassinari/Vetta Parables
Barbara Bogoni
Luca Cardani
38 Marcio Kogan.
238 João Nunes.
History as a Co-author
Interaction as a
Filippo Bricolo
Dimension
54 Cristián Undurraga. of Landscape Design
Educated Steadfastness Carlo Peraboni
Claudia Tinazzi
80 Jonathan Sergison and
IV. Recording
Stephen Bates.
Unwritten Rule Legacy 258 Rafael Moneo.
Helder Casal Ribeiro The Space and Time
of Architecture
Veronica Ferrari
II. Overlaying
290 Sean Godsell.
106 Kengo Kuma. Incremental Consistency
«Particlizing» the Memory Matteo Moscatelli
Marco Imperadori
316 Paulo Mendes da Rocha.
138 Solano Benítez. What is Architecture?
Building the Future Martin Corullon
by Innovating Tradition
334 Diébédo Francis Kéré.
Marco Biagi
Primitive Forms
Copyright © 2021 by FrancoAngeli s.r.l., Milano, Italy. 156 Angelo Bucci. Landscape, of the Contemporary
Paths and Thresholds Alessio Battistella,
Ristampa Anno
Joubert José Lancha, Camillo Magni
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028
Gabriel Braulio Botasso,
L’opera, comprese tutte le sue parti, è tutelata dalla legge sui diritti d’autore.
Simone Helena Tanoue Vizioli
Sono vietate e sanzionate (se non espressamente autorizzate) la riproduzione in ogni modo e forma 364 Layers
(comprese le fotocopie, la scansione, la memorizzazione elettronica) e la comunicazione (ivi inclusi a titolo Luigi Spinelli
esemplificativo ma non esaustivo: la distribuzione, l’adattamento, la traduzione e la rielaborazione, anche a
mezzo di canali digitali interattivi e con qualsiasi modalità attualmente nota od in futuro sviluppata).
378 Authors
Le fotocopie per uso personale del lettore possono essere effettuate nei limiti del 15% di ciascun volume
dietro pagamento alla SIAE del compenso previsto dall’art. 68, commi 4 e 5, della legge 22 aprile 1941 n.
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e-mail [email protected]).

Stampa: Logo srl, sede legale: Via Marco Polo 8, 35010 Borgoricco (Pd). Table of Contents
Preface

Guillermo Aranda-Mena
 Architecture plays a unique role in safeguarding our collective identity in a contemporary fashion. The work is of international re-
memory. Through architecture we can navigate human ethnographies levance, connecting the past with an emerging contemporaneity in
over time and space. architecture.
In Les Lieux de Mémoire, Pierre Nora stresses on the importance of The future: Layers of Contemporary Architecture leverages the
nurturing our collective memory as a defining attribute of humankind. acclaimed success of MantovArchitettura, the annual architecture
In his own words: «A lieu de mémoire is any significant entity, whether festival organized within the programme of the Unesco Chair in Archi-
material or non-material in nature, which by dint of human will or the tectural Preservation and Planning in World Heritage Cities, chaired at
work of time has become a symbolic element of the memorial heritage the Mantova Campus of Politecnico di Milano. This volume provides
of any community». an opportunity to learn from a curated selection of eminent architects
Layers of Contemporary Architecture is a thoughtful publication and keynote speakers at Mantovarchitettura. The content structure
series about architecture, memory and authorship. In this publica- transverses four themes: overlapping, overlaying, resurfacing and re-
tion, architects and academics have contributed a collection of four- cording. In so doing it provides the intertwined strata upon which the
teen scholarly essays reflecting on seminal architects and their role in future is forged.
the making of contemporary spaces well-grounded through heritage. I much hope that Layers of Contemporary Architecture becomes
Architecture must engage with human narratives at its highest a seminal scholarly resource present across schools of architecture,
potential — «la memoria collectiva» —, not only to record rational public libraries, and personal libraries of the young and not so young.
knowledge as a cognitive process but also as a means for subjective
stimuli for perceptual sensing. We inhabit the spaces of memory as a
continuum, we are immersed in our environment; we can mute mu-
sic, close a book, or throw a rug over a canvas, but we cannot shut our
surroundings. Thus, architecture is instrumental in bringing spatial
narratives through a design language. No other art form nor medium
can blend theory, memory and narrative through space to the extent
that architecture can.
The present: architecture is a patient witness of human life. It
can capture and display idiosyncrasies, behaviour and emotions of
our daily lives. It is a reliable instrument for ethnographic recording.
On the receptive side, architecture is a medium by which humans can
sense and experience such narratives. Although structurally static,
architecture is dynamic through time and space; it can redeem huma-
nity from a common pressing risk of social forgetting.
The past: only through reflection we can learn and engage at a
deep level with our collective memory, and architecture is a vehicle
to do so. The curated essays presented here transcend historicisms,
stylistic and theoretical creed often found in scholarly publications.
Thus, Layers of Contemporary Architecture provides a universal lens
that allows one to engage with the discourse of past, memory and

8 9
I. Overlapping
 Madeira is the main of a small archipelago of tiny islands in the
middle of the Atlantic Ocean, nearly one thousand kilometers away
from the Portuguese continental mainland coastline and from the

Paulo David. major centres of its architectural culture, from the schools and uni-
versities and from its public, economic and political life drives. A sepa-

Dwelling on rated life condition, solitary and distant, where Paulo David refines a
method of doing architecture that I call «circular», moving away from
the island and returning back to it, borrowing from the island the mat-
the Land-sea ter itself, its materials, its culture, its tradition, its deep-rooted feeling.
The continual presence of Paulo David — who was trained at the

Threshold: Faculty of Architecture of the Technical University in Lisbon and, after

collaborating with João Luís Carrilho da Graça and with Gonçalo Byrne,

«Circular»
returned to his island to work — is a narration of his radical choice
of preserving and bequeathing the building culture of a land rich in
history and tradition, through a professedly contemporary design

Architecture practice. As a matter of fact, the insular architecture by Paulo David

attests to a total adhesion to the place, not in terms of the pictoresque
location, as much as for the deep acknowledgement of its cultural and
material value and of the memories the place itself preserves and con-
veys. It represents the powerful evidence of the deep bond that links the
architect to his home territory and expresses the successful entangle-
ment between the landscape, tectonic and traditional elements and
the piercing subtle awareness of the designer, who has the ability of
reading even the tiniest signs that tradition, rituals, acts and meaning
overlayed in time. The experience of the continuous check of the place
is based on a thorough activity combining research, filing and design
practice, which the architect carries on and questions through the di-
scipline of analogy and cross-reference.
This exercise, as simple in its enunciation as it is complex and
thorough in its implementation, finds in Paulo David’s work some
very peculiar implications, because it is subordinated (as almost every
activity in Madeira) to the inevitable and extreme confrontation with
the destructive forces of nature the island territory is recurrently and
wildly overwhelmed by; and because it is subdue to the acceptance of
Barbara Bogoni scarcity and of the existence of unavoidable boundaries, which acquire,
in that place, a character of absoluteness, completeness, timelessness;
because it is subjugated to the aknowledgement of the several anti-

13
 nomies the island contains — the foregone fluidity of its lavic core while bridle it in the winter time, when the flood menaces constantly
now solidified in harsh basaltic surfaces, the liquidness of the ocean remind of the past tragedies, the memory of which remains vivid.
waves breaking on the hard coastal rocks, the impassability of the The water is an ally. Beloved, it supplies food, landscapes, tourism;
fierce inland which the inhabitants oppose through their tireless and collected, driven and distributed, it allows the life of men, animals
determined work, aimed, in the past as nowadays, to the conquest of and vegetation, and it ensures the balanced cycle of agricultural pro-
the tiniest land plot to be converted in sustainable agricultural fields, duction: more than two thousand and five hundred kilometers of canals
the only assurance of the man survival on the island. and irrigation ditches — the levadas — have been built since the 15th
century with a titanic work along the mountainsides, the slopes, the
Tensions valleys, down to the coastal towns.
The water is an ample landscape. The whole town lays down as
Madeira is therefore a complex territory, where the force of lava, spreading to the sea, appearing at its liquid horizon. The ocean
elements — water and fire, earthquakes and volcanoes — did not really is mobile, flat, languid, silent sometimes, more often impetuous. To
find a shore to rest on yet. There is no real beach in Madeira island, in- the ocean, the inhabitants devote themselves and their strenght, their
deed. The North coast is unusable: the wind is strong, the sea is rough, expectations, their daily work: «This people have the determined pride
the coastline uneven; on the South, the steep land spits (the so- of the ones who know the power of things, the feeling of the supreme
called lombas) climbing from the island centre down to the coast out- uselessness of life, which there is nothing else to oppose against but
line a sequence of bays and inlets where the urban centres (towns and the force of a momentary, strictly necessary, order …»1.
villages) were settled, harbored between high mountainsides in the The water is a linte, two lines indeed: the distant motionless in-
valleys crossed by dangerous creeks that periodically grow and over- scrutable and eternally unattainable line of the horizon, and the ever-
flow. In those coves somewhere it is possible for the men and the houses changing tormented line of the coast, dividing the water from the land,
to timidly overlook the water and to take sustainable advantage of the the very boundary between the concreteness of the material reality
available natural resources: fish, landscape, climate. and the infinite mass of the oceanic uncertainty.
Funchal, the capital city of the island, is a town which grew from Paulo David’s architecture, deeply rooted into the rocks, into the
the coastline to the inland, following the natural mainlines of the sur- tradition, into the material and immaterial signs of the locus, dwells
rounding valleys. An historical centre made out of stone and basalt; of into the land, clings to it, and from the land ovelooks, watches and
white and black; of military, cultural, religious, administrative stories; embraces the water, allows for a difficult way of inhabiting in a kind
roads and motorways; luxuriant parks blooming with secular trees of artificial landscape, both spectacular and serene, where the anti-
and flowers to be exported all around the world; a periferal develop- nomies are broken and the tensions softened. The look aimed to the
ment of small rural houses scattered at mid-hillside, in the middle of horizon, on this boundary the architect grounds and raises his work,
small plots of farmed land. gathering in his action the extent of the visible sea and the experience
Four creeks characterized by a torrential regime — the so-called of the land.
ribeiras —, flowing from the mountainous island center to their re- On this limit, along this limit, through this limit the architect builds.
spective mouths, converge from three different directions right in the
heart of the city. Water into water, the land in the middle. On
The water is the greatest danger. Surrounded, sometimes be-
sieged by the sea water, this territory longs for sweet water in the sum- Firmly anchored to a rocky spur, overhanging the Atlantic Ocean,
mer months, when it is threatened by the bushfires and the drought, the arts centre in Calheta (Centro das Artes de Casa das Mudas, 2001-

14 15
 04), reinterprets the primitive spatiality of the island, blended into Along
the geologic matter, the existing buildings and the landscape, and re-
designs it, hence merging it permanently with the place, suspended The Salinas Maritime Boardwalk (2002-06) is a landscape design
between the sea in front and the mountains behind, turning itself into intervention developed along a short coastline section near Câmara de
a new place. Lobos, on the Southern island shore. This work expresses and enhances
On the limit, some one hundred meters above the sea level, the the direct relation between the inland territory and the oceanic vastness,
building digs into the rock, finding itself some space into it, adapting to born out of necessity and vocation, as well as the attempt of improving
the coastal topography, redrawing its cross-section, melting into the the accessibility and giving a new vitality to the very location where
ground like volcanic lava, and acquiring its definitive shape like lava water and lava dramatically met in the past, in a clash suddenly frozen
meeting the water. The building is configured as a «stony concretion», in a rough and magnificent telluric landscape.
and enhances the material and the geological layering through a con- The intervention redesigns the rocky island coastline in order
tinuous and homogeneous thin-slatted horizontally-arranged basalt to make it walkable, redevelopping some common structures in the
cladding. Madeira territory and assimilating in the narrow coastal spaces se-
The building is inhabited by the sunlight and by the constant pre- veral existing traditional elements (such as retaining walls, terracing
sence of the ocean, peeking out in the exterior spaces, in the stairs and and platforms), it enhances the character and the textures of volcanic
in the open air corridors, in the central entrance patio, before seeking stone, and it turns even the tiniest sculptural element or spatial hint
into the well-proportioned, multiple and differentiated interior spaces, into visitable and inhabitable attachments. The natural unfolding of
carved into the rocks, divided and separated on the basis of function the path on the existing topography, along the coastline, appears as the
and vocation: the library and reading room, the auditorium, the exhibi- result of the erosive action of the sea on the rocky cliff, a kind of an
tion rooms, the service spaces and storage rooms, the archives. The alliance between the desire of men to dwell on the coast limit and the
primitive model of the furnas2 guided the distribution of the partially vigour of sea water rhythmically breaking and carving new spaces in
or totally hypogeal interior spaces, defining in section the distinctive it, where previously unknown conflicting relations arise. The project
organization of voids: subtracted from, super-imposed, linked by seems to appease those conflicts and gently soften them through the
stairs and corridors. domestication of stone, the control of the tide, and the gathering of the
To dwell on the limit becomes here the glorification of the sur- water in the pacific swimming pools plunged into the ocean.
rounding landscapes — the mountain and the sea, as it was in the initial
architect’s purpose: «The building exists at the thresold between the In
ocean and the land — and is informed by the condition»3.
A new «oceanic and volcanic space» is hence born, a synthesis of The promenade in Câmara de Lobos ends in a powerful basaltic
several materic and figurative readings the architect carries on about wall and spreads into a concrete terracing, which harbours the com-
his island (about the rough and jagged rocks, the cliffs and the spurs, plex of Piscinas do Atlântico swimming pools, an architectural dome-
the pebbles and gravel eroded by both water and time passing by); a stication of the spontaneous and primitive arising of the water — so
synthesis of the patient study of the building tradition, of the suppor- unreachable and unusable in this rough location —, where it can be
ting walls made out of stone; a synthesis of the desire to set the absolute offered to the needs and use of men.
marine light bursting in from the South and to gather and drive it into An extended slab, horizontal and abstract, spreads into the ocean,
the interior of the gometric, abstract, intensely contemporary space in a narrow inlet almost completely filled with harsh basaltic rocks,
containing life. coming from the eruptive core of the island and settled in this place

16 17
 since long ago. Similar to the rocks, people’s gaze seems to linger onto furrows, hence recalling the agricultural vocation of the island and
this bay, which is topographically shaped into tiny accidental details, celebrating the strenuous action of men who have been wrenching
scattered and differentiated, showing multiple orientations and in- during the centuries tiny plots of land from the primitive natural
teractions between natural elements (water and rocks) and artificial territory and from the slopes swept by strong winds and flooded by
ones (stonework and concrete), allowing the geometric design of the torrential rains, in the struggle to farm some banana trees, some man-
project to understand the nature of place, to tranform it, and to re- goes, some avocados.
interpet it while operating a transformation. «Thus the whole complex is built as if rewriting what exists. Geo-
A few elements are composed and brought together, in order to graphy, history, society, construction and time are valued and, in this
provide the support and equipment for the touristic and leisure acti- case, used as building blocks»4.
vities to happen in the solarium and in the swimming pools, along the
path and in the panoramic viewpoint, with a concrete elevator shaft Synthesis
resolving the vertical accessibility problem, the coffee shop — transpa-
rent and light, laid on a cliff — and the dressing rooms — hidden in the Paulo David has an intimate and deep knowledge of his home-
massive thickness of the wall — both overlooking the platform. Higher, land, enhanced by the constant exercise of looking at it and of develop-
on the promontory, in a dominant position, the restaurant stands. ping a theoretical insight and a design practice on it (and his unbuilt
projects are the evidence of his commitment to knowledge and deep
Between analysis, the necessary preconditions of every possible transformative
operation on the territory). He transmits his awareness through an ar-
The project of the panoramic restaurant (Restaurante Miradouro) chitecture blended with the landscape and the materials of the island
and the urban gardens of Jardins das Salinas (2004-06), overlooking — an architecture deeply rooted into the territory, into the tradition,
the swimming pools in an elevated position, retrieves harmoniously into the signs of memory, both built or hidden below the layers of time
the topography of the ocean coastline and evokes both the long lost and matter.
presence of the ancient salt ponds carved into the rocky spurs and the The projects presented here — all built on, along, in and between
layout of farmed land plots. the Southern coastline of the island, on the land-water borderline, in
Hanging out onto the ocean, the restaurant is housed in a delicate a suspension between the rock and the sea, built out of both materials
volume made of cor-ten steel, defined geometrically and plastically, — enact the representation of several landscapes of Madeira and stage
partially cladded in thin wooden slats allowing a warm and embracing different and specific strategies of inhabiting the insular territory.
light into the interior rooms overlooking the sea. Through these projects it is possible to have a glimpse to that atavic,
A sequence of stairs and small terraces allows the passers-by to almost archetypical correspondence between matter and landscape,
detect small changes in the maritime promenade, in the height of small which is able to convert architecture into a necessary and irremovable
segments, in the pauses to look at the landscape, in the seating points presence in the natural landscape. Although recognizable in its shape
before regaining the stroll and experiencing the pleasure of dwelling as the result of the intervention of man into the nature — the very tool
in tiny open-air rooms or in the wider garden closing the path, located of tranformation and artificialization of the existing territory —, Paulo
in a more open and dominating position. The gardens show again the David’s architecture is able to enhance its continuity and identity, re-
same scheme and layout of the local rural plots, including their arbors conciling its tensions into an harmonic balance.
for the vineyards (the so-called latadas), their stepped terraces, their This is the «circular» architecture by Paulo David, with its unique
split stones supporting walls (poios), their narrow paths between the and distinguished strategy of designing in section — a skill that is

18 19
 1 H. Helder, Un’isola in sketch, in A. Gomes 4 E. Tuñon, «Geografia come cuerpo y
a constant trait in both two-dimensional graphic signs and three- Fournier (ed.), Nostalgia dei giorni atlantici, arquitectura como geografia /Geography
dimensional model-making —, a way to interpret the telluric-origina- Scritturapura, Villa San Secondo 2005. as body and architecture as geography»,
2G Monograph. Revista Internacional de
ted material layering visible in both the geological sections and in the 2 The so-called furnas are ancient cavities
Arquitectura, Paulo David, 47, 2008, p. 11.
carved into the stone and used as support
architectural construction. structures to the main residential spaces in 5 «Architetura como paisagem. Un’indagine
The research in the continuity in cross-sections drives Paulo the rural houses in the inland. Although they sulla poetica di Paulo David», Dissertation
David’s work in an attempt of dissolving the boundary between archi- were very common in the past, they are now by Matteo Ferrari, supervisor prof. Barbara
completely obsolete or totally missing. Bogoni, Bachelor program in Architectural
tecture and topography and to achieve a synthesis between architecture Design of the School of Architecture Urban
Paulo David, marginal note to a design
and landscape. The ultimate aim of the architectural intervention is
3
Planning and Construction Engineering of
sketch of Casa das Mudas.
Politecnico of Milan, A.Y. 2018-19.
thus to be grafted into the landscape, to become landscape, to be land-
scape.
«To be landscape» represents the desire to unveil a way of living
the space of the island through the architecture, the will of claiming
back, or simply enhancing, a way of inhabiting the architectural space
which is quintessentially from Madeira, thus designing an architecture
which is itself Madeira5.
The building process of this «contemporary regional architecture»
takes place as a progressive and paced sublimation of thought first,
then of the sign and of the drawing, rigorously in black and white, ap-
parently abstract and essential, which gradually lays down on paper
the multiple peculiarities, stories, materials, thoughts, techniques,
traditions, as well as it translates into a contemporary alphabet the
rich language of the regional forms, thus describing the drama of the
limits and of the antinomies, the fluid and the solid, the inside and
the outside, the near and the distant. The infinity of the Ocean and
the finite of the island, so closed, finished, solitary. In the meanwhile,
Paulo David’s design strategy generates an architecture dense of local
spirit, able to unveil the overcoming of all opposition.

20 Notes 21
 1 2 3 4
Paulo David, Centro das Artes Transversal section Overall view of the Plan of the roof level View from the site
de Casa das Mudas (Madeira, © Paulo David Arquitecto. site © Paulo David © Paulo David Arquitecto. © Paulo David Arquitecto,
Portugal 2001-04). Arquitecto. ph. Fernando Guerra.

22 23
 5
View of the roof level
© Paulo David Arquitecto,
ph. Fernando Guerra.

24 25
 6
View of the building
integrated into the cliff edge
© Paulo David Arquitecto,
ph. Fernando Guerra.
26 27
 7 8 9 10
Paulo David, Piscinas do Views of the pools From the top, plans of the
Atlântico and Passeio Marítimo © Paulo David Arquitecto, restaurant level, of the
das Salinas (Câmara de Lobos, ph. Fernando Guerra. cafeteria level, of the pools
Madeira, Portugal 2002-06). level, of the technical level
28 © Paulo David Arquitecto. 29
 11 12
Sections © Paulo David The promenade
Arquitecto. © Paulo David Arquitecto,
ph. Fernando Guerra.

30 31
 13 14 15 16
The promenade Paulo David, Restaurante Sketch of the architect Views of the restaurant
© Paulo David Arquitecto, Miradouro (Madeira, Portugal © Paulo David Arquitecto. © Paulo David Arquitecto,
ph. Fernando Guerra. 2004-06). ph. Fernando Guerra.

32 33
 17 18
Axonometric view Views from the restaurant
© Paulo David Arquitecto. © Paulo David Arquitecto,
ph. Fernando Guerra.

34 35
 19 20 21 22 23
Plans and section The restaurant
© Paulo David Arquitecto, © Paulo David Arquitecto,
ph. Fernando Guerra. ph. Fernando Guerra.

36 37
 At the beginning of this century, Marcio Kogan started a second
part of his career by founding Studio mk27 in São Paulo, Brazil, along
with a group of young Brazilian architects. This turning point in his

Marcio Kogan. profession coincided with the start of a journey that led him to become,
in very little time, one of the most influential figures in Brazilian archi-

History as tecture, with one of the most sought-after studios in the world in
the field of residential buildings. This development of his work was
brought about through the creation of a long, happy succession of
a Co-author modern villas with a unique style, recognisable both for their revival
of the great tradition of Brazilian modernist architecture and their
close alignment with the requirements of the contemporary world.
Analysing the reasons for this success, it is immediately evident that
a strong contributing factor was the undeniable quality of his archi-
tecture, which is based on a series of highly controlled spatial frames
conceived as cinematic shots. The expressive force that emerges
from viewing the images that depict his architecture might appear
to come in large part from this successful translation of the filmic
gaze into architecture1. From this particular aspect of his work, the
world of communication connected to architecture has recognized
the opportunity to obtain a great number of captivating images that
are particularly suitable for a contemporary society constantly lon-
ging for narrative shots to post to the fast world of social media.
This growing interest from the media has led to a canonization
of Kogan’s work as a symbol of beautiful architecture, that is able to
speak directly to people’s hearts. On the other hand, this canonization
has created a distance between his work and a certain militant part
of the world of architectural criticism; a distance that, reinforcing it-
self over time, has prevented much widespread, thorough analysis of
the depth that is really evident in his architectural research. Never-
theless, even at a glance, it is impossible to avoid noticing, in all his
works, the unmistakeable signs of complex compositional and design-
related mechanisms, and the traces of structured theoretical ap-
proaches that position Kogan and his studio’s body of work completely
outside the realm of mere professionalism. There has been an attempt
to make up for this lack of analysis with the publication of the book La
Filippo Bricolo casa Felice. Indagine su Marcio Kogan2. This text proposes an analytical
reading of his architecture, aiming to highlight the profound structures

39
 on which it is constructed. This initial research has then been taken as the works of Louis I. Kahn, which, despite the formal difference in
further in new texts that have appeared in journals in the sector and their components, show a strong affinity with the work of Kogan. This
monographs dedicated to the Brazilian studio’s architecture3. These is due to the fact that they establish, «with insistence, the objective of
analyses have addressed, in increasing depth, the study of compositio- deconstructing the architectural complex of their constituent parts,
nal models, narrative structures, and the topic of the evolution of this aiming to bring out the form of each of them, so that they stand out
work through serialisation and variation. independently [...]. Kahn is inspired by this very idea of progressive
However, in all these studies, one of the most interesting aspects construction over time, which is expressed in the form of the con-
that emerges from a reading of the works of Studio mk27 has not vent, creating it, however, through the simultaneous, unified act of the
yet been fully analysed: the theme of time and memory. Observing project»7. Later in the text, when speaking of variation, he adds this
the development of Kogan’s architecture starting in the first few passage that also seems perfectly appropriate for the body of work of
years of the 2000s, an intense radicalization of his approach to design Studio mk27: «These processes of transformation, produced over the
is indeed evident and, from that point onwards, his work started to be course of time, can become tools in the context of a synchronous vision.
obsessively built around stratification, and therefore time. Abstracting it from its temporal aspect, the idea of transformation cre-
Every one of the numerous projects of the studio in the last twenty ates the mental activity specific to the project. In this sense, through
years has been structured around a composition of parts through the project, it is possible to reconstruct that complex order conferred
the juxtaposition of autonomous elements, positioned in relation to on architecture by time»8.
each other. This is a use of one of the most ancient design methods in This declared presence of time is certainly recurrent in all of
Western architecture: the paratactic model. Kogan’s works, allusively loading them with history. His complete de-
In this new project phase, the works created by the Studio were no dication to this particular model marks his architecture as a strongly
longer presented as unitary spaces or organisms, but as a juxtaposition authorial experience, distinguishing his research from the tendency
of a collection of self-contained, independent elements that are united that, for simplicity, has always been indicated as a point of reference:
in accordance with consolidated compositional principles. The syste- international minimalism.
matic use of this design approach has determined the formation of new Minimalism, however, clearly differs from this type of project,
architectural constructions characterized by an apocryphal temporal in that among its main objectives is that of reducing complexity and
depth, as if the buildings were the fruit of a succession of interventions achieving an expressive unit based on homogeneous spaces and vo-
carried out over a long period of time. Through this process, the Bra- lumes, characterised by a limited number of materials. This search
zilian studio’s architectural projects have started to become intensely for uniformity is not to be found in the work of the Studio, which is
loaded with narrative and memory. based instead on a balance of inhomogeneity, where the elements
This process, as anticipated, is a precise design method that has composing the project stand out for their declarative and radical
already been fully analysed by Martí Arís in his seminal text Le va- formal independence. Furthermore, this autonomy of contained
riazioni dell’identità4. According to Arís, «this is a habitual process in elements is the very aspect that distinguishes Kogan’s approach
those architectural projects that openly display the complexity and to the compositional model of typological concatenation. Indeed,
fragmentation of their components, eluding any attempt to subjugate in the Studio’s work, its components have always been detached and
them to a single, overarching rule»5. The author cites the well-known well-defined, and do not present any form of hybridization.
examples of Villa Adriana in Tivoli, or the medieval convents formed The presence of memory is not therefore loaded with transfor-
by a «succession of spaces around which various different buildings mative allusion, since the elements are juxtaposed in order to give the
have sprung up, each with its own disposition and structure»6, as well idea of having been added over time, but not of having been modified

40 41
 over time. When analyzing Kogan’s body of work, we can see that this From a study of contemporary projects created by Studio mk27, a
criterion has been pursued unbendingly, and carried out with respect connection emerges between this work and Mororò House, designed
for a series of self-imposed, all-inclusive rules that have never been during the same period, and constructed in 2015. The house, a new
violated. This makes his research unique in creating a strong tension building, literally recreates the compositional principle of the theatre
between the temporality created by the assembly of the components restoration project, with the construction from scratch of a cover made
and the purity of those components themselves. from metal trusses (clearly recalling that of the theatre), under which
From the second decade of the 2000s, this particular approach to the different spaces of the house were positioned. This operation trig-
the compositional model of typological concatenation has been posi- gered a new aspect of circularity to the theme of time in architecture,
tively tested in a new context — that is, the context of a real relationship as the initial model of concatenation, tested in the real temporal juxta-
with history, creating projects that redevelop high-value pre-existing position of the theatre, was then translated a second time back into the
buildings. This new, previously unseen phase of the Studio’s activity initial model, maintaining its radicalism.
has brought out extremely interesting ideas, as the compositional mo- A second intervention in a historical context was the creation of
del of apocryphal temporality has ended up developing in the context the Squircle, between 2012 and 2017. This intervention envisaged the
of real historical additions — in other words, in that relational system restoration of a modernist building designed in the 1960s by the Swiss
that the initial theoretical model had aimed to simulate. In this sense, architect Marc-Joseph Saugey, on the Diagonal in Barcelona. The exi-
what has ended up being formed is a hybrid where new, self-contained sting architecture was conserved, and certain calibrated autonomous
components have been added alongside existing constructions, used elements were added inside — which, in this case too, manifested as
as an element of composition. This has determined a sort of positive self-contained, stratified figures within the original architecture.
counter-circuit of the system. A third intervention was carried out through a temporary instal-
The first of these projects was Rio de Janeiro Municipal Theatre, lation created in the courtyard of the Litta Palace in Milan, in April
in 2011, in the centre of the city. The project envisaged the transfor- 2015. This intervention introduced the problem of how to intervene
mation of an ex-industrial building, originally constructed in 1918 and in a structure that already exists in the most respectful way possible,
registered as a Historical Landmark, into a multi-use educational and while simultaneously creating a new function for the space. The project
cultural complex linked to the Municipal Theatre. In terms of functio- envisaged the construction of a black marble platform, suspended 20
nality, the project provided for the inclusion of various activities: a centimeters above the floor, building a new space that rested atop the
school to train young theatre technicians, a production centre for original floor, creating the impression of one single, free space. Black
the props and elements making up the sets for the plays, and the mu- beach chairs were distributed across this platform, sitting freely in the
seum (for the visitors interested in learning about the production and space, giving an air of informality and freedom. A translucent poly-
history of the institution). These functions were housed in different, carbonate box extended from the marble base, working as a light that,
new self-contained structures, using different materials for each at night, came alive and lit up the space. In this box was all of the sup-
of them (glass, exposed concrete, laminated panels and wood). The porting infra-structure necessary, as well as being a space to protect the
structures, with no subordinate connection between them, were added speakers and visitors from inclement weather. The project envisaged
under the existing large metal covering of the connected building, which the complete preservation of the existing building, and the insertion
was kept and completely restored. This way, a strong poetic tension of autonomous, detached elements to form rituals of meaning. The
was created inside the original space, between the industrial past of contemporary elements were juxtaposed without being modified, and
the building (reclaimed from the structure) and the contemporary in- almost without touching the existing structure, hence maintaining
sertions designed to house the new life of the complex. complete integrity. In this way, the stratification of time was conjugated

42 43
 into the imperfect, creating a level of synchronicity that allowed the dif- ancient artifacts, aiming to force the rigidity of some configurations
ferent eras of the project to sit together without impairing each other9. that still tend to divide the worlds of composition and restoration. The
Considering the particular translation of the design model of projects were developed with the conviction that the insertion of con-
composition in parts into a historical context, this synchronous sense temporary architecture into a historical context should be understood
has simultaneously evolved into a series of design experiments, deve- as a strongly compositional topic, and as such, that it can be studied
loped through a collaboration between Marcio and Gabriel Kogan and and developed through the use of defined actions. These are existing,
the Polo Territoriale di Mantova of Politecnico di Milano, with a parti- recognisable models used in all interventions for restoration, but they
cular focus on the possible relationships between modern architecture are not usually made explicit in an analytical and systemic way. The
and history, and between architectural composition and restoration projects developed during this period in Mantova followed the path
projects. of a radical paratactic interpretation of restoration projects. To rein-
This collaboration started in 201510, and was developed espe- force this experimentation, buildings based on constructive systems
cially through design workshops in which this sychronous approach with a close relationship between form, space and tectonics were
has been meticulously tested. The project experimentation was focused chosen as a starting point, such as castles built from bricks, or the city
on the design of a series of insertions within particular high-value walls of Verona, built in stone. The new insertions, designed in unique
architectural contexts in Verona and the surrounding areas, such as materials, with a close relationship between form and construction,
the ruins of the Villafranca and Valeggio Castles (and the Seraglio that sit alongside these systems as if in virtuous close combat11. This forms
connected them), the Austrian Arsenal complex in Verona, the Castel- a sort of «double brutalism» that has put Brazilian modernism in
vecchio system, the double ring of the Verona city walls, and the river dialogue with the material, compositional and expressive force of the
Adige urban system. In all these cases, they worked on the theme of historical structures, in a new alliance where history has been called in
paratactic composition with self-contained elements to form a new, to become a co-author of the project.
simultaneous system through which history could coexist with the
contemporary world. The new components were inserted using pro-
cesses defined by a series of codified actions, hypothesising a taxo-
nomy of insertion. For every macro-action, sub-actions were iden-
tified: juxtaposing ( juxtaposing by moving away, juxtaposing in con-
trast, juxtaposing in connection, juxtaposing negatively), completing
(completing from a fragment, completing by hiding, completing by
adding, completing geometrically, completing by permeating), in-
stalling (installing by laying down, installing by hiding, installing by
enveloping, installing by permeating, installing by mounting), pro-
tecting (protecting by raising, protecting without hiding, protecting
in symbiosis, protecting by preserving, protecting by incorporating),
filling (filling by replacing, filling a boundary, filling by delimiting,
filling by generating), raising (raising by fusing, raising by repairing,
raising by marking, raising autonomously, raising in antithesis). This
approach to actions allowed them to explicitly and consciously bring
the tools of architectural composition into the area of restoration of

44 45
 1 In this regard, it is certainly not redundant 8 C. M. Arís, op. cit., p. 124.
to remember that, in the first part of his
9 F. Bricolo, Edvard Ravnikar, Il memoriale
career, Marcio Kogan was active as a
di Kampor. La grammatica della memoria, in
director.
L. Semerani (edited by), Memoria, Ascesi,
2 F. Bricolo, La casa Felice. Indagine su Rivoluzione. Studi sulla rappresentazione
Marcio Kogan Studio mk27, Letteraventidue simbolica in architettura, Marsilio, Padua
Edizioni, Syracuse 2018. 2006, pp. 98-167.
3 See, for example, F. Bricolo, O sistema 10 For a description of the collaboration
mk27, in «Marcio Kogan: studio mk27 2011- between Marcio Kogan and the Mantua
2018», Monolito, 41/42, São Paulo 2018, Territorial Centre at Politecnico di Milano,
pp. 108-115. see E. Faroldi, Postfazione. Scomposizioni
architettoniche, la casa come laboratorio
4 C. M. Arís, Le variazioni dell’identità. Il
poetico, in F. Bricolo, La casa Felice, op. cit.,
tipo in architettura, CittàStudiEdizioni, Turin
pp. 149-157.
1994.
11 F. Bricolo, «Un virtuoso corpo a corpo.
5 Ivi, p. 120.
Werner Tscholl, Markus Scherer, Federico
6 Ivi, p. 122. Bucci, Gennaro Postiglione e un dialogo
7 Ibidem. sull’architettura moderna nel castello»,
Technè, 12, 2016, pp. 277-287.

