An approach to therapeutic architecture
Eva A. Candela Casta単o
The project has been managed in three different topic lines, that have been worked out in a parallel way but they are absolutely inseparable. Here any of the parts is detached from the rest, every part tends to another one and ďŹ nally determine the whole project. As a process timeline it was not followed the supposed process of “analysis-microarchitecture-interventionâ€?, in this case, after the analysis process both following lines where developed at the same time, growing and improving together, adding new concepts and references to the materialisation.
House stories> These where the houses considered to be chosen to develop the project.
BLAS’ HOUSE Blas House_Sevilla la Nueva (Madrid)_Alberto Campo Baeza
As an idyllic fortress in a breathtaking landscape which, although has a weak relation with nature, which is mainly treated as tarjet of contemplation.
HOUSE IN CORRUBEDO_Galicia_David Chipper eld As an act of rebellion, built against its surroundings, inside out the native tradition in order to face the potential qualities of the landscape.
HOUSES IN SAN MATIAS’ NEIGHBOURHOOD_Granada_Juan Domingo Santos
As an example of pragmatic architecture, born from the needs of the inhabitants and favoured by neighbour’s agreement for the common benefit.
However these houses have a common point, there were conceived as homes, for different people, with different feelings and ways to live and understand the daily life.
What would you define as Home? For sure, not just a shelter...
A SPACE WHERE EVERY FEELING, POS Somewhere you belong to
The video shows, from my own experience what should deďŹ ne a Home, over the differences of architecture and its possibilities. Apart from the idyll or the functionality.
Defined by your pace...
In and out
SITIVE AND NEGATIVE HAS ITS PLACE
just LIVE
But which one makes a bigger influence on the other?
HOUSE3K> is a workshop to explore concepts applicable to the production, operation, use and evolution of human habitats into the future. The ecology of home is being systematically reconsidered at this point in history within a framework of sociological, technological and scientific discourse that is generating new expectations about our relationships with each other, our political and economic systems and the environment at a variety of scales. The workshop is an ambitious and fast paced opportunity to conceptualise `home` in a way that may be applicable to the next millennium of human history on planet earth – our home in space. The residence as an archetype or laboratory/testing ground has historically generated visions of the future. Does the residence as a building type still hold a similar position in the development of civilization? Through this workshop we aim to envision the evolution of the ‘house’ through the depth of time (a thousand years from now).
Group production
This might take the form of a time line that is assembled by all groups working on different themes ( lifestyles, construction methods, key historical events relating to technologies, societies, scientific understanding, critical models from history etc).
There are essentially two outputs‌ >The timeline of `a thousand years of home` (the rear view mirror section ) >The timeline of a thousand years forward; the proposition, the conceptual axis for projecting the “homeâ€? into the future; concepts for living systems with a future
Future housing concept development*
*The new drawings were developped as part of the third practice of Architectural Composition 3, in which we wera asked to develop a timeline guessing a future tendency.
The project for these neighbouring houses accepted the present and its contradictions as a point of departure. The elements, which have been interchanging during the last 15 years, include patios, a room with windows facing the square, views from a terrace towards the cathedral and the opening of windows over private patios. All the plans are open, with the staircase in one of the corners, as in the traditional patio houses of the neighbourhood.
Juan Domingo architect.
Santos
The house of the Cripple was materialised bearing in mind the interests of the neighbours and the interpretation of the traditional patio house in this neighbourhood. For this reason, light is very important and creates changes in the space during the passing of sun- and moonlight. The spaces were resolved without internal divisions in order to continue producing occupations or invasions of the neighbouring houses.
The Original Story The work initiated in 1989 but has no fixed completion date. It started with the City Council showing interest in renovating a deteriorated neighbourhood in the centre of Granada known for prostitution, which led to Juan Domingo Santos receiving a commission to renovate one of the old brothels. Observing basic principles of community life, the architect sought to generate the project from the neighbours’ interests. By negotiating about parts of their dwellings, a game was established which allowed all members to enjoy spaces that they had been longing for. Living in a community>The houses in the neighbourhood San Matías are known by its names or nicknames drawn from particular features or physical defects of the prostitutes who owned them (La Remedios, La Pepinica, La Cabezona). Domingo Santos was commissioned to work on a small patio house owned by the Cripple, located in the narrow street Calle Álvarez de Castro just 1, 15 metre wide, and next to houses owned by la Remedios, Carmela of the Dead and a tailor. If one is able to ask the neighbours for a cup of sugar or pinch of salt, to water the plants or collect one’s mail while on vacation, Domingo Santos asked himself why not to go one step further and ask, in the same natural manner, if one could borrow part of their living room or some other spaces they were not using but which one felt really necessary for one’s needs. Historically, against the common thought that dwellings are closed and isolated entities, the medieval city offered its houses the possibility to grow and adjust to the needs of the inhabitants. Asking permission to enter one’s house through a neighbour’s patio or share the laundry line became the rules for a game of exchange proposed by the architect and which received a great enthusiasm from the neighbours. They collaborated with a list of things they would like and what they had to offer in exchange. Legally supervised by lawyers and the architect, the base for this negotiation lay in the exchange of spaces and architectural elements without financial compensation being permitted. The result became an agreed construction that encouraged a communal feeling and traditional way of extending one’s house. As Domingo Santos stated, “it was allowed to build up or down, to the right or left. Any movement was possible if only there was an agreement.”
