TOMA
THIS IS A BRIEF PRESENTATION OF 5 PROJECTS, SELECTED TO ILLUSTRATE THE PERFORMATIC DIMENSION OF OUR WORK.
Santiago de Chile - June 2017
TOMA is an architecture collective based in Santiago de Chile, formed in 2012 and currently composed of 5 architects. Understanding architecture as a tool to question the current destruction of territories and communities, TOMA works as a nomad organization that aims to understand and visualize the conflicts that occur in the urban, developing actions and research to generate alternative social ecosystems. In their projects, TOMA uses a broad array of tools and involves multiple actors. Its production is selfmanaged, hands-on, and mostly constructed with scarce resources. The work of TOMA has been exhibited in Santiago, Athens, Istanbul, Chicago and Melbourne. » Portfolio » Facebook » Instagram
#1 THE OCCUPATION
AN OCCASSIONAL CITY
OCT 2013 - JAN 2014 SANTIAGO
La Ocupación (The Occupation) took place at the Cultural Center MilM2, in the facilities of an old hat factory. Situated in the very core of the gentrification processes in Santiago, La Ocupación occurred during the last week before it got demolished. By using the figure of an Occasional City, La Ocupación was an exercise of temporary occupation that explored different ways of collaboration and new forms of collectiveness. Eight
temporary
different
institutions,
collectives
two
developed
by
warehouses,
an
exhibition room and a backyard took part in this one week experiment. It functioned day and night from 5-11 of january 2014, with a continuous program. Each institution developed an infrastructural and programmatic proposal, and was asked to relate both with other institution as with the general collectivity. In this manner, The Occupation was a space of action and reflection, a temporary ecosystem to inquire about the possibilities of the social space. The Institutions were: The Press Room / The Nocturnal University / The World or Global Code / The Sanatorium / The Music House / The Bakery / The Identitorium / The Dining Room
» The Press Room Issues #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 » La Ocupacion Milm2
#2 ESPECULOPOLIS
PROJECT FOR THE CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE BIENNIAL 2015
OCT 2015 – DEC 2015 CHICAGO
The case study for ESPECULOPOLIS is Santiago de Chile, the neoliberal city par excellence, shaped by the thoughts of the ¨Chicago Boys¨, whose ideas became prominently influential during Pinochet’s dictatorship and still resonate deeply within Chilean society
today.
ESPECULOPOLIS
brought
and
exposed four ¨urban crimes¨, four specific territories from Santiago de Chile, through which this historical process is exposed to offer an opportunity for open discussion and reflection. During 2 weeks, TOMA installed its office at the biennial,
were
three
collective
actions
were
developed: Cases Parliament: A discussion scene that relates the four case studies through historical facts and relevant actors, building up a territorial cosmogony over the last 50 years. Speculative Tribune: A collective newspaper. It contains reflections on the contemporary city, declassified documents, comments about the biennial, speculations about possible post-neoliberal cities, photo reportages, etc. The Evidence Board and Archive: gathers information detailing the history of neoliberalism in Santiago de Chile and in the world. The Evidence Board organizes this history and its manifestations in the urban environment. » Speculative Tribune #0 #1 #2 #3 #4 » Article on ArchDaily » Videos #1 #2 #3
#3 COMEDOR
MEMORY
AUG - OCT 2016 SANTIAGO
COMEDOR (DINING ROOM) is a project of temporary occupation of the central plaza of GAM, the largest cultural center in Santiago de Chile. COMEDOR is proposed as a recovery action of the memory of the building - originally the UNCTAD III (United Nations Conference of Trade and Development 1972) then Gabriela Mistral Metropolitan Cultural Center 1972-73 and then Diego Portales (Pinochet dictatorship headquarters 1973-90)- specifically of the dining room which functioned in the original cultural center from august 1972 to September 1973. This cultural center represented the ideals and hopes of the first socialist government in Chile, and the dining room was the hearth of this space where artists, thinkers and workers who believed in this project met each other. COMEDOR links the food and the culture as ritual practices associated to meeting, conversation and exchange. The memory recovery appears as a link between a temporary community and a public space. Dining room opened its door for in September 2014, and remained in operation for five weeks, offering typical Chilean food and many activities as music concerts and lectures.
Associated Collaborators: Denise Elphick (cultural manager), Patricio Garcés (chef), Sergio Benavente (manager) and GAM.
» Facebook » Gam » Article on Plataforma Arquitectura
Dinner Table x12, Large Bench x16, Short Bench x16.
The Kitchen
The Ticket Office
The mobile Table
The Kiosk
#4 NEVER DISCUSS POLITICS AT HOME NEVER DISCUSS POLITICS AT HOME is a project developed by TOMA for Occupied Exhibition, at RMIT Design Hub, in Melbourne. It explores the domestic space and its capacity as a political stimuli through a collection of architectural tv shows, movies, magazines, newspapers, pictures, websites and books. The project remained open for 2 months, with a member of Toma in residence. The visitors of the exposition would have the chance to comment its content with the occasional inhabitant. Every week, a public meal was organized, and guests were invited to discuss the political conflicts of urban issues of our time: real estate speculation, affordable housing, gentrification, demolition, displacement, urban memory, community resistance, manifestations and protests, occupations of buildings and territories, contamination of urban natural resources. TOMA is currently developing a new version of this project as TV Program in Santiago and Melbourne, granted by the Graham Foundation. It will be published during the second semester of 2017.
» Site » Facebook » Article » Video » New version
EXHIBITION
AUG - OCT 2016 MELBOURNE
#5 ESPECULOPOLIS TV This project was developed as the conclusion of the residence of TOMA at the Centro Cultural Infante 1415, owned by the Municipality of Providencia. This sequel of Especulopolis, that took place at the basement of the CCI1415, exhibited in Santiago the research and deployment of its first version. This time, the focus was on mass media and its role in perpetuating and strengthening the current global neoliberal order, and, more specifically, in the responsibility of architecture in this fabric. Is there will and power within the discipline to construct the processes – and not only the results – that shape the world today?
On this basis, Especulopolis TV is proposed as a research-action project on the audiovisual language generating an opportunity for collective creation of open and critical contents. Especulopolis TV developed a programme schedule that explored different TV formats (Infomercials, Talk shows, Game show, Music Clip, Weather Report, News, Documentary), as an exercise for the production and circulation of contents. These programs were developed and created by number of collaborators and external guests. They were open to the public, and the edited material will be published as chapters. Collaborators: Ariztia Lab / Milm2 / La nueva Gráfica Chilena / Francisco Díaz /Juan Pablo Corbalán + Daniel Santana/ REA (Red De Estudiantes De Arquitectura).
FORMAT EXPLORATION
JAN 2017 SANTIAGO