1
Codified actions related
to the possible interventions
in historical contexts
© Filippo Bricolo.
46 Notes 47
 2 3 4 5 6
Marcio Kogan, Studio mk27, Models of the Theatre
proposal for the Municipal © Studio mk27.
Theatre (Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil 2011).
48 49
 7 8
Marcio Kogan, Studio mk27, Plan and view of the
Littabeach (Milan, Italy, installation © Studio mk27.
February-April 2015).

50 51
 9 10 11
Marcio Kogan, Studio mk27, Section and plan Interior and exterior sights
Squircle (Barcelona, Spain © Studio mk27. © Studio mk27,
2012-17). ph. Jonas Poulsen.

52 53
 — La noción de tiempo en línea recta, de un tiempo unidimen-
sional, usado en historia de la arquitectura y prácticamente
generalizada hasta el cerebro de los arquitectos actuantes, ha

Cristián falseado y falsea todo. Cuando se ha seguido el curso de las

cosas en trechos de tiempo suficientemente vastos se comienza

Undurraga. a percibir la palingenesis cada vez más claramente que el de la

construcción paleontológica en uso: la filogénesis, que intro-
duce la ley de causalidad en la arquitectura, de lo que ya dije
Educated otras veces para no volver ahora1.

Steadfastness For more than two decades now, starting in the middle of the
1990s, Italian criticism has looked with steady admiration at contem-
porary Chilean architecture and at a group of young architects born
between 1965 and 1970 in particular. After training at the Pontifical
Catholic University of Chile, they crossed into the world carrying
with them their talent, resourcefulness, and a true Latin American
personality capable of interacting — and sometimes conflicting —
with the panorama of international architecture. This group of pro-
fessionals is not identified with any formal affinity or theoretical
thought, and yet their complex, never-superficial non-uniformity un-
derlies and encompasses — without requiring any label — a unity of
topics, applications and needs whose roots are impossible not to trace
in the complex history of their country. In Chile, this international re-
gionalism was capable of building and long maintaining international
ambition and personal interpretation in a constant balance between
local tradition and global needs. Little investigation has been made as
to the deeper reasons for this phenomenon which has yielded exhibi-
tions around the world, the dedication of numerous monographs in
international journals, and the recognition of Aleyandro Aravena in
2016 with the most important prize in architecture2. And even less
has been done, especially in Italy, to study and understand the recent
past of Chilean architecture that has found fertile points of contact
with Europe and Italy throughout the 20th century3.
Cristián Undurraga, born in Santiago del Chile in 1954, per-
tains to the generation just before that of Alejandro Aravena, Smiljan
Claudia Tinazzi Radic, Sebastián Irarrázaval, Cecilia Puga and Mathias Klotz. He be-
longs to that group of Chilean architects with up-close experience

55
 — from within, one might say, and in all its phases — of that military movement — often earthquakes — has perhaps developed Undurra-
government that was one of the fiercest dictatorships in the world. ga’s construction sensitivity, becoming by now almost instinctive and
It is therefore impossible for the authors to look at the archi- naturally integrated into his work. In this way, the landscape — so
tecture of this country, the architects of this faraway land, or even at unique — and tradition — so primitive at times — supplant any reaso-
the shared fascination for their projects without constantly compa- ning about the complex urban stratification more typical of European
ring them to the history that, in this case, is more political and social culture, which Cristián has always viewed with curiosity and passion.
than related to cities and monuments. Copious international recognition has undoubtedly made him an
The educated steadfastness of Cristián Undurraga towards the architect of the world, but as is often said, his love of Italy is a particu-
city and architecture, the role of public space, the hegemonic pre- lar preference. This love openly refers to Aldo Rossi’s work, L’Architet-
eminence of the landscape, the value of tradition — a stead fastness tura della Città, which served as an accomplice and inspiration for his
that we began to appreciate even more when he became Visiting Pro- first project for Santiago, Chile, reworking the Plaza de la Constitución
fessor in the Master of Science in Architectural Design and History (1980).
at the Mantova Campus of Politecnico di Milano, in 2019 — is un- But the relationship between Undurraga and Italy is also marked
doubtedly the fruit of his experience within this fragment of his and solidified in our memory by two important prizes that Italy de-
country’s history, which architects began to respond to concretely cided to bestow on this Chilean architect and his work in the span of
starting with the Architecture Biennials (1977) organized by the Chi- about twenty years.
lean Association of Architects, up to the foundation of CEDLA4. The first was the Andrea Palladio International Prize in 19916 for
Cristián experienced this constant shaping with professionalism, his Casa del Cerro and the second, the Frate Sole International Prize
without expectations, within professional practice, poised between for Sacred Architecture in 2012 for his Capilla del Retiro7.
theory and practice, calling and sacrifice, values and technique. Today, The latter, a small religious building, was built in 1988 to the
his daily work between studio and interdisciplinary interaction seems North of Santiago not far from the Santuario Teresa de Los Andes and
close to what is known as «cultured professionalism», a phenomenon in the vicinity of the Santuario de Auco. Designed to respond to the
recognized in Italy during the reconstruction5. growing number of pilgrims, it is a mark of extreme simplification,
For this reason, the architecture of Undurraga Devés Arquitectos, with the architectural elements of the composition in an intelligent
which Cristián formed in 1978 together with his wife Ana Luisa Devés, reduction that constructs the ceremonial space. Just two archetypal
particularly pertains to that public and social sphere that is the mark elements are chosen to define the hall: an excavation that delimits the
of sensibility and responsibility towards the community. This sensibi- enclosed space and a roof.
lity is suitably adapted as much to public buildings — squares, cultural The project, a cornerstone of Undurraga’s mature work, is a
buildings, and schools, as well as numerous museums — as to social contemporary translation of the deepest sense of religious space. It
residential building, leading him to a serious, intelligent awareness of falls with suitable naturalness within the series of religious buildings
the landscape and history. and — overcoming the specific geography of this particular part of the
For Undurraga, working with history means conversing with the world — tirelessly attests to a timeline connecting different eras and
landscape through the project, preserving the memory of places or of spiritualities in adhering to the type of building, that is, an undivided
their life. space as the utmost expression of welcome within a shared rite.
For him, geography, «his geography», serves as constant inspi- Built in 2009 at the foot of Mount Carmel as the last physical
ration, but it is also a concrete lesson. As he often says «We have the element in a continuously growing devotional pilgrimage, the chapel
most active land on the planet». This silent presence of the Earth’s focuses on the landscape as the main aspect to reinforce the sacred-

56 57
 ness of the place, which compels the faithful to travel from every part statics. A fissure of air a few centimeters wide illustrates the tension
of the country in search of silence and meditation in adoration of the between the dusty earth and the bright roof, whose height reveals the
first Chilean saint, who died at just twenty years of age and was cano- interior volume of the hall.
nized by Pope John Paul II in 1993. In principle, the image of Fosse Ardeatine Mausoleum designed
In reality, the chapel — in the absolute predilection of the land- in Rome by Mario Fiorentino in 1945-508 does not seem far off. For the
scape in which it tries to immerse itself — is situated at the end of a Chilean architect, however, the most evocative reference is the Ethio-
visual axis that organizes the surrounding constructions. It concludes, pian Church of Saint George, a symbol and part of that Holy City —
without closing it, the plan of the convent, which is built compactly as Lalibela — hidden on the horizon and completely dug into the rock of
a large open court hosting accommodation structures, a museum, and the Ethiopian tableland 2.500 meters above sea level.
the crypt that holds the mortal remains of the young saint. Archaic and modern, primitive and rational elements interact in
A green plain overlooked by the rough wild slope of the mountain each subsequent choice in the project. The strong modernity and inci-
embraces the excavation — the first gesture in the project’s definition siveness of the exterior is tempered inside the hall with a space substan-
— precisely designed within the terrain by Undurraga. This irregular tially defined by matter and light. A large drum of reclaimed dark wood
excavation resembles an archaeological dig for ancient temples and lines the roof, descending — hanging from the structure — to straddle
traditions; a primitive gesture imprinting the protected nature of the the irregular stone recess, thereby deleting all contact with the outside.
new collective architecture; an incision dressed with stone and a de- The relationship with light in this building is therefore over-
sired incompleteness. turned. Undurraga contrasts the more canonical, archaic way of captu-
A light yet solid roof closes the simple composition in two move- ring natural light from above with a more transcendent method: light
ments, working steadfastly on the dialogue and also on the contrast penetrates between the roof and the excavation, entering the sacred
between the two protagonists: the sacred rock basin, well rooted in hall from below. A single space for religious assembly is created, a single
the land, and, nearly fluctuating in balance, the concrete closure. Two shadowed environment that welcomes direct, non-hierarchical inte-
elements that attract each other but never touch. The entrance to the raction between priest and pilgrims.
chapel is neither concealed nor on display. It pertains to the excava- A few years later, in 2015, upon invitation to the Triennale di
ted fragments rendered necessary to define the sacred place and its Milano9, Undurraga returned to reflect on the issue of religious archi-
permeability; the ramp that slowly descends into the Earth is found tecture, using a brief dialogue between landscape and construction
nearly by chance, arriving from the convent and drawn only by a gol- to re-establish a primitive relationship between man and nature: a
den Greek cross held above by a thin dark support. bridge that unites the narrow fissure between dry land and an island
«How can a heavy rock, capable of relating to the geography of and which supports a suspended chapel defined by a concrete plane
the place, be constructed at the same time as a light rock capable of supported by eight steel cables, four glass walls, and a few chairs to
floating in the sky?», asks Undurraga, showing an image of Magritte’s allow for meditation amid the rock and sea environment.
The Castle of the Pyrenees. Cristián’s sensitivity for the landscape in its close relationship to
The roof is also a concrete cross traced by the intersection of architecture cuts across all the work of Undurraga Deves Arquitectos.
four beams with great formal economy that transmits solid gravity In particular, at notable points it underlines a course of intense dia-
and displays static proportions. The eight supports, the minimum logue between domestic space and the natural environment.
number for this particular balance, are small fragments of concrete This private anthology of possible solutions finds similarities
walls situated perpendicular to the box they sustain. A clear diagram, and differences in interpreting not only the single-family home, but
precise, with no uncertainties, a transcription of the best lessons in especially in defining the nature of the place that in Chile presents

58 59
 various subtleties within an extraordinary landscape culture and an sea and recalling a rational order by means of clear concrete profiles
innate respect on the part of architects without the need for limits: designed with a structural sincerity that is not afraid to impose its
Casa del Cerro (1990), built as a large inhabited containment wall for forms. These two elongated broken lines organize the spaces of the
a hill; Casa Mirador (2002), set on a natural relief as a massive volume house longitudinally, with everything facing the ocean due to the or-
of cement — a «refuge», in the words of the architect — that slowly derly distribution of the urbanized space.
opens to admire the chain of the Andes; Casa del Lago (2004), con- The supports of each longitudinal house, which would ideally be
nected by a narrow bridge to the public footpath and built by juxtapo- resting effortlessly and in balance on top of the existing fragments of
sing a solid stone wall containing the vertical connections and service nature, are actually three solid concrete partitions/pillars built into
areas — the kitchen and bathrooms — and a prefabricated metal and the overall composition of the rooms. Two supports near the two ends
glass structure adding three overlapping spaces for the bedrooms and are included in the walls of the patio below, and the third support at
collective areas overlooking the lake; or Casa del Patio (2007), which the centre of the overhang accompanies the vertical appearance of
tries to enclose nature and the sky within the courtyard bordered by the fireplace and of the staircase connecting the bridge with the pro-
the entire space of the house, working with absolute modernity on an tected open space.
archetypal idea of living. The orientation and openings reflect with equal professionalism
Within this portfolio, which today allows for sequential compa- and technique on the ability of the architecture to encourage proper
rison, carrying value for the authors as a constructive search worthy natural ventilation, in the best tradition of homes at different lati-
of careful study, the Horizon Houses (2009) continue but do not con- tudes built knowingly in line with solar and temperature conditions.
clude Cristián’s reflection on the increasingly deep-rooted need to In this Chilean project, the windows open to the southwest to embrace
establish a courageous dialogue with the environment on a par with the view of the sea, while the North-East windows take in sunlight
the greatness with which nature manifests itself there. and heat so that cross-ventilation and the constant sea breeze provide
North of Zapallar, inland from the central coast of Chile, the Pa- optimal temperature control. This idea of living seeks to organize a
cific Ocean, «contradicting its name — lashes relentlessly against the few built elements that recall the most authentic values in the land-
rocky cliffs»10. Amid this extraordinary landscape, on a tamed rock scape, a concrete way of living among nature thanks to architectural
overlooking the sea, two nearly identical houses stand to face the ocean achievements.
like two large inhabited beams. The terrain is a grand lookout 25 me- The Capilla del Ritiro, like the many houses built over the years in
ters above sea level, a unique outpost that on clear days allows the this South American country, openly illustrates the strong attention
gaze to reach the horizon and extend as far as the port of Valparaíso, and sensitivity to the landscape in the pressing interaction between
60 kilometers to the South. Faced with unprotected, 360-degree expo- what is natural and artificial. However, the project imagined for the
sure — at once a benefit and a limitation of the place — the project first Milan Expo 2015, which has also become an icon, perfectly summa-
of all digs into the rock to define enclosed, protected places, filter spaces rizes the ongoing search that the Chilean architect has undertaken,
between inside and outside, as in the traditional South American life- starting from real, close contact with tradition, that is, with the full
style. Two large cavities, geometric but irregular and covered with stone transmission of techniques, materials, and lifestyles typical of Chilean
to echo the rocks not far beyond, enclose courtyards designed by archi- culture.
tecture and nature — stone, trees, and water — which suddenly re- This search seems to be most clearly embraced starting with
open unfiltered towards the sea. the Mapuche Social Housing (2009-11), where building techniques
Above these open spaces, two bridge pavilions cross the entire and traditional craftsmanship meet frankly in the definition of small
area, clearly defining an inside and an outside with respect to the 61-square-meter council houses in a neighbourhood North of Santiago.

60 61
 For Cristián, Chilean traditions, the people who inhabited this The steadfastness of the volume contrasts with utmost flexibility
land, and the raw material that Chile offers become a solid opportu- on the inside to encourage new desired uses. The courageous decision
nity for the project and also a chance to reconstruct and display the to be able to dismantle and reassemble the entire building at the end
history of his country. of the Milan Expo guided Undurraga in determining the maximum di-
El Amor de Chile (i.e. Love for Chile), the name given to the Chi- mensions of the individual elements of the structure: 12 meters long.
lean Pavilion at the Milan Expo 2015, instantly conveys the deepest Through its precise, meticulous working drawings, the project
meaning of this possibility. It expresses the social value underlying has become a great lesson in how temporariness need not represent
the large glulam beam imagined to be walked, crossed, inhabited after any form of sacrifice in the architecture; on the contrary, it can serve
encountering it by surprise — like a suspended volume woven by hand as the basis for conscious cultural sustainability.
— along the decumanus of the international fair. Thus, in 2016, the Pavilion was entirely reconstructed in the
Conceived as a large building that can be disassembled — as speci- town of Temuco, in southern Chile, at the foot of the Cerro Ñielol na-
fied in the sharp request attached to the call published by the Chilean tural monument, offering new interpretations for a building that is
Government which commissioned the project — the pavilion does first and foremost a great space of reception and hospitality.
not reject expressive solidity. It alternates instead, depending on the L’arte di costruire l’ospitalità (i.e. the Art of Building Hospitality),
point of view, between a massive volume measuring 65 x 15 x 15 meters the title of one of his recent lectures12, uses these three terms13 to
and a precious three-dimensional perforated weave that allows natu- describe the Chilean architect’s point of view, which is not a point of
ral light to decorate a generous space dedicated to conviviality. The arrival but conscious reasoning along a path that has engaged him for
distance from the building determines the two perceptions. more than thirty years as a «cultured professional», never satisfied
Once again, constructive sincerity describes the parts of the with his knowledge and passion.
project. Six branched steel supports carry a large wooden bridge11
that is nearly invisible from the outside, freeing the ground floor for
an open public space in continuity with the paths and nearby arena
for concerts and performances. A free space, a covered square fur-
nished only with tables and benches displaying the art of Chilean
hospitality.
To the side of this volume, a long steel ramp leads to the upper
levels of the exhibition areas, which wind like a single promenade that
seems to be immersed — thanks to large projectors — in different
connected environments in the Chilean landscape. Another ramp
takes us from the top of the building directly into the restaurant on the
ground floor, where a long table — made of Patagonian wood following
an undulating path that spans the pavilion for nearly fifty meters —
embodies the experience of conviviality.
The cross section of the pavilion consists precisely of overlap-
ping double-height spaces such as a small theatre and an exhibition
hall, leaving the paths around the perimeter for visual contact with
the outside from an elevated standpoint.

62 63
 1 J. Borchers, Institución Arquitectónica / 6 Undurraga was honoured with the prize
The Architectural Institution, Editorial Andrés in its second edition, with a jury composed
Bello, Santiago de Chile 1968, p. 203. of James Stirling, Rafael Moneo, Manfredo
Tafuri and Francesco Dal Co.
2 The Pritzker Architecture Prize is
awarded each year to a living architect 7 A. Vaccari (ed.), Premio Internazionale
whose constructed works demonstrate a di Architettura Sacra Frate Sole. V Edizione,
combination of talent, vision and social Skira, Milan 2012.
commitment.
8 M. Ferrari, «Un involucro sospeso /
3 For more information, see, among A Suspended Cover», Casabella, 791, July
others, H. Torrent, G. Barcelos de Souza, 2010, p. 43.
Letture di L’architettura della città in America
9 C. Tinazzi (ed.), Sacri Monti e altre
Latina: uno scambio tra argentini e cileni
storie. L’Architettura come racconto / Sacred
alla fine degli anni Settanta / Reading The
Mounts and Other Stories. Architecture as a
Architecture of the City in Latin America: an
Story, Rubbettino Editore, Catanzaro 2015.
exchange between Argentinians and Chileans
at the end of the 1970s, in F. De Maio, 10 Undurraga Deves 2000-2019, AV
A. Ferlenga, P. Montini Zimolo (eds.), Aldo Monographs, 217, Avisa, Madrid 2019.
Rossi, la Storia di un libro. L’architettura 11 Made of Monterey pine, one of the
della città, dal 1966 ad oggi / Aldo Rossi, the country’s most exported products, used to
History of a Book. The Architecture of the show visitors that the forest surface in Chile
City, Il Poligrafo, Padua 2014. is increasing, in contrast to the deforestation
4 CEDLA (Centro de Estudios de la occurring on the rest of the planet.
Arquitectura) was created in 1977 and 12 Lecture given within the
played a role in Chilean architectural culture MantovArchitettura program, on June 3,
similar to that of La Escuelita in Argentina 2020.
(H. Torrent, G. Barcelos de Souza, op. cit.).
13 C. Undurraga, «El Arte de costruir
5 A. Samonà, Ignazio Gardella e il la hospitalidad / The Art of Building
professionismo italiano / Ignazio Gardella Hospitality», in Undurraga Deves 2000-2019,
and Italian Professionalism, Officina edizioni, op. cit., pp. 106-111.
Rome 1981.

1
Cristián Undurraga, Sections and plan of the chapel
Capilla del Retiro © Undurraga Devés
(Auco, Chile 2008-09). Arquitectos.

64 Notes 65
 2
Sectional perspective
© Undurraga Devés
Arquitectos.

66 67
 3 4 5 6
Exterior and interior views
© Undurraga Devés
Arquitectos.

68 69
 7 8
Cristián Undurraga, General plans of the first and Overhead view of the context
Casas del Horizonte second level © Undurraga © Undurraga Devés
(Zapallar, Chile 2007-09). Devés Arquitectos. Arquitectos.

70 71
 9 10 11
Exterior and interior views
© Undurraga Devés
Arquitectos.

72 73
 12 13 14
Cristián Undurraga, Plans © Undurraga Devés Views of the pavilion built Views of the pavilion
Chilean Pavilion Arquitectos. in Milan (2015) © Undurraga ricostructed in Temuco,
(Expo Milano, Italy 2015). Devés Arquitectos. Chile (2016) © Undurraga
Devés Arquitectos.
74 75
 15 16
Axonometry © Undurraga Interior view
Devés Arquitectos. © Undurraga Devés
Arquitectos.

76 77
 17
Exterior view
© Undurraga Devés
Arquitectos.

78 79
 Today the notion of heritage goes much beyond the academic
status quo of frozen or bewitched architecture that must be simply
worshiped or immaculately revered. Today heritage is understood as

Jonathan a consonance of traditions. Traditions in its various forms and signifi-

cance, tangible and intangible, set on the crossing of cultures implying

Sergison and the notions of value and respect through an open cultural understan-
ding and exchange.
One of the recent entries on this matter would be the new princi-
Stephen Bates. ples charter1 presented in the 19th ICOMOS General Assembly which
finally recognizes that rural landscape results from the interaction

Unwritten Rule between man (population/communities), animals and nature, a bio-

culture which underlines the place’s physical and symbolical values

Legacy
and attributes. This interpretation opens the possibility of (re)thinking
the built natural landscape and its spatial organization by identifying
its latent order and sense of socio-cultural composition emphasizing
its values and most of all comprehending the possible continuities and
discontinuities within the needed exchanges or transformations. This
dynamic reading will infer an open interpretation where rural land-
scape, and as such certain built architectural heritage, cannot be fro-
zen or musealised or its character and meaning will be lost for future
generations.
Each intervention, in their particular problem solving, should re-
present solutions and options that imply a rigorous organization set on
— more than technical or functional purposes — the question of order
and composition. Architecture is a reflection of this sense of order, and
so it should be, with the notions on heritage and its in-depth survey/
interpretation, accentuating key compositional themes as part of the
solution at hand.
This modus operandi has been the guiding line for certain archi-
tectural practices for some years now, where the broad sense of value
reflects a tempered respect mediated by the particular conditions and
circumstances that inform each situation.
Today, we could say that the notions of heritage imply a social re-
sponsibility of a design that should start by the need to acknowledge
the site specific cultural nuances, from a social stand point, sense of
Helder Casal Ribeiro community and its traditions, and from an architectural point of
view, urban mapping in its diverse built levels, i.e. meaning, footprint,

81
 volume, rhythms, textures. This acknowledgement poses a prevailing In these foundational moments/phases there are no grounding
sensorial topological approach over a functional typological analyses pre-set rules or guidelines, but informed approaches and procedures
that allows for an open heritage reading, be it listed or collective me- that are triggered by the nature of the commission and the character
mory status, where continuity can withhold distinctive expressions. of its brief, putting into play the importance and significance of the
Sergison Bates (SBa) practice mirrors this cultural openness cultural background of each geographic location within the evolution
and its crossover values, be it on a collective circumstance or through of their practice and the experience of building.
individual endeavours, as a double based office informed by comple- But it will be the way Jonathan Sergison and Stephen Bates have
mentary individual teaching practices, lectures and affinities of the combined professional practice with individual teaching, lecturing and
main partners. writing about architecture, alongside with their distinctive formative
Established in 1996 in London, their body of work has a clear years with specific cultural affinities that we may better understand the
sense of evolution and geographic growth where we could depict three open intake on culture and the pursue of an architecture driven with
merging moments, which could be referenced to three collections of precision mediated by tolerance4.
illustrated essays written between 1996 and 20152, and published in Stephen Bates graduated from the Royal College of Art, gained
Papers (2001), Papers 2 (2007) and Papers 3 (2016), that resume key professional experience in London and Barcelona and has held the
concerns and design themes. The essays Somewhere between ideas and Chair of Urbanism and Housing at the Technische Universität München,
places (Papers), On order proportion and grids (Papers 2) and The idea in Germany, since 2009.
of comfort (Papers 3) express the offices’ systematic pursuit of specific Jonathan Sergison graduated from Architectural Association,
architectural themes and notions as vital narrative enforcers. worked in London for David Chipperfield and Tony Fretton and has
The first moment linked to a sense of London architectural been Professor of Architectural Design at the Accademia di Architettura
community, where meetings with Adam Caruso, Tony Fretton, Mark in Mendrisio, in Switzerland, since 2008.
Pimlott, David Adjaye, the so-called «new British brutalism», will It is interesting to understand where and how each of the part-
help set the practice’s future intellectual métier. A practice hinged on ner’s formative experiences occurred and what individual references
Alison and Peter Smithson’s writings and concepts3, where the first and notions transpire from these choices and practices.
prize in a competition (1996) in association with Caruso St. John for Stephen’s formative practices reference cities and cultures, and
a Pub in Walsall, West Midlands, valued by CAMRA Best Pub Award emphasize his teaching career in Munich, a school where the craft of
1999, is an obvious starting statement. This first phase will be set architecture is key, while Jonathan is linked to authorial practices and
mainly in United Kingdom and Ireland competitions and commis- currently teaches in Mendrisio, a school where the sense of author-
sions, with some isolated incursions to Swedish competitions. ship is crucial in their curriculum. The distinctive biographies are
The second, linked to the opening to Belgium commissions, important points in framing the practice’s layered personality and
around 2004-05, enables the practice’s projects to express, through probably key to the openness for cultural crossover.
precise design concepts, a clear volumetric and formal depiction of The role of Mark Tuff, who joined the practice in 1996 and became
public commissions-briefs and a precise response to their idea on a partner in 2006, should also be accounted for in this open cultural
familiarity of the context. The third moment, a couple of years later, approach gene. Graduated from the University of East London, he has
would be the opening up to swiss commissions with the direct conse- gained professional practice with Feilden Clegg Bradley and taught at a
quence, in 2010, to their second office in Zurich, reinforcing Jonathan’s number of UK Schools of Architecture, and at Portuguese Universidade
comfort to swiss architectural and cultural approach where the sense Autonoma de Lisboa. His inclination for Portuguese architecture5,
of rigor and precision are key themes. associated to Stephen’s Spanish affinity, could also be an interesting

82 83
 factor in informing a Mediterranean cultural approach where the sense the beginning of SBa practice. The essay structured by four design
of contamination or overlapping in simple reuse is valued. themes («The Punctured Façade», «Concrete Rails and Brick piers»,
The diverse nature of this tripod, graduation, formative practice «Loadbearing Frames», «The Assembled façade») opens with a 1998
and teaching activity is reinforced and amplified by the dual based quote — «Tolerance is looseness, flexibility, space for interpretation. It
practice since 2010, through their London and Zurich offices, linked is about pragmatism, but also about openness for future expression»7
respectively to each of the founder partners. The practice’s DNA — and concludes with an idea of Precision set on the exploration of
stems from this cultural diversity not in a mere collage or disper- refinement and the appropriation of materials within a specific tecto-
sion of thought, but on the contrary as a structured synthesis open nic strategy engaged with the construction industry enhanced by the
to multiple discourses triggered by certain key themes or concerns, quality of craftmanship and insistent hands-on experience.
that have been amply analysed by scholars, such as Irina Davidovici, The imbedded evolution of the notions tolerance and preci-
Martin Steinmann, Dirk Somers, Mark Pimplot, Christoph Grafe, Jan sion in SBa’s body of work, published Papers and individual teaching
Peter Wingender, Jaapjan Berg and others. practices, could be inferred to the crossover values set on Anglo-
Among many texts and interpretations, Irina Davidovici’s Tectonic Saxon pragmatism and Swiss spatial sophistication.
Presence, in Sergison Bates architects: Buildings (2012), Mark Pimplot’s The crossover values of Anglo-Saxon pragmatism is set, not only
interview, and Jan Peter Wingender, Jaapjan Berg’s On tolerance and on typological familiarity and culture of place but also on the layered
precision in the work of Sergison Bates Architects, both in El Croquis tectonic expression of their designs, be it, in the geometric setting of
187 (2016), present an in-depth view and focus on the practice’s main their compositions through architectural sequences or the respective
issues and themes. detailing, lining and skirting. An architectural expression that winks
Irina Davidovici, pushing forward the notion of two strategies at a tactile and sensorial everyday sense of individual comfort layered
in which the tectonics plays a more explicit role, structures her text by a time continuum expression, true to the building code of natural
through the themes «Concrete beams, brick infills», «Concrete frame» materials and their constructive and conservation techniques.
and «The depth of history», quoting T. S. Eliot — «a perception, not This layered tectonic expression is clearly expressed in their
only of the pastness of the past, but of its presence; […] a sense of the Studio House design, in Bethnal Green (London, 2000-04), through
timeless as well as of the temporal and of the timeless and of the tem- the softwood frame feeling conveyed in rear terrace elevation or the
poral together»6 — and reaffirming the ambiguous presence of the informal accuracy of the mortar slurry washed brick main façade.
analysed buildings. The juxtaposition of the different architectural elements, depicted by
Mark Pimplot opens the interview stating he would like to discuss different materials with their particular constructive technique and
a series of themes or concerns in their work that have been implicit, if tectonic expression, are rigorously calibrated and tight fitted into the
not explicit, from the beginning, in their published Papers and in their plot’s width.
respective teaching programmes at Munich and Mendrisio. The six This rhythmic juxtaposition, in the main elevation evokes a laid-
themes («Rooms and the interior», «Place and the City», «Form and back repetition effect with the imposing horizontal brick ribbons with
Image», «Dwelling and Society», «Material and Making», «Atmosphere thin irregular mortar giving a natural layered unfinished texture, attri-
or Stimmung») express the broad scope of the intertwined conversa- buting to the whole ensemble a sense of timelessness. A timelessness
tion valued by crossover values and concerns, clearly set on the coming pursued with conviction and urban intent as expressed by SBa:
together of distinctive cultural affinities.
Jan Peter Wingender and Jaapjan Berg’s title highlights two cru- — The contradictory character of the [brick] wall, both mono-
cial notions, tolerance and precision, that have evolved greatly since lithic and delicate, gives it a quiet awkwardness and imper-

84 85
 fection which connects it with the flawed heroism of near- architectural notion/device, i.e. precision of thought in conceptuali-
by industrial buildings. In this way, the building adds to the sing construction without pre-set rules or dispositions.
realism of the city condition «as Found»8. Through these open cultural approaches and references, we can
address the ideas and impact of Sergison Bates approach to specific
On the other hand, Swiss spatial sophistication is hinged on a heritage architecture. The Public Library in Blankenberge, Belgium
multi-lateral cultured artistic heritage set on the exploration of spa- (2004-11) and the House in Cadaqués, Catalonia, Spain (2008-11) are
tial refinement and material experimentation engaged with the strong two distinctive examples that put into play the reading of time and
construction industry tradition. meaning of presence within the context of practice and the experience
An insistent and precise systemization of construction tech- of building.
niques, material expression and structural solutions underline a tec- The Public Library in Blankenberge, will be the first Belgium
tonic integrity specific to authorial design themes and strategies set commission set in a small Flemish seaside town, involving the re-
on technical efficiency versus spatial comfort and effectiveness. furbishment and extension of a former 19th century school building
These design themes place the notions of space, material and listed as a local monument. The presence of the existing brick and
structure as a symphonic triad, seen as concepts to guide an archi- stone building is valued by SBa through its presence and civic status
tectural proposal which conceptualises construction in order to on the main street front and through its collection of rooms with a
empower the quality of space and form, within different narratives particular proportion, meaning and sequence, implying surveying
or discourses. and cataloguing as a fundamental design tool in order to understand
This experimental approach is clearly expressed in the Urban the existing character and its potential.
Housing and Crèche, in Geneva (Switzerland, 2006-11) through the
elegant character of a compact corner mass carved out by a network of — We developed an «inventory of rooms» and pictured the
vertical negatives that modulate a tectonic façade and integrate volu- activities of a library within it. The variety of spaces, some
metrically the restlessness depicted from the urban atmosphere given generous and tall, others small and intimate, all with win-
by adjacent urban blocks and buildings. dows looking out to the city, seemed fitting for a twenty first
The precise undulating volumetric composition evokes the century library10.
symphonic triad with the synthesis of space, material and structure
translated by loadbearing frame or grid, characterised by polished The extension enhances this initial reading and respective
pre-cast concrete, carefully calibrated in its proportion, rhythm and in-depth study where the status of the street front is amplified by two
chromatic expression. lateral volumes, also in brick stripped by horizontal precast concrete
As detailed by SBa, «The vertical emphasis given to the façades rails, engaging in scale and rhythm emphasised by a continuous
engages with the homogenous façades frontage of the 18th and 19th ribbon like structure that embraces the whole ensemble. This new-
century city and the storey-height proportion of the Saugey towers. At layered structure reshapes the incomplete rear façade of the building
a greater scale the tectonic stratification of top, middle and base, each with a continuous horizontal volume which redefines the façade and
quietly adjusted to describe programme, increases daylight penetra- adds a new circulation arcade, giving organizational clarity to the great
tion and achieves continuity with adjacent building lines»9. variety of interior spaces. The urban dialogue between the modest re-
Through the loadbearing frame theme, the ensemble synthesises sidential architecture in the street and the proposed new public library
the urban dialogue, programme description and technical require- is mediated and enhanced in a single volumetric gesture composition
ments which translate the pursue of the clear expression of a precise that retains the essential nature of the 19th century school building.