Establishing agreements for the houses>In a letter written to us, Juan Domingo Santos meticulously described the intrinsic process for the exchange: The Cripple’s house, which was the catalyst for the whole procedure, had a small shed that was next to a patio. Adjacent to her, la Remedios lived in a house with a beautiful 19th century patio, with stone columns and wooden beams. To make her dream come true of owning this type of patio, the Cripple proposed to la Remedios to incorporate the patio to her house so she could use it as a walkway or a right of way. As an exchange, the Cripple would create in her new house a passageway next to the patio to benefit the house of la Remedios. It would be arranged in such a way that by uniting, they were connected to two streets at the edge of the block of houses, merely by crossing this passageway-patio space. The solution was interesting for both parties, now that it made an elastic zone, which had up to then been very tight and difficult to access. Another agreement they came to, was to join the first two floors of each dwelling (very small) and to gain a larger floor space which could be rented out and thus, they could obtain an income that separately would have proved impossible. The benefits of this co-ownership were shared, depending on the degree of participation. Later, Carmela of the Dead, decided to participate in the exchange, after seeing the economic success and reward that these connections suggested for the houses (which enlarged substantially their surface through their patio). She offered her patio to form part of the passage which, in this case, connected to a square to which it faced. The result was very intriguing because the city, besides the movement through its streets, also possessed internal movements across its patios of different owners and, although being private, having the doors always open, any passer-by could make use of them. To add to this exchange, the Cripple left part of her roof to become a sightseeing spot over the cathedral, which would benefit Carmela of the Dead, and she in turn freed a room with views towards the square for the Cripple. The result of all these changes permitted the Cripple, who originally had owned a small house, between neighbours and with a small patio without interests but with magnificent views over the cathedral, to finally share a traditional patio from 19th century Granada and one room with a view towards a square, with windows over other patios. La Remedios, in all this affair, also had a favourable result, the access to her patio had been improved, which up to then had been disconnected, and she had managed a change of ownership with Carmela of the Dead in a neighbouring house but closer to the centre, which she had been looking for.
“This game of exchanges and cessions has been left fractured partly because Granada’s town hall has bought the house of Carmela of the Dead to accommodate a few offices temporarily. As this occupation will be temporary, the Cripple, Carmela of the Dead, la Remedios and I are waiting for its removal to reinitiate this story. Disgracefully, Carmela of the Dead, paradoxes of life, was murdered by a client and let’s just see who is going to be the next owner whom we will approach to incorporate into the game,” said Domingo Santos. This is an extraordinary project, which has emerged from the citizens’ conditions. Without a doubt, negotiation, as a concept, is already an architectural element. With it, new architecture is created which shows a special consideration towards its habitants, and refuses arrogant postures that have broadened the gap between society and architecture. In fact, as Juan Domingo Santos has confirmed to us, the expectations of San Matías neighbourhood have meant that many brothels have been bought and a change in profile in terms of inhabitants has begun to be felt in the recent years.
In order to materialise architecture on the basis of operating by agreements, “an exhaustive knowledge about the life and belongings of the neighbour - to link with his private world -, is necessary.”
Why was this project chosen After reading the stories of the proposed housed placed in Spain we specially fell in love with this project. Not only the concept of the project is amazing itself but its materialisation is magnificent as well: how spaces are connected , overlapped one with the other, conforming this final complex tour of a non-defined direction; spaces grow “ up or down, to the right or left”. This intricate play of tiny and delicate spaces where you can be easily surprised by light and shadow plays opened a wide variety of possibilities because of the whole complexity of both , physical, conceptual and human relations. As we were free to decide all the aspects that were going to take part in our project, the house was chosen before the illness. We knew we were supposed to work with mental disorders and in order to separate somehow the physical problems to the mental handicaps, we chose this as a difficult house to go through but even harder for the mental spatial perception. Forcing, this way, not only the client’s mind but also ours to go beyond, make efforts and discover new posssibilities. Furthermore, one of the main reasons that led us to choose this house was the fact that for us the rest of the proposed houses were somehow “ideal architecture“ placed in idyllic landscapes “far for the madding crowd“... we wanted to work with real architecture with a daily use as we could pour in there all our experiences of our own homes. We only had one thing clear of the disease we wanted to choose: no degenerative disease would be chosen. We wanted our client to be involved in society, not to be released appart just in contact with nature but to be active part of the real world. And we could’t imagine a best place than San Matías in Granada.