86 87
 Hence, the composition implies two faces, the autonomous cha- floor tiles from nearby Manresa, Mediterranean raw linen curtains, or
racter of rooms in the interior underlining a particular atmosphere or white marble and simple painted walls, which SBa specifically denotes
Stimmung11, on the one hand, and on the other the external expression as being their first ever use of white paint in an interior. The option to
towards the city set on tectonic stratification and repair between old and furnish the home with 1950s furniture from England reinforces the co-
new proportioned within a clear sense of continuity, where base, middle ming together of the selected pre-existing features and the inclusion of
and top, are quietly adjusted to value the memory and meaning of the new elements, in particular with their detailing and textures, bringing
monumental presence and civic character of the existing building. into light the significance of the sense of tolerance.
In the case of the small house set on a narrow street inside the A deepened understanding of this notion can already be found,
historic seaside town of Cadaqués, in Catalonia, Spain, involving a two in the paper Working with tolerance13, in a foundational three-point
storey dwelling and adjoining ruined structure, the design becomes, statement:
due to its imbedded cluster situation, an act of urban repair and in-
fill with new construction framed by the meaning of Spanish cultural — 1. Tolerance indicates an acknowledgement of the found
collectiveness, i.e. sense of community within the Mediterranean tra- conditions of a situation…
dition, a collective memory reading. 2. Tolerance informs an approach to construction where
This collectiveness is informed by the search of specific archi- structural solutions accommodate spatial ideas rather than
tectural references, in this case triggered by Spanish Costa Brava, as dictate them…
guidance and inspiration. 3. Tolerance offers tangible potentials for connecting spaces
and provides systems which enable rather than prescribe
— Inspiration came from the lineage of architects who worked use.
there in the 1950s and 1960s. José Coderch, Frederico Cor-
rea, Alfonso Milà, Peter Harden and Lanfranco Bombelli The referred tolerance can only be interpreted as a constant
designed numerous beautiful houses, creating a rough but pursue for mediation, drawing on a negotiation process with the
sophisticated and leisurely comfort using a critical regiona- tangible and intangible, mainly set on the numerous imbedded con-
list approach. The house was intended to build respectfully ditions and their circumstance, where the ultimate goal is a search
on this legacy, in all its whiteness and weightiness12. for balance. A balance that can only be adequately obtained through a
highlighted precision of thought.
The project, framed by a particular circumstance — Stephen This modus operandi, that use rather than prescribe, craving on
Bates’s shared holiday home, which made it a personal project — the impure, implies an open cultural contamination going beyond
expresses, through an intuitive spatial ensemble, a tour de force of regulations, architectural references and construction traditions, set
the notion of tolerance executed with a cunning precision. on the tactile and sensorial, substantiated by an unwritten rule legacy,
A string of rooms, private and collective, are put into sequence where order, proportion and the idea of comfort frame emotional
where the abstract character of their form conveys a geometric en- aspects of everyday life to come.
semble of precisely spaced, dimensioned and proportioned parts with
the new interwoven with the existing, be it in configuration restraint
or single tectonic expression of an old foundation or wall fabric.
This open cultural dialogue extends to the chosen materials and
the intended background atmosphere, be it patterned hydraulic cement

88 89
 1 ICOMOS-IFLA Principles Concerning with Stephen Bates and Jonathan Sergison»,
Rural Landscapes as Heritage, 2017. OASE, 49/50, 1998, p. 36.
2 Papers, essays written between 1996- 8 S. Bates, J. Sergison, «Sergison Bates.
2001; Papers 2: Sergison Bates architects, Tolerance and Precision», El Croquis, 187, VI,
essays written between 2002 and 2007; 2016, p. 56.
Papers 3: Sergison Bates architects, essays
9 Ivi, p. 127.
written between 2008 and 2015.
10 S. Bates, J. Sergison, Sergison Bates
3 Later the opportunity of the office to
architects: Buildings, Quart Publishers,
restore Upper Lawn Pavilion, built by
Lucerne 2012, p. 111.
Alison and Peter Smithson, will also be
enlightening. 11 «I have offered the German word
Stumming, because it seems to capture the
4 These key notions are present in their first
many-sidedness of what atmosphere is and
Papers and title their monographic edition in
the feeling or experience it might contribute
El Croquis, 187, 2016.
to». In Interview by Mark Pimplot, op. cit.,
5 «I am thinking of Mark Tuff’s long- p. 23.
standing fascination with Portugal, and
12 S. Bates, J. Sergison, Sergison Bates
Stephen’s connection to Catalunya».
architects: Buildings, op. cit., p. 111.
Sergison’s statement in Interview by Mark
Pimplot, in «Sergison Bates. Tolerance and 13 S. Bates, J. Sergison, «Working with
Precision», El Croquis, 187, VI, 2016, p. 13. tolerance» (January 1999) and «More
tolerance» (February 2000), in Papers,
6 T. S. Eliot, «Tradition and the Individual
Publisher Sergison Bates architects,
Talent», The Egoist, 6 (4), 1919, pp. 54-55.
London, 2001.
7 «Idea, building, occupation and
construction: Christoph Grafe in conversation

1
Sergison Bates architects, The Upper Lawn (or Solar)
Restoration of the Upper Pavilion designed in 1958 by
Lawn Pavilion (Tisbury, Alison and Peter Smithson as
United Kingdom 2004). their own weekend home
90 Notes © Sergison Bates architects. 91
 2 3 4
Exterior and interior views
© Sergison Bates architects.

92 93
 5 6
Sergison Bates architects, Basement, ground floor, Exterior view © Sergison
Holiday house (Cadaqués, mezzanine and first floor plans Bates architects.
Spain 2008-11). © Sergison Bates architects.

94 95
 7 8 9
Exterior and interior views
© Sergison Bates architects.

96 97
 10 11
Sergison Bates architects, Main façade © Sergison Bates Plans © Sergison Bates
Public Library (Blankenberge, architects. architects.
Belgium 2004-11).

98 99
 12 13 14
The new volume at the Elevations © Sergison Bates The new façade © Sergison
Southern end of the historical architects. Bates architects.
building © Sergison Bates
architects.
100 101
 15 16
Interior sights © Sergison
Bates architects.

102 103
II. Overlaying
 — … it is just the beginning. It is only the beginning of an archi-
tecture that continues to flow and vibrate1.

Kengo Kuma. Kengo Kuma is one of the most influential contemporary archi-
tect and also theoretician of Architecture. The reading of all his huge

«Particlizing» contribution to architectural critics (from the famous Anti Object2 to

all the recent monographies3 and essays) allows us to better under-
stand his approach towards nature and built environment. More than
the Memory that, it is by experiencing his own Architecture — which is the me-
dium he uses in order to formulate what he writes — that we can really
understand the originality and uniqueness of his method. Before star-
ting to analyze some of his recent buildings, we should mention all the
reflections written on Kuma by many famous critics. Among them,
undoubtedly the most original is Mario Carpo4, Reyner Banham Pro-
fessor at The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL London, who has
clearly underlined how Kuma uses the «Digital Discrete/Parametric»
approach (which is extremely contemporary and technologically ad-
vanced in the design process) in a balanced way with artisanal craft-
manship and quality approach. This is very different from the so called
«parametricism» beloved by Zaha Hadid (and Patrik Schumacher, of
course), which has led to a “fluidity” (i.e. free curved surfaces, as Carpo
highlights) of architecture and spaces that many times forgot the rela-
tionship with humans but also with nature and memory. Hadid was
a student at the Columbia University in the same period Kuma was
attending, but their paths have been clearly different in the approach
to design tools and how they can affect spaces, architectures and rela-
tions. This challenge ended up with the well-known experience of the
Tokyo Olympic Stadium (2021): Hadid’s proposal, which had won the
competition, was abandoned due to unclear budget control problems
and the huge volumetric approach to the site (in a very alien way); the
project was then assigned to Kengo Kuma, after a second challenge with
Toyo Ito, and it was completed perfectly in time, within the budget and
with a clear genius loci (indeed the Stadium is fragmented in levels/
layers with wood lattice particles, evoking a pagoda progression).
For Kuma, the relation with history, memory and nature is fun-
Marco Imperadori damental. The links among these entities — exogen and cultural, but
always material — are given by humans in equilibrium and never in

107
 domination. In order to do this, the starting point for him is always the keyword for the relationship between architecture and human body,
material and its «fragmentation» — or, to use directly Kuma’s word, as it appeared so clearly in old wooden houses. According to the con-
particlization. To divide the surfaces, the skins, the structural ele- cept of «Topology», the relation human/material in architecture is
ments, but also the spaces into small entities allow the users to feel independent from the size. This concept of «aperture», that was very
to be «closer» to the material entity of the construction. According to much discussed with Hara, is clearly what has brought later to such
Kuma, the «objects» — the «big boxes», as he calls them —, mainly built projects as the Hiroshige Ando Museum (2000) and the recent Vic-
in concrete, are something anti-human and in many cases also «arro- toria and Albert Museum in Dundee (2018). The root of this notion,
gant» towards both the existing city and nature. «topos», is to be found in place; this led also to «Topography», which
In 1964, Kuma was a kid and wanted to be a veterinary; Tokyo was means that landscape and architectural-scape are a joint together,
still a «short and small» city, in the sense that it was densely popula- without distinction (which, on the contrary, was typical of the 20th
ted, but mainly made by single or two storeys wooden houses. He was century approach).
«struck» by Kenzo Tange’s Yoyogi Stadium (designed for the Olympics) Another very important mathematical tool, that he learned from
and wanted to be an architect. But, with that building, Tokyo started Hara, was «discreteness», or «discrete type», which for him was the
to become «tall and big», and lost the «organic» and the smallness that essence of many vernacular villages in Africa and drove Kuma to a
were typical before, and that are so common in Asia. Kuma clearly re- different interpretation: the «small particle». This has also to do
members that time, and recalls: «I felt that if I become an architect, I with the essence of everything around us which is physically made
could stay close to the people, face to face with human issues» — which by small, infinitesimal entities. This brings a possible «modification»
is an idea very different from Tange’s monumental approach. and «addition» in the life time, driving to a real organic approach.
To do this, textures and sizing of materials used in architecture When the 1990s economic bubble exploded, there were no more
matter as the size of the human body doesn’t change, and any big projects in Japan and the development of the «box» was stopped.
thing is clearly against the weakness of our small bodies. Indeed Kuma Kuma had the chance to travel in Japan and visit many craftsmen and
always underlines how the architecture of the West (i.e. Europe and artisans using thin timbers (i.e. small sections), which made him reflect
USA) is normally centered on «big boxes» (concrete as dominant), again on the role of architectural particles. These skilled people could
while the one of the East is based on «particles» (basically lines and be the future and the perpetuation of Japanese construction methods
dots, e.g. columns, tiles, scales, etc., where wood is the dominant)5. in contemporary architecture.
After 1964 also in Japan the «big box» approach exploded, to- To sum up Kuma’s intellectual path we can refer to these steps:
gether with the economic growth, and the «particles-assembling» Discretization (Sahara desert villages, Hiroshi Hara Ph.D. researches),
landscape was gradually lost. After Tange, the perfect followers where Computational Design (New York, Columbia University), Craftman-
Kisho Kurokawa and Arata Isozaki, who, through the Metabolism, ship (Japan Mountains villages, Yusuhara-Kochi prefecture).
enhanced this trend both in practice and in the theoretical approach.
Kuma didn’t want to follow that line, and he chose to be a Ph.D. Wood is clearly the core and the synthesis, an «old friend of
scholar of Hiroshi Hara at Tokyo University. This path brought him humans» that allows both particle-type architecture and addition-
to find curiosity in alternative and new mathematics to go beyond type architecture, leading Kuma to the concept of «smallness», inde-
the «box approach» (which for him didn’t change along time, from pendently from the size, thanks to the «topological» approach. Basi-
the ancient Greeks, the Romans, Leon Battista Alberti or Kurokawa- cally this material brings him back to the time before 1964 Olympics,
Isozaki). The mathematical concept of «Topology» was extremely when Tokyo (so as many big cities in Japan) was a «soft place», before
illuminating; it introduced the notion of «aperture» as an essential becoming covered of iron and concrete. The «softness and warmth»

108 109
 left the space to a sprawled, vast and alienating city, where society dimensions of us, human being. This sort of «grain» allows even a big
was getting extremely individual. Kuma aims to bring back to the con- size building like the V&A to be translated into a small architecture,
cept of tasuekai (i.e. help each other), where people can meet and feel in a very democratic process of connection among people and nature/
together in co-dividual spaces (indeed his buildings always have com- city. For Kuma, democracy is not about majority, but it is about small-
mon and gathering social spaces). He considered that, from the 1964 ness and softness of beauty.
Olympics to the 2021 Olympics, an evolution in the way of conceiving
architecture, memory, city and nature is possible, and this global sport The building hasn’t any «cartesian» axes; its morphology is very
event could be the catalyst of a change. organic and it creates a sort of «arch/cave» that reconnects the town
To provide a synthesis of Kuma’s approach to memory/history, to the river on the old warehouse area of Dundee, formerly occupied
we can produce it by analyzing four of his recent buildings — each one by industrial activities and now with a new future of livability.
exemplifying a different approach. V&A becomes an urban target, an architectural «lighthouse» that
encourages people to once again walk towards the river Tay. This shows
Memory of City/Landscape: Topography (V&A Museum, Dundee 2018) the importance of a «flow» that goes with and through the building,
which is connected to the existing urban network and at the same time
With the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in Dundee, Kuma to the natural landscape of the river. Like in the famous Hiroshige Ando
shows how the «topography» is the conceptual reference and, at the Museum (2000), people can walk and float around and also inside the
same time, it influences the spaces both in the exterior and the inte- building. The V&A looks really like if it was born from water, as a new
rior of the building. The new urban skyline is clearly enhanced by the communication space for the citizens who endures Scotland’s harsh
new volumetric river-shore created by the V&A6. A part of the building winter. In this rainy, chilly and foggy environment, typical of Scotland,
protrudes out towards the river Tay, like a vessel ready to take its way the Lobby seems a kind of «town’s living room», where people can
to the sea. The texture outside is clearly inspired by the Scottish stone freely enter, be protected and use many facilities. Also in the inside,
cliffs and its fragmentation, dramatically underlined by shadows and materials are discretized, using random oak boards that bring the
light, making the whole volume closer to the human scale. This new landscape effect also indoor, although the effect is warmer thanks to
cultural center for Scotland is in fact made by concrete; also the façade the use of beautiful massive wood. This space gives access to the other
is composed by precast concrete slabs, anchored with stainless steel levels, that are also visually connected; it is a new communication hub,
plates and joints, with a wedge shaped cross section. Shadows and na- a real community core, even in the most extreme environmental con-
tural randomness are a clear evocation of the rocky topography, and ditions of wind and freeze.
this is achieved also thanks to the rough surface of the blades, where
the aggregates in concrete are visible thanks to water pressure washing. Memory of City/History: Culture (Asakusa, Tokyo 2012)
From one side, the relation with the town is set up by the material, which
has the same color of the old stone used to build Dundee, and from the Referring to Kengo Kuma’s work, Joanna Kloppenburg recently
other by the walking path that connects the city center with the new wrote about «The Humble Revolution», and she quoted this very im-
landmark of the V&A. portant sentence by him: «Architecture should not be the protagonist
Identifying the smallest unit size in the façade blades means to of the environment». And this is extremely true for this author, both in
define the «unit» of the «small architecture». The unit/bar (250 x 250 free landscape as well as in the urban context.
millimeters) is the medium that creates the connection from the big When he speaks about Tokyo, he often says that the «Darwinian
cosmos, or the city, or the whole volume, to the small and precarious evolutionary history of architecture», that brought so much steel and

110 111
 concrete, has triggered the soul of the Japanese capital, which from Memory of Craftmanship: Tradition/Innovation (Sunny Hills,
«soft and small» became «hard and mineral». Throughout history, Tokyo 2013)
disasters have motivated people; the great 1923 earthquake and also
the destruction produced by 1945 bombings pushed a reaction and — Architecture since the 20th century has been mainly built of
triggered a huge effort in «mineralizing» Tokyo (the same happened concrete, which is massive, thus it is limited to professional
in Lisbon after 1755 earthquake, in the Paris of Napoleon III and workers who can participate in the construction process. On
Haussmann, or in Chicago after the 1871 big fire). the contrary, we are interested in developing a democratic
But Tokyo (formerly Edo) was small, low rise, soft and had a architecture which is made out of smaller and lighter ele-
human scale; all this was neglected in the realization of the actual ments, so that it opens the construction process to everyone
«mega- city». The terrible disaster occurred in 2011 (Tohoku Tsunami) no matter they are non-professional9.
has clearly shown that, no matter what the material is, the «Power of
Nature» will be always much stronger than any human artifact. For Omotesando hills is one of the most exclusive borough of Tokyo,
Kuma, going back to «small architecture»7 means exactly to try to go where top brands of fashion and luxury compete on the main road
back to the human scale by taking down the buildings into fragments and cope their brand with architectures designed by famous authors
and particles — as exemplified in the Asakusa Culture Tourist Informa- like Tadao Ando, Herzog and de Meuron, MVRDV, Toyo Ito, Kisho
tion Center8, which perfectly matches this purpose. While «big-ness» Kurokawa, SANAA and others. But just walking back from the main
alienates humans from nature, the discretization in the building ele- road and the big buildings, the visitor can discover what is typical of
ments helps to recreate a bondage between these two entities. Tokyo: many souls and many cities in one city. The pace slows down
The building is a tower of almost 40 meters, subdivided into eight quickly and also the dimensions of the constructions. In this urban
levels; it appears as if eight small single wooden houses (that were environment Kuma has designed the Sunny Hills shop, which is a
once present in the place) were piled one onto the other. The small brand of pineapple cake and juice from Taiwan (delicious indeed if
unit here can be detected both in the volume (in the single pitched you can try it)10. In the back streets of Aoyama, Kuma imagines a to-
roof houses) and in surface (in the lattice wood vertical sun-shading tal innovation in architecture: a building where pillars and beams are
blades). All this creates a clear connection to the past, in a contem- not present at all. The construction looks like a grove, a self-bearing
porary way, and the flow connects the architecture with the outside nest in which the slabs are directly connected. Everything is on four
world. levels, plus the open terrace, and should resist to gravity and to very
The building is located in a very touristic place, just in front of high seismic loads. Everything is in wood (the precious Inoki, the
Senso-Ji Temple, the pagoda and the Kaminari-mon (i.e. path of the Japanese cypress); thin sections are connected by using the jigokugumi
gods), that drives the people to one of the most important Japanese joint system (literally «hell like» assembly)11, where multiple sticks,
Shinto Temples. The layered and superposed volumes are a clear ba- with a small section, are connected in inclined ways. The complication
lance to the layers of the old pagoda which is visually in touch with it. has been carefully designed with parametric softwares, and produced
People can walk and float into the building from the free terrace on top mainly with CNC cutting but with the assistence and fine tuning of
or the restaurant, and down to all the public levels. The double level special carpenters in wood.
lobby welcomes tourists with services and information. In a way, Sunny Hills creates a small urban forest thanks to the
small timber size (60 x 60 millimeters) of the load-bearing sticks that
reminds tree branches. The structure is like woven together to create
a porous morphology, where the outside is always connected with

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 the inside thanks to the intermediate space created by the structural representation of the design concept, many sketches, drawings and
groove. The connection is enhanced by light and shadows creating mock-ups have defined the first phase of the design process, towards a
the satori effect, the experience of awakening which makes our soul visual and practical experimentation.
to breathe. Finally, the multiple interpretations of void — as convexity, con-
In this building the relation with the city is clearly obtained by cavity and emptiness in the porosity of the sphere — have been created
the scale and the porosity, but also by the «co-dividual» concept of the by massive larch blades that now define the structure of the art piece.
interior space: people enter and sit around a social table with others, 58 millimeters in thickness, 300 millimeters in width and 1.000 milli-
anybody gets a small cake with green tea (for free) and, afterwards, meters in length are the three dimensions of the single larch particle,
anybody is free to purchase or to go. An incredible innovative concept whose repetition origins the wooden, porous and spherical volume
that makes the space a vibrant social catalyst to go beyond the indivi- of Kodama, giving it the rhythm of a complex entity, but being at the
duality and loneliness typical of Tokyo. same time a simple geometry. The concept of the wooden structure in-
The relation with memory is given by the interpretation of tradi- deed had the aim to achieve a single and iconic volume made only by
tion/innovation in the way wood is used for construction. Kuma goes one element, as a particle of the whole. It is repeated, connected and
clearly back to the «smallness» of the ancient Tokyo, which was made exalted across the construction, following Kengo Kuma’s theory of di-
practically only in wood and washi/rice paper. He uses small sections scretization and diffused structures, which leaves traces in many of his
but he designs them in a new way, exploiting new design tools, to create works, all around the world. In a way, it has also a reference to Hegel’s
structural diffusion and redundancy which are efficient both aestheti- philosophy of the elements, the particles and the whole together, as a
cally and for anti-seismic purposes. Also for the production, the wood synthesis.
has been cut with automatic machines that interpretate the parame- Behind the wooden structure of Kodama and its capability to
tric information, but in the final construction phase the «fine tuning» embrace and synthesize both the prime conceptual ideas of emptiness
and joints were checked by special wood masters. In this way, Kuma and complexity through simplicity, there is an extremely intense and
preserves the tradition of wood and its carpenters (that are protected complex design process, carried out after many experimental tests,
as heritage by Japanese Government), but at same time he evolves the mechanical calculations and virtual simulations. It has been an itera-
process to fit the actual contemporary architectural debate. tive process, balanced between theoretical validations and practical
experimentations, towards the optimization of the wooden elements,
Memory of Nature: Abstraction (Kodama, Arte Sella, Valsugana 2018) their dimensions, the specific material, connections and, thus, mecha-
nical behavior and final impact. Digital and parametrical models were
Eastern and Western philosophy strongly meet in Kodama, in the used in order to control the geometry, assess the structural design
beautiful surroundings of Arte Sella12, the Contemporary Mountain13, and help the management of wooden pieces production, classification
and the forest of Villa Strobele. While the main elements of Western and assembly. Digitalizing the process means to gain a better control
philosophy are Earth, Air, Water and Fire, the Eastern one has one over each phase and procedures, and transferring the earlier ideas and
more: the Void (the emptiness). The name of the pavilion, Kodama, is sketches into an engineered knowledge.
associated with a spirit in the beautiful forest of Arte Sella: in Japanese, In the end, the structure has been defined as a spherical volume
Ko means «tree», and Dama means «spirit» or «sphere». built up by the interconnection of wooden plates (58 x 300 x 1.000 mil-
In Kodama, the void is amplified into three levels: the convexity limeters), and the repetition of a node of six panels along the whole
outside the volume, the concavity inside and the porosity, the empti- geometry. No steel nails are present in the structure, except for the
ness in-between. In order to achieve these spatial effects as an effective anchoring to foundations, realized using steel bars and bolts. The

114 115
 elements are connected to each other by gravity, and their joints are Space itself remembers a Japanese tea-house in the open air,
fixed thanks to the deformations induced by humidity. approaching it through big stepping stones from local mountains. The
The construction processes of Kodama lasted five days (from ceremony of tea and its aesthetics described by Okakura Tenshin15
April 16th, to April 20th, 2018). The first one was used to place the finds a full expression within the project of Kodama, as well as the im-
foundation’s beams made in larch wood, and to fix the metal plates. portance of light and shadows, created by the structure which brings
The wooden structure, completely jointed without any metal con- us also to the core of the Japanese philosophy by Junichiro Tanizaki16.
nections, started on April 17th and continued for four days. D3Wood The real, only way to feel all of this experience, as Bruno Zevi may have
craftsmen (Marco and Claudio Clozza)14 mounted the different rings said, can only be achieved by going around and inside Kodama in Arte
on the ground, in a lying position; once raised to the ground using Sella, becoming a part of it and of the forest.
three hoists, they were oriented so that the joints could be combined Nature and humans join, thanks to the artifact, in a very harmo-
between the different levels. The most complicated situations involved nious and poetical way. The memory in this case is abstract, bringing
23 junctions on rings of about 5 meters in diameter, with a mounting us back to the primitivity, the ancestrality of the first shelters that
tolerance of 1 millimeter. After the assembly of each ring, dimensions humans built to create a space for themselves to protect from the out-
were controlled, provisional supports were positioned, and the per- side forces: this is the genesis of all what we call Architecture.
fect interpenetration of all the joints was verified. By adopting all
these measures to respect the geometry of the design, the assembly
was engaging and no changes were made to any element during con-
struction.
Kodama was presented at Arte Sella and, in partnership with
Politecnico di Milano, in a Lectio Magistralis at Teatro Bibiena during
MantovArchitettura, in the Spring of 2018. In the same year, in Octo-
ber, a terrible typhoon (Vaia) destroyed 18 millions of trees in all Ita-
lian Alps. Arte Sella was severely hit and also Kodama was destroyed
for one third. Luckily the redundant structure was stiff enough and re-
silient to allow a refurbishment which, in accordance to Kengo Kuma,
was made by showing the wound in an expressive way by burning the
larch wood of the new addictions (thus emulating the kintsugi/yakisugi
technique); furthermore, a beautiful Haiku dedicated to the Wind was
engraved on the wood.
At the end of this intense path of design, engineering and proto-
typing, Kodama proves to be a very poetic space. Kengo Kuma, the
author of the new Olympic Stadium for Tokyo 2021, has conceived a
landmark into a landscape, where nature accepts massive wood to
«come back», and to decay and age through time and seasonal changes.
This idyllic image is typical of the Japanese philosophy, indeed: beauty
achieved with ephemerality, decay and imperfections given by the
time as Wabi Sabi beauty.

116 117
 1 Kengo Kuma, as reported in the volume 7 K. Kuma, T. Daniell, Small Architecture
Y. Futagawa, Kengo Kuma 2013-2020, / Natural Architecture, Architectural
A.D.A. Edita, Tokyo 2020. Association Publications, London 2015.
2 K. Kuma, M. Ferrari, Kengo Kuma. 8 Y. Futagawa, Kengo Kuma 2006-2012,
L’anti oggetto. Dissolvere e disintegrare A.D.A. Edita, Tokyo 2012.
l’architettura. Parole di architettura, vol. 1,
9 Kengo Kuma, in a conversation with the
Ilios, Bari 2016.
author.
3 K. Frampton, Kengo Kuma: Complete
10 Y. Futagawa, Kengo Kuma 2013-2020,
Works, Thames & Hudson, Reprint edition,
op. cit.
London 2013.
11 K. Seike, The Art of Japanese Joinery,
4 M. Carpo, Particlised: Computational
Weatherhill ed., Boston 1978.
Discretism, or the Rise of the Digital
Dicrete, in Discrete: Reappraising the 12 E. Montibeller, L. Tomaselli, G. Bianchi,
Digital in Architecture, 02, vol. 89, edited by Arte Sella. The Contemporary Mountain. The
G. Retsin, John Wiley and sons, Oxford New Beginning, Silvana, Milan 2017.
2019, pp. 86-93. 13 Arte Sella website, www.artesella.it/en.
5 S.-J. A. Liotta, M. Belfiore (eds.), 14 K. Kuma, Ja 109 Kengo Kuma: A Lab For
Patterns and Layering: Japanese Spatial Materials, Shinkenchiku-sha Co Ltd, Tokyo
Culture, Nature and Architecture, Gestalten, 2018.
Berlin 2012.
15 O. Tenshin, The Book of Tea,
6 R. Gatti, «V&A Dundee, Dundee (UK) - CreateSpace Independent Publishing
Kengo Kuma and Associates», Arketipo, 130, Platform, 2015.
June 2019, pp. 16-23.
16 J. Tanizaki, In praise of Shadows,
Leete’s Island Books, Stony Creek 1977.

1 2
Kengo Kuma, Victoria and Kengo Kuma’s sketch Exterior view © KKAA,
Albert Museum (Dundee, © KKAA. ph. Hufton Crow.
United Kingdom 2018).

118 Notes 119

 3 4 5
Ground floor plan and One of the sides of
galleries floor plan © KKAA. the building © KKAA,
ph. Hufton Crow.

120 121
 6 7 8 9
Sections © KKAA. External wall detail © KKAA. Interior views © KKAA,
ph. Hufton Crow.

122 123
 10 11 12
Kengo Kuma, Asakusa Culture Elevations © KKAA. Exterior view © KKAA, Ground floor plan and
Tourist Information Center ph. Takeshi Yamagishi. fifth floor plan © KKAA.
(Tokyo, Japan 2012).

124 125
 13 14 15
Exterior view © KKAA, Interior spaces © KKAA,
ph. Takeshi Yamagishi. ph. Takeshi Yamagishi.

126 127
 16 17 18
Kengo Kuma, Sunny Hills Kengo Kuma’s sketch Exterior view © KKAA, Plans © KKAA.
(Tokyo, Japan 2013). © KKAA. ph. Daichi Ano.

128 129
 19 20 21
Exterior view © KKAA, Exterior view © KKAA, Sections © KKAA.
ph. Daichi Ano. ph. Daichi Ano.

130 131
 22
Detailed section © KKAA.

132 133
 23 24 25 26
Kengo Kuma, Kodama Plan © KKAA. Aerial view © KKAA. Section © KKAA. Overall view © KKAA.
(Arte Sella, Valsugana,
Italy 2018).

134 135
 27 28 29 30
External and internal views Overall view, ph. Giacomo
© KKAA. Bianchi.

136 137
 Paraguay hasn’t got an history of architecture; at most, a tradi-
tion. Even if modern architecture has written memorable pages in
the Latin American continent, it seems to have almost failed penetra-

Solano Benítez. ting the borders of the innermost state of South America, sandwiched
between giants as Argentina and Brazil, Bolivia to the west, largely

Building the Future surrounded by rivers’ water, so much to be compared, by its most pro-
minent writers, to an isla sin mar (Juan Bautista Rivarola Matto) or to
a pequeña isla rodeada de tierra (Augusto Roa Bastos).
by Innovating Le Corbusier visited its capital in 1929, at the end of his famous
cycle of lectures held in Buenos Aires, Montevideo, São Paulo and Rio

Tradition de Janeiro. He caught only the most folkloric aspect of the city, without
reporting particular observations about the buildings or the urban
planning: «Asunción seemed to me a joyful city — he writes — luxu-
riant, a fascinating city, with a simple, sunny cheerfulness, teeming
with bright and fresh colors, all compatible with each other and linked
together by the frenetic green of tropical trees».
The most important modern architecture to be visited in Asun-
ción is a gift from the Brazilian government of Getúlio Vargas, the
Colegio Experimental Paraguay-Brasil, designed in the 1950s by Af-
fonso Eduardo Reidy on a hill in the barrio of Ita Pytâ Punta — which,
in the Guaraní language, means «tip of the red stone» — overlooking
a bend in the Río Paraguay and the horizontal expanse of the Chaco,
to the North.
The horizontal structure, suspended on a porch that makes shade
and frames the landscape, is characterized by a sloping elevation,
paced by giant forks of reinforced concrete, very similar to that one
of the contemporary Museu de Arte Moderna in Rio de Janeiro. The
building — that had to be the first and never completed nucleus of the
future University City — was to serve for the formation of a teaching
staff for higher levels of education. Extensively modified over time, it
is still in use today, but also showing signs of a long period of neglect,
bearing witness to the indifference of local institutions regarding great
civil architecture and cultural values it embodies, both in terms of
conservation and of new initiatives.

Marco Biagi Among the metropolises of Latin America, Asunción has a modest
size. The capital city of Paraguay in fact has just over 500.000 inhabi-
tants and reaches 2.600.000 units, including the conurbation of the

139
 suburban municipalities — in total, a third of the overall population Sergio Ruggieri, Sergio Fanego with Larissa Rojas and Miguel Duarte,
of the country. The extension of the urbanized area however is wide, Francisco Tómboly with Sonia Carísimo and others.
formed by a variegated fabric of medium and low density buildings, in- Benítez studied at the Universidad Nacional, during the years of
terspersed with tropical green and bedewed in a capillary manner by Stroessner’s dictatorship; Corvalán at the Catolica. After graduation,
private vehicular traffic. The downtown is small and vaguely decom- they both travelled — in Portugal and the United States, the first, in
missioned. There is a decadent atmosphere, of semi-abandonment Italy, the latter — and they built up a network of personal and collective
and relative neglect: there are several closed premises and shops; relationships and exchanges with more disciplinary evolved areas of
ghost buildings are also frequent. In recent years, the downtown has the Cone Sur. With the Paulist school of Mendes da Rocha, for exam-
suffered the demographic decline of the old residents and the new ple, or the Argentine côté of authors from a generation prior to theirs
generations preferred to move to the suburbs in search of more conve- (such as Pablo Beitía and Rafael Iglesia), and even more recently, with
nient and safe housing solutions. Alejandro Aravena and the young Chilean and Mexican architects.
«In the streets of the center — Alberto Ferlenga wrote on the 786 Thanks also to these contacts and acquaintances, both Corvalán
issue of Casabella, in 2010 —the cuadras mark out an urban space ori- and Benítez have developed an attitude of great mental and cultural
ginally composed of low buildings, with occasional widenings around openness, fully updated but still calibrated on the experimental horizon
abandoned remnants, like the station built by the English, or monu- of Modernism rather than on the affected mannerism of the contem-
ments that commemorate a tormented history, like the Pantheon de porary architectural languages. It is an attitude free from complexes
los Heroes that hosts the protagonists of the disastrous wars under- and inhibitions, able to use the limitations of an under-developed
taken by the Country, or the presidential palace. While in the older part socio-economic context to convert them into incentives for research
of the city time seems to have been blocked by the colonial layout, fur- and innovation. A research which is devoted above all to deepening the
ther on, in the outlying areas, the residential neighborhoods develop structural and constructive dimension of architecture. In this regard,
around shopping centers or streets that are not so different from those while Corvalán has often shown, in his professional career, to prefer
of many European or America cities». the brutalist tectonics of reinforced concrete, tested in muscular exer-
In the dynamics that govern the future of the city, public initiative cises on balancing the masses, Benítez rather has always preferred to
and competitions are certainly lacking. Conversely, private commis- dedicate himself to explore, with brilliant ingenuity and open-minded
sions predominate, mostly of residential, commercial and, in the alter- nonconformity, the unexpressed potential of an even poorer, ordinary
native, tertiary nature, which generate a minute and unstable urban and only «apparently exhausted» material such as brick, in its multiple
material, subject to processes of constant and rapid transformation, technical and aesthetic virtualities.
adaptation, replacement. A triumph of impermanence, in short, and a Focusing on terracotta meant, for him, to look for an intimate con-
strictly utilitarian vision of architecture. nection with the Paraguayan land; with the red vestiges of the ancient
In such a context, which doesn’t seem to offer prerequisites for Jesuit Reducciones, whose monumental traces, along the two banks of
the development of quality construction experiences, a group of archi- the Rio Paraná, survive to evoke the epic of a failed communist utopia
tects and teachers between the ages of thirty and fifty has taken form a ante litteram and to testify, with their imposing foundation structures,
few years ago, operating in close contact with one another. the challenge of the anthropic to an overbearing and boundless nature.
Their activities raised particular interest on the international con- Finally, focusing on clay meant to start from the most immediately
temporary architecture scene. The elder leaders are Javier Corvalán available resources and skills, assuming them with a realistic but not
and Solano Benítez, born respectively in 1962 and 1963, joined by resigned attitude, with the ambition to reinvent and regenerate them
many exponents of the younger generations, including José Cubilla, each time in order to offer them new perspectives.

140 141
 A contribution to that, obviously, was the organization of the buil- an idea reprised and perfected later in the large suspended ceiling of
ding process, in which the designer still coincides quite often with the the Casa Abu y Font.
contractor and is called to solve problems of both constructive and The executive difficulties encountered during the vertical laying
structural nature during construction, in order to make up for the lack of bricks arranged on edge in the construction of his own atelier, leads
of means and economic resources. The classical «necessity mother of Benítez — in the subsequent projects for a 3 in Asunción (1995-96,
invention», in short. The imagination that overcomes the difficulties no longer existing) and above all in the restyling of the Unilever of-
by devising new and unconventional solutions. fices, in Villa Elisa again (2000-01) — to explore the practicality of a
It is also for this reason, perhaps, that the architecture of Solano more convenient approach: the prefabrication of panels of different
Benítez looks so fresh and «authentic» if compared to much of the formats and sizes on the ground, which can then be assembled in the
current international production. Since the early 1990s, the Para- construction. In the making of the large sunscreen enclosure built to
guayan architect has been conceiving and carrying out a personal disguise the modest existing shed that contains the managerial head-
path of study and knowledge on some possible «alternative» buil- quarters of the important Anglo-Dutch multinational, the prefabrica-
ding uses of the ladrillo, exploiting each professional assignment as ted partitions are stiffened by brick ribs, making it possible to reach
an opportunity for checking and testing the technical and application formats of 2,5-3 meters in height, which can be installed as sloping
hypotheses elaborated in progress as a result and evolutionary variant parts, with a thickness at the edge of just 3 centimeters.
of each other. The next step, in Casa Esmeraldina (Asunción, 2002-03), inspired
Already in the first headquarters of the Gabinete de Arquitectura by Italo Calvino’s Città invisibili, was to introduce encofrados, i.e. trai-
— that was his very first work, completed in 1994 in the suburban ners, vertical wooden formworks that can be repositioned to speed
sprawl of the municipality of Villa Elisa, within the metropolitan area up the construction of the thin masonry. This technique makes it
of the Gran Asunción —, numerous embryonic intuitions appear that easier and faster to shape a brick wall in the special «pleated» confi-
will give rise to deepening and meaningful developments in the sub- guration that gives it strength through form and makes it suitable to
sequent projects. support the layered bands of the sculptural and chiaroscuro curtain-
First of all, the «paradoxical» idea of an in folio wall made of bricks diaphragm on the street.
arranged on edge, to save on material for the construction of a space In the large Casa Abu y Font, designed in 2004-06 for his mother
of 100 square meters on a budget of just 5.000 dollars (when current and one of his six siblings, Solano uses the «megaron» section of Le
construction costs ranged around 350 and 450 $/square meter at the Corbusier, one of the volumetric schemes favored by the Latin Ame-
time). Furthermore, in order to counteract the instability of the thin rican architect, perfect for defense against the oppressive heat of the
wall and avoid the foreseeable «bulging» due to point load, a second local climate. For the roof of the large living area on the ground floor,
singular idea was applied: to remove the section of the façade subject extending lengthwise from one end to the other of the building, ope-
to maximum deflection, strengthening it with a Vierendeel truss in ning completely onto two opposing patios thanks to wooden doors
reinforced brick, also utilized as a fenêtre en longueur. activated by a sophisticated system of pulleys and weights, the brico-
In addition, to prevent the «overturning» of the elevation, another leur Benítez experiments with the soft bending of a losa de cerámica
invention is to add the contribution of IPE posts placed against the ex- armada of 19 meters in length, hung on two Vierendeel trusses with
terior and connected by slim webs of iron rod (to prevent «punching») a span of 14 meters. The curved suspended ceiling is actually a sort
to the reinforcements embedded in the mortar courses. Finally, it is of depressed vault that functions thanks to tensile strength and deli-
worth noting — in the canopy over the entrance — the first appearance cately shapes the unified space below. To make it, the architect aug-
of a rudimentary segment of the slab in reinforced ladrillo quebrado, mented and rationalized the scheme first applied in the canopy of

142 143
 the old Gabinete, making centring on which to place the bricks in a land of the capital or, moreover, the installation «Rompiendo el sitio»,
herringbone pattern, inclined by 30° with respect to the vertical posi- which earned the Gabinete the Golden Lion at the 15th Venice Archi-
tion, making use of a 4 centimeters bed of sand. For every three brick tecture Biennale in 2016.
courses (24 centimeters), in the transverse direction, and between Nevertheless, the project that leads up to the most recent experi-
the parallel rows (28 centimeters), in the longitudinal direction, rein- ments and marks an important moment of progress in the technique
forcement rods are inserted, while the whole arrangement is con- and formal research conducted by the Gabinete de Arquitectura, is un-
solidated by an extremely fluid mortar that defies all standards and doubtedly the Children’s Rehab Center for the Telethon Foundation,
expectations with its optimal performance, since it releases part of completed in 2011 at Lambaré, on the outskirts of Asunción. This is a
its excess water to the brick and the sand, creating an ideal humid detailed complex of spaces and equipment for physiotherapy and re-
environment for the setting of the concrete. When the formwork has habilitation of disabled children or those with spinal lesions. Built with
been stripped, the pebbled surface of the brick that lightens the slab funds raised during the annual television marathon, the facility had to
is transformed into a vibrant visual finish for the living area below. meet functional needs while also providing a symbolic, demonstrative
A few years later, the need to move the architecture studio into image. The theme of rehabilitation has therefore been extended to the
the basement level of the family home offered an opportunity for architecture, making it into a programmatic motif. Not only new con-
another experiment. The cutting of several load-bearing walls made it struction, then, but also recovery and transformation of existing buil-
necessary to reinforce the slabs by grafting on atypical reticular struts dings, dismantling of edifices and in situ recycling of debris obtained
in reinforced brick, made by using simple box frames of bricks with a from demolitions. For the first time, inside the administration block,
triangular matrix as the formwork. These elements immediately re- the use of the centring and the broken brick have been tested in the
vealed their enormous application potential, and today they probably production of a thin vault (4 centimeters thick) shaped as a catenary
represent the main area of research of the Gabinete. In this period, arch and reinforced by a diamond pattern of reinforcement ribbing.
presumably, the connection arises among the research on the in folio The same centring is then reutilized in a horizontal position to shape
walls and panels, the continuous surfaces with the «broken» brick em- the curved panels and dividers. The next step was experimentation,
bedded in conglomerates of reinforced and not-reinforced concrete, in the green space of the garden, with a boveda aligerada, a lightened
and the investigation of spatial structures with bars, based on the Tridi- vault built in two versions with the method of prefabricated triangular
losa system patented in 1966 by the Mexican engineer Heberto Castillo formwork made with brick. Both versions serve as canopies and have a
(1928-97), in which the ladrillo is essentially used in the unconven- profile similar to a segmental arch. However, one located at the access
tional role of formwork. to the area has a section of 25 centimeters, since the bricks are joined
The first line of research contains, for example, a work like Casa vertically, while the other, screening the entrance to the clinics, has a
L.A. (Presidente Hayes, 2004-06), in which the zigzag walls of Casa section of only 12 centimeters. Finally, another interesting technique
Esmeraldina rise to an height of 7 meters thanks to the use of special is the application of flat brick in overturned pyramids, in cerámica
encofrados — and, in spite of the fact that they are made with crushed armada, that loom like large umbrellas or trees over the upward gaze
material, that is rubble purchased by the cubic meter. of youngsters immersed in hydrotherapy tubs, shaping the shade and
The second category covers, clearly enough, some of the more functioning as compluvia to gather and store rainwater, guided to
recent works, like the Quincho for asado made in the garden of the underground cisterns. The evident affinities with the work of Eladio
architect’s sister Coral (Asunción, 2010), or the Sports center for the Dieste are rebutted by Benítez by citing the specificity of his use of
Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Arte of Universidad Nacional de only common and often discarded materials, whereas the engineer
Asunción (Asunción, 2012-), currently being completed in the hinter- from Uruguay usually applied certified, custom-made components.

144 145
 Such a distancing recalls to mind the famous distinction between The objective is not revolutionary in itself, because it doesn’t
«scientific thought» and «wild thought» formulated by the French break the limits of the situation in which it is confined, but, poten-
anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss in the early 1960s, which still tially and in perspective, it can represent a useful term of compari-
today conveniently illustrates the difference between the contempo- son and a possible source of inspiration even for more advanced rea-
rary universe of specialism, precision and technological disenchant- lities, where the ongoing global environmental crisis requires anyway
ment and the practice of building in the context of slower and more sustainable remedies and alternatives to the dominant economic
backward societies. Societies where for the architect, as well as for the development model.
bricoleur of Lévi-Strauss, «the rules of his game are always to make do
with “whatever is at hand”, that is to say with a set of tools and ma-
terials which is always finite and is also heterogeneous because what
it contains bears no relation to the current project, or indeed to any
particular project, but is the contingent result of all the occasions there
have been to renew or enrich the stock or to maintain it with the re-
mains of previous constructions or destructions».
In the inventory of Benítez’s works, Telethon Center is certainly
the one that, in the most evident and detailed way, shows this parti-
cular condition of the profession and the interpretation proposed by
the author. The complexity of the intervention, the variety and novelty
of the constructive solutions, the quality of the spaces, the modula-
tion of natural light and the richness of the textures and the material
combinations are not simple performances or answers to practical
needs, but they tell twenty years of field research, drawing both a self-
portrait and a manifesto. They describe a personal vision of the city,
the discipline and the world.
In the small but emblematic laboratory of Asunción, the rela-
tionship with the city is implemented through a process of continuous
transformation: the urgency of the primary needs doesn’t leave room
for fetishism of conservation or musealization. Architecture is a fun-
ction, a service, not a goal. In this sense, Benítez’s architecture doesn’t
pursue forms and figures, but it acts on the level of the means and rela-
tions of production. By doing so, it expresses a substantial rootedness
in the social and cultural context in which it operates. The challenge
lies in the attempt to reinvent tradition, questioning its dictates and
rethinking it from the beginning. In the words of Lévi-Strauss, it is a
question of «renewing and enriching the stock of raw materials, tools
and fungible signs», through the use of imagination and the enhance-
ment of all the skills and energies involved in the building cycle.

146 147
 1 2
Solano Benítez, Casa The main front Solano Benítez, Casa Abu y The main front
Esmeraldina (Asunción, © Leonardo Finotti. Font (Asunción, Paraguay © Leonardo Finotti.
Paraguay 2004). 2006-07).

148 149
 3
Solano Benítez, Children’s The entrance path
Rehab Center for the Telethon © Leonardo Finotti.
Foundation (Lambaré,
Asunción, Paraguay 2010-11).
150 151
 4
Structural framework
of the entrance path
© Leonardo Finotti.

152 153
 5
Interior view of the main space
© Leonardo Finotti.

154 155
 In 2016 Angelo Bucci participated in MantovArchitettura. As he
himself points out in the text The Design of Dialogue, each School will
always have its gaps. Promoting relationships and exchanges among

Angelo Bucci. different Schools, even for a short period or by simply participating in
a specific event, is always an occasion to reduce these gaps, and thus

Landscape, Paths to get closer to what could be defined as a kind of «ideal School».
The architect Angelo Bucci graduated in 1987 from the Faculty of
Architecture and Urbanism at the University of São Paulo (FAUUSP),
and Thresholds where he completed his Ph.D. in 2005. In 1996 he started his parti-
cipation in the studio MMBB Arquitetos, founded by Fernando de
Mello Franco, Marta Moreira and Milton Braga, where he worked un-
til 2002. In 2003 he inaugurated his own architecture studio, SPBR
Arquitetos, based in the city of São Paulo. The architect’s trajectory
brings the legacy of the Escola Paulista, not only for his projects, but
also for his critical contribution to the context of Brazilian Modern
Architecture.
In recent years, his works have been gaining an increasingly criti-
cal eye and receiving several national and international awards. Bucci
was nominated for the Mies Crown Hall of the Americas prize, from
the Illinois Institute of Technology (2016), and presented at the XII
Bienal Internacional de Arquitetura de Buenos Aires; his Casa de Fim
de Semana em São Paulo (2014) was awarded at the IX Bienal Ibero-
americana de Arquitetura e Urbanismo as well as with the International
Young Generation prize (2009).
His trajectory as an architect has always been linked to his career
as a professor. He has taught at the School of Architecture and Urba-
nism of the University of São Paulo (FAUUSP), and he has served as
visiting professor in many international Schools — among which MIT
(Cambridge, USA, 2016), ETH (Zurich, Switzerland, 2013-14), Yale
University (New Haven, Connecticut, USA, 2013), Torcuato Di Tella
(Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2010), IUAV (Venice, Italy, 2008), Harvard
Graduate School of Design (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, 2008).
Joubert José Lancha,
Gabriel Braulio Botasso, Angelo Bucci’s Design Process

Simone Helena Tanoue Vizioli — [...] I believe it is of much help to keep a sketch which matches
your motivations to the sight1.

157
 During his work, Bucci makes use of sketches, technical drawings, that have taken over the architectural panorama. The specific context
digital drawings, electronic and analogical models. Computers are of the project in fact always has a pivotal role.
used, but not as a means to replace the sketches — which he believes From the insertion of a new work in the territory, a «conflict»
to be irreplaceable during his design process. As he said: «You can hold emerges. The Architecture highlights what is around it, providing a
a conversation and expose your ideas as you talk — I have always be- new perspective on the context; at the same time, also the surroundings
lieved that the project is a way of having a conversation»2. Models are develop a mutual feeling towards it. That does not mean accepting
used and presented as the study of the building constructability and as passively the topography and the geographic aspects (which Bucci
fundamental elements for the investigation on the integration of the refers to as «early Architecture»). Those aspects, however, are taken
works to the context, which is a primary topic for the architect. Models into consideration and developed in order to potentiate the building
of several projects are indeed visible in his office. and, similarly, to have the building potentiate its surroundings. Every
place, program or situation provides specific inputs, and lead to the
— [...] I believe there are many doors and many ways to get definition of special solutions that respond to the distinctive features
through them. For me, models have been of great help. A of the site.
model is a way to put certain ideas to test — it simply does The qualities of the symbiosis among the topography and the
not mislead you. It can have some problems here and there, building, the relationship between inside and outside, and the findings
on its proportion or dimension, but it is possible to adjust the paths promote are guaranteed through the courtship between the
these in the project […]. I enjoy having a sketch that you con- built volumes and the free spaces, which are an evidently well-thought
sider as being the idea that is going to guide you through- element. In Angelo Bucci’s works, «empty» spaces are as important
out the work — as if it were the guide line: it is always good to as the «filled» ones. Many elements that Zein5 considered prominent
have it down on a black board, because during the develop- for the Escola Paulista are also part of Bucci’s repertoire, such as the
ment process, when you have everyone sketching along, you preference for single volumes. However, in case of several volumes, he
can’t miss the point of the project3. ensures a clear hierarchy among them — an Architecture that comes
from the upper portions to the lower ones seeking for the ground which,
Bucci defines the design difficulties as «challenges», since many in Bucci’s case, is generated through a suspension that does not un-
of them are elaborated and put to test during the process, making it bound the projects from the territory, but rather strengthens it.
necessary to have an incessant verification of the applied strategies.
«For me, making a project is more than coming up with a drawing. It Three Houses, Three Approaches
is referring to it until the project is done»4.
Under the architect’s perspective, the architectural space is It goes without saying that Bucci’s works portray a quite dis-
always born out of a dialogue, according to the understanding of the tinctive design approach, always having the topography as a primary
conditioning variables of the project. Thereafter, the plan, the pro- element. His houses establish new paths through their slabs, bringing
grams and the settings that define how the idea becomes Architecture new meanings to the territory.
are elaborated. This is when the importance of the freehand sketching Sometimes semi-underground, some others as a plain extrusion
is highlighted — it enables a structured thought that triggers many of the topography, his projects take advantage of the unevenness of
others, in a sequence of visions. the terraces, that embody the symbiosis between the building and the
The architect’s design process does not follow pre-conceived place itself. Their evident and highlighted elements, often in concrete
ideas, nor does Bucci bow down indisputably to the newest trends (although the use of this material is not a rule, as Bucci would warn),

158 159
 result in a clear and strict structure reinforced by the general concept The unevenness between the floors is also fundamental for the
of the project. same reason. As stated by the owner of the house7: «[…] the delight of
Among countless projects, this text has selected three houses that waking up and having the beach right there, right below our feet? […]
will be further discussed in terms of landscape, paths and thresholds, I see the waves going back and forth from my bathroom mirror while I
which represent the most important elements in Bucci’s works. shave». The beach can be seen from every room of the house, due to
the unevenness of the floors.
Landscape — House in Ubatuba, 2007-08
Path — Weekend House in downtown São Paulo, 2013-14
The house in Ubatuba is located at the Tenório beach hill, in a
16 x 50 meters lot, characterized by a 50% slope in 28 meters, from Located in São Paulo city center, this house is one of Bucci’s most
the lowest to the highest point, where the house can be accessed. emblematic projects. The owners commissioned such work in order to
The territory had some preexisting vegetation, which was preserved. curb the inevitable traffic jam to go on a weekend getaway. After many
Considering such elements and aspects, Bucci decided to use very few debates on how to name it —is it a house? a refuge? —, the structure ended
support structures. up being referred to as the «Weekend House». According to Bucci, the
project was designed to contrast this residential space from the sur-
— There is an avoidance of the ground as a strategy. In other rounding reality, by increasing its permeability as much as possible.
words, there is an avoidance of battling against that to- Through the construction of this house, Bucci altered an ar-
pography in order to get the project up. Only three columns chitectural argument he had been developing for years, by placing
touch the ground. These columns support two main beams the pool on the highest point of the building, i.e. on the rooftop, 6
which, in turn, compose the structure in reinforced concrete meters above the street level, so that it would receive sunlight as well
upon which all the slabs are anchored. In this way, the settings as keep most of the building out of the ground. Since it is not a com-
seem to float in the space among the threes; from each one of mon approach in architecture, it is quite striking.
them, you have different sights of the landscape panorama6. The pool was a key element for the project, and was always part
of the owners’ will since the very first sketch. To build a pool lane in
In order to avoid the risk of undermining the plot and contrasting the 10 x 25 meters lot was their main objective: «[…] we dreamt about
the environmental legislation protecting the hill and the vegetation, having a pool, some gardens and a slab for sunbathing»8. However,
the architect decided to suspend the building by leveling the last slab taking the neighbors’ reality into consideration (because they were
to the street level, 30 meters above the level of the beach, serving any- surrounded by 6 meters tall walls), the owners were told that having
one who comes from the street, as a sort of an extended square (that is a pool on the street level wouldn’t be so effective due to the lack of
a feature also displayed in the house in Carapicuíba). When the pedes- sunlight. A displacement of the pool was suggested, not to the left nor
trians come from the street, they are able to see only the house roof to the right, but up, on the building’s surface: «[…] so, if you want to
and a swimming pool in-between the two beams — with a solarium and have sunlight all day, you have got to be on the surface, and such sur-
the beach right in the front of them. From the highest point, a hundred face is 6 meters away from the ground»9.
steps stairs leads to the original plot, which in turn gives access to the For this project, Bucci referred to different path gradients: after the
beach. The stairs links the three volumes of the house to the empty hollow gates, which make the house visible from the street, you reach
spaces, and such spaces are responsible for the startegical vision de- the inner courtyard on the ground level where there is no lon-
signed by Bucci for framing the coastal landscape. ger excessive exposition and you don’t feel on the street anymore:

160 161
 «[…] you are sheltered now. There is a secluded, private touch to it This house counts on a clear gradient by displaying a «semi-
[…]»10. After climbing an external flight of stairs, you reach the pool, public» quad, that can be enjoyed by the ones who live there as well by
where according to the architect «[…] you expose yourself; although the ones who don’t, by the suspended office (which, however private,
you haven’t exactly exposed yourself […], you don’t feel that sheltered is exposed and is open to an easy access) and by the central piece of
anymore, even though you haven’t been indoors at all so far. You feel the house, sunken and private, displaying a way more restricted ac-
exposed however far you find yourself from the street»11. cess (made possible by a metallic bridge that connects the quad to the
Thus this house is only uncovered through its multiple paths block). Bucci made a reference to the work of Vilanova Artigas:
which can be chosen at the user’s discretion: you don’t exactly know
where the building ends. The spaces offer different feelings and vi- — It is an honor to have a familiarity with a building such as the
suals, which makes it impossible to assimilate every aspect in only one Artigas designed for the School of Architecture at FAU-
one overall look — the building perspires unconventionality. USP in São Paulo — a place where you never know whether
you are inside or still outside. A «doorless building», we may
Threshold — House in Carapicuíba, 2004-08 say, although this is not a very accurate definition because
saying «doorless» implies a building whose doors were re-
This house located in Carapicuíba (a city 30 km away from São moved. In this building, however, you simply don’t know
Paulo) results from the partnership between Angelo Bucci and Alvaro whether you are inside or outside. It accepted its condition
Puntoni. It is also located in a plot with a rough topography, having 6 of not having doors even before being conceptualized14.
meters of unevenness between the street and the lowest point of the
site. In the back of this plot, there is a grove and a stream. The owners The privacy gradients extend as you descend in the building; first,
planned on working from home, so the only volume that can be seen the inviting quad, that extends its reach to the passers-by on the street
from the street is their office (3 x 25 meters large), projecting up from (hence offering a rare urbanity in contemporary cities); then the first
the building. It is suspended by two pillars over the access level, a large lower level, where the social areas (such as living room, kitchen and uti-
slab that works almost as a small square, i.e. an extension of the street lity room) are found, and the second lower level, even more secluded,
below and above the building: containing the bedrooms and the pool. It is interesting to notice how
the rough slope was transformed into a projective element rather than
— [...] the owners wanted an office so that they could have an obstacle — it is a welcoming void.
clients over without having to go through the house. So that Bucci embodies an attitude which produces a type of Architecture
square is shared between the ones who go to the office and that embraces the emptiness, and takes advantage of it as an asset;
the ones who go to the house. The square does not belong the interstices become as important as the closed spaces. That is how
either to the office or to the house, though12. this game between lightness and density is established. The spaces
are open strategically in order to welcome nature and the exterior,
Denying obvious designs, Bucci creates a square on the street embracing the emptiness: «[…] this house was designed according to
level that extends itself over the largest volume of the house (below the topography aspects and the landscape»15. «The neighbors built re-
the street level); therefore, it presents itself as a viewpoint tower taining walls and filled the space with soil so that the house is on the
overlooking the woods in the surrounding lots. The openness of the street level. Our first measurement was to do exactly what is not com-
access to the lot, as mentioned by Zein13, can be pointed out as one of monly done: we suspended the office and built the rooms of the house
the main features of Bucci’s work. on the lower portion»16.

162 163
 1 Interview with Angelo Bucci, conducted 9 R. Baratto, «Conversa com Angelo Bucci
Final Considerations by the authors on November 10, 2017 at sobre a Casa de Fim de Semana», ArchDaily
SPBR arquitetos (São Paulo, Brazil). Brasil, 8 November 2014.
Through the works hereby presented, it is possible to notice how 2 Ibidem. 10 Interview with Angelo Bucci, November
10, 2017.
Angelo Bucci’s projects depend upon the landscape: those projects 3 Ibidem.
11 Ibidem.
were designed always having the context in mind — hence generating 4 A. Bucci, «Entrevistas», Revista AU, PINI,
São Paulo 2012, p. 19. 12 Ibidem.
an untransferable complicity between the site and the Architectures:
5 R. Zein, «R. V. Depoimentos», AU – 13 R. Zein, «R. V. Depoimentos», op. cit.
these are inserted in as a consequence of a sensitive reading of the
Arquitetura e Urbanismo, São Paulo, 17,
place. April/May 1988, pp. 54-55.
14 Interview with Angelo Bucci, November
10, 2017.
Topographic aspects mold the access to the building: the three 6 SPBR ARQUITETOS, «Casa em
15 A. Bucci, «Casa en Carapicuiba»,
houses are characterized by ground floor paths that receive and di- Ubatuba», retrieved from https://spbr.arq.br/
Arquine, Ciudad de Mexico, 49, 2009,
project/0509/ (accessed on 10 December
rect the flows of people — these paths being sometimes more seclu- 2020).
pp. 44-49 (44).
ded, some others more exposed. Similarly, it is possible to access any 7 A. Bucci, «Lição de engenharia»,
16 A. Bucci, «Sobre o vazio que preenche»,
Arquitetura e Urbanismo, São Paulo, 24
portion of the buildings from the ground level. Those projects are not Arquitetura & Construção, São Paulo, 26 (8),
(178), January 2009, pp. 16-23 (17).
impassable barriers to the territory: they pose as invitations to know August 2010, pp. 58-67, p. 64.

it, instead. Even the last slab participates, actively serving its surface 8 A. Bucci, «A praia é aqui», Arquitetura &
Construção, São Paulo, 29 (12), December
as a social space of the house — as a new opportunity for socializing 2013, pp. 46-55 (p. 48).
right on top of the main portion of the building.
Such topographic and volumetric aspects confer privacy gra-
dients as well as quality to the spaces. On the Weekend House, as an
example, the open ground floor is the most «public» one while being
the most secluded and welcoming; on the other hand, on the rooftop,
the most «private» open space, you find more exposition and less re-
ceptiveness. The ground floors are open in such a way to provide tran-
sition spaces between the street and the building, by bridging it to the
sidewalk and inviting the users towards the entrance. Thus, the inter-
relationship between the public context and the private spaces of the
houses is sought after and such boundaries are attenuated.
Bucci’s works cannot be assimilated in one single overall look,
they need to be discovered little by little. The paths are designed in
consonance with the topography, conferring privileged perspectives
to the site; the guidance of the flows through the topographic aspects
(such as extrusions of the soil blocks) provide the projects with
distinct ambiences, designed in relationship with the territory. All
these features contribute in producing a poetic quality, that is one of
the main features of Bucci’s work — which are dwellings, invitations
and delight.

164 Notes 165

 1 2 3 4
Angelo Bucci, House in Maquette Plan and section Access to the rooftop
Ubatuba (Brazil 2007-08). © SPBR Arquitetos. © SPBR Arquitetos © SPBR Arquitetos,
ph. Nelson Kon.

166 167
 5 6 7
Exterior and interior views
© SPBR Arquitetos,
ph. Nelson Kon.

168 169
 8 9 10
Angelo Bucci, Weekend House Maquette Ground floor, first floor,
(São Paulo, Brazil 2013-14). © SPBR Arquitetos. second floor plans, and
longitudinal sections
© SPBR Arquitetos.
170 171
 11 12 13 14
Exterior and interior views
© SPBR Arquitetos,
ph. Nelson Kon.

172 173
 15 16 17 18
Exterior and interior views
© SPBR Arquitetos,
ph. Nelson Kon.

174 175
 19 20 21 22 23
Angelo Bucci, House Maquette Interior views
in Carapicuíba © SPBR Arquitetos. © SPBR Arquitetos,
(Brazil 2004-08). ph. Nelson Kon.

176 177
 24 25 26 27
Exterior and interior views
© SPBR Arquitetos,
ph. Nelson Kon.

178 179
III. Resurfacing
 Since the establishment of the studio1, in 1990, the work of Ignacio
Pedrosa and Ángela García de Paredes has been acknowledged for its
outstanding quality, drawing on a cultivated approach and a profound

Ángela García constructive knowledge, that coalesce into a distinctive attitude to the
practice of architectural design as a complex act creatively merging

de Paredes and technical and intellectual tasks. The architects have been widely prai-
sed for the «incessant and discreet work» and their «reliability, pro-
fessionality and coherence»2, both in their professional and academic
Ignacio Pedrosa. commitment3. In particular José Ignacio Linazasoro has highlighted4
he «consistency» and «authenticity» of their approach, which avoids

Architectures preconceptions, rejects the pretentiousness and the ephemeral self-

referentiality of «trendy» architectures produced in series, and rather

to Display
follows an «intelligent eclecticism», eluding the creation of new con-
cepts, languages and «inventions» and pursuing the most efficient and
proportioned answers to contextual questions. Essentially, their will

Time in Space to adapt the building to the contexts’ complexity overcomes the search
for self-representation.
This feature does not prevent Paredes and Pedrosa’s architec-
tures to gain authorship and recognizability, which have been nurtured
in particular by the use of «sensitive membranes», a «telluric sense»
and a «tectonic strength» — as highlighted by Richard Ingersoll, whose
words have been chosen to introduce the visitors into the studio’s
website5 —, together with an «urban vision» and the particular atten-
tion to the cultural and social programme of public spaces, that shows
up for example in the placing of new buildings along the site’s borders
in order to free central spaces and turn them into collective spatial
occasions.
Notwithstanding, the design process grounding their work is based
on an outstanding ability to «listen», interpret and elaborate the pre-
sences, the traces and the spatial-temporal relationships that cha-
racterize the past and the current history of the project site. This wor-
king condition produces everchanging outcomes, as it combines the
architects’ «high referential and constructive knowledge»6 with the
specificities, limits and occasions characterizing each single context.
In Paredes and Pedrosa’s approach, the situation of the space
Elena Montanari they interact with and its evolution throughout time are fundamental
working tools, and their architectures are conceived as opportunities

183
 to make the interplays among the stratified, tangible and symbolical and present, and to orient the narration embedded in the architec-
traces of history visible. tural experience.
Drawing on their sensitive contextual work, the capability of This task can be observed for example in the Espacio Torner in
Paredes and Pedrosa’s architecture to activate relationships, re- Cuenca (2003-05), an exhibition space dedicated to the work of ab-
enactments and cross references between the different layers of time stract artist Gustavo Torner, located inside the late-Gothic church of
embedded in a place does not ensue from the application of a precise the old Dominican convent, lying in an impressive site overlooking the
«formula». Rather, it develops specifically, through the use of the cliffs of the river Huécar. The intervention was commissioned by the
inputs emerging from the critical reading of the single sites and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, the depository
experimentation with different strategies, purposely elaborated to of some six hundred pieces donated by the author. The idea was to in-
turn them into design tools. Consequently, each work results in the stall forty important works in Torner’s birth town7, and to arrange the
production of different forms. celebratory collection in the severe place of contemplation of the desa-
Sometimes this ability sometimes ensues from the interpretation cralized church from the beginning of the 16th century, to be managed
and assimilation of a place’s specificity in the use of materials — as in by the Torner Foundation. In this Gothic interior, Paredes and Pedro-
their very first built work, the Town Hall in Valdemaqueda (1993-98), sa’s strategy was based on the arrangement of exhibition devices that
were the materials (i.e. concrete, wood and slate) were chosen to inte- enable the new function of the place and, at the same time, contribute
grate the building into the setting by enhancing the chromatic conti- to the valorization of the architecture and the history of the church.
nuity and, thereafter, to regard its stability in time. In some other con- The building was first restored, but any alteration was made to the
texts, this attitude draws on the elaboration of urban information, and volume – from the outside only the new revolving door open towards
at times it shows up in the quotation of cultural references — for exam- the cliff shows the intervention8. Also the inner space of the church
ple, in the Archaeological Museum in Almería (1998-2004), where was preserved in the original state, a part from the addition of a spatial
the contrast between the white walls and the wooden ceiling recalls structure aimed to display the art collection. These three-dimensional,
and reenacts the tradition of the local Hispano-Muslim architecture. white-painted wooden panels are freestanding and never touch the
Evidently, this ability in using architecture to establish dialogues building’s margins. The insertion of this micro-scale architecture —
and connections among the different «times» of the project site even i.e. an independent structure inside a major one, modifying the space
grows in those places where the architects are faced with the oppor- people directly interact with but avoiding any transformation to the
tunity to operate on complex historical traces or remains. In these macro-scale — has overlapped onto the architecture of the church an
conditions, their works become time machines capable of connecting articulated but unitary element, which multiplies the building’s expe-
various dimensions, of making these connections visible — and thus of riential levels without distorting the scale of the religious room. The
displaying time in space. modules are quite high (4 meters), enough to shape a lower landscape
This distinctive capability of Paredes and Pedrosa becomes par- within which visitors move. Nevertheless, if compared to the whole
ticularly evident in the transformative interventions on heritage buil- height of the church, they are very small, and thus do not alter the per-
dings, which are interpreted not only as opportunities to activate a ception of the overall interior volume. The original vaults can be seen
new chapter of the buildings’ history but also as an occasion to put this from any point, and the interplay between the two scales (the gothic
history on display. The updates or the insertion of new elements related high nave and the freestanding exhibition structure) is designed to
to the sites’ refunctionalization are indeed exploited not merely to re- enhance the view of the historical building. The achievement of this
spond to a new programme; rather, they are also used to give emphasis task is also enhanced through the light design. The modules are indeed
to the physical and symbolical traces, to set up a dialogue between past used not only to display the artwork but also to house the lights that