STREET ÁLVAREZ DE CASTRO
LIVING ROOM
KITCHEN
STAIRCASE
TRISOMY21 Is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is typically associated with physical growth delays, characteristic facial features, and mild to moderate intellectual disability.
Sense and neurological>
Social and academic development>As long as they grew up and they become aware of their limitations, they tend to suffer from depression, frustration and rage. Their role in society is quite limited due to the prejudices. From early on parents must promote their independence over the usual over protection.
“It is not an impediment. It is a handicap to learn something because it takes longer, but it is not such a big deal.”. The quality of the cares, the education and the social experience influence on people with Down syndrome’s development.
Their learning process is much difficult, studing with kids of the same age has helped some of them to be self sufficient, to be in contact with other people and improve in the academic field.
Although it is said that it is “the syndrome of the eternal children”, people with trysomy 21 keep growing and learning all their lifelong and they take chances of new opportunities and experiences.
“ They function in a different way, with a diferent pace”
Important figures> Name: Pepe Age: 40 Profession: maintenance and social volunteer of Cruz Roja Alicante Hobbies: films, music, BBQSs, helping people Who do you live with? I live with my parents. Have you got brothers and sisters? Yes, I have two sisters and one brother. I am the third son. How is your room? My room is big, I have a bed and a table with a TV and a hard disk to watch films... I have many things in my room. Do you like films? Yes, films and music but not reading. Are you tidy? Yes! Well, sometimes... What would you like to change in your room? I would like to have a computer and a mix machine like those of the Dj’s. Would you like to live alone? I wish I could! I really would like to... But with no girlfriend... well if I get married with girlfriend of course. How would be the house of your dreams? I want a traditional house, mixed Arabic and Spanish. It would be a detached house, with swimming pool, Jacuzzi, spa... A house to make BBQ’s, with no neighbours. How is your current house?I live in a residential urbanization. In my house
there is the living room when you enter and at the end the kitchen and a bathroom. Upstairs there is my room. Can you tell me what do you see from your room? People walking with dogs, children, the neighbors from the house in front shouting... They are always shouting and saying nasty words. What do you usually do on your free time? I spend the most part of my free time in the Cruz Roja. There I do many things related to young people, AIDS, refugees, food, workshops, camps... I do many things and I have friends there; we sometimes go to have dinner to Alicante and go to the Carnival... I am also in an organisation for disable people but I don’t really like going there. And why do help in the Cruz Roja? I am bored at home. What do I do at home? Nothing! I prefer to go to the Cruz Roja and help, nowadays people, as refugees, need much food. As you work here in the Polytechnic School IV I want to know what you think about this building. Is very big and spacious, but I don’t really care about it. What are your expectations for the future? Continue helping people. Now we are making a campaign for refugees and we have beaten last year’s record of money. We collect here the money and then send everything to Madrid so that they distribute the whole part from there. And the following campaign will be the one of Christmas, for children.
“People is like soup, you can take it with or without salt...” From this interview we pour directly into the project the concept of favouring autonomy and producing and emotional architecture.
“There’s nothing too difficult for me”
Marta is a 25 year old girl who lives in a semidetached house with her parents and her sister Nuria. Marta has Down Syndrome and she works in a clothe store. She loves her work, being with clients it is sometimes hard but it is really satisfactory. She also combines her job with a formation asociation where she learns cooking, crafts,...ect. Marta is a really nice girl, she is always smiling and laughing, she loves living with her family, spending the summer near the beach, going out with her friends... And she also has her manias; she is such a tidy person that she even tidies up her sister’s bedroom!
From such an easy exercise as “ Drawing routines” many things can be discovered from the spatial perception and mental paths of people. First of all it was asked two sisters to draw a room , Marta`s room. Marta’s routine In the morning Marta wakes up and goes to the wardrobe to choose her clothes. Then she goes back to bed to get dressed and after she leaves her pyjamas on the trunk next to bed. After that she goes to the bathroom and goes back to the room to get her contact lens sitting on the desk. Finally she goes to the kitchen to have breakfast and leaves home.
MARTA’S DRAWING
This scheme shows Marta’s drawing in the real context of the house, her ways and routines through the two levels.
NURIA’S DRAWING
In here they are represented both the morning routines and the afternoon routines.