184 185
 illuminate the vaults — while the other necessary installation of new interior spaces, in order to reorganize them into two houses (for the
technical elements was realized through the remaking of the pave- two siblings that had commissioned the work)11. The two asymmetrical
ment, under which the updated fixtures are placed. On top of the mo- units share one long, narrow patio, open in one side to the vision of the
dules, specific illumination sources are mounted in order to project 16th century church tower, that forms a valuable backdrop. The two
warm yellowish lights towards the ceiling. This illumination strategy powerful brick arches, which are protected as historical monuments,
is meant to highlight the vaults and to allow visitors to see them pro- link the structures together, and frame the view onto the church12. The
perly, but also to emphasize the warm colour of the local stone that patio becomes the stage where a whirlwind of connections among the
was used to build the church. The golden glare that this system at- different layers of time gathered around this space are performed —
tributes to the gothic construction also emphasizes the distinction i.e. the arched structure and the religious building (conveying the ur-
between the historic structures and the new freestanding elements, ban and collective dimension of the city), the old water well and the
which also draw on a different architectural language — an abstract original openings (recalling the history of the site), the new openings
one, that reflects the style of the displayed works9 and allows the church (highlighting the present transformations), together with the appli-
to remain the protagonist of the scene — and a varied atmosphere — cation of new materials, which play a fundamental role in activating
resulting from a colder colour of its surfaces. Furthermore, one of the spatial-temporal cross references. This use of materials was conceived
panels — the one facing the baroque chapel, that is the richest and most to balance conservation and innovation, and thus enriching the dia-
decorated space of the church — houses a «window» looking onto the logue among different layers. Indeed, inside the houses the ancient brick
precious sculptures — and thus enhances their display, by encouraging and stonewalls (built with the traditional local rigging) were conserved
and orienting the view and the attention of the visitors. but painted in white, to preserve the natural texture of the materials and
The recurrent interest Paredes and Pedrosa developed to the to better integrate them with the surrounding textures. This dialogue
enhancement of historical narratives also shows up in those inter- is even emphasized by the insertion of new elements — e.g. the
ventions that do not explicitly relate to exhibitionary activities. This staircases, realized with steel sheets — and the reparation of those that
aspect can be detected, for example, in a residential work — the Two were damaged and had to be rebuilt — i.e. the roofs (that were fully
Houses in Oropesa (Toledo, 2011-15), where the architects rearranged disassembled, restored and re-built one meter higher, maintaining the
the dialogue between different scales, realms and layers of time. The wooden structure but creating a further level), the pavement and the
project site has an outstanding view onto the castle, i.e. the building lower part of the damaged ancient walls in the patio (that were covered
at the core of the city, built in 1402 as the residence of a noble family with ceramic tiles reenacting the texture of the natural bricks).
from Toledo10. This same family promoted the construction of an un- The work of Paredes and Pedrosa draws on a diachronic vision
finished aerial connection between the castle and the nearby Iglesia of time, i.e. one which acknowledges the ordered and interconnected
Nuestra Señora de la Asunción. The structure is supported by arches sequence of events and occurrences that operated on the space over
and walls that cut across the urban texture, and specifically intercept the years — the observation, understanding and elaboration of which
the two plots where Paredes and Pedrosa intervened. The site gathered represent the pivotal components of the design process. Nevertheless,
three very small houses incrusted in the ancient walls of the city; the their interventions are conceived to offer an articulated vision of time,
buildings were in ruin and their original structures had been altered by which, through their architecture, gets contorted, compressed, expan-
many additions and partitions. The wide brick arches crossed the plots ded and intertwined. In Paredes and Pedrosa’s vision, the new state of
along one of the façades, connected to two shared courtyards. Paredes the building is based on the compresence of the material, formal and
and Pedrosa’s project draws on the concept of adaptive reuse, based on cultural manifestations of time and space, where architecture allows
the conservation of the exterior walls and the transformation of the us to read the continuity but also the gaps, the fractures and the scars

186 187
 that have become part of the life of the structure. This vision results meable to various experiences and interpretations. The modern archi-
in highly relevant achievements especially in those sites that contain tectural language of the contemporary «case» sets up a dialectic rela-
archaeological strata, which is a topic Paredes and Pedrosa had many tionship with the Roman remains, without transcribing the historical
(and various) opportunities to deal with. In these contexts, their inter- signs and rather putting them on display in their found state — as they
ventions do not merely contribute to shelter, protect and reorganize have a high evocative power of their own, and are capable to both recall
the spaces — they also aim to consistently activate spatial-temporal the ancient landscape and witness the passage of time.
relationships that signify and display time in space. In this case, Paredes and Pedrosa’s strategy draws on the concept
This capability is clearly visible in the Roman Villa La Olmeda of superimposition of the dialoguing parts. This same theme can be
(Palencia, 2000-09), where the architects were commissioned to design found in other works, but its outcomes vary depending on the specific
the protection and the visit of a 4th century A.D. roman villa, located in situations, limits and occasions provided by the specific contexts. A par-
a natural context, where magnificent mosaics had remained hidden for ticularly fruitful conjugation of the experimentation with intertwining
centuries under a rural landscape13. In this intervention, Paredes and layers can be observed in those project sites where the intervention is
Pedrosa not only aimed at implementing a specific functional program not centered on an archaeological project and rather historic remains
but also meant to confront archaeology with modernity. This dialogue are included within a wider, complex program merging different fun-
is enabled by various architectural solutions, that solve technical pro- ctions, objectives and layers, both physical and symbolic.
blems and at the same time trigger spatial-temporal relationships — This is a working condition Paredes and Pedrosa has experimented
e.g. the metal perforated façade providing homogenous lighting to the more than once. For example, in the Public Library in Córdoba (2007-
interior, that is covered by a light laminar roof organized in four vaults 18), where the new building was conceived to interact with various tan-
with a modular rhomboidal structure exposed in the inside as a coffe- gible and intangible traces bearing witness of the past of the area. The
red ceiling, abstractly reenacting the original «interiority» of place; the use of architecture to trigger the integration among the layers of time
raised wooden floor joining all the archaeological zones, alternatively embedded in the project site was developed through the application of
getting narrow and expanding with a disposition for an open display, different strategies. First of all, the presencing of the past can be de-
to allow for the overall perception of the layout and entwining further tected from the «information» provided by the form and position of the
information inside of it; the relationship between the geometry of the building, being the general plan adapted to the historical layout of the
protective box and the «virtual» one of the roman villa; the space of the 17th century gardens (hence reenacting and suggesting its structure).
functional «rooms with the room», that were built with a translucent Foremost, the spatial program of the building is organized around the
perimeter of metal mesh, as a frame for the mosaics that do not inter- presence of a 10th century stone wall from the Caliphate Period. The
fere with the wide metallic roof that covers the area. These elements archaeological site is integrated in the geometry of the new building,
are conceived to make visitors aware of the unitary identity that these and in the lower level it interacts with the children’s area, hence beco-
fragments had in the past and to enable multiple and thorough views ming part of the interior scape of the library. Furthermore, in this area
of the most interesting fragments (spaces, mosaics and relics); at the triangular hanging lamps indicate the direction of the old streets, hence
same time, while providing a clearer view of the history of the site, they not only illuminating the remains and emphasizing the depth of the
also show the different layers of time. Paredes and Pedrosa’s interven- space, but also conveying information about one of the historical pre-
tion does not shy away from emphasizing the discontinuity between sences coexisting and showing up in the building.
two spatial systems that remain temporally, culturally and technically A further opportunity to develop these themes was provided by
distant; the geometrical, physical and symbolic interplays that link the design of the Public Library in Ceuta (2007-14), an autonomous
them are clear but multi-directional and not obvious, and remain per- Spanish port cities on the Northern cost of Africa. The project site was

188 189
 equivalently conditioned by a steep topography and a 14th century Along the years, these architects have developed a variety of cre-
archaeological site testifying to the Berber Marinid dynasty (which ative and effective ways to integrate the past time of a building into
reigned over Morocco and Islamic Spain), and bringing to light the its present time, and to make this intertwining visible through the
orthogonal geometry of the ancient settlement (characterized by a experience of space — for example, when they take the visitors along
orientation that is different from that of the actual urban grid)14. The the exhibition path of the Espacio Torner, crossing the contemporary
interplay between such elements, together with the limited size of the landscape of the freestanding panels but constantly immersing them
area and the compactness of the city’s texture, oriented Paredes and in the imposing spatiality of the church; when they compose a Pirane-
Pedrosa’s proposal, based on the definition of a triangular geometry sian glimpse from the Oropesa Houses’ courtyard, orchestrating the
for the structure of the library, which stands right over the archaeo- gathering and intertwining of the castle, the arches, the historical walls
logical site, that is consider «as a new knowledge that must be con- and the new materials in the same framework; when they structure
veyed»15. This choice aimed at valorizing and displaying the historical the dialogic synergy between the container and the contained spaces
layers coexisting on the site as well as the urban value of the Arab city, in the La Olmeda site; and when they allow the archaeologic finds to
that is somehow represented and exhibited in the geometry of the new become the active players in the interior scapes of the libraries in
building. This was conceived as a compact volume, a sort of treasure Córdoba and Ceuta.
chest that preserves the archaeological area at the core of the structure Through these experimentations, Paredes and Pedrosa have
— but also «Like a book, [as it] can be read by transmitting its infor- tested and disseminated several ways to enhance the experience of
mation through its daily presence in the public space of the library»16. architectural space, to make the site’s histories readable for today’s
By wrapping them up in an aluminium-perforated skin (that reduces users, and to plunge them into an immersive fruition, in which volu-
glare and solar gain, maximises the use of natural daylight and redu- mes, surfaces and materials operate as a sort of time machine. Overall,
ces long-term energy costs), the building isolates the remains from the they have contributed to renovate the culture of architectural design in
outside world, but at the same time enables lively interactions with historical contexts. In this regard, by showing how to creatively inter-
them in the interior spaces. The vertical organization of the volume twine cultural and technological instances and by demonstrating how
revolves around seven triangular concrete pillars, whose base appears powerfully eloquent can minor relics be in triggering major spatial-
to grow out of the remains, establishing a link between the roots of the temporal experiences, they unfolded new themes and possibilities,
site and the development of its present form and function. Through and invited to rethink and expand the relationship between conser-
their shape and position, these structural elements also contribute to vation and transformation. Within this field, they have developed
highlight the layout of the archaeological layer, and to orient visual a special capability to respond to functional and conservative needs
and physical accesses to the area. Especially in the first floors, open- and, at the same, to avoid the «freezing» of the time and the space of
ness and visual continuity are provided through the design of the historical sites. This is a «risk» that continues to remain relevant (and
layout, which guarantees horizontal and vertical connections among recurrent) in the interventions in such contexts, and that Paredes and
the different areas. The types of dialogue established between the an- Pedrosa avoid by integrating the relics from the past into the present
cient spaces and the building’s present life are several. Above all, here life of the building and its users, through the development of innova-
archaeologic finds are not only exhibited: they become a pivotal ele- tive strategies aimed to activate innovative ways to ingrate exhibitio-
ment in the users’ experience but also in the design process carried nary functions and dimensions into the project, and thus to operate
out by Paredes and Pedrosa, who were able to activate them as a lively beyond traditional musealization processes.
presence, bridging the different layers of time and space in a highly When engaged with the effort of enabling contemporary users to
evocative «scenographic palimpsest»17. experience time through space, the work of an architect can some- ti-

190 191
 1 After graduating from the Escuela 9 C. Slessor, «Sense of abstraction:
mes be misinterpreted and confused with that of an archaeologist. The de Architectura de Madrid in 1982, this medieval Spanish church forms a
roles of these two figures may have some aspects in common, but their Ignacio Pedrosa and Ángela García de powerful setting for modern abstract art»,
Paredes started to work in the studio of The Architectural Review, 1308, February
actions are driven by different aims and mindsets. This is a concept José María García de Paredes Barreda 2006, pp. 70-73.
Paredes and Pedrosa often recall and expand in their conferences and (1924-90), Ángela’s father, who was the
10 «Dos viviendas en la muralla, 2013-
lectures. «The attitude of architects towards archaeology is different author of some among the most renown
2016, Oropesa (Toledo)», AV Monografias,
concert halls in Spain and has played a
from the one of archaeologists. These latter study the remains of the fundamental role in the education of the
Paredes Pedrosa 1990-2016, 188, 2016,
pp. 118-123.
past eager to discover — through an almost scientific method — how two architects.
C. Espegel, J. M. Lapuerta,
the preceding societies were through the fragments that have come to
11
2 E. Tuñón Álvarez, «Economia
Dos viviendas in Oropesa, in Vivienda
dell’essenziale», Casabella, 866, October
us; their aim is particularly to preserve this past through the conserva- 2016, p. 27.
Colectiva en España 1992-2015, General
de Ediciones de Arquitectura, Valencia 2016,
tion of these fragments. Architects lack that nostalgia. […] Regardless
3 Paredes and Pedrosa carry out pp. 328-331.
of the historical value of the fragments of the past, these are being in- research and teaching activities at the
12 A. Ayers, «Overarching ambition:
corporated into contemporary projects, becoming part of them, coale- Architectural Design Department at
Two houses, Oropesa, Spain by Paredes
the Escuela de Architectura de Madrid,
scing with other layers, and providing an added value to the new space. and they critics and lecturers through
Pedrosa Arquitectos», The Architectural
Review, 1449, March 2018, pp. 110-119.
[…] Architectures from different times sit side by side: this seems to several architectural academic and
«Villa Romana La Olmeda, 2000-
suggest a way of working with archaeological fragments, based on the professional contexts in Europe and 13

2009, Pedrosa de la Vega (Palencia)»,

the Americas.
interplay among the different layers, and where the new architecture AV Monografias, Paredes Pedrosa 1990-2016,
4 J. I. Linazasoro, «Luce del Sud.
assumes its temporality without imposing a definitive character»18. A proposito dell’opera di Paredes e
188, 2016, pp. 50-57.

The idea of incorporating the different layers of time in order to Pedrosa», Casabella, 726, 2004, p. 38. 14 «Biblioteca Publica de Ceuta, 2007-2014,
Ceuta», AV Monografias, Paredes Pedrosa
make them all be visible, vibrant and eloquent in the present space is 5 «The oeuvre of Paredes Pedrosa is
1990-2016, 188, 2016, pp. 86-95.
characterized by its telluric sense and
at the core of the successful lesson provided by Paredes and Pedrosa its tectonic strength, but above all by its 15 I. Pedrosa, A. Garcia de Paredes,
in the field of architectural design in historical contexts. Their work inescapable public role», Richard Ingersoll «The Dream of Space Produces Forms»,
VLC arquitectura, 6 (1), April 2019, p. 24.
proves not only that there are different strategies to display time in (2016).

space, but also that architectures can have an exhibitionary task also 6 J. I. Linazasoro, op. cit., p. 38. 16 Ibidem.

when they are not meant to operate as exhibition spaces. As high- 7 Torner was born in Cuenca in 1925, and 17 A. Zappa, «All’incrocio delle culture:
here had organized his first solo exhibition la biblioteca di Ceuta, Paredes Pedrosa»,
lighted by its etymological origin, the term «exhibit» (combining two in 1955. Casabella, 826, June 2013, p. 82.
Latin words, the suffix ex-, i.e. out, and the verb habeo, i.e. to hold) re- 8 G. Torner, «Espacio Torner (Cuenca)», 18 Excerpt from the conference that
fers to the act of «proffering», bringing to the attention, communica- R&R Restauración y Rehabilitación, 108, Ángela García de Paredes held within the
MantovArchitettura program, 10 May 2017.
ting and publicly displaying a relevant content. Paredes and Pedrosa’s 2008, pp. 38-47.

practice shows an innovative application of the exhibitionary task to

architecture — one that is particularly valuable in the present «age of
memory», characterized by the obsessive focus on the conservation
and display of the traces of remote or near pasts, and within which the
research of innovative strategies and tools for the design of effecti-
ve interventions, capable to address the advancement of technical
possibilities and the emergence of new cultural instances, plays a key
role in establishing the future of contemporary scapes.

192 Notes 193

 1 2
Paredes Pedrosa Arquitectos, Plan © Paredes Pedrosa Interior view, at the visitors’
Espacio Torner (Cuenca, Spain Arquitectos. eye level © Paredes Pedrosa
2003-05). Arquitectos.

194 195
 3 4 5
Elevations © Paredes Pedrosa Interior view, from above
Arquitectos. © Paredes Pedrosa
Arquitectos.

196 197
 6 7
Paredes Pedrosa Arquitectos, Unfolded axonometric view Overall view of the site
Two Houses in Oropesa © Paredes Pedrosa © Paredes Pedrosa
(Toledo, Spain 2011-15). Arquitectos. Arquitectos.

198 199
 8 9
Views from the interior
courtyards © Paredes Pedrosa
Arquitectos.

200 201
 10 11
Paredes Pedrosa Arquitectos, Unfolded axonometric view The main interior space
Roman Villa La Olmeda © Paredes Pedrosa © Paredes Pedrosa
(Palencia, Spain 2000-09). Arquitectos. Arquitectos.

202 203
 12 13 14 15
Plans © Paredes Pedrosa The main interior space
Arquitectos. © Paredes Pedrosa
Arquitectos.

204 205
 16 17
Paredes Pedrosa Arquitectos, Unfolded axonometric view The interior space housing
Public Library (Ceuta, Spain © Paredes Pedrosa the archaeological finds
2007-14) Arquitectos. © Paredes Pedrosa
Arquitectos.
206 207
 18 19
Plan of the lower level View of the archaeological
© Paredes Pedrosa finds © Paredes Pedrosa
Arquitectos. Arquitectos.

208 209
 20
The interior space housing
the archaeological finds
© Paredes Pedrosa
Arquitectos.
210 211
 — Are buildings immutable artefacts, or are they what passes
through them? They frame and endure the changing light of
the day, comings and goings, the regular rhythms of use and

Níall McLaughlin. the slow burn of weather. A building is built for a purpose, but
it acquires new meanings over time. It is both an enduring

How Buildings Tell physical presence and a mediator for known an imagined
things that flow through it1.

Parables This thought on the life of architecture expresses the sense of

working on history of the Irish architect Níall McLaughlin.
Each building, conceived, represented or realized, is an expres-
sion of its identity, of the ends and needs that led to its genesis, and
at the same time, it becomes part of a representation of the world,
capturing in its form tales of past stories and the potential of future
stories, intertwining with the flow of things and fixing the places of
life in architecture.
His practice — Níall McLaughlin Architects — based in London
since 1990, is characterized by numerous interventions in the United
Kingdom within pre-existences and historical contexts.
The relationship with the surroundings manifests itself at dif-
ferent scales, from the design of architectural systems related to
the city and the landscape, to the design of significant and valuable
small-scale buildings within complexes of historical value.
For example, suffice it to recall the New Student Accommoda-
tion for Somerville College at the University of Oxford, where the
double linear building realize an urban façade through repetition of
loggias and two lantern towers that contain the atriums marking the
joints between the system of streets and courtyards; or the Carmelite
Prayer Room, a small, precious wooden architecture inside the church
complex of St. Theresa in Dublin; or, finally, the project started in
2014 and recently completed in its first phase for the Jesus College
of Cambridge2, where the different scales of intervention (College’s
West Court, Auditorium and Forum) are completed through a spatial
sequence, announced by the new front on the street that keeps to-
gether the different historical phases of the entire complex.
Luca Cardani One of the characteristics of McLaughlin’s work is partly related
to his experience of architecture. In some of his lectures3 the architect

213
 has recalled how his architectural education lies between two comple- one facing outward established by the castle and the landscape;
mentary approaches. another internal to the architectural fabric, determined by the re-
Firstly, a student education at the University College Dublin is lationship over time between the town and the castle, first isolated
connected to the canons of the tradition of the great masters of the and autonomous and then instead linked to the city thanks to a long
20th century, Mies van der Rohe and Khan in particular, under the promenade: a widened avenue connecting the city center to the castle
guidance of such architects as Shane De Blacam and Robin Walker, defined by the perimeter walls of the palace, the access gate, the rows
who passed on and interpreted their lesson. of trees and the house façades.
A subsequent education is focused on individuality, imagination, The project takes start from this reading and attempts to re-
discovery and invention in architecture according to the pedagogy of establish a new deep connection between the city and the castle along
the Bartlett School of Architecture University College of London, this promenade of architectural episodes. The two interventions in
where McLaughlin is later involved in teaching activities. fact express this relationship through their significant location — one
These two apparently antithetical models join into his work that inside the castle’s enclosure (Scotland Wing Museum of Faith), and
is unexceptionable for coherence and expressiveness of its technical the other close to but external — along the avenue overlooked by the
construction, for the tactility and the measure of the composition in town’s collective buildings (Welcome Building).
existing contexts, and for the narrative power released by the figures The Welcome Building is located just outside the entrance gate
thus constructed. on a significant intersection between the access axis and a bayonet-
bending road, which has been running through the village since an-
The project of the Scotland Wing Extension and the Welcome cient times, connecting it to the north and south with other centers
Building for the Auckland Castle, started in 2012, expresses in an across the landscape. The building is placed on the corner of the
exemplary way these aspects and McLaughlin’s approach in dealing stretched square of the promenade distinguishing itself from the fa-
with the history of the places and their interpretation in the project. bric that defines it and grafting itself as an emerging element inside
The site is the small city of Auckland, located in north-east the square. This element is then oriented to accompany the direction
England a few miles from the North Sea, in an area characterized by of the promenade and leads towards the entrance arch, building
the Wear River route and a system of small towns, scattered across on this side a representative front, as the first encounter for those
a landscape of low, rolling hills patterned by agricultural fields and coming from the road from south.
forests. The life of this town is linked to the historic residence of the The representativeness aforementioned is accentuated by the
Bishop of County Durham, who from the 14th century established his analytical character of the composition, which places the building
seat in the Auckland Castle. This is an architectural complex consi- orthogonally juxtaposed to the boundary wall and detached from the
sting of buildings, gardens and a park, enlarged by several additions fabric of houses folded diagonally. In this gap between two different
over time until the present day when McLaughlin was asked to design orientations, the recess of the buildings creates a small access court-
two interventions4. yard at the back, through the placement of a belvedere tower: it is a
The first design approach seems to lie precisely in the knowledge courtyard that invites to enter and shows the relationship between
and interpretation of the history of the place and its material and im- the new and the existing.
material characters. The careful observation of morphology and archi- The Belvedere tower, set back from the road inside the court-
tecture together with the study of historical phases, through documents yard, rises about twice the height of the surrounding fabrics, up to
and iconography that depict the site’s evolution, has helped to reco- more than 30 meters, establishing a distance relationship with the
gnize two types of relationship dealing with the buildings design: surrounding area, with the main front facing the castle.

214 215
 The Scotland Wing extension, on the other hand, relates to the are explicitly manifested through a composition made by analytical
internal construction elements of the entire Auckland Castle com- parts defined in distinct typological elements, which reveal an impor-
plex: a system of representative and service buildings developed from tant aspect of McLaughlin’s work.
the first nucleus of 13th century St. Peter Church, that is the most re- The theme of the entrance building, strategically located and
mote part facing the landscape to the east with its apse, as shown in composed of two main parts, is interpreted through two archetypes
the historic views of Auckland. that make up its meaning: a tower and a hall.
The long Scotland Wing, built in the 16th century, extended the The typology of the hall is taken from the tradition of market
castle towards the city, building a setting along the promenade, with halls in British towns, that are meeting places for the community
an extensive wall of stone arches with iron grilles that frames a scene consisting of a covered space open to relations with the city at ground
of gardens and architectural facades extended horizontally towards level with an upper floor for public functions.
the natural landscape. Similarly, the project interprets the place of reception to the city
In this system, the new Scotland Wing extension builds an inte- with a hall building on two levels: the ground floor is occupied by ticket
resting variation by placing itself orthogonally to the previous one, office and info-point, while the upper floor by a hall for the meeting
adjacent to the site of the castle’s old farm and extending to this scenic and exhibition, unobstructed and developed longitudinally.
access road. With this position and extension, the building defines two This building is connected to the belvedere tower that recalls the
new courtyards, which become part of a sequence of internal gardens. memory of urban towers and bell towers. The origin of this analogy is
The first is a long, narrow courtyard defined by the new wing and the due to the tower’s dual role of seeing and being seen, and to the desire
highly historic building of the Westcott Lodge. It consists of an empty to represent the theme of welcoming with a typology open to relations
space for first reception that manifests the relationship between with the territory. This analogy is also corroborated by the discovery
the new and the history, with the theatrical naturalness of a country of an archive document that demonstrates the existence of a tower in
courtyard. The second one, on the other side, faces the inner garden the city center that has been removed over time. The project evokes a
and the monumental complex of the Bishop’s residence, whose value distant and forgotten memory to re-present it with new forms and a
is enhanced by a green plateau that fits into the path of fenced gardens new meaning in the present time.
inside the castle. And again, the extension of the Scotland Wing, destined to the
Again, the new long and narrow gallery is juxtaposed to the Scot- Museum of Faith, is interpreted with the typology of the basilica, with
land Wing and connected to it through a lowered volume that works a volume composed of two levels: a lower floor of substruction divi-
as a buffer between the two buildings, maintaining their formal auto- ded into a path of rooms, leading at the end through a staircase to the
nomy without hybridization, and realizing the only access threshold upper floor in a free aisle space.
for the visitors’ museum itinerary. McLaughlin finds in the basilica type the most evocative spatial
The value of the new building is revealed through its position structure to tell the sense of a space dedicated to the display of sacred
that reaches the road until it interrupts the historical trace of the wall objects but without the presence of ritual. As if to say that it is pre-
of the access driveway. Here, the new building shows itself directly cisely the ambiguity of functions and values assumed by the type of
on the road, as the first building of the museum path: a backdrop that Basilica in history, specifying itself in different buildings but without
conceals and anticipates the discovery of the different parts of which losing the generality of a hall layout oriented in one direction, that
the castle is composed. seems to be the most appropriate to evoke the ambiguous meaning
As noted, the settlement choices, which give strength to the inser- of this Museum, which is a space that is not sacralized but protects
tion by conforming the new elements to the plot of historic buildings, the sacred.

216 217
 The composition of these three types with each other and with The design of the frame system of the tower is modulated on the
the pre-existing context seems to be the result of an analogy with the repetition of five trapezoidal figures pulled upwards until they close
memory of places and the city, built through the observation of the and stiffen in the cusps. These elements are then linked together by
site, the study of history and the accumulation of a heritage of forms horizontal stringers and diagonal braces, modulated on the inter-
in which culture has expressed itself. floors of the stairs with a strongly vertical rhythm design.
Heritage forms act as a collective memory becoming sources of The meaning of this tower, with a cantilevered belvedere terrace
inspiration for new meanings, and, thanks to the analogical thought, on the top floor, is precisely linked to the transparency of the buil-
architectural forms assume a value beyond time and place and — re- ding, to the projection towards the sky, to the feeling that wind can
appearing in the project — they re-establish their meaning. blow through it, opening it up towards boundless relationship.
This process of translating and narrating the value of the cultural The hall is similarly constructed with a system of right-angled
forms of the site’s heritage, achieved through a dialogue between an trapezoidal timber portals that follow one another along the side of
architectural thought with history, climaxes in the Auckland project the building to create a continuous space within them. In this case
with the way of construction. McLaughlin’s work reveals a belief that too, the rhythm of the portals on the main facade realizes a regular
construction — its principles, systems and building techniques — pos- rhythmic drawing, which narrates the opening of the upper floor and
sess its own characters and a representative capacity which, through the unity of the space covered by the pitched roof with continuous
their declination in the architectural project, allow the character of sheet metal, rhythmed by joints according to the design of the portals.
the building to be expressed.
It is no coincidence that in his writings and speeches he often The Museum of Faith is of opposite character, defined by the
quotes Gottfried Semper, whose classification of building systems, stereotomy of a single volume with double pitch, entirely in stone.
qualities and meanings elaborated in his treatise on The Style5 is the The choice in this case seems to be motivated by two reasons.
basis of a thought that interprets construction as a mean to express The first lies in the desire to fit into the system of masonry buil-
the art of architecture. dings of the castle by addition, enhancing the variety of its morpho-
Thus, the projects for Auckland fulfill themselves in construction, logical complexity, through the continuity of the material. Again, how-
entrusting the narrative of their role in the city to the diversity of ever, there is a specific focus on defining the built form to heighten the
building systems. The Welcome Building placed close to the walls of building’s individual character in relation to its surroundings.
the castle is made with a timber frame, which cites — as noted in the In fact, the second reason lies in the meaning of the building re-
pages of the monograph Twelve Halls6 — the construction of medieval lated to the custody and exhibition of sacred art, which is translated
siege towers not to find its link with the context in the historicism of the by a hermetic stone casket carved only on one side. This façade on
language, but to evoke the same character of trans- gression in relation the promenade shows a window in the middle of a frame, realized as
to the walls and the central avenue of the city. The mighty transparent a bas-relief shaping wall-heads and merging them with the back wall,
frame made with the tectonics of wooden carpentry, expresses more thus giving a different value to the sides of the basilica volume.
than the provisional nature of a construction by jointed elements, the Hence it is a shell, which from the outside anticipates the sense
character of exceptionality of the building. of respect for the fullness of its interior, with an inverted character
The character of the building is then defined by a careful work designed to arouse astonishment for the revelation of the sacred
on the clarification of the relationships between the elements, which objects here exposed.
are reduced to their essentials, and on their meaningful connection Inside the casket, in fact, the roof is supported by a structure of
which is typical of tectonic art. iron trusses composed of thin galvanized and shiny elements: a filiform

218 219
 skeleton with a tight rhythm that enriches the space, with an elegant Beyond the specific value assigned to the symbol, what emerges
pure geometric design and without joints that creates a plot of light with extraordinary evocative power in every Niall McLaughlin’s work
and shadow enhancing the exhibition. is the ability to achieve a narrative and figurative dimension, preci-
The construction of the stone envelope on the exterior reveals sely through the representative use of constructive characters and
nothing other than the properties of the long, narrow basilica layout, their relationship with architecture.
but it is connoted with a detail that shows one of the most intriguing We need only to think of his projects for common use buildings,
aspects of this work. In order to crown the roof, the façade ends with such as the large skeleton raised above the sea of the Deal Fish Market
the intersection of two cusped elements projected towards the sky (2006) or the textile covering of the poetic Park Pavilion for Preston
without structural functions. (2000), and their ability to evoke other formal worlds through the
McLaughlin quotes a few buildings from architectural history, forms of architecture.
such as the 10th-century stone church on St. Macdara Island and the In the Welcome Building, for example, it is manifested in the
Ise Grand Shrine in Japan, where this construction detail at the peak engravings on the ground floor infill panels that tell the history of
of the roof is used to further emphasize the form and reveal through the place, with a clear reference to the epigraph inscribed by Henri
a symbol the value associated with sacred significance in the history Labrouste on the base of the St. Genevieve Library in memory of the
of architecture. great authors of history. In a more theatrical way, instead, the deco-
Specifically, the author talks about skeuomorphs: ration is shown in the vertical pivot shutters of the upper floor, which
open from the wall like medieval banners «to display heraldic panels
— representations of older forms that are retained to allow us illustrating the development of the landscape over time»10.
to make sense of the new. Sacred architecture often carries Opening during the day and closing at night, these panels tell the
forward older construction elements that have acquired story of the building in relation to the city, with a scenographic effect
symbolic significance over time. It uses them in new arran- reminiscent of the English theatre tradition of mechanical and scenic
gements and materials7. apparatus, celebrated by Inigo Jones. This is a reference to the sceno-
graphic tradition that includes the metaphor between theater and city
Thus, he understands the addition of detail as decoration, that is, as a scene to represent the history of the city through the characters of
as a necessary moment of construction, to strengthen and make more the architecture.
explicit the character of the building. It is a way of understanding the In a short statement about the analyzed project, McLaughlin
relationship between construction and architecture that can be in- clarifies this inclusive viewpoint on the history and character of
scribed in a classic conception of decoration, for which, according to architectures:
the categories outlined by Quatremère de Quincy8, by analogical, alle-
gorical or ornamental use of decoration it is possible to translate the — We are interested in buildings that tell parables about what
forms of construction into architectural forms, to make the sense of they are for. […] Exploring and extending this tradition, we
a building eloquent, «to reinforce the impressions it must produce»9. hope to address the way buildings are at once actual and fictio-
Hence the formal definition of the detail is used as a pretext for nal, and represent both themselves and ourselves in time11.
constructing a symbolic form that resolves the technical aspect in a
specific way, while at the same time representing meanings outside Thus, his architectures carefully specified in the relationship
the practical value of the building, which are part of its history and between the elements of the construction and the composition with
its idea. respect to their use and to the site in which they are inserted, are

220 221
 1 N. McLaughlin, Presences, in Twelve Mining Art Gallery, the Spanish Gallery and
charged at the same time with a narrative value, to the point of hosting Halls, edited by N. McLaughlin, E. Doll, Níall a welcome building nearby». N. McLaughlin,
literal and symbolic formal references, which are outside architecture McLaughlin Architects, London 2018, p. 7. «Scotland Wing Extension and Welcome
Building Auclkand Castle», Domus, 1015,
but inside the formal world. 2 F. Serrazanetti, «Níall McLaughlin
July-August 2017, p. 40.
Architects, Jesus College, Cambridge,
The representativeness of McLaughlin’s architecture is not a point Regno Unito», Casabella, 902, October 5 G. Semper, Der Stil in den technischen
of departure, but the outcome of a process of questioning about the 2019, pp. 56-67. und tektonischen Künsten, 1860-63, trans.
meaning of the building, its relationship to the history and characters 3 N. McLaughlin, «Origins and
Lo Stile, Laterza, Roma-Bari 1992.

of places, and the precision of construction as architecture’s primary Translations», Public Lecture Series, 6 N. McLaughlin, E. Doll, Twelve Halls,
held at the Yale School of Architecture, Níall McLaughlin Architects, London 2018.
means of expression. It is the course of the project, its evolution January 22, 2015.
7 N. McLaughlin, «Designing to incorporate
towards reality, that allows the form to take on values and links with 4 «In 2012 it was taken over by the history», Domus, 1015, July-August 2017, p. 42.
the history of places, addressing issues emerging from the reasoning Auckland Castle Trust, a regional charity,
8 Q. de Quincy, Dizionario Storico di
about the meaning of design. and is now being transformed into a
Architettura, 1832, Marsilio, Venice 1985.
destination of international significance for
This is how Niall McLaughlin Architects’ buildings narrate pa- faith, art and heritage. In addition to the 9 Ivi, p. 183.
rables, leading us to confront the imaginary with reality and beco- restoration of the 900-year-old Auckland 10 N. McLaughlin, «Designing to
Castle and the creation of a adjoining Faith
ming real in it through construction. The character and purpose of Museum supported by National Lottery
incorporate history», op. cit., p. 42.

McLaughlin’s work seem to lie in this ambition to know the stories/ Fund (HLF), the Trust is also developing a 11 Ibidem.

parables of buildings, the desires and needs for which they are built, reimagined 17th century walled garden, the

and to interpret them with the words of his architectural vocabulary.

In this way, architecture takes shape in its own time, to become part
of past and future history, to add a narrative and then blend in with it.

222 Notes 223

 1 2
Níall McLaughlin, Student Exterior and interior views
Housing at the Somerville © Níall McLaughlin Architects.
College (Oxford, United
Kingdom 2011-12).
224 225
 3
Níall McLaughlin, Carmelite Interior of the chapel © Níall
Prayer Room at St. Teresa’s McLaughlin Architects.
Priory (Dublin, Ireland 2016).

226 227
 4 5 6
Níall McLaughlin, Jesus Exterior and interior views
College (Cambridge, United © Níall McLaughlin Architects.
Kingdom 2014-17).

228 229
 7 8 9 10
Níall McLaughlin, Scotland Longitudinal section and The Auckland Tower © Níall
Wing Extension and Welcome ground floor plan of the McLaughlin Architects.
Building at the Auckland Castle Auckland Tower © Níall
(County Durham, United McLaughlin Architects.
230 Kingdom 2013-20). 231
 11
Transversal section © Níall
McLaughlin Architects.

232 233
 12 13
Exterior and interior views
© Níall McLaughlin Architects.

234 235
 14 15 16
The Tower © Níall Interior view and section of
McLaughlin Architects. the Scotland Wing © Níall
McLaughlin Architects.

236 237
 One Topic and Three Issues as a Premise

The topic I would like to address is that of the design of interaction

João Nunes. and the forms it takes in transitional places, in the «in-between»
space: places of strategic value which become essential elements in re-

Interaction as development projects. These are marginal areas and the edges of cities,
places which allow for the completion of connection networks capable
of linking together multiple functions; though hemmed in, these are
a Dimension spaces which — in conjunction with the reclamation of disused or un-
derused areas — allow for significant urban portions to be redesigned;

of Landscape they are places which, due to both their position and their size, are po-
tentially able to perform important functions for the environment and

Design
the landscape1. And it is precisely this plural value2 which piques inte-
rest in understanding how design can analyse — interpret — in detail
its content and define its intervention strategies, studying the features
of its proximity and becoming an interpreter to translate the relation-
ships which substantiate and characterise these areas.
In order to do this, I have chosen to observe the work of Portuguese
architect and landscape architect João Nunes, selecting works which
interpret landscape design as the result of a continuous interaction of
the relationship between man and his territory, as well as landscape de-
sign as the result of a conscious relationship between anthropic action
and the inherent values of a territory that has not yet been anthropised.
The design experiences selected here refer to an idea of inte-
raction that is characterised by a recognisability of its own, often
made less distinct and more confused by comparison with the tota-
lising identity of the urban sprawl or the territorial whole to which
these areas belong. In the approach championed by João Nunes, these
projects work on the recognition of complex and articulated morpho-
logy — in no way attributable to the form of a clear-cut border — which,
by its nature, can be represented by a solid line that can only be crossed
where expressly allowed; these are presented as an articulated set of
situations and occasions, as porous and permeable spaces, open at
multiple points to seeking out contacts and contaminations3.
These places are not neutral spaces. They are spaces that have
Carlo Peraboni participated, either directly or in complementary terms, in the pro-
cess of urban production and are, themselves, just as much the result

239
 of a transformation of meaning as the other parts of the city. They some cases the result of a process of urbanisation that is rooted in time,
represent a residual space, often marginal and overlooked, which none- and in others, the result of much more recent growth. The physical re-
theless becomes essential when preparing urban redevelopment presentation of these different forms of urbanisation is that of a terri-
plans and urban regeneration projects. These spaces, in the many and tory characterised by a high degree of differentiation in the settlement
varied forms that they can take and the different locations in which fabrics that constitute it, where the networks of relationships both
they can be found, are above all — and this is the principle which go- material and immaterial reveal some situations of great dynamism,
verns the proposed reading — possible spaces for a project capable of as well as some of great marginality7. What we can recognise in this is
addressing, in a progressive and extended way, issues such as waste, an interweaving of urban centres with their own histories, each with a
discomfort, health and safety, identifying rules and opportunities to different consistency and population density; a sequence of settlement
transform them that are capable of enhancing the contexts they are morphologies dating back to different eras and resulting from diffe-
part of, connecting them and establishing virtuous correspondences4. rent social fabrics, from small-scale and industrial manufacturing as
And it is this characterisation that demands that any design have well as tertiary and commercial activities with links to different life-
a multi-scalar vision — i.e. a vision which allows for a project to be styles and patterns of living. This is a territory that lends itself to mul-
prepared for the margins, whether they are considered individually tiple descriptions and metaphors, such as infinite city and metropo-
or as a system, defined by their potential and the capacities that they litan region: definitions which highlight its prevailing characteristics
express in relation to the issues of urban design. without, by doing so, denying other, additional interpretations.
By virtue of their relationship with the processes of transforma- In this context, we often use the term «margin» — and, as we will
tion that have taken place, designing these areas becomes a process see later on, the terms «boundary» and «edge» — to describe pheno-
aimed at recognising the identities and potential of a place: it must mena which depart from the concept that is traditionally used and
take on the characteristics of generality that belong to an overall vi- conveyed by the history of the city. Interaction in the design of the
sion, whilst at the same time demonstrating the strength to respond to contemporary city takes on a range of very different dimensions, values
multiple objectives, integrating them with each other and anticipating and meanings. The space of a project always corresponds to a specific
the result of the transformations that are planned5. situation which cannot be abstracted from the context it belongs to,
The landscape value of these projects, that is made quite explicit from the sense and relationships of proximity which can and must guide
in the works of João Nunes, becomes the ability to anticipate, through the formal solutions of the design. The urban sprawl we are referring
the prefiguration of the possible design morphologies, those solutions to is made up of highly diverse territories, punctuated with multiple
that can guide the project towards achieving an overall quality capable urban centres, natural networks and anthropic infrastructures, green
of characterising these spaces and remaining in time: in other words, and wooded areas, cultivated and equipped areas. These suggest a
operating in the direction of a contextualisation of each urban element working method involving reading approaches, interpretative criteria
so as to avoid — through the promotion of and respect for the existing and design opportunities that can never be repetitive; quite the con-
relationships — the risk of incurring the phenomenon that Rafael trary, it can be an opportunity for new forms of intervention and the
Moneo defines as «the solitude of buildings»6. construction of new relationships, new landscapes.
Designing the interaction between anthropic elements and natu- Understanding these contexts requires an articulated, multi-
ral spaces cannot be an action divorced from a reflection on the theme disciplinary approach in the sense that it calls for going beyond the
of the growth model of the contemporary city and the tools that urban interpretative models accepted and recognised by the disciplines that
design uses to define its spread. The extension of the city involves por- produced them and overcoming the limits of communication between
tions of the territory that are inhabited in different ways, which is in the different paradigms of knowledge. The predominant interpretative

240 241
 problems are those related to the processes of transformation of the lending weight to the different aspects which contribute to giving each
existing, for which it is no longer sufficient to operate according to an transformation project meaning, especially in the difficult decision of
incremental logic that is broadly oriented towards satisfying demand; which functions to install and their sizing.
any transformations must emphasise the complexity of the relation- In the projects analysed here, the theme of interaction is appro-
ship networks present within any given settlement area. In this sense, ached by proposing a key to interpretation, namely the need to seek a
needs must be recognised through analytical processes constructed in balance — at times a challenging task — between the need to protect
a way that allows them to be integrated with interpretations and appro- or safeguard the assets already present, on one hand, and the need to
aches based on multiple criteria and capable of generating syntheses of enhance the areas they exist in, on the other.
a systemic nature. Design actions must be up to the challenge of arti- This, as already mentioned, requires the use of a systemic approach
culating the quantities and qualities of the offer by establishing new which involves an integrated interpretation of the potential and li-
contextual relationships and allowing for more detailed solutions. mitations offered by each place with respect to a system of multiple
In comprehending the physical and social fragmentation of the relationships: from the broader ones of long-term scenarios, to the
territory of the expanding city, the hypothesis becomes one of using, intermediate ones of spatial congruity and temporal priorities, to the
as a criterion for interpretation, that which takes interaction as its detailed ones regarding content and relationships of proximity.
practice of mediation between different situations, in which boundaries The projects recognise that these places cannot be interpreted
constitute the space where unprecedented approaches to design can be solely as places of comparison between fullness and emptiness, and
implemented in order to identify actions capable of shaping the city, that they are instead areas of transition and contact between hetero-
approaches that are congruent with the characteristics of the places geneous built systems and different, articulated types of open space;
in question. A place of superimposition capable of giving meaning to a they become complex elements of the territory, produced by means of
project which reads the landscape, amenable to specific solutions that a dialogue, a relationship between different entities.
are adaptable over time8. The design of these places must be developed starting with an ob-
These observations are tied to the complexity of the various mea- servation and interpretation of their changes, through the activation
nings that can be attributed to the term «interaction» and, at the same of a systemic exploratory function which allows for strategic design
time, serve to confirm that research aimed at design requires us to choices to be identified and steered towards progress.
favour an interpretative meaning that is open to the knowledge of dif- The experiences selected represent different ways of approa-
ferent disciplines and to develop a perspective capable of aiming for a ching the issue of designing transitional spaces: an issue which has, in
series of long-term objectives, typically environmental ones, together recent years, sparked a great many reflections and significant in-depth
with a multitude of interventions for the maintenance and restora- studies within our discipline.
tion of the assets present and the construction of new artefacts which It is no mean feat to try to unequivocally define the significance
instead belong to the needs of everyday life. of this typology of areas, which limit and define the urban system but,
at the same time, exist in continuity with a heterogeneous system of
Reading Projects as a Strategy for Understanding the Theme of elements; this is an operation which requires a capacity for interpre-
Interaction tation oriented in multiple directions and inextricably linked to an
understanding of the relationships that characterise the constituent
Reading João Nunes’ projects based on these premises means elements of these areas.
acknowledging the ability of landscape design to read the relationships The experiences selected here refer to an idea of interaction that
between spaces and the various morphologies of the built environment, is characterised by a recognisability of its own, often less distinct and

242 243
 more confused within the totalising identity of the urban sprawl or This image is reinterpreted by the project through the creation
the territorial whole to which these areas belong. These areas often ap- of a system of stratified, composite elements which lend structure to
pear to have no recognisable morphology — in no way attributable to the signs and passageways located at different heights on the slope. This
form of a clear-cut border — which, by its nature, can be represented by structuring action has been complemented by the provision of a layer
a solid line that can only be crossed where expressly allowed; these are of soil capable of supporting an active, diverse plant cover that is rich
presented as an articulated set of situations and occasions, as porous in biodiversity.
and permeable spaces, open at multiple points to seeking out contacts This solution is functional to the insertion of the buildings and
and contaminations. Places that represent the historical permanence facilities into the morphology of the surrounding area, and is capable
of elements that structure the urban and environmental form, but at of generating a visual and ecological connection which can promote
the same time, express the latent and heterogeneous potential of the the sense of anthropic action and reclaim the sense of identity of a
territory. pre-existing anthropic semiology.
A project with a strong systemic significance in which the in-
Etar de Alcântara, 2005-11 teraction involves all of the landscape structures that comprise it.
Structures configured as suspended units, equipped with a storm-
The project, the apparent aim of which is to recompose and re- water drainage and runoff system which is capable of ensuring con-
configure the morphology of the Alcântara Valley, expresses a strongly trolled drainage and preventing the occurrence of dangerous overflow
systemic approach to the landscape which is intended to promote the phenomena.
heterogeneity of the characteristics of the elements present. This pro- In short, this is a project which is capable of providing multiple,
motion of the distinct yet complementary elements, both in terms of functional responses, placing the focus of the landscape squarely back
morphology and in terms of readability and relevance, allows for the on a structure that, whilst problematic from the point of view of its
action of recomposition to be read as the definition of a plurality of interference, is indispensable for the sustainability of the Lisbon me-
connections, both physical and perceptive, used in a way which serves tropolitan area.
to promote the regeneration of the Valley’s landscape values.
The project uses a landscape code capable of positively emphasi- Linear Park, Ourém, 2003-05
sing the stratification of the different elements in an effort to harmo-
nise the different types of infrastructure present. The meaning of the The aim of this project is the construction of an urban space
infrastructure — understood as a structure which links and connects which can meet a variety of needs; indeed, it involves intervening in a
different elements — is reinterpreted in an attempt to lend continuity context rich in different urban elements and characterised by a highly
to the existing relationships and establish a perceptual dialogue ca- complex territory. As such, it becomes necessary to check the possi-
pable of reconnecting the two sides of the valley, separated by the ble intervention solutions against multiple issues and to orient the
technological structures and facilities of the Alcântara wastewater project towards seeking out new connections in an attempt to identify
treatment centre. a variety of forms of use which can reunite the urban fringes and edges
The idea of redeveloping the landscape is to reclaim the memory of that are present, with a view to lending them a new meaning and a new
the complex and composite morphology of the valley — located within form of identity.
the hilly landscape surrounding Lisbon, which was traditionally linked The main issue is unquestionably the need to create a relational
to the production of vegetables, resulting in a composite image in which space which can connect the anthropic environment with the system
the highly parcellised fields took on different colours and densities. of open spaces of environmental importance located south of the ur-

244 245
 ban centre. On the one hand, then, the aim is to qualify the riparian and urban frameworks and the environments increasingly being in-
area of the Seiça river stream, making its design and functionality fit terfered with by settlement activities. Relationships which take on dif-
for purpose; on the other, it is to promote an appropriate relationship ferent forms and degrees of significance, but which elicit reflection on
between the urban fabric and the natural space of the stream, working the settlement criteria and morphological rules to be used to guide the
in such a way as to resolve certain existing situations of conflict and construction of individual buildings and the transformations of the
helping to make the different parts which constitute this urban «edge» various areas of intervention. These rules take on a certain value in
coherent and connectable. the context of the landscape where they create relationships between
Lastly, the project inserts a new urban element into this context, traces of the past, identity values, constructing views and perceptions
entrusting it with the task of characterising the entire intervention by which can cast light upon a system of profound relationships9.
developing a new centrality, articulated around two key facilities: the João Nunes’ projects work with balance and harmony, seeking to
Conference Centre and the new Municipal Market. Both of these are build (or rebuild) these relationships through an idea of design geared
equipped with gathering spaces, meeting rooms, areas for the use of towards producing landscape situations capable of making the theme
the community which consequently become catalysts for collective of interaction both readable and valuable.
functions. Projects capable of recognising the value of transformation, in
The interest of the project lies in the careful attention given to the sense of an opportunity to produce a multitude of relationships;
the theme of temporary and complementary use: these functions re- relationships which can form another layer on top of the existing
present elements of collective interest, but the market only runs one networks and integrate with one another, placing a positive emphasis
day a week. The challenge of the project is therefore identifying com- on the heterogeneity and complexity of the space. Projects that exist
plementary forms of use capable of connecting the public spaces to the as an exemplary representation of the desire to relate and engage with
system of natural elements in a way that ensures that this space is used transformation in order to enhance its regenerative potential, whilst at
extensively and for a long time. the same time to work synergistically10 with the many and varied urban
The approach used to identify the design actions exploits the elements that characterise the different contexts of intervention and
terms «boundary» and «margin» as tools to investigate the relation- constitute essential contextual elements for triggering a process of
ships between the different phenomena involved and to offer new in- redefining a new structure of the urban space.
terpretations of the same urban partitions. A strategy for suggesting
unusual combinations and conceiving new urban contexts with forms
of renewed urbanity and new expressive languages. Succession, se-
dimentation, continuity and harmonious balance are the strategies
implemented to recognise the timings that govern the landscape,
acknowledging how they differ from those of everyday life.

Conclusions

The theme of interaction involves the processes of extension of

anthropic activities to a considerable extent, as well as highlighting
the need to define new design strategies capable of making explicit the
relationships between the assets defined by infrastructural layouts

246 247
 1 C. Peraboni, Reti ecologiche e 7 B. Lino, Periferie in trasformazione.
infrastrutture verdi, Maggioli, Rimini 2010. Riflessi dai «margini» delle città, Alinea,
Firenze 2013.
2 M. C. Treu, D. Palazzo (eds.), Margini:
Descrizioni, strategie, progetti, Alinea, 8 R. Gambino, Conservare, innovare:
Firenze 2006. Paesaggio, ambiente e territorio, UTET,
Torino 1997.
3 N. Gallent, Planning on the Edge: The
Context for Planning at the Rural-urban 9 C. Waldheim, Landscape As Urbanism:
Fringe, Routledge, New York 2006. A General Theory, Princeton University
Press, Princeton 2016.
4 P. Baldeschi, Paesaggio e territorio, Le
Lettere, Firenze 2011. 10 P. Belanger, Landscape as Infrastructure:
A Base Primer, Routledge, New York 2016.
5 N. Gallent, Planning on the Edge, op. cit.
6 R. Moneo, La solitudine degli edifici ed
altri scritti, Allemandi, Torino 2004.

1
João Nunes, Etar de Alcântara Overall view of the intervention,
(Lisboa, Portugal 2005-11). reconfiguring the morphology of
the Alcântara Valley ©PROAP.

248 Notes 249

 2 3 4
General plan, promoting Views of the site,
a plurality of physical and highlighting the
perceptive connections heterogeneous system
©PROAP. of elements ©PROAP.
250 251
 5 6
João Nunes, Parque Linear General plan, highlighting Overall view of the
de Ourém (Ourém, Portugal the heterogeneity of intervention, with shapes and
2003-05). elements ©PROAP. colors defining new relations
and constituting a new urban
252 edge ©PROAP. 253
 7 8 9
Views of the site; urban space The attentive design of details,
is designed to meet a variety which creates a coherent and
of needs ©PROAP. connectable environment
©PROAP.
254 255
IV. Recording
 The architect Rafael Moneo is known as a multifaceted perso-
nality: architect-designer, intellectual who deals with theoretical
questions, professor and active member of the University. He stands

Rafael Moneo. out for his extraordinary dedication to architecture and its infinite va-
riations. The Moneo architect, especially through travel and the expe-

The Space rience of architecture (as Rogers1 understands it), studies architecture
of all times, nurturing his personal design research as a professional.
The Moneo intellectual studies and analyzes the architectural work of
and Time the Masters in search of the different reasons underlying the formal
and constructive choices and of a specific architectural thought. The

of Architecture Moneo professor is responsible for transmitting the true message of

architecture to students and new generations of architects. He does
not separate the elements of its practice. He manages critical discourse
and architectural practice in profound and fundamental ways.
Rafael Moneo’s architecture is characterized by a high quality of
space and a wealth of meanings. It is based on a design method that
is not self-referential, and rather is capable of adapting to individual
places, situations and contexts, by developing specific and always diffe-
rent works. Moneo has an in-depth knowledge of history and a cultured
conception of architecture, which are combined with a constructive
mastery acquired thanks to the study of traditional techniques and
the desire for experimentation with new techniques and materials. He
also cares particularly about the social and collective aspect of archi-
tecture: for him, it is essential to have «a careful consideration of the
ethical dimension of architecture as a necessary act to transform buil-
dings and things to favour life and its course»2.
For Moneo, the architectural context is a decisive factor, but what
really generates the project is the idea that it can function in a social
and physical context. He confronts with the block, and its edges and
boundaries; he works on the compactness of the urban block, on the
density of the settlement, and on the enhancement of the land used,
and thus demonstrates that he has the analytical ability to interpret
the conditions that characterize the building. In his projects, he gives
a personal interpretation of the site and of the relationships that exist
between place and city or environment. Consequently, each of his works
Veronica Ferrari is the result of the interpretation of the place and a personal previous
experience. However, each project presents itself as new, different and

259
 singular, a sign of the evolution and enrichment of an architectural new museum through the memory of Roman construction methods
thought dominated by spatial and constructive inventiveness. and contemporary architectural and exhibition elements: hence the
Moneo supports the materiality of architecture, according to key to this work is the balance between these two parts.
which «a building cannot be the mere expression of an idea, it must In this project Moneo used bricks — modern ones, but shaped ac-
undergo a process of materialization»3. The materiality of the buil- cording to Roman proportions. They are used with a dry joint, without
ding is manifested through what we can experience. The definition of bedding mortar, to overshadow the unitary image of the architectural
materials and surfaces is a fundamental act in Moneo’s architecture, element in favour of a decomposed image and texture. The buttresses
inspired and shaped by the history and construction processes of the that make up the front of the museum help to evoke one of the cardinal
place, to connect with the stratification of the material culture of the principles of Roman architecture: firmitas, the solidity of the building.
context. The orthogonal mesh on which the museum structures are unloaded
Working in addition is a peculiarity of many projects managed overlaps the oblique course of the archaeological remains, as if to find
by Moneo, where «in addition» refers not only to the physical con- roots in the Roman age of the city. Here the constructive element of
struction but also to the philological construction of the place, in the arch — with its proportions and its repetition — becomes a com-
line with the existing artefacts. «It is intrinsic to Moneo’s version positional principle: arch as space, but also as a trace, as texture, and
of the world that the architect makes a minor intervention in the as the ordering element of the spaces and forms of a new historical
many-layered continuity of a place — a continuity which long precedes stratification.
him, and which will probably long outlast him»4. It is with this in mind «I like to see buildings which are engrained in the city and think-
that Moneo creates the National Museum of Roman Art in Mérida ing to the city as broader light than just a single building, a single object;
(1980-86), located on the site of the former Roman colony of Emerita I like to see buildings able to collaborate and to create this broader
Augusta. sense of the scenography where life happens. It means, in my view, to
In 1979, the architect was commissioned by the Spanish govern- keep the founding stone for just taking some help when thinking about
ment to design and build a new museum — to replace the museum built architecture. Much more than just seeing the buildings as isolated, self-
in the first half of the 19th century —, next to one of the oldest Roman standing volumes»5. For Moneo, the new architecture must fit harmo-
theatres. The entrance to the building takes place from the South-East niously into the context and take part in the urban backdrop that forms
side at a higher level than the excavation area. The building is a mo- the scene to life. In the scenario of a contemporary city, in constant
dern and revisited version of the basilica; the exhibition spaces are evolution, it is essential to re-establish a dialogue between the new
organized on the upper level, while on the lower level, you can admire building and the urban scape. According to Aldo Rossi, the city is built
the expanse of the remains and archaeological finds of the ancient Ro- over time and, while growing on itself, «it acquires awareness and me-
man city. From this floor, an underground tunnel branches off to lead mory of itself. In its construction, the original reasons remain, but at
the visitors directly into the theatre — to which Moneo alludes in the the same time the city specifies and modifies the reasons for its de-
structure that overlooks the excavations, using triple-band arches. In velopment»6. Contemporary architecture thus takes on the character
the entire project, a fundamental role is played by the light that pe- of a fragment, a piece, capable of enriching the context as well as of
netrates from the perimetral window and from the large skylights cut adopting the principles of the built environment and reinterpreting
out from the concrete slabs. The light penetrates through the openings them through forms and technologies that are typical of its contem-
and radiates the ancient sediments and the new brick structures with poraneity. The new intervention is configured as a piece of a mosaic
warm light, enhancing the joints and the texture effect. Moneo’s pur- capable of connecting to the surrounding urban fabric and, in turn, of
pose in this project is to carry out a reflective contextualization of the becoming part of it.

260 261
 In the project for the Murcia Town Hall (1991-98), the square has proportionate openings. The composition of the square recalls, in a
the function of being the fulcrum of social life — from ancient Greece way, Giorgio De Chirico’s metaphysical townscapes, in regard to the
to the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, and still today —, where the quality of space and the relationships among the buildings.
important relationship between the built and the void can undergo va- The interplay with the context established by the project for the
riations, as long as the balances remain unaltered. The new building expansion of the Atocha Station in Madrid is of a different nature. In
closes one side of the Plaza Cardenal Belluga, located on the north of Atocha, the rhetoric leaves room for the physicality of architecture
the river Segura, hence becoming part of the urban backdrop together — as Moneo says, «the architectural unit of components is not as cru-
with the Iglesia Catedral de Santa María and the Bishop’s palace. The cial in Atocha as it is in Mérida»7. The project for Atocha involved the
Town Hall fits into the surrounding context as a completion element construction of a new station for local train and buses, and a parking
able of merging with the existing fabrics. Moneo knows the constructive, lot. Moneo’s solution was to build a new access platform at the head of
social and political logics that, in different eras, have characterized the the station — from the intersection of Calle Alfonso XII and Avenida
shaping and the evolution of the space — in this case, of the square and Ciudad de Barcelona —, by overturning the pre-existing accesses. The
the buildings on its perimeter. He studies in depth the historical fa- play of layers introduced by Moneo separates departures and arrivals,
bric on which he has to intervene, and from it he assimilates measures controlling their flows and paths, and putting users at the centre. In-
and proportions, and reinvents its characters. In this project, Moneo deed «the Atocha Station project was based on a strategy which gave
seems to want to revive the space through the reference to a medieval priority to the idea of urban continuity»8.
spirit by establishing new connections between the Cathedral and the The Atocha station (which in Spanish refers to the word «noon»)
Town Hall, as in the past political and religious power faced each other. is located in the South- East area of the city, and was built between 1888
He overlooks the oblique orientation of the pre-existing building — an and 1892. The Art Nouveau structure, in iron and glass, was designed
18th-century house — and rather gives the new construction a diffe- by Alberto del Palacio Elissagne, in collaboration with Gustave Eiffel.
rent setting, in search of a comparison with the Cathedral. However, The station is located along the Paseo del Prado, the promenade that
Moneo still considers the previous alignment, and integrates it within separates the Parque de El Retiro from the historic center. In 1984 a
the project through the design of a lowered patio that leads to the ca- competition was launched; it required the restoration and recovery of
feteria. The most representative element of the work is the façade, co- the 19th century station and its extension, and the redevelopment of
vered in sandstone typical of the place. The main front is the device the surrounding urban area.
with which Moneo establishes a visual link with the Cathedral: indeed The noblest purpose of the intervention — which involved an area
the Town Hall façade, with its progressive emptying, as it rises, seems of more than 200.000 square meters — was to become the hub of a new
to imitate the Cathedral. Moneo probably finds inspiration in the ur- urban regeneration process. The project by Rafael Moneo, that won of
ban fabric for the composition of the front. He chooses stone as the the competition, organizes a complex planimetric articulation inclu-
finishing material of the building — a noble and meaningful material, ding new buildings that flank the existing one, new public open spaces,
bright and vibrant under the sunlight, that was wisely used by Iberian and new paths that intertwine and cross the entire project — and become
architects, hence it refers to the tradition of the Murcia region. The the lifeblood of the site. Moneo elaborates a solution that revolves
entrance to the building is located laterally, on Calle Frenería, exactly around the transit and the spaces of movement, that are distinctive ele-
in line with Calle Polo de Medina. Here the building bends slightly to ments of the station. He works on the mix of volumes, functions and
widen the view of the square, partially anticipating it to those coming paths, which he articulates on different levels by exploiting the height
from the historic center. The side fronts are discreet; they seek a re- difference between tracks and the urban grounds, so as to create new
lationship with the streets that they overlook through measured and spaces for relating to the urban environment.

262 263
 The large space that used to house the tracks is transformed into architects of the international scene of the 20th century. According
an immense greenhouse, that holds a tropical botanical garden that to Siegfried Giedion, time and space, and their relationship, form one
extends over an area of 4.000 square meters, in which plants from all of the founding paradigms of architecture9. Through his architecture,
over the world and some animals have been introduced. The environ- Rafael Moneo communicates a strong interest in the reciprocity of
ment, characterized by large flower beds alternating with pedestrian this relationship and its manifestations. «Some projects by Rafael
paths, reproduces a warm humid habitat suitable for hosting plants Moneo dance, while others are in procession», stated Josep Quetglas
and animals. Natural lighting and radiation are guaranteed by the in the essay The Dance and the Procession. The shape of time in the
skylights to which artificial lighting is added. Numerous commercial architecture of Rafael Moneo10 tries to define the temporality and the
and hospitality activities overlook this green space and have contri- relationship with time. The dancing buildings are characterized by
buted to transform it into a meeting place for citizens and visitors. their own, self-defined and self-referential time and space, while those
Outside the building, on the North-East side, Moneo designs another in procession fall within a set time, defined and cadenced by events.
space dedicated to the city — a lowered square from which you can In Moneo’s vision, history plays a fundamental role in the educa-
access the Paseo del Prado. tion of the architect: «an architectural initiation today includes, in my
Moneo intervenes on an urban node that had remained unsolved opinion, a strong familiarity with history, a history that is no longer a
for some time, with a project with a highly innovative character from warehouse of forms or a laboratory of styles, but that offers simply the
the point of view of the aggregative logic of the spaces as well as of the material to think about both the evolution of architecture and how ar-
connections that can establish an harmonious dialogue between all the chitects operated in the past»11. For him, as an architect, it is essential
parts. It is interesting to highlight how Moneo personally interprets to know history to create a memory. «To know the tradition means un-
the memory of a place with a dominant and representative function derstanding the meaning and needs that have generated certain forms
such as the station. He argues that architectural typology, despite its in the past»12: this is how, in his works, Moneo manages to translate
typing nature, can prove to be dynamic and flexible in favour to the the spirit of history thanks to a strong work of abstraction that starts
changes that the passage of time and society impose. from the analysis of reality and is configured through the reworking
Those in Mérida, Murcia and Madrid — and other European of forms in a modern key. He is interested in history — a set of facts
projects — are interventions that propose real urban resolutions, and distributed over time, that is not remembered because they were not
are opposed to more free and self-referential American projects — such experienced in the first person or because the people who experienced
as the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston (1992-2000), belonging to that such events are no longer alive — as a trace and as a guide, but also in
category of architectures characterized by the «arbitrariness of form», the collective and social-historical memory: indeed, «there are infinite
as Moneo himself defines them. The context is however always decisive collective memories, but only one story»13.
for Moneo, so much so that it influences the approach and the choices Moneo retains necessary to establish a relationship between me-
related to each intervention, in continuity or through a clear detach- mory and the modernity of which he is a part, through the reworking
ment from it. of the experience of the past to give a new meaning to the present. He
Another great theme of reflection that interests Moneo is time — said that modernity is «a continuously reiterated dimension in history,
the temporality of architecture, and how time acts on it. Time is the the desire for change and the search for the new that characterizes
most powerful and least linear variable with which a designer must every movement and cultural intention»14. He reflects in-depth on the
measure himself: such terms as duration, pre-existence, permanence, meaning of the word memory in architecture: memory as stratification,
monument, memory are essential for Moneo, just as they were food as the basic material of the project. For him memory is a continuous,
for thought for Jørn Utzon, his master, and numerous other great uninterrupted flow, in which even the present will soon be deposited

264 265
 1 E. N. Rogers, Esperienza dell’architettura, 9 S. Giedion, Space, Time and Architecture,
and stratified in us as a memory, becoming memory. He works through Einaudi, Turin 1958, Skira, Milan 1997. Harvard University Press, Cambrigde 1942,
the concept of memory by identifying within it the permanent ele- 2 G. Leoni, «Rafael Moneo: architettura
trad. it. Spazio, tempo e architettura: Lo
sviluppo di una nuova tradizione, Hoepli,
ments and the ephemeral ones — be they the shape, the typology, the come architettura», Area, 67, March-April
Milan 1954.
2003, p. 8.
architectural language, the textures, or the materials — to help build 10 J. Quetglas, «The Dance and the
Ivi, p. 20.
a new memory. The city is the place where collective memory is ma- 3
Procession. The Shape of Time in the
W. J. R. Curtis, «Rafael Moneo. Pieces
nifested, and «Moneo’s architecture is rooted in a re-examination of 4 Architecture of Rafael Moneo», in Rafael
of city, memories of ruins», in Rafael Moneo Moneo 1990-1994, op. cit., pp. 27-45.
the traditional city and a reconsideration of the basis of architectural 1990-1994, El Croquis, 64, 1994, p. 48.
M. Casamonti, Rafael Moneo, Motta
language»15.
11
5 Excerpt from the John Hejduk Soundings Architettura, Milan 2008, p. 92.
Moneo’s projects recognize the right value to the existing, and Lecture, «Learning architecture», Rafael
12 E. N. Rogers, Esperienza
Moneo with Sara Whiting, Harvard GSD,
consider the surroundings both as one of the starting points of the September 14, 2020.
dell’architettura, op. cit., p. 267.
project as well as the new protagonists of the place, bringing new rules 6 A. Rossi, L’architettura della città,
13 M. Halbwachs, La mémoire collective,
and new connections: «to modify means precisely searching for a Marsilio, Padova 1966, Il Saggiatore, Milan,
Presses Universitaires de France, Paris 1950,
transl. Unicopli, Milan 2001, p. 155.
different design method, that is only in some ways opposed to that of 2018, p. 12.
14 M. Casamonti, Rafael Moneo, op. cit.,
the past, and in which attention is primarily placed on the problem of 7 A. Zaera, «Conversation with Rafael
p. 26.
Moneo», in Rafael Moneo 1990-1994, op. cit.,
meaning, of relations, that is, with what belongs to the context, to its p. 15. 15 W. J. R. Curtis, «Rafael Moneo. Pieces
actuality and materiality, to its history, to its function in the process 8 From the description of the Atocha
of city, memories of ruins», op. cit., p. 47.
of social reproduction, to its constitutive rule»16. Moneo’s attitude project on the Moneo’s website, http:// 16 B. Secchi, «Le condizioni sono
rafaelmoneo.com/en/projects/atocha-station- cambiate», Casabella, 498-499, January-
towards design suggests the lack of an essential rule, in favour of a
enlargement. February 1984, p. 12.
flexible, functional, and dedicated method for each intervention.

266 Notes 267

 1 2 3
Rafael Moneo, National Axonometric view Urban view of the Interior view © Rafael
Museum of Roman Art © Rafael Moneo. building © Rafael Moneo, Moneo, ph. M. Morán.
(Mérida, Spain 1980-86). ph. M. Morán.

268 269
 4 5
Interior view © Rafael Interior view © Rafael Moneo,
Moneo, ph. M. Morán. ph. M. Morán.

270 271
 6 7 8 9 10
Plan of the ruins level Longitudinal sections Plan of the nave level and
© Rafael Moneo. © Rafael Moneo. plan of the broadwalk level
© Rafael Moneo.