Analyzing> First exercise By comparing Marta’s and Nuria’s drawing it can be seen the space perception of both girls. While Nuria draws a more or less well proportioned bedroom, Marta draws the container and then the fourniture having as references the perimeter walls. Void space in Marta’s drawings are far bigger as the scale of fourniture is smaller than it should be. In here the most remarkable thing is the main reference of the walls and how the relation between the different pieces of fourniture are quite insignificant compared to its place on the space, as main focuses of the activities of Marta. Second exercise... This mental tours were made having her bedroom as a point of reference. Analyzing the paths drawn by Marta, especially those outside her main space it can be seen that here it doesn’t really matter the tour but just the depart point and the goal. Here the concept of is not present at all. It could only be highlight as a reference the corridor of the main floor understanding it as a change of direction but avoiding the whole tour of the staircase. It could be something like: straight donwstairs and straight to the kitchen. FIRST FLOOR MAIN FLOOR
*The whole house has been drawn having Nuria’s sketches of the house as reference.
Oliver Hellowell>18 year old photographer with Down Syndrome, whose mother says he sees the world differently from most people: “So there will be a glimpse of something or a leaf or that stands out, in a stream because it is a different color and it’s showing up to the water. Oliver achievements and his talent are inspiring and very encouraging not only for parents of children with this disease. Even some people interested in photography even when they are out think “ what would Oliver take a picture of now?”
This reference has been quite signifcant for the project in the technical development as it will be seen later.
Pablo Pineda> The first european graduate with Down Syndrome . Proud advocate of his dissability promotes normality through this topic: “People have to admit how they are and be proud of themselves”. Insists from his own experience on the problems that overprotection from parents lead on the autonomy and development of people with Down Syndrome.There must be a relationship completely based on reliance trying not to limit children’s possibilities...“ Children with Down Syndrome must go to public school. There is interaction with different people and it promotes a mutual learning”. As he admits is one of the keypoints of his achievements . His history is somehow the chronicle of self-improvement. He is absollutely aware that he has become the model where many people look up to and he will continue struggling to turn integration a reality in society.
This reference has been specially important for the new story of the houses as Pablo is an inspiration figure and example of overcoming, showing then the limits of people are mainly set by themselves.
TRISOMY21 SAN MATÍAS AT
The project must be understood not as totally finished project but as an approach towards what we think will help improving some aspects on the daily routines of the inhabitants. It is a project conceived from stories of specific people but far from focusing in a particular client tries to cover a generic profile in order to avoid dealing with insignificant details inside a changing community.
After Carmela of the death was murdered, the house became in the possession of a young boy, who just left the house of his parents to start a life on his own. The boy just finished his master-degree in economics and found a job at a small accounting firm at the centre of Granada. His twin brother has down syndrome and lived at that moment still with his parents back in Murcia. But at the age of 24 he started to feel the need to leave his parents and life on it’s own. His parents had the feeling that it still was a little too early for him to leave home. In fact, for them it would always be too early for him to leave , they were so afraid... but the idea of independence was persistent on his son’s head. So his parents came up with the idea for him to go live with his brother in Granada. If he could live with his brother, his parents would feel a lot safer than if he’d live on his own. Living with his brother for a while would be the perfect first step for him to leave the house and become independent. So it didn’t took long before he decided to go and live with his brother. As his brother worked all day, he decided to start working as a volunteer at the petting zoo.
After living together happily for 2,5 years his brother got married and decided to leave the house to go and live with his wife. He felt really bad for his twin brother because this house was the only thing he had left. After consultation with his wife, they decided to donate the house to his brother with a usage and admistration cession for the Down People organisation in Granada which his brother was part of. In this way his brother was able to keep living in the apartment with overview from the organization. The only agreement that was made was for the organization to be able to use several of his rooms for group activities. The organization became so enthusiastic about the house that they decided to buy the other three houses as well, as soon as the possibility arrived.
So now the organization was the complete owner off the whole building and housed multiple younger people with down-syndrome. At this point the organization asked several younger architects to redesign the house to make it as well “liveable” for the people living there but also useable for the organization to use the space for organising activities for small groups up to +/- 16 people.
THE PROJECT IN DIAGRAMS...
The patio>The three buildings work as a fortress to the exterior that is conformed as a maze of narrow dark streets. Inside of the property the view is mainly drawn to the patio in the middle of the construction that becomes the main axes of the community, not only as a place to pass through but also as a place for social interaction, art creation and community support.
NOW
BEFORE
Walkable axes> In order to favour the connections between properties some new paths are opened, generating much possibilities to walk through the whole space and a more complex space ensemble that ease communications.
Categorizing spaces> Most of the interventions carried out have the intention of generating community spaces in order o favour the relations over the neighbourhood all around the patio.
Following this aim one of the biggest intervention is the tranformation of the slopped roof into a big at terrace.
Resultant spatial organisation>
Physical development> As the project will be assembled around the patio as main element of the community life, as a path connection,meeting and interaction element. So this element, as main core will generate a series of activities of different typologies: cultural, social... Therefore it is proposed that every space. whereas it is possible from the structural point of view, would have visual contact with this central space. Thus, the staircase which gives access to the main dwelling (originally without contact with the patio), the open corridors of every floor up to the terrace, the workshops and the community spaces will finally lean over this open space. The following interventions in the house will be placed in this part of the construction, both in the facade and the staircase.