272 273
 11 12
Interior view © Rafael Interior view © Rafael
Moneo, ph. M. Morán. Moneo, ph. M. Morán.

274 275
 13 14
Rafael Moneo, Town Hall Perspective view of the site Overhead view of the
(Murcia, Spain 1991-98). © Rafael Moneo. square © Rafael Moneo.

276 277
 15 16 17 18
Transversal section and main The main front of the Urban section © Rafael View of the Cathedral from
elevation © Rafael Moneo. building © Rafael Moneo, Moneo. the Town Hall © Rafael
ph. M. Morán. Moneo, ph. M. Morán.

278 279
 19 20 21 22
Basement, ground floor Exterior view © Rafael
and mezzanine plans Moneo, ph. M. Morán.
© Rafael Moneo.

280 281
 23 24 25 26
First floor, third floor Exterior vew © Rafael
and roof plans Moneo, ph. M. Morán.
© Rafael Moneo.

282 283
 27
Rafael Moneo, Expansion Overall view of the Atocha
of the Atocha Station (Madrid, Station © Rafael Moneo,
Spain 1984-2012). ph. M. Morán.

284 285
 28 29 30
General plan © Rafael Moneo. View of the new pedestrian Plan and section of
access © Rafael Moneo, the pedestrian access
ph. M. Morán. © Rafael Moneo.

286 287
 31 32
Interior view of the Interior view © Rafael
new pedestrian access Moneo, ph. M. Morán.
© Rafael Moneo,
ph. M. Morán.
288 289
 Architecture, Construction, History

Considering that one of the most evident drifts of the design cul-

Sean Godsell. ture comes from the diffusion of ever more superficial approaches,
where the relationship between architecture and construction is no

Incremental longer seen as a field of exploration and experimentation but as the

result of a mere choice from a catalogue, and where the results of these
makeshift aggregations aren’t expression of any individuality and
Consistency specificity, an analysis of Sean Godsell’s work offers an occasion for
reflecting about the tools and the goals of our profession and about
the importance of developing a project with the awareness of a clear
method.
On the one hand, it is an exemplary reference for the attention
devoted to the construction problems. This aspect is the natural con-
sequence of a responsible approach that avoids the standardized
proposal, whose repeatability produces an inexorable contribution
to the progressive homogenization of taste, in favor of solutions that
are always accurate, personal and appropriate with the peculiarities
of the circumstances; that aims to an economy of resources intended
as pursuit of essentiality, in an idea of frankness that requires «to give
an account of each nut and each bolt»1; that conceives the project in
a continuous change of scale, where the indications obtained solving
the joints can imply modifications also at a wider level, in a constant
oscillation between the detail and the building, the cell and the orga-
nism; that finally represents the necessity of adopting a slow process
for meticulously documenting the structural setting and for verifying
the correctness of the connections and their coherency with the overall
configuration2.
On the other hand, as we can appreciate by reading his most recent
writings and interviews, it is a precious lesson about the interweaving
between architecture and history, according with a vision based on re-
ferences that come both from his personal imaginary, as wide as the
memory of the previous design experiences, and from the multiple
expressions of the evolution of our discipline, that range with a large
cultural openness from the settlement models of the first inhabitants
Matteo Moscatelli of the Australian territory to the works of Western architecture ma-
sters as Michelangelo, Palladio, Le Corbusier and Terragni.

291
 The first field is fed by his professional formation — started with Stranded into the side of a dune, a condition that determines its volu-
his father, with whom he had the possibility of visiting the construction metric configuration and the organization of the accesses, the building
site sites since he was a child — and by the approach the daily activities consists of three levels: the lower one for the guests, the intermediate
of the project are interpreted with, significantly conceiving each detail one for the owner, and the upper one for living and eating with a view
as the heir of the lesson of its predecessors3, according with an incre- towards the rural landscape and for the activities of a daylight photo-
mental method based on the improvement given by the constant and graphic studio.
patient trying and trying again, as in a permanent research laboratory. The project is inspired by a reflection about the transformation
An example of a component that was progressively updated between over time of the house, and of the parts that compose it, through an
the first and the latest interventions is the one of the cladding, that interpretation of history as evolution of a specific building typology.
evolved from a shading device (as in the Kew House or in the Carter/ The layout of the living environment, in particular, is the result
Tucker House) to a shading and filtering device (as in the Peninsula of an investigation about the relationship between the verandah and
House or in the CIPEA House), and moved from these configurations the aisle, and about the multiple role they acquired in Eastern and
to a sophisticated energy source (as in the unbuilt Westwood House)4, Western architecture. As Godsell himself detected, Chinese, Japanese
hence becoming one of the most fertile trajectories of investigation in and Australian architecture show in fact different interpretations of
the context of his production. this kind of space: in the first «the aisle is a fluid outer building conti-
The second field derives from a relationship that is even more ar- nuous around the perimeter of the inner building»; in the second «the
ticulated, for the typological heterogeneity of the cultural references aisle (gejin) is not continuous when added to a structure (hisashi) but
he takes inspiration from and for the modalities their reinterpreta- is a fluid space when an inner building is partitioned (hedate) to cause
tions are applied. Three recent works in the Federal State of Victoria, an aisle to be formed»; in the constructions of the Australian outback,
where most of his buildings are concentrated, allow us to explore the instead, the aisle «is also surrounded by fluid space (verandah) which is
specificity of these sources. They consist in one of the first and one sometimes partly enclosed by or glass to form an indoor-outdoor space
of the latest houses he completed and, among them, one of the most (sun-room)»5.
important interventions set in an urban context: even if the results The different ways of conceiving the principles of continuity and
appear different, for the ways they are related with the place and for fluidity, compared with other expressions of the East Asian culture,
the experimentation with a specific typology, we can recognize the re- characterize a part of the Australian house that still today is determi-
cursivity of a common methodological principle, founded on the idea nant for its specificity and recognizability, triggering surveys and re-
of anchoring in history but, at the same time, of recombining the sug- searches also in literature, in theatre and in the arts6 aimed to outline
gestions emerged analyzing the singularity of the circumstances and its details, its different declinations and its multi-disciplinary repre-
the new needs of the contemporaneity, especially the ones about the sentations. In Godsell’s work, however, the verandah never appears
protection of the interior spaces, the energy saving and the distributive as a nostalgic quotation or as an uncritical reproposal. It becomes in-
flexibility. stead an alternative laneway, an adaptable threshold, a flexible space
without a pre-determined use, a «placeholder for a broader notion of
The Evolution of a Building Type spatial type», for using Philippe Goad’s words7.
In the particular case of the Carter/Tucker House, the intro-
Located south of Melbourne, beyond the Port Phillip bay, and com- duction of the verandah derives from a reinterpretation that makes
pleted just after the opening of his firm, the Carter/Tucker House (1998- it an implicit presence, an indirect expression, a component that was
2000) is one of the few with a vertical development designed by Godsell. studied and then recreated using a process that is similar, according

292 293
 with its author, «to that which Braque and Picasso employed in their The Lesson of the Masters
Analytical Cubist paintings of last century»8.
Even if its traditional configuration is not immediately per- The second project of our survey is the RMIT Design Hub (2007-
ceivable, the verandah is here a fundamental device for the interior 12), a composite complex that houses a series of activities connected
organization. The cladding in wooden laths of the outer surface can be with the design research and the post-graduate formation of the Royal
opened, allowing to generate a sort of tent along the whole perimeter. Melbourne Institute of Technology.
This homogeneous skin, apparently coplanar, can be arranged in dif- This recent intervention, thanks also to the writings that testi-
ferent ways following the needs of the owners in terms of shading and fied its gestation, is the one where we can more clearly appreciate an
visual permeability. idea of history as the lesson of the masters, from the ancient to the 20th
As in the reference that is explicitly quoted in the project descrip- century architecture.
tion — the Nine Square Grids House in Kanagawa (1997) by Shigeru The suggestion for the solution of the access, for instance, ensued
Ban, where the layout can be combined in multiple modalities, star- from the study of Michelangelo. The front door to the RMIT Design
ting from the corridor formed by the overhang of the monolithic slab Hub, where a small door allows to enter a wide space, derives from the
roof 9 — the uses of the building imply a change of its layout through a door-within-a-door of the Laurentian Library in Florence (1519-34),
dynamic interpretation of the interior distribution, allowing the aisle where the big staircase can be reached through a little passage11.
to materialize with fluidity in the façade. At the intermediate floor, for For the organization of the interior flows, instead, Godsell looks
instance, the space can be subdivided in two parts thanks to a sliding at the labyrinth of the Danteum (1938) by Giuseppe Terragni: the idea
wall: the aisle, defined by the introduction of a service block, becomes a of creating an intriguing movement of people on a concealed circula-
room, while the bedroom becomes a verandah that, according to season, tion pattern is here expressed in the conformation of the stairs, that
can be opened or closed thanks to the sliding movement of the panels. link all the levels but whose access is not immediately visible.
The development of the fluidity is made more evident by the For its mono-material character, another mentioned reference
separation of the central service block from the sides of the volume, is Le Corbusier12. The Couvent Sainte-Marie-de-la-Tourette (1953-57),
in order not to interrupt the flows within this zone of the house. From one of his favorite buildings, is a single and unitary structure consti-
outside, the possibility of opening or closing the wooden texture that tuted by an articulated functional program and by a refined distribu-
occupies the whole façade allows to establish new visual hierarchies tive complexity. The RMIT Design Hub is characterized by the same
depending on the observer’s position. From inside, the variability of configuration but, differently from the solitary monolith in Eveux,
the skin allows to strengthen the effects of the light alterations during introduces a principle of flexibility that mirrors the idea of incidental
the day, thanks to the different intensities and gradations it penetrates cross-pollination fostered by the school and determines the interior
into the building10. layout, thought for supporting activities that, by nature, evolve, change
The Carter/Tucker House seems in this sense emblematic of an and adapt.
operative strategy that has a starting point in the deepening of a typo- For the definition of the vertical surfaces, finally, the inspiration
logical theme as the verandah — examined in different architectural comes from two other authors: one is Andrea Palladio, whose prin-
cultures and deepened in its morphological and construction speci- ciple of the four layered-façade influenced directly the design of the
ficities — and that has a result in a more abstract and indirect rein- elevations of the Archive building; the other is instead Louis Sullivan,
terpretation that becomes more easily adaptable to the needs of the for the importance given to the ornament in the characterization of
inhabitants and to the environmental circumstances thanks to the the volume that emerges in projects as the Wainwright Building in
distributive flexibility of the interior space. St. Louis (1890-91) and the Guaranty Building in Buffalo (1894-96)13.

294 295
 Besides the clarity of the imaginary its configuration descends In this small structure, whose site is excised from a working sheep
from, the lesson offered by the analysis of the RMIT Design Hub ori- farm, and situated in a part of the country where the winds are parti-
ginates also from another important methodological assumption, cularly cold, Godsell crystallizes the necessity of protection from the
that consists in the way its references are reinterpreted and in the atmospheric conditions that influenced the way of living of every- body
role of the differences that determine its peculiarity and contempo- has ever wanted to settle here, from the actual inhabitants to the first
raneity. man who set foot in this region: «in the outback, any constructed shel-
One aspect naturally includes the choices of the materials for the ter can mean the difference between life and death — shade from the
façade, here constituted by an adaptative skin made by double glasses, intense heat, height above the flooding river», he noted in the pre-
an automated shading device made by transparent discs mounted on sentation of the project, «so that these simple often weather-ravaged
horizontal and vertical aluminum axes, and a system of air intakes and structures assume a more profound meaning»14.
water vaporizers that are fed by the rainwater collection system on the This is the reflection that led to look for an effective answer to
roof and that transform it in a passive cooling system. create a protection from the environmental circumstances, defining a
The other aspect regards the conception of the cladding — that sophisticated square roof whose configuration allows to provide both
turns from static to dynamic — and the periodicity of its potential mo- a screen versus the wind and a protection from the sunlight according
difications, that are implemented not only in the short-term as in the with the different intensities and degrees that depend on the time of
Carter/Tucker House, with the possibility in any moment of modifying the day and on the day of the year. In the same way, the introduction of
its setup according with specific needs, but also in the long-term that an isolated volume in a wide territory reminds the primordial gesture
coincides with the building life itself: the outer skin, in fact, incorporates of modifying a virgin land for the first time, of marking a place in a
an automated sun shading system and photovoltaic cells designed in landscape whose end is the horizon, of interacting with the tempera-
order to be easily updated when the research about solar technology ture and the air, with the light and the shadows.
will be furtherly improved, with the final purpose of satisfying, in a not Patrick White, the Australian writer and novelist (winner of the
far future, the energetic needs of the whole structure. Nobel Prize for Literature in 1973), described the unicity of moments
like this in his The Tree of Man, offering a clear representation of the
The Identifying Characters of a Territory clash between ancient and new, and between natural and artificial
transformations that overlapped and stratified in this barren and
This way of establishing a dialogue with the past, as seen in these boundless land. The book just opens with a suggestive scene in the
two cases, could appear the result of an approach that is not necessa- bush that seems to be set in the same landscape that surrounds the
rily related with the place: the suggestions are get from architectural House: «Then the man took an axe and struck the side of a hairy tree,
typologies that are not properly local, and the authors we mentioned more to hear the sound than for any other reason. And the sound was
belong to the history of Western architecture and to works that are cold and loud. The man struck the tree and struck till several white
built in cities and countries that, at least geographically, are very far chips had fallen. He looked at the scar in the side of the tree. The silence
from this region. was immense. It was the first time anything like that had happened in
The building that allows us to recognize the central role of the the bush»15.
local culture and indeed forces us to backtrack along several choices Talking about the different expressions of history identified by
of other previous interventions, is the House in the Hills in Barrabool Godsell, the first impression is that from a certain point of view — for
(2015-18), a significant example of the interpretation of history as the the components of the local identity that evokes, that make it at the
identifying characters of a territory. same time a shelter and a place-maker, an anonymous and a unique

296 297
 construction — this is one of the projects by Godsell where we can more devices that can be opened and closed to provide shade or to protect
clearly discern the traces of the most authentic Australian identity. from the wind (the House in the Hills), and that determine mutations
And probably it’s just here, in the cultural synthesis that can sprout that can develop both in the short time of the day — making the buil-
between the first colonial architecture and the regional reality of the ding a kind of hourglass of time18, as underlined by Francesco Dal Co
South-Eastern Asia, where we can provide a legitimate field, using his — and in the long term of the years, ready to integrate the upgrades of
words, «from which can emerge a genuine local architecture that both the technological evolution.
captures our past and acknowledges our future»16. Looking backward, time is instead intended as the place of me-
Talking about the method, instead, the House confirms the con- mory, the product of the fertile superimposition of references that can
tinuity of the red thread behind the interventions we analyzed until be direct or indirect, individual and common.
now, where history — here impersonated by any Australian inhabi- In Sean Godsell’s work, for the impressions aroused by these al-
tant of the recent and remote past — suggests the starting point, and most thirty years of activity, what develops and grows over time, what
the incremental approach towards the definition of the details — here inspires and defines a way of approaching the design phase, is there-
expressed by the level of definition of the roof system — is an essential fore not only the refinement of the details, their harmonic integration
requirement for solving with consistency, once again, contemporary in the built organisms and their remarkable technological complexity.
necessities with updated tools and technologies. But it is also, examining the intentions behind their conception, the
equally important connection with a multifaceted cultural identity
Architecture and Time like the Australian one. That is constituted by history and traditions,
alternations and overlappings, and whose peculiarity is the result — as
Five years ago, after a visit in Melbourne at the RMIT Design we recorded in these works — of an intertwining between aboriginal
Hub, I remember a stimulating discussion with Godsell about the and colonial culture, between western and eastern references, between
importance of the temporal component in some buildings of his, star- new ways of building and new ways of living.
ting from several words from The Shape of Time by George Kubler that
I found quite appropriate for the reference to the relationship between
permanence and mutation17 in his work.
The projects we illustrated in this short Australian itinerary, as
many times highlighted, compose a lesson about the typological and
construction experimentation and about the necessity of a sensibility
addressed both to the human and the territorial dimension in the cre-
ative process. But in the same way, reviewing them through Kubler’s
words, they suggest how important can be the role of time — the one
that is just passed, and the one that is yet to come — in the definition
of a method.
Looking forward, time is here conceived as the place of the pos-
sible scenarios, an aspect that emerges in the choice of interior spaces
that can change according with the needs of the user (the Carter/
Tucker House), of technological components that can be substituted
following the evolution of the research (the RMIT Design Hub), of

298 299
 1 F. Chiorino, «Il vecchio ponte della 11 L. Van Schaik, Sean Godsell: Enigma
ferrovia rivive», Casabella, 807, 2011, p. 27. vs stravaganza, in Sean Godsell. Opere e
progetti, Electa, Milan 2004, p. 25.
2 L. Van Schaik, «A conversation
with Sean Godsell», El Croquis, 165, 2013, 12 From an interview with the author,
p. 18. 14 September 2020.
3 «This is evidenced for example in the 13 L. Van Schaik, op. cit., 2013, p. 9.
ongoing refinement of the outer skin in
14 S. Godsell, op. cit., 2019, p. 175.
my work where each new building inherits
information from its predecessors». 15 P. White, The Tree of Man (1955),
S. Godsell, «About the project Penguin Modern Classics, London 1978, p. 9.
representation», Casabella, 763, 2008, 16 S. Godsell, Local Architecture,
pp. 123-124. in S. Godsell, Houses, op. cit., p. 20.
4 From an interview with the author, 17 «Human desires in every present
14 September 2020. instant are torn between the replica and the
5 J. Pallasmaa, «Sean Godsell’s tough invention, between the desire to return to the
subtlety», El Croquis, 165, 2013, p. 29. known patterns, and the desire to escape it
by a new variation». G. Kubler, The Shape of
6 P. Drew, Veranda: Embracing Place,
Time, Yale University Press, New Haven and
Angus & Robertson, Sydney 1992.
London 1962, p. 72.
7 P. Goad, Finding Australia, in S. Godsell,
18 «The enclosures of Godsell’s
Houses, Thames & Hudson, London 2019,
constructions function like hourglasses;
p. 12.
measuring the passage of the hours, they
8 J. Pallasmaa, op. cit., p. 29. make their function explicit by generating
figures that the planes send back as images
9 S. Godsell, Houses, Thames & Hudson,
that spring from the slow movement of
London 2019, p. 35.
the life on the patterns that transform it
10 M. Daguerre, Twenty Houses by Twenty into shadows». F. Dal Co, «Disconcerting
Architects (2003), Phaidon Press, New York suitability and efficacy of intelligence»,
2005, p. 89. Casabella, 815-816, July-August 2012, p. 161.

1
Sean Godsell’s sketches
(1985) of Chiesa del
Redentore and Villa Rotonda
by Andrea Palladio © Sean
300 Notes Godsell Architects. 301
 2 3 4
Sean Godsell, Carter/Tucker Exterior view with the Exterior view of the Eastern
House (Breamlea, Victoria, operable screen open and of the South-Western
Australia 1998-2000). © Sean Godsell Architects. façades © Sean Godsell
Architects.
302 303
 5
Sean Godsell, RMIT Design Section of the upper
Hub (Melbourne, Victoria, level © Sean Godsell
Australia 2007-12). Architects.

304 305
 6
Plan and elevation of the
corner solution © Sean
Godsell Architects.

306 307
 7 8 9
Entrance of the archive View of the Eastern and
building © Sean Godsell of the Western façades
Architects. © Sean Godsell Architects.

308 309
 10 11
The loggia of the archive The roof terrace © Sean
building © Sean Godsell Godsell Architects.
Architects.

310 311
 12 13 14 15
Sean Godsell, House in the The architect’s sketches of The roof screens, closed and
Hills (Barrabool, Victoria, the parasol roof © Sean open, and the exterior view
Australia 2015-18). Godsell Architects. © Sean Godsell Architects.

312 313
 16 17 18
Interior views © Sean The protected outdoor
Godsell Architects. space © Sean Godsell
Architects.

314 315
 — Tu pisavas nos astros, distraída
Sem saber que a ventura desta vida
É a cabrocha, o luar e o violão1.

Paulo Mendes The search for definition is the very definition of our work.

da Rocha. However, by working with Paulo Mendes da Rocha we learned that,

in addition to definitions, we always must pursue architecture as an
instrument of political action and of transformation of the world.
What is This unanswered question — what is architecture? — is permanent
in the everyday practice of architecture. The conventional training of

Architecture? the architect opens up thousands of possibilities: work in public in-

stitutions and governments, luxury interior design, ephemeral struc-
tures, regional development plans, residential projects, establishment
of urban policies for development and social housing, artistic work
and many other possible projects. The question could also take on
the formulation: «What projects do we want to do?». But which per-
spective shall we look from to evaluate the almost infinite possibility
of projects which we could devote ourselves to?
This is the very way I follow to evaluate the fundamental impor-
tance of those who came before us: they are permanent references
when making choices, taking positions, and facing the projects that
arise as possibilities. From this point of view, Paulo Mendes da Rocha
has been a great presence. Not only for those who worked daily with
him, but for all those who came in contact with his coherent and accu-
rate attitude in this ocean of possibilities — so as were, in their time,
both Vilanova Artigas, architect and professor, and Flavio Motta, phi-
losopher and professor, who somehow intervened in the formation of
Mendes da Rocha’s worldview.
I had the privilege of having a long professional relationship with
Paulo Mendes da Rocha — since 1993, still as a student, to the recent
days — developing projects and practicing in an interaction that shaped
my vision about the facts of the world, beyond the profession, escaping
from the stereotype of the master apprentice relationship. A relation-
ship like the one I am referring to has both an affective, subjective di-

Martin Corullon mension and an objective, technical dimension. This is a dimension

that gives someone the tools not only about «how» to do, but mainly
about «what» to do.

317
 In this text, therefore, I would like to make a reflection on these structural and infrastructural aspects, although it has a very incipient,
less obvious dimensions of his influences. In the last twenty years, the very rudimental construction industry. These unique paradoxes and
work of many important Brazilian architects turned out to get again a circumstances are quite peculiar characteristics that have passed
certain resonance in the global architectural culture. After the period down between successive generations of architects.
of great attention to the work produced until the 1960s, Brazil became Hence, in the foreign view about our production, it is also com-
somehow self-isolated from production in the rest of the world. mon to notice an emphasis on certain aspects that we do not value so
Led by Oscar Niemeyer and driven by the unlikely construction much, such as the proportions, or the quality and appearance of the
of Brasilia, with the radical plan by Lucio Costa and its very original used materials. They do not understand the matrix of our architecture
palaces and buildings, that period of Brazilian architecture represen- and often their perception is limited to the visible, related to their
ted a dissonant event in the overall history of modern architecture. It own categories.
was only at the beginnings of the new millennium, however, that im- Our matrix loads the architecture that we produce with an urgency
portant Brazilian buildings — such as the ones that Lina Bo Bardi and and a very peculiar political dimension: the one of thinking about ar-
Paulo Mendes da Rocha designed starting from the 1960s — became chitecture as a transforming tool of the world around us, relying on
the object of a new curiosity and recognition outside Brazil, putting the scarce resources, and not as an erudite research into the history of
country back again in the worldwide debate. architecture itself; as a way to transform the territory, the nature, be
A new generation — in which I include myself — circulates quite it the virgin forest or the built nature, in the form of our cities — this
actively amongst schools, lectures and international events, and from violent and unequal process, fruit of a colonial mentality still extre-
my particular experience in this environment I could notice some mely present today. In these processes, the projects we can think of act
surprise with the rather explicit connection between contemporary as «things», a transformed matter that in its turn has the capacity to
production and the production dating back to forty or fifty years ago. transform life. This idea is perhaps the most valuable lesson I learned
Outside Brazil, the production of the last century became history and, in the years of working with Paulo.
as such, it is considered only as a reference, often appreciated just for
its formal aspects or for quite different reasons than the meaning this MuBE
production really had at that time. We the Brazilians, on the contrary,
maintain an attitude towards many issues and questions, and a way of I first collaborated with Paulo Mendes da Rocha in the project for
thinking and designing that is highly affected by a specific tradition. the Brazilian Museum of Sculpture (MuBE), in São Paulo. It was 1994,
This phenomenon may have been forged in this context of isola- in the final phase of construction, and it was up to me to design the
tion I was referring to, but it is also linked to the peculiar circumstan- bodyguards and handrails that became a reference detail for several
ces of our urban environment and the technical conditions of a country projects.
standing in the periphery of development. We have never had the clas- The museum is built taking advantage of the natural four me-
sical tradition or the technological advancement of the European and ters slope of the site, which an open public square levels to its highest
North American countries. In addition, some Schools of Architecture, elevation, determining a partially hypogeal space where the program
as it is the case of FAUUSP, originated in the Polytechnic School and of the project is fully accommodated. Above this square, a 40 meters
not in the Fine Arts School — like it generally occurred in several other span suspended slab, 1,80 meter thick, with no direct relationship with
countries around the world. functional spaces, produces a shaded area and a mark on the land-
Our architecture therefore deals less with the formal and compo- scape. This great «flying stone» acts as a synthesis of some operations
sitional aspects, or visual aspects, and much more with its constructive, that are so characteristic of Brazilian architecture.

318 319
 Spaces without a name or defined function, open to spontaneous This ability to associate poetically such powerful images to a
appropriation, give the main meaning to several fundamental buildings work of architecture is enormously worth. Not only for the beauty of
in our recent history, such as the marquee of Parque Ibirapuera, built by the associations, but for the ability to unite popular culture with high-
Oscar Niemeyer in 1954, the Faculty of Architecture of the University ranking engineering, allowing all knowledge to collaborate in the con-
of São Paulo, with its great central hall, designed by João Batista Vila- struction of a new meaning and of an erotic vision of existence.
nova Artigas in 1969, or the Art Museum of São Paulo (MASP), realized
by Lina Bo Bardi in 1968, with its span-free suspension that opens the Cais das Artes
main avenue of the city to the public use and to the landscape.
More recently, in 2007, we started a project in Vitória, capital of
Expo 70 Osaka the state of Espírito Santo: a commission from the state government
for an art museum and a large theater in the city where Paulo Mendes
The project for the Brazilian pavilion at the Universal Exhibition da Rocha was born in 1928.
in Osaka, Japan, designed by Paulo Mendes da Rocha in 1969 and built In this project, which I had — still very young — the privilege of
in 1970, finds its original memory in a quote of Chão de Estrelas. A wide coordinating from the initial concept to the building phase, some of
concrete cover, with two large beams and a roof pierced by skylights the recurring characteristics of Mendes da Rocha’s work are present. A
allowing the sunlight through, lands on only four supports. These structure with a large span, suspended from the ground, allows free ac-
supports look like dunes, as the terrain forms gentle hills on which cess to the entire floor of the area in which it settles, and incorporates in
they rest. Under this great cover, an exhibition was installed running a permanent way the landscape into the spaces of the complex. In this
through the history of art produced in Brazil, following an itinerary case the landscape is simultaneously natural — large granite masses
designed by Flavio Motta which represented the great tragedies and that emerge from the sea — and built — the Jesuit convent on the top
the great richness of the Country. The sun, when passing through of the mountain and the cargo ships sailing towards the port of Vitória.
this translucent grid, projected on this uneven floor a screen of light In the Cais das Artes, the relationship between nature and con-
points, just as the moon crossed the zinc ceiling in the popular song struction appears again, explicit and reinforced, in the settlement and
by Silvio Caldas, whose final verse says: in the shape of buildings, and becomes also loaded with affections and
memories of the very life experienced by Mendes da Rocha in those
— A porta do barraco era sem trinco same enclosures, since childhood.
Mas a lua, furando o nosso zinco
Salpicava de estrelas nosso chão With maturity, there seems to be a purification of the understan-
Tu pisavas nos astros, distraída ding of the world, a reduction to essential ideas. Without simplifying,
Sem saber que a ventura desta vida the absurdities of the world are expressed in a direct and not at all
É a cabrocha, o luar e o violão2. complex way: the stupidity of individual transport clogging the cities,
the profound contradiction between the idea of teaching and the pos-
How to provide a hundreds-of-tons-heavy concrete structure of sibility of making a profit from it, the statement that cities are built
an amount of poetry apt to comment and to highlight in a different way to make conversation possible, or that those who are afraid of the city
the conflicts so present in our daily life? How to transform inert mat- center are afraid of freedom. These are all simple formulations that, if
ter into something that dialogues and directly transforms the ways of taken up in fact by everybody, would make the world a very different
using the city, the ways of perceiving it? place, in a radicality that does not bend to apparent complexity.

320 321
 1 «You stepped on the stars, absent-minded
These tiny examples, listed here, of the way of being and thinking / Not knowing that the bliss of this life / It’s
of Paulo Mendes da Rocha were repeated by him whenever he had the the young mulatto girl, the moonlight and
the guitar», Extract from the song Chão
opportunity to speak publicly. However, it is not just an intellectually de Estrelas, by Silvio Caldas and Orestes
constructed discourse. It is an inseparable part of his way of being. It is Barbosa (1937).
a consequence of a way of doing things — quintessential of architecture 2 From the same song: «The shack door
— that is thought of in the very moment it’s being done. had no lock / But the moon, piercing our zinc
/ Sprinkled stars on our floor / You stepped
The way we work varies greatly among ourselves. The very way on the stars, absent-minded / Not knowing
of doing a project may be invented again every time. Generally spea- that the bliss of this life / It’s the young
mulatto girl, the moonlight and the guitar».
king, we start from a description of an architectural object, which was
formed from a very clear idea about what is the problem that a specific
project wants to give an answer to. Starting from this description, often
without a drawing or a model, in the office we make a first test, from
which we will debug the solutions in working sessions together, on
the computer screen. As a matter of fact, the design sessions become
moments where the relations between the making of the material
thing and the meaning it may acquire in the field of political action
are put into practice. And the idea, the original intention, remains in-
tact throughout the process. The form varies, if unfolds, the technical
solutions are improved, the project formalization continues being in
process for some time, until it reaches a point where it resolves the
functional issues, the structural coherence etc. But at no time the
purpose — the idea that supports that project — disappears from the
horizon; it rather remains until the end. And this radical coherence is
a virtue that we pursue in our practice and that seems, occasionally,
unreachable.

322 Notes 323

 1 2
João Batista Vilanova Artigas,
Faculdade de Arquitetura e
Urbanismo da Universidade de
São Paulo (Brazil 1961-69).
324 325
 3
Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Overview of the ground
Museu Brasileiro de Escultura, level scape.
MuBE (São Paulo, Brazil
1987-95).
326 327
 4 5
Overview of the ground
level scape.

328 329
 6 7
Overview of the ground
level scape.

330 331
 8 9
Paulo Mendes da Rocha + Overview of the area. Detail of the construction
Metro Arquitetos, Cais das Artes site.
(Vitória, Brazil 2007-ongoing).

332 333
 In recent years it has been possible to detect great interest on the
part of architects operating in the Western world regarding the archi-
tecture being made in the «South». This interest is also confirmed by

Diébédo a stimulating debate, where one of the most significant moments was
the Venice Biennale of 2016. The focus can be attributed to various

Francis Kéré. factors: the originality of the solutions, resulting from research in
which the responses are produced by design culture, rather than ab-
solute faith in technology; freedom of expression, where constraints
Primitive Forms of are seen as part of the disciplinary ambit itself, more than a system of
often anachronistic norms; and a sort of pursuit of meaning in relation

the Contemporary to the profession of the architect, which leads to immediate effects in
terms of social sustainability.
In this framework, Diébédo Francis Kéré represents a special
case, because he was born and raised in the South of the world, in Bur-
kina Faso, but was trained as an architect in Germany, where he works
today. This pathway makes him the perfect intermediary between
two worlds. His work is strongly rooted to places, in an awareness of
what it means to interpret specific locations in the construction of
the identity of specific communities. Likewise, Kéré demonstrates
conscious mastery of the tools of composition, which lead him to
develop his own language that has become a reference point among
architects operating in the Western world. Kéré is a careful observer
of the reality in which he intervenes, able to interpret its landscape,
materials and customs, the people who will inhabit the buildings, and
the construction systems, combining knowledge acquired in Europe
with traditional methods. This approach enables him to interpret the
most appropriate technologies, namely those that best respond to the
cultural, social, economic and technological context in which they are
applied, in terms of production and maintenance. Therefore the best
response to a technical problem is not the one that is most advanced
in technical terms, but the one that is most adaptable to the context,
and capable of augmenting its autonomy. This interpretation has been
clarified by the German philosopher and economist E. F. Schumacher,
in his 1973 publication Small is Beautiful, Economics as if People Matte-
red, in which, through the concept of «intermediate technologies», he
Alessio Battistella, Camillo Magni identifies correct praxis in terms of the mediation between the primi-
tive technology of developing countries and the advanced technology

335
 of the so-called developed nations. To explain the application of this to the influence of the dominant Western culture, but made it his own,
architecture, it seems useful to turn to the definition Enrico Guidoni interpreting it and adapting it to the context.
provides for primitive architecture in his 1975 publication, Architettura Just as Hassan Fathy was able to find the natural interpretation of
primitiva: his own space-time in primitive architecture, so Kéré becomes the natu-
ral interpreter of his own places of origin. His architecture has its founda-
— The expression of the spatial activities of a pre-state society tions in the fundamental reasoning of construction and protection from
that occupies a given territory while conserving a high de- the environment. Nothing is granted to form as a gratuitous end in itself.
gree of economic-political independence with respect to As often happens among architects operating in the South of the
other societies with which it is in contact. The definition in world, the form is suggested by the techniques utilized and the nature
these terms has the advantage — since it does not rely on of the materials. Therefore, as forcefully characterizing elements in
the external aspects of architecture, but on the economic- Kéré’s projects we find large bases to protect against rain and humidity
political structure that produces it — of getting past the old rising from the ground, and wide roofs required for protection from
misunderstanding of the “primitive” as an inferior cultural sunlight and rain, whose water has to be recovered as preparation for
level, a phase left behind by the more advanced societies. inevitable drought. Designing in these places means going back to
basics in order to maximize results. Here we can observe the primal
This is a fundamental point if we want to understand the impor- meaning of construction, where every gesture, every detail is the con-
tance of Kéré’s contribution to the architectural debate today. To get sequence of a process of knowledge based on experience. In Kéré’s
beyond a supposed hierarchy between architecture conceived and im- buildings we can recognize the archetype of shelter, in which the form
plemented in Western countries and architecture designed and imple- is a direct consequence of the relations with the environment in which
mented in the countries of the South of the world is fundamental for that shelter is inserted and from which it protects itself.
an objective reading of architectural quality. To describe and understand the various themes that set the cha-
One area of research that is yielding more and more stimulating racter of the works of Francis Kéré, on the following pages we will at-
impressions observes primitive architecture as an independent praxis tempt to analyze in greater depth four works of architecture produced
that generates independent systems, in turn. We are thinking about in recent years. They are buildings quite different from one another,
the work of Julia Watson, Lo—TEK: Design by Radical Indigenism, built in Burkina Faso over a very wide time span: from the early expe-
published in 2020, where the search for a set of forms of expertise, riments in 2004 to the latest, more sophisticated constructions in
practices and beliefs passed down in primitive cultures over time 2019. In spite of the differences, we can clearly perceive shared cha-
reveals refined systems capable of functioning in a sustainable way in- racteristics that set the design work of Kéré apart.
side complex ecosystems. Kéré’s work represents the synthesis of types of
knowledge derived from primitive architecture and interpreted through Lycée Schorge Secondary School, 2018
a contemporary language, in which his European training is perceptible.
Before him, there was a master architect who traced a pathway for Located in the third most populous city of Burkina Faso, the
sustainable development based on economic-political independence Lycée Schorge Secondary School attempts to set a new standard of
from other cultures. Hassan Fathy, with his theoretical work and expe- excellence in education for this region. Kéré’s objective is to come to
rimentation in architecture, shed light on the quality of works made terms with the memory of primitive architecture, to project it into the
with local materials and techniques, adapted for contemporary lan- contemporary world through an innovative design that can become an
guages and uses. The Egyptian architect did not passively submit to iconic landmark.

336 337
 To do this, the use of materials takes on a fundamental role. Local history of these specific places, a heritage of memory whose roots lie in
materials represent a direct relationship with the memory of places, primitive architecture.
narrated through textures, colors, heaviness or lightness. Materials
make a direct link to history and trace a path for the contemporary. The Center for Health and Social Welfare, Laongo, 2012-14
In this case, the use of laterite, a local rock type rich in iron and alu-
minium, gives the building a particular reddish hue. The material is The second project analyzed stands out for the originality of its
easy to shape in the form of blocks and provides excellent levels of design and for its distance from the traditional approach used by Kéré.
thermal inertia, translating into environmental comfort. The whole It is the new Center for Health and Social Welfare built in the surpri-
building is wrapped in a system of sunscreens made with eucalyptus sing village of Laongo, as part of the Opera Village project.
wood, a widespread local species used to create a sort of second skin The Opera Village is an extraordinary local architectural expe-
for the building. The system prevents overheating of the walls, cre- riment, the result of collaboration between Francis Kéré and the late
ating a shady zone while above all generating a space for socializing. Christoph Schlingensief, the iconic theater and film director and a key
This circulation system surrounding the building becomes a place in figure of the German cultural scene. Schlingensief was first drawn to
which to spend time, a reference point for the community, in which Kéré by his fascination with the element of participation that under-
to wait for the start of classes or to gather when the school is closed. lies many of Kéré Architecture’s projects, which he likened to Joseph
It is a semi-public buffer zone, a sort of hybrid between the loggia and Beuys’ idea of social sculpture.
the portico. With this operation Kéré redefines the hierarchy of front An integral part of this experiment has been the construction of
and back, granting equal importance to the two façades that thrive on a new Center for Health and Social Welfare geared towards providing
different uses and functions. basic health and medical resources for the local population in Laongo
The circular footprint of the building is the result of observation and the surrounding areas. The project stems from very clear typologi-
of the context, where the typical central layout of buildings responds cal reflections: a dense construction formed by the succession of many
to the need for protection against wind and dust. The central arrange- rooms organized around three small patios that define the layout of
ment becomes an opportunity for the creation of a public space to host three functionally separate areas. The center consists of three units
informal gatherings, assemblies and celebrations, for the school and organized around a central waiting zone: dentistry, gynecology and
the neighboring community. The nine modules that fan out to form obstetrics, and general medicine.
the building are joined two by two with a triangular vertical element The facility has been provided with examination rooms, inpatient
that permits rotation of the classrooms, making the building intro- wards and staff offices. Special attention has been paid to visitors and
verted and creating a protected circular central space. These vertical families of patients, thanks to several shaded courtyards for gathering
parts function as wind towers, regulating the internal temperature of and waiting. Each sector is covered by a large roof with an opening at
the rooms, while also taking on a forceful formal value, becoming true the middle to bring light into the central patio. This solution increases
landmarks for the surrounding territory. climate comfort for the interiors, through the construction of spaces
In the Lycée Schorge we can find various solutions aimed at protected from solar radiation, and through the ventilation of the in-
boosting the building’s level of comfort: the wind towers, the ternal spaces through the patios.
cross-ventilation combined with a low-tech system of cooling through The playful fenestration design emerged from study of various
evaporation, as well as shading systems and the thermal inertia of local vantage points of standing, seated, or bedridden individuals, including
materials. These are all solutions that should not be interpreted exclu- children. The windows are arranged like picture frames, with each in-
sively in technical terms, because they make explicit reference to the dividual view focused on a single part of the landscape.

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 In keeping with the material aesthetic and ecology of the Opera gated sheet metal, it has a geometric design of small vaults supported
Village, local clay and laterite stone were used in the double-envelope by a complex system of iron beams. The upper surface is joined with
construction of the walls for extra rain protection. Locally available a suspended ceiling that protects the internal spaces against the hot
eucalyptus wood, a species seen as an environmental nuisance since sunlight. The large size of the roof protects the external masonry and
it contributes to desertification, has been used to line the suspended provides the whole building with an ample quantity of shade, facilita-
ceilings and covered walkways of the center. ting natural ventilation and increasing thermal comfort.
The building is oriented along an East-West axis and the roof has
Dano Secondary School, Dano, 2006-07 a substantial overhang in order to reduce the amount of sunlight re-
ceived by the walls. The building consists of three classrooms, a com-
The Dano Secondary School is one of the most famous buildings puter room and office space. There is also a covered outdoor «conver-
created by Kéré in the early part of his career, and represents one of the sation pit», comparable to a classroom in size. The students can sit
icons of African contemporary architecture. The quality of the project here during break times.
lies in its ability to express the distinctive characteristics of a new way Natural ventilation is achieved by means of slits in the suspen-
of designing in the contexts of the Global South. The following traits ded ceiling, the slope of the corrugated metal roof and the shuttered
are of particular significance: simplicity of composition, efficacy of con- windows. This is a more sustainable solution than the often-copied
struction, iconic image, and the extraordinary ability to do a lot with a Western model of construction, according to which artificial air con-
little. This building develops several themes that clearly emerged in the ditioning would be required in this part of the world.
previous Gando Primary School, constructed in 2001. In particular, the This entire project was carried out in cooperation with young
construction type, the planimetric arrangement, the use of materials people, who had been trained in previous projects sponsored by Kéré’s
and the creation of a large roof are the architectural elements existing foundation. Through this operational model, the local work-force
in both projects, which in the early 2000s set the character of the design gained not only a newfound appreciation of traditional building mate-
research of Francis Kéré over the next two decades. rials, but also further experience, training and education.
The primary objective of this project was to design a sustainable
building appropriate for the climate conditions in this part of Africa. Gando Teachers’ Housing, Gando, 2004
Again in this case, laterite stone has been utilized, a material that is
abundant in this region. This material has the extraordinary virtue of The teachers’ housing complex was one of the first buildings made
offering excellent thermal performance while granting a massive, so- at Gando, after the construction of the Primary School. Unlike most of
lid character to the construction. The entire composition is organized the works designed by Kéré, this one has a residential function, with
around the module of the single block, which repeats to form a simple, an appearance very different from his other buildings. The facility was
linear facility. The construction parts have been combined in a clear, designed to attract teachers to the countryside, as well as to promote
simple way: a reinforced concrete base separates the construction the use of earth as a sustainable and durable building material.
from the ground, raising it by about 40 centimeters to protect against The small size of the houses made it possible to reinterpret tra-
the problems caused by rain. The load-bearing walls resting on the base ditional residential types, and to experiment with new construction
are made of laterite blocks, which in turn support a system of beams in techniques aimed at formulating a model that can be implemented,
reinforced concrete, with the function of connecting the construction adapted and utilized by the local population.
and sharing out the weight of the roof. This room plays a fundamental The houses were organized as a series of adaptable modules, each
role and represents the entire project with an iconic form: in corru- of comparable size to the traditional round huts typically found in this

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 region. Single modules can be combined in various ways into a larger Conclusion
composite whole. The simplicity of the design and the minimized use
of purchased materials mean that the system can be easily applied by The works of architecture of Kéré are capable of narrating the
the inhabitants of the area. context in which they are built, and of narrating Africa. The buildings
The six houses for teachers and their families are arranged in a have an inseparable relationship with the places that host them. Ma-
wide arc to the South of the school complex. This curved layout is re- terials, geometries, shadows, light, construction systems and colors
miniscent of a traditional Burkinabè compound. The roofs are barrel speak not only of the relationship between the construction and the
vaults constructed from stabilized earth blocks. This construction surrounding environment, but also of how these buildings were made,
method, previously unheard of in this region, makes use of local re- through what forms of knowledge, with what kind of labor and crafts-
sources and is climatically efficient. To protect the building from rising manship, conveying a sense of the cultural character they set out to
dampness, the adobe walls with a thickness of 40 centimeters stand on achieve. In this sense, the authorship of Kéré is vividly recognizable,
a foundation of concrete poured in place and granite stones. The com- yet at the same time it vanishes into a wider-ranging narrative, in which
munity produced around 15.000 blocks, each 40x20x10 centimeters, at the inhabitants are the true protagonists.
a rate of between 600 and 1.000 per day. We observe these works with the disciplinary interest of disco-
A tie beam connecting the walls bears the roof load in each mo- vering how the lessons they convey can be applied to our contexts as
dule. The roof is a layer of reinforced concrete poured on site into well; they do not embody an interpretation of the genius loci described
permanent shuttering of compressed stabilized earth blocks (CSEBs). by Christian Norberg-Schulz, but a more radical way of understanding
The roof heights alternate between 100 and 150 centimeters; therefore architecture as a primitive form of making, in which the simplicity of
when they overlap a sickle-shaped opening is formed, and serves as the construction is expressed through its suitability for the place in
a means of ventilating the interior and providing daylight. Generous which it arises, and the respect for the technical, structural, economic
roof overhangs protect the walls from moisture. In traditional Burki- and cultural capacities that permit its construction. We recognize the
nabè houses, a special type of thin loam rendering — mixed with vege- value of these works of architecture, their originality and autonomy
table juice and cow dung — is applied to the outer walls as a protective with respect to a globalized debate on architecture that tends to uni-
layer of about 3 centimeters against weathering. Unfortunately, these formly standardize its language. We can observe how these projects
components are of littlese in the rainy season and attract termites manage to be independent of the logic of the market, opting instead for
which can eventually destroy the walls. In the teachers’ housing, the the pursuit of rationality in construction, to reduce costs rather than
traditional organic components of the rendering were replaced with reducing compositional efficacy. These are works that represent a dif-
bitumen. The final step of the construction is the tamping of the clay ferent way of thinking about architecture. It is in these principles that
floor to create a smooth, homogeneous surface. The enthusiastic in- we can discover the great value of Diébédo Francis Kéré and its capa-
volvement of the people of Gando was the key to the success of this city to become an example that can also be exported into our contexts.
project. Everyone gained not only new skills but also a sense of re-
sponsibility, awareness and sensitivity to both the traditional and the
innovative aspects of building.

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 1 2 3
Diébédo Francis Kéré, Section, plan and elevation Detail of the façade View of the building
Lycée Schorge Secondary © Kéré Architecture. @ Kéré Architecture. @ Kéré Architecture,
School (Koudougou, ph. Andrea Maretto.
Burkina Faso 2018).
344 345
 4
View of the building
@ Kéré Architecture,
ph. Andrea Maretto.

346 347
 5 6 7
Exploded axonometry Detail of the border spaces
© Kéré Architecture. @ Kéré Architecture,
ph. Andrea Maretto.

348 349
 8
Overview of the inner
courtyard @ Kéré
Architecture,
ph. Andrea Maretto.
350 351
 9 10 11
Diébédo Francis Kéré, Plan and sections Overview of the building Detail of the façade
Center for Health and Social © Kéré Architecture. @ Kéré Architecture, © Kéré Architecture.
Welfare (Laongo, Burkina ph. Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk.
Faso 2012-14).
352 353
 12 13 14 15
Detail of an entrance One of the inner courtyards Interior spaces
@ Kéré Architecture, © Kéré Architecture. @ Kéré Architecture,
ph. Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk. ph. Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk.

354 355
 16 17 18
Diébédo Francis Kéré, Plan and sections Overview of the building Detail of the façade
Secondary School (Dano, © Kéré Architecture. @ Kéré Architecture, © Kéré Architecture.
Burkina Faso 2006-07). ph. Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk.

356 357
 19 20 21
View of the semi- View of one of the Detail of the façade
open space © Kéré classrooms © Kéré @ Kéré Architecture,
Architecture. Architecture. ph. Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk.

358 359
 22 23 24
Diébédo Francis Kéré, Exploded axonometry Views of the front
Teachers’ Housing (Gando, © Kéré Architecture. @ Kéré Architecture,
Burkina Faso 2004). ph. Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk.

360 361
 25 26
Plan and sections © Kéré Detail of the building
Architecture. @ Kéré Architecture,
ph. Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk.

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Layers

Luigi Spinelli
 — A layer of whitish clay of secured bank deposit, but above all is the useful result of patience
a band of clayey sand and experience over time.
a layer of volcanic dust The tectonic layering is present in the Madeira landscape in
a deposit of marine debris which Paulo David operates — a physical overlap of pergola terraces
a perforated limestone vein and split stone retaining walls, engraved by the narrow paths of local
from infiltrations of high saline rate crops. It is also the sedimentation of stories, traditions and cultural
a red Cretaceous syncline meanings, visible in the signs of a strong nature, harsh in its elements.
on a bed of Precambrian moraines The materials of this difficultly passable landscape, constantly
a considerable mantle of lava subjected to confrontation with the wild force of nature, are the liquid
that presses on the clay made shale volcanic lava, violently cooled in contact with a second material: the
a layer of pure silicates water conveyed by sudden streams and the surrounding ocean, bearing
over a vein of metamorphic gneiss at the same time danger and luck. A fusion of basalt stone characte-
a lava flow of magmatic granite rizes the rugged surfaces of the island’s limits as well as the textures of
a late Devonian raid the black and white stone houses of the historic center. David shows
another granite rich in feldispati a deep and sensitive knowledge of the traces of this territory, a deep
whole eras weighing on the last ones bond rooted with intensity, that does not allow for transformations,
traces of life on this planet but rather always integrations through analogue references to ma-
terials and colors. The architect’s action works in section in the re-
In 1968, the Argentine poet Juan Rodolfo Wilcock describes the design of the territory, transversely with respect to the geological
heterogeneity of the unstoppable deposit of time, with an insistent layering.
image that can metaphorically represent the aspects with which From the beginning of this century, also the approach of the Bra-
the contemporary project is confronted with the theme of memory. zilian architect Marcio Kogan shows more and more interest in the
The outcomes of this book show, to those who want to look at them, theme of layering over time. It is an approach that relies on a para-
a research that does not renounce a reflection on the stratification of tactic model, based on a composition generated by the juxtaposition
experiences and cultures. The result of the deposit of collective or of closed and independent elements. This re-composition process
personal contents in contemporary architecture constitutes its theo- does not concern the themes of typological evolution or hybridization:
retical depth, contributes to the representation of an image, organizes each element rigorously maintains its own autonomy, in a balance
its constitutive hierarchy, establishes a relationship with the context. that respects the formal abstraction of each component. The design
approach, however, alludes to addition rather than to transformation,
In its more material sense, which refers to the images of geology, as occurs in buildings following the juxtaposition of interventions in
the overlapping generated by sedimentation respects an established the depth of a time span, during which they acquire memory and the
order and a positional hierarchy. The oldest layers are on the bottom; possibility of narration. This relationship with history — or rather
more and more recent ones cover them over time. Each stratiform with «apocryphal temporality» — has been effectively reflected in the
element is identifiable by characters of distinctive identity and homo- projects of the last decade, in the redevelopment and addition to exi-
geneity, and it has consolidated in a recognizable portion of time and sting historical structures: in Rio de Janeiro, in the transformation of
in constant physical conditions. This result of the overlapping action an early 20th century industrial building into a multifunctional cultu-
constitutes a protected legacy, which in human work is not only a sort ral complex connected to the Municipal Theater, and in the Barcelona

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 Diagonal, in the recovery of a 1960s Modernist building by the Swiss cultural and social sharing, shows a necessary assumption of respon-
architect Saugey, with the new identity of «the Squircle». sibility in the intervention on the heritage.
Cristián Undurraga knows the lesson of the geography of his land:
he possesses the aware instinct of the continuous silent activity of the When the layer, by revealing the infinitesimal dimension of the ele-
earth, even when this does not manifest itself dramatically in a real ments deposited in it, becomes thinner until it becomes a veil, or a film,
earthquake. This multi-layered geography is a constant inspiration until it loses the characteristics of thickness and opacity, we can speak
towards the knowledge of a unique landscape, which fosters the dia- of overlaying. This type of layering manifests itself in meteorology —
logue between nature and the work of men. The constructive sincerity where the layer is a uniform horizontal cloud of such thickness as to let
of the Capilla del Retiro results into the construction of the liturgical the light of the sun or the moon shine through — or in ecology — where
space with only two archetypal elements: an excavation in the ground, the living forms of a particular environment live in layers at different
bearing an archaeological memory, and a roof that assumes the mo- altitudes, depending on the needs of natural light or humidity. In the
dern image of a light device. From the awareness of the underground artistic disciplines, the fresco and watercolor techniques overlay a glaze
restlessness of this geography, a constructive sensitivity and a simpli- that highlights the grain of the support. The work of a contemporary ar-
fication to the minimum terms of the elements of the composition na- tist like Emilio Isgrò does not only involve the subtraction of words, but
turally derive, which are translated into a formal expression and in the rather it involves the physical operation of the overlaying of a thin layer
adoption of an essential technology, such as that of laminated wood. of paint or ink on the paper sheet or canvas. Marcel Duchamp conducted
Undurraga bases his ethical approach to his research on the theme of experiments in the field of photography throughout his artistic acti-
construction, extended to architecture and public spaces as well as to vity, going beyond the action of the machine that picks up fragments
social housing, with a community sensitivity that he himself identifies of reality with the direct intervention of the photographer, to verify
as «the art of building hospitality». new potentialities. The adjective ultrathin, or inframince, concerns in-
In the practice of Jonathan Sergison and Stephen Bates it is a le- corporeal phenomena that cannot be perceived directly, except by the
gacy of unwritten rules that comes from the training, experience and human brain, and opens to the fourth dimension. Duchamp describes
sensitivity of the two architects. A practice that manifests itself in the some examples of this immateriality: the space between the front and
expression of a layered tectonics, drawing on the volumes of their urban the back of a sheet of paper, the people who cross the subway doors
architectures through calibrated overlappings and combinations of at the last moment, the X-rays, the reflections of light on surfaces and
different architectural elements and materials, between pre-existing mirrors, a painting on glass seen from the unpainted side. In cinema-
and new interventions. Thus in the Urban Housing and Crèche, in Ge- tographic projections, the montage and superimposition experiments
neva, the compact angular volume is modulated in overlapping parts by in René Claire’s film Entr’Acte use images that refer to each other in
the supporting frame, each of which describes the program in a simple order to evoke, with the use of fading, something more than what
way. In the expansion of a 19th century school in the Public Library in they show. Through the reference to many and different practices,
Blankenberge, the extreme variety of the interior spaces is expressed this type of layering can be described as the overlay of images so thin
towards the city through the size of the superimposed windows in the as to be transparent, enabling the projection of the underlying layers,
tectonic layering of the façade. Both architectures are characterized enriching the vision with vibration and movement, involving imagina-
by a careful dialogue with the surrounding buildings, based on the in- tion and dream.
terpretation of their respective urban atmospheres. The ability of the Similarly, in Kengo Kuma’s design method, the layering of me-
architects to recognize and assimilate the specific aspects of a place, mory refers to the concept of deposit of small particles or fragments,
whether expressed by architectural characteristics and rhythms or by the infinitesimal units of which our universe is built. Kuma observed

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 this in the spontaneous villages of the Sahara and in the work of wood The process to which the work of Angelo Bucci relies on refers
craftsmen in Japan. This theory of discretization, of mathematical ori- to the theme of the projection, that crosses the layers of the operatio-
gin and organic results, manifests itself in several aspects. First of all, nal phases of the architectural project. The overlay of several working
it appears in compliance with the artisanal tradition of using wood in tools that are not mutually exclusive — freehand sketches, technical
construction, with a contemporary interpretation, advanced tools of and computerized drawings, physical and digital models — accom-
computational design and a parametric approach — as in the Sunny panies the projection into the third dimension of volumetric conse-
Hills store in Tokyo. Kuma claims the democratic nature of a con- quentialities, the sequence of ideas and the control of strategies. It is
struction process based on small and light elements, within the reach in this structure of thought that the architect faces the «challenge» of
of anyone who is not a professional. Secondly, discretization manifests the design. One of the constant elements of this projective process is
itself in the mnemonic relationship with nature through its abstraction the topography of the place, which in Bucci’s houses is not opposed
in the primordial call to protection, and through its balance with it by nor modified, but rather is involved and supported in the process of
means of the reduction of elements, surfaces and spaces to a human foundation and simultaneous re-signification of the ground. The way
scale. In the simple architecture of Kodama at Arte Sella, Kuma adds of going through these architectures overturns the traditional section,
the void, an oriental element, to the four elements of Western philo- rooted on the ground and growing upwards, adopts the slopes and ir-
sophy. Finally, it manifests itself in the recovery of the relationship regularities of the ground as an element of the place with a projective
between architecture and the human scale of the built environment, value, and establishes new paths and new privacy gradients through
through the adoption of topological figures, regardless of the size of the use of layers and terraces. This attitude is also supported by the
the elements, and the concept of topography — applied in the Victoria theme of the threshold, the interface between inside and outside, which
and Albert Museum in Dundee, where the concrete washed with water is inserted in the paths at the points where the relationship with the
evokes the natural randomness of the rock and the lamellar element landscape is set. Bucci’s assertion «there are many doors and many
on the facade constitutes the smallest unit of measurement. ways to get through them», and the admiration for the architecture of
Solano Benítez’s approach, in analogy with that of Kengo Kuma, Vilanova Artigas, where «you simply don’t know whether you are inside
works on the discretization of minute elements: instead of wood, he or outside», explain the architect’s interest.
applies it through the use of the brick, the ladrillo. An apparently
modest material, which has not exhausted the expressiveness of its A stratigraphy deeply perforates the layers to reconstruct the
multiple values. Benitez enhances its potential with a personal search dating of the overlapping phases, through the analysis of their homo-
for new and unconventional solutions at the service of a technique geneity, consistency and arrangement. Hybrid materials resurface
and a constructive use that is renewed and verified in any professio- from the depths — as in an overturned version of the Cretto by Burri
nal experience. The Paraguayan architect thus maintains a strong — as they are made up in different moments and situations, mixed and
bond with the territory and with the local culture, starting from the contaminated with each other, evidence of the cyclical character of
resources and skills available on site. At the same time, he projects history. A bit like what has happened in recent decades in the social
this traditional material towards the future, infusing it with a new and economic fields, with the remixing of the vertical overlapping of
authenticity, with new employment prospects. Above all, and unlike income brackets or classes, due to globalization. Important indicators
others, he is not pleased with the aesthetic result, but acts on the emerge in the section of the excavation, such as fossils, testifying to
production, redeeming the conditions of an economically under- previous forms of life, or incoherent and unconsolidated joints that te-
developed context by means of experimental and innovative ways of stify to a sudden fracture in the overlapping. The design and research
organizing the construction site. in architecture have the ability to revive the buried layers and re-

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 compose them in a new surface design, to act in section by overlap- João Nunes works on spaces of transition and overlapping of
ping writings, to probe the interstices caused by discontinuities. meaning, which result from the re-emergence of temporal layering
The archaeological layers are the material with which Angela and once again in play for a new role. His research is based on strate-
García de Paredes and Ignacio García Pedrosa are often confronted, gies of interaction and rebalancing between the system of natural va-
being frequently engaged in contexts characterized by the deposit of lues and the forms of human settlement action. Interaction is inten-
history. Their design approach is not limited to an intelligent — and ded as a mediation practice between complex situations and different
not self-representative — reading of the complexities of each specific occasions, as an activity of research and recognition of the processes
context; above all it shows the ability to intertwine and make visible of anthropization and transformation of the territory and the identity
symbolic relationships and references among the different temporal traces that have overlapped and integrated over time, as well as a
layers of a place, in a dialogue between tradition and innovation. Their project strategy for the recomposition of settlement paths. The scale
vision of time is articulated, it reads not only its continuity but also its is that of the landscape project, due to the relationships and variety of
lacerations, distortions and scars. Their approach sometimes operates the elements involved. An example of this recomposition approach is
with the adoption of a particular material, or with historical citations the reconfiguration of the morphology of the Alcântara Valley and of
or urban references; it transforms their architectures into devices the numerous elements it includes, enhancing the stratification of the
that visualize time in space. The results do not correspond to a frozen signs that characterize the slopes at different altitudes. Another exam-
museum practice, nor to the work of the archaeologist. By renewing ple is the intervention of the Ourém Linear Park, which re-orientates
the culture of the project in historical contexts, they show the ability the connections and redefines the margins, in search of new uses and
to graft the previous phases into the current life of the city, renewing a new identity of the place.
the history of the site with an episode of its own time.
The architectures of Niall McLaughlin — the Centre for Contem- If the layer is constituted by the deposit of events, and if these,
porary Irish Culture in Kenmare and the projects for the Scotland by settling down, become memories, the overlapping becomes the re-
Wing Extension and the Welcome Building of the Auckland Castle — corded trace of time and memory, something like a musical track that
have a contemporary identity of their own, and are representative of intertwines or overlaps with numerous others. The reactions to this
the meanings and motivations that generated them. At the same time, backup of memory can be different: the habit of normal daily life, which
events and meanings of the past, belonging to the world of forms, is repeated every day, with its same spaces and objects, the wounds of
emerge from the layering of collective memory. These architectures the violence of war or the relentlessness of nature, inflicted on the sur-
therefore take on a narrative value, and tell parables: the imaginary face of things, the persistence and indelibility of images and places, or
is confronted with reality and, by reappearing in the project through the ability to re-read, listen to or view again, at different times, hence
the architect’s evocative vocabulary, it inspires and recomposes new obtaining deep and different emotions.
future meanings. To engage in temporal stratification by assuming, The meaning that Rafael Moneo gives to memory is that of a
through analogy, values that go beyond the sequence between past layering based on a continuous and unstoppable flow, where moder-
and future, involves a reflection on the history and life of archi- nity will also settle, by becoming the last layer of self-awareness. The
tecture, and on the meanings of the forms of the past. This method layering of memory becomes the trace for the action of the contempo-
reminds us of the image of the old Finn — in Joyce’s Finnegans rary architect, through the reworking of the more or less permanent
Wake — who, lying on the bank of the Anna Liffey river, observes the phenomena of the past: typology, shape, materials, language. Moneo’s
history of Ireland and the world deposited along the river of life pas- architectural culture is able to produce an extremely wealthy range of
sing through his mind. meanings, with the help of the abstraction of the messages of the past,

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 and achieves modern formal results without betraying the original the architect’s work, in this important political tool for transforming
values. At the same time, it expresses itself with evident materiality human life on our planet. The ways in which this practice is carried out
and constructive clarity. His experience denies self-referentiality, research the structural aspects and the memory of tradition and po-
and adapts to a personal interpretation of different places, situations pular culture, rather than the formal and intellectualistic aspects, and
and contexts. This happens for example in the Madrid Atocha Station, are reinvented in each project, in the face of the available resources,
with the interpretation of a representative typology such as that of seeking the adhesion between one’s actions and thinking. Over time
the railway station through the changes and needs that evolved over Mendes da Rocha has refined his poetics and his thoughts on the world
time. Moneo’s architectures therefore fit into the rhythmic flow of and its absurdities, moving more and more towards essentiality, carry-
time, or «dance» in time and space, as Josep Questglas says, with the ing out a continuous search for coherence in practice and refining his
freedom to reflect on how time is one of the most powerful variables ability to associate his architectures to images that are powerful and
for a designer. full of memory.
Sean Godsell’s action is characterized by an incremental method Finally, if there is a way of interpreting the memory of places
of patient layering of his research over time, an overlapping of hete- through the contemporary spaces of everyday life, this happens in
rogeneous references, direct or indirect, which may come from the the architecture of Diébédo Francis Kéré. His creations are strongly
experience of an architect or from personal imagery. A first family of rooted in the specific community identity and building culture of Bur-
references ensues from the study on the evolution of building types, kina Faso, in the conditions of light and shadow, in the colors and in the
not only of the settlement model originating in Australia but also of simple and effective geometries of his land. The memory of the places
other Western specificities. The project for the Carter/Tucker House, is revealed in each of its architectures through the materials available
for example, stems from a reflection on the transformation of the re- on site, such as laterite, a rock rich in iron and aluminum, that give it a
lationship between some parts that constitute the house, between the reddish color, or eucalyptus wood, which are renewed with the aim of
distribution corridor and the veranda understood in different cultures. an updating of technology and image. The ability to interpret the me-
A second source of reference is the lesson of the masters of the long mory of the primitive tradition and the primary needs for protection
history of Western architecture, from Michelangelo to Palladio to Le from the environment in which Kéré operates, are thus summarized
Corbusier, as it appears in the Royal Melbourne Institute of Techno- through a contemporary language that also owes a lot to its European
logy Design Hub. The dialogue with the past is also expressed through formation.
the knowledge of the identity characters of the territory and of the
multifaceted culture in which Godsell operates: in Australia, where the
colonial culture is intertwined with the aboriginal one, different tradi-
tions overlap and alternate in the way of building and living. The House
in the Hills in Barrabool is an example of this application of the cha-
racteristics of the territory. By interweaving architecture and history,
Godsell adopts a methodological attitude where the role of time beco-
mes important, understood as a place of memory but also a place for
experimenting with the needs of contemporaneity.
In the daily practice of the Brazilian architect Paulo Mendes da
Rocha, the question about the meaning of making architecture is con-
stantly present. This attitude also has to do with the record of time in

374 375
 1
Alta Valle Bormida, 2003,
ph. Marco Introini.

376 377
 Guillermo Aranda-Mena is Helder Casal Ribeiro is Professor in Carlo Peraboni is Professor in Simone Helena Tanoue Vizioli is
Professor in Property, Construction Architectural Design at the Faculdade de Urban Design and Landscape Professor at the Institute of Architecture
and Project Management at the Royal Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto, at the Department of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of São
Melbourne Institute of Technology, and where he is member of the Study Centre and Urban Studies Paulo, where she is the President of the
Visiting Professor at the University of of Architecture and Urbanism. of Politecnico di Milano. International Cooperation Commission.
Applied Sciences and Arts
Northwestern Switzerland Martin Corullon is Visiting Professor Luigi Spinelli is Professor in Claudia Tinazzi is Professor in
and Politecnico di Milano. at the Escola da Cidade and the Univesidade Architectural Design at the Department Architectural and Urban Design at
Paulista in São Paulo and at Politecnico of Architecture and Urban Studies of the Department of Architecture, Built
Alessio Battistella teaches at di Milano, and director of the São Paulo- Politecnico di Milano. Environment and Construction Engineering
Università di Camerino, Politecnico di based practice METRO arquitetos. of Politecnico di Milano.
Torino and at the School of Sustainability
in Bologna, and is director of the Veronica Ferrari is Post-doc Research
cooperative ARCò Architettura e Fellow at the Department of Architecture
Cooperazione. and Urban Studies of Politecnico di Milano.

Marco Biagi is Professor in Marco Imperadori is Professor in

Architectural Design at the Department Building Production at the Department
of Architecture, Built Environment and of Architecture, Built Environment and
Construction Engineering of Construction Engineering of Politecnico
Politecnico di Milano. di Milano, where he also serves as
Rector’s delegate for Far East Asia.
Barbara Bogoni is Professor in
Architectural and Urban Design at the Joubert José Lancha is Professor
Department of Architecture and Urban at the Institute of Architecture and
Studies of Politecnico di Milano. Urbanism of the University of São Paulo,
where he is Director of the Institute of
Gabriel Braulio Botasso is Ph.D. in Architecture and Urbanism.
Architectural Theory and History at the
Institute of Architecture and Urbanism Camillo Magni is Professor in
of São Carlos of the University Architectural Design at Politecnico of
of São Paulo. Milan, where he serves as Director of the
Design for Development in the Global South
Filippo Bricolo is Professor in Master.
Architectural Design at the Department
of Architecture, Built Environment Elena Montanari is Professor in Interior
and Construction Engineering of Architecture and Exhibition Design at the
Politecnico di Milano. Department of Architecture and Urban
Studies of Politecnico di Milano.
Luca Cardani is Professor in
Architectural Design at the Department Matteo Moscatelli is Professor in
of Architecture, Built Environment and Architectural Design at the Department
Construction Engineering of Architecture and Urban Studies of
of Politecnico di Milano. Politecnico di Milano.

378 Authors Authors 379

The fourteen critical essays included in the book explore the work
of architects who have significantly interpreted the layering of
history and memory in the contemporary context: Paulo David,
Marcio Kogan, Cristián Undurraga, Jonathan Sergison and
Stephen Bates, Kengo Kuma, Solano Benítez, Angelo Bucci,
Ángela García de Paredes and Ignacio Pedrosa, Níall McLaughlin,
João Nunes, Rafael Moneo, Sean Godsell, Paulo Mendes da Rocha,
Diébedo Francis Kéré.
The volume aims at critically reflecting on the work of these
protagonists of the international architecture culture, who have
lectured within the Mantovarchitettura programme and fostered the
debate between professional experience and university teaching.

ISBN: 9788835120667