Conceptual development> In order to understand the point of view from which the project has been tackled it is neccesary to highlight that the illness far from being conceived as a determining factor it has been considered as an opportunity to experiment and develop through different concepts new architectural possibilities. It is proposed as a new use a community for people with Down Syndrome in which every intervention has a final objective of improving autonomy and promoting the development of these people. Now exhanges are not made with spaces but with activities and services by means of architecture. Generally it is intended to generate a welcoming and inclusive architectural ensemble, a space where everyone has its function and feels itself important and useful. With this, it is not intended at all to isolate the inhabitants, it has to be considered as an oasis from the rambling neighbourhood of San Matias but opened to the exterior, a surprising place to bump into or even to include in your daily way, get to know what’s up there, be part of it...
Therefore, the interventions proposed are carried out following two main objectives:
Perceptive scale> Improving or training aspects of the concentration of the inhabitants by means of leading attention. Affective scale> Generating a community space, a space of belonging, as an open refuge to prepare and get training to be prepared to society.
Technical-cognitive development> All the concepts that joint the whole ideology of the project are finally materialised by means of the visual contact, either point references, interestings views, glimpses... Since the spatial perception through the view sense is a reiterative work tool, all the interventions are developed taking into account theories of “serial vision” and photographie techniques such as panographies with the intention of seeing the project from the user point of view. Not giving a prior to produced image but generating beforehand and from the perceptive experimentation, an approximate and deformed image, produced by the inthebitant’s subjectivity.
Panography> Panography is a kind of exaggerated panoramic photography, that intend to represend the atmosphere just as it seen by the human eye. To develop this technique photographies are gathered making a collage, that little by little form a montage where every part is an individual image, but together, in the observer’s mind, the whole is seen just as one image. This technique was constanly used by Enric Miralles: “These collages are represented as interrupted instants of a project.They are instant images that set moments related to construction.” “These montages intend to make forget the traditional ways of representation and make think about the physical reality of things typical from the traditional perspective. They are somehow as simultanious sketches, as multiple and different views from a same moment.”
Civic centre in Hostalets de Balenyà, 1990
Serial Vision> is fragmentizing the route you take to come somewhere. A relevant example can be found in the book ‘The Concise Townscape’ by Gordon Cullen, where he shows us the visual reasons why historical cities are build in the way they are. He gives us the following explanation: Image when you’re sitting in your living room and you want to know what time it is. So you decide to look at the clock on the wall, and you see the time. When you put your eyes towards the clock. You see the wall, the clock, the fingers of the clock , etc. So your eyes actually capture all this information, while your brain only captures the time from the combination of the fingers of the clock. This system is called ‘manipulating within tolerances’. Having sight comes not just handy, but also make us able to have memories and being able to witness things. This gives us emotions in our brain which come up when we see a certain thing of talk about a certain topic. This is the first step in completely understanding Serial Vision. “Image walking down a straight street with half way down the street a small courtyard and on the end a small movement to the right with a monument hidden at the end. In this scenario a large amount of ‘Visions’ are coupled to each other besides us walking in one singular pace. When a person is walking down a city on a single pace the vision of the city keeps constantly changing and there appear serial differences and visual interests (reference points). This is called ‘Serial Vision’.
Action drawing> The recorded action is process of opening the door of the house in the second floor. All this way is represented from the client’s point of view, in an attempt to understand his spatial perception according to the cognitive abilities. Here they are taken into accounts the difficulties that people with Down Syndrome may have to accomplish some activities so that to fulfil them succesfully they need to have really clear all the steps they may accomplish. From the bottom part it is represented in the drawing how the observer enters the building and only cares about the way he needs to walk. However when he arrives at the patio his attention is distracted by the colours and the noise of this space. He continues his objective in a way with different changes of direction, height and light intensity.
Continuing the line of work of the first action drawing and taking into account the strong routines that people with Down Syndrom have , it is intended to make the way to the entrance to The house more interesting, especially, the part through the staircase. Emotional architecture, which offers changing visions that will attrach the user’s attention in such a way that his objective now is not only getting to a specific spot but to enjoy the tour.
Intervention1>First of all it is intended to produce a changeable facade which will modify the opportunities to see through the way upstairs.To accomplish this aim different technologies are consireder to be implemented in the project:
>Light-sensitive metallic diaphragms designed to regulate the penetration of light into the building. Institut du Monde Arabe_París_1980_Jean Nouvel >EFTE skin is activated using pneumatic mechanisms thanks to “luxometer” sensors that automatically activate the chamber inflation and deflation devices MEDIA-TIC_Barcelona_Enric Ruiz Geli
Dreamglass privacy glass>laminated glass panel composed of polymer dispersed liquid crystal film (PDLC). Switchable glass connected to remote control switches and sensors that offers privacy at the flick of a switch, by changing its state from opaque to transparent instantly.
Finally it was choosen the Dreamglass technology to develop the intervention according to the formal possibilities and the freedom that offers.
STEP-WINDOW FRAMING-VISION
First sketches and diagrams> To materialise and give form to the project the space intervention is studied by means of diagrams.
Final shape> Due to the visual study
This staircase is now not only used to limit the two main houses but connected to the adjoining building sets a new opportunity to go over the whole community.
This window system allows to discover the patio while going upstairs. Depending on the step where the users is treading on a window frame is activated by the senso
rs placed on the oors and so on a speciďŹ c view is revealed.
Fixed window, vertical section. Indoor position 1:4 scale
Metallic structural proďŹ le
Double window encounter. Indoor position 1:2 scale
Intervention 2> A new intervention is considered following the same conceptual principles of guiding attention and disemination of goals, but in an analogue way. Therefore the whole way through the staircase is divided into framings that not only act as an attention focus but also generate an activity forcing the staircase itself to be redesigned to empower this aim.
The different framings are studied taking into account the direction of the way and are a result of both the opportunities to see that the shape of the building offers and the activities carried out in the community. Therefore they not only draw the attention to the hotspots but also offer a whole perspective of the community, which is, at last, one of the main purposes of the project: confronting the entirety by little parts that constitute itself a great achievement.
Panographic development of the four interior elevations of the patio.
Previous views contextualised on the real situation.
Oscilating window, vertical section. Outdoor position 1:4 Scale
1:1 minimum architecture
Being in the skin of the client. Feeling like him.
Microarchitecture> During the project process it has been developped both at the same time microarchitecture and individual interventions on the house. The microarchitecture the result of a long study, design and production process, with corrections, changes on proposals... It has develop together with our maturity on the conception of the illness and the project. Both exercises are inspired one by the other in a reciprocal relation.
First proposal> One of the most remarkable things of people with Trisomy21 is the proud they feel of their achievements. Although this is the purest type of proud, just being proud of one self, better than what they were before; not better than other people, higher or bigger than them. Every achievement is a personal improvement and something worthy enough to be proud of. The reason of this strong feeling is the difďŹ culties(physical and cognitive) they have to deal every day, so that every little step is something to be hugely proud of. With this Microarchitecture we show this process of personal improvement and overcoming and the ďŹ nal proud of a job well done; attaching the whole process not only to physical traits but also to cognitive ones.
This Microarchitecture consist of two different parts: one related to the difďŹ culties and the other related to the prize. On the physical gadget, directly related to the problems of balance associated with people with Trisomy 21, the weight placed on a rail along the line of the shoulders moves freely from left to right by the movements of the extremities, to which the weight is connected by different ropes. This system makes the person imbalance depending on the direction of weight.
To go deeper into this feeling, this prothesis could be ideally tested on a route of several easy activities. This activities could be quickly passed without seeing the colors of the prize but the colors of the prize can only be seen if the activities are made properly, not fast. This is a whole metaphor of the Down Syndrome: the world has its own pace, it always rushes and people with Down Syndrome, are able to make everything they want but they just need their time to make things properly and be proud of their achievements.
The upper part is related to the mental process of feeling proud and physically connected in the model to the support of the weight that causes the imbalance. With this, the achievement consist on keeping the weight aligned in the centre of the bar, beating the forces that distract you from your aims. When this action is completed a system placed on the head, inside a watercolor tank, releases this colored water into a transparent mask. In this moment, the colors owing in front the eyes make the one who is wearing the prosthesis realize he has made something to be proud of.
Fishing leads to get the weight needed
Ropes to transmit the effort of the articulations
Main piece of the head prothesis consisting of watering pipes system
Construction process> The model 1:1 was tried to carry out but the materials didn’t work properly together, there some too complex systems, others too simple....
Finally it was decided to dispose of both the model and the concept itself as it was more a negative perception of the illness.
Second proposal> In our microarchitecture we want to show how one the positive features has a huge influence on our client his life. Because we have multiple positive features we choose the feature which has the biggest frequency in usage combined with the amount of interest and jealousy from our side. For this Microarchitecture-assignment we chose to work with the Full-concentration feature.When people with down-syndrome are doing a activity they can completely ignore the world around them. They can completely lose themselves in what they are doing, on the most positive way possible. A human scale model of the mental ability of our client is needed to fully concentrate of an activity he’s doing. The strength of this ability lays in different aspects. So if we want to let one of us witness this ability we need to adjust these strengths into our project.
>Focussing on the thing that is being done: This is something what mostly takes part in the brain but can be stimulated by sight. Focussing means a complete focus on a certain element, this can be stimulating be allowing a improved view the element which needs to be focused on. >Finding yourself in a better place: We can create a ‘improved’ environment be making a contrast between the real world and the place we have to create. This contrast has to be between the elements which increase the enjoyment of a place: Light, Color, Brightness, Smell, Sound, etc. >Being in your own world, without losing contact with the real world This step is look for a visual and maybe even touchable contrast between these two ‘worlds’. If we can make a model which allows us to witness this ability to completely concentrate on a certain activity, we might me able to learn from it on as well a architectural as on a thing for our own personal evolution. We can reconstruct the ability and allow also us (people without Down Syndrome) what it is like to focus on a certain activity despite all the activities taking place around you.
Third proposal> This new proposal is based on the sight of our clients. The idea is to combine the possibilities of showing people without Down Syndrome how is it to have to enhanced focus, but also to improve this enhanced focus of our client. One of the main positive features Down Syndrome has to offer is an enhanced concrenttration. This concentration can be divided into concentration-in-activities and concentration-in-guiding. This work is focused in the concentration-in-guiding as an example where both we can learn from their way of guiding and they can learn from ours. The model is based on the ďŹ xation of views. Everybody who has got a point to get to, also creates a path of referece points in his mind to guide himself through this path. People without Down Syndrome create a story of visualisation in their minds to guide themselves from point to point. This is also known as serial vision. People with Down Syndrome do this in a different way. These people are so focused that they only think about their ending point. This comes because of a combination of view, their body structure and their mindset.
The design of the model comes from it’s funtioning. The main shape is the bowl-shaped element which has to be placed over the head. The size of this element is based on the maximum movement of the head within the microarchitecture. This allows to move the head freely through the device to get the best possible experience. The occulars or kaleidoscopes have a shape which is basically a combination between a rectanular and a triangular shape. The triangular shape comes from the construction of the kaleidoscope. The rectanular shape is to provide the maximum entrance of light to the microarchitecture. The microarchitecture-model will be attached to the shoulders so the head will have a free totation within the model. It will be constructed out of semi-transparent plexiglass, allowing to see the outside.
This micro architecture holds three occulars which are based on the three main lines in the visual sight of somebody with Down Syndrome. The middle one is situated on a slope of 90ยบ to stimulate the user to look straight in front of him. The second and thirs occulars are situated on both sides of the middle one. Their positions are based on the maximum view got from their natural walking position. The rightest one is combined with the maximum upper view and the maximum left one of the lowest view.
The combination of these three occulars make that from the inside of the model. These occulars will be deelop as kaleidoscopes to enlighten the view. This will make the view more colorfull and interesting to remember and will help to focus on the point to people without Down Syndrome.
Model development> Scale 1:750
Model visualisations
Construction process of the model> The microarchitecture was developped from a 3D model work in Rhinoceros then imported to Pepakura programm to get a 2D development and finally printed into a 1:1 scale to make a try in light cardboard.
“We love our Egg“
This was supposed to be a try in order to check the scale and it was intended to improve the model with ďŹ ner materials but the dimensions of it and the lack of time made it ďŹ nally not possible.
An experience to live
Straight focus
Lower focus
Upper focus
Personal experience on an international team> Generaly speaking working in groups is a delicate path that can be both quite benefitial or extreamly detrimental.It is always a big deal to come to an agreement, you have to respect the other members opinion and have a desition to have voice in the group. Because of my education I’m used to works with Spanish students and to be more specific I’m used to work with my friends. I’m quite used, and I think is a universal desire when you are working in a team, to know how they work, how much they do, which are strengths points... In this case we started from scratch, added to the handicap of nationality. A Polish, a Dutch and a Spaniard... What a team! I refer to nationality as a handicap just because I consider it has been the main reason of most of the disagreements in the group. I couldn’t imagine, even though we were warned of it, how determining is the cultural background of people. With this I’m not only refering to education or abilities but mainly to the way of dealing the work. I think it takes time to make an international group work properly together... It is nature.
But as things are running nowadays we find ourselves oblied to be used to work in this kind of teams, where members have they own schedule, their own manias, their own rules, but they try to cooperate and, above all, to learn from the rest of the members. With learning I don’t only mean knowledge, but techniques, managing strategies, attitude towards stress... the best of every country! Specifically, our team has had the most interesting conversation and sharings during the long process of the microarchitecture, by means of afternoon sessions at the Technical school, full of endless brainstorming, where all the differences where on the table and we just wanted to reach an agreement. When a specific idea was decided we started to share job according to the abilities and possibilities of the members. In order to make this Erasmus Experience more real, we have had the opportunity to travel together to different destinies and we have had the chance of getting to know each other as well outside the classes and the academic context. This experience comes to an advance and preparation of what may be one great adventure next year. Hoping it will be as enriching as this term has been.
Manifesto>
It is depart from a project that itself harbors quite interest. It could be consider as a natural deformation of architecture not only through the usage but beyond, through the necessities and wishes of the users. Architecture, all of its examples and under any condition is subdued to this personal deformation that every user , more conscious or unconsciously, is going to apply on the surrounding space. However, this deformation would be quite conditioned, on usual situations, by some physical limits that contains the space. In this project the limits are blurred , are moved, interchanged to the user heart’s content, so that the deformation possibilities, or in this case reconstruction possibilities, multiply, always within the structural and legal limits. Nevertheless this project outwardly simple and close, something like “ home-made” is in fact too complex as to be carried out with success or , better said in “peace and harmony”. Possibly this would be because individuals tend to be guided by its own interests, something that does not match at all with this project. If this project is somehow prone to blur the limits between the public and private space, analogously it is necessary to start by breaking the individual interests and throw yourself into the neighbourhood’s favour. But this is nowadays very difficult to achieve, possibly it is not only a project complicated project but as well frozen in time, in Realejo’s neighbourhood but not in the final structure that has arrive to these days, but on its original essence, on its people, on the ambiance of its narrow streets and on its growing; a neighbourhood that has been growing freely depending on its inhabitants needs. It could be said that the project works with the neighbourhood but not on the 20th Century. May be the problems doesn’t fall on the time, but just in the condition of its inhabitants, in the sense that they are just individuals with personal interests, with different goals and expectations that, of course, have their stop in the way, their shelter and their protection in their home but it seems as if mentally their thoughts tend to be released outside the property and possibly out of the whole neighbourhood. Somewhere in the city. A project with this characteristics must be proposed and carried out with people with a main interest in common, with parallel directions and whose paths will usually be crossing , not only in the community as a place to stop
in the way, but as an important part of the way itself. With this, proportionally to the growing of the project it comes the personal development of the individual, not only autonomously but inside the community. Following this principles a new use is given to the building as a community for people with Down Syndrome in which all the interventions done have the final goal of improving the autonomy. With this, the exchange will be now not of spaces but of activities and services by means of architecture. With all this and making now direct reference to the illness itself I must now admit that my perception of it has changed drastically. Nowadays I dare to say that people with Down Syndrome are not so different from what is socially considered “normal people”. All the apparent differences can be reduced (apart from the health problems associated to this illness) to the fact that these people have simply their own pace, That’s why, we have not really consider that they have “special need” on its daily life. One of the things that draw my attention in the interviews carried out was the fact that Marta was constanly saying that there was really nothing too difficult for her ( only that the wardrobe where she keeps her shoes was too big). As we are not dealing with strong physical handicaps such as Huntington disease have, the difficulties this people have on its daily life are finally reduced, as it was said before, to their own rhythm and many times to the ones imposed by social prejudices. As it was explained previously in the book, the project must be understood not as totally finished project but as an approach towards what we think will help improving some aspects on the daily routines of the inhabitants. It is a project conceived from stories of specific people but far from focusing in a particular client tries to cover a generic profile in order to avoid dealing with insignificant details inside a changing community.
Not generic architecture but in a valid way applied to different people that share a similar profile, something as if it was a medicine. Therapeutic architecture. Talking about therapeutic architecture is talking about a complex topic from my point of view. Can architecture really help ill people? This has been all term long and continues being one of the main doubts. It is not possible
to really know if what you are developing to help someone will finally accomplish this aim. This has been one of the main reasons why I have entertained myself with the investigation and analyzing process, as well as being positioned on the point of view of someone with Down Syndrome. Never I knew enough to dare and take a step forward and start to deal with the design. Everything can seem fussy and even worse when your are risking the well-being of such extraordinary people. It is not a matter of a bigger or smaller delight of the design, there is an extra responsibility. You truly want to help and you want this interventions to be useful and introduce improvements on the user’s life. In particular, in the exercise done I think we have managed to introduce, to a greater or lesser degree, different improvements, not solutions. They are probably not big changes or steps forward in the design but all of them have been thoroughly thought and done with the best of our intentions, always having as reference and final goal to guarantee the user’s well-being.
Bibliography> Hans Brinker. “Panografías” 29 Jul 2007 http://hansbrinker. net/2007/07/26/panografias-que-son-y-como-se-hacen/ Accessed 17 Oct 2016. Dreamglass.<http://www.dreamglassgroup.com/es>/ Accessed 11 Nov 2016. Media-TIC / Enric Ruiz Geli” 09 Feb 2010. ArchDaily. Accessed 10 Oct 2016. <http://www.archdaily.com/49150/media-tic-enric-ruizgeli/> Karina Duque. “Clásicos de Arquitectura: Instituto del Mundo Árabe / Jean Nouvel” 04 jun 2013.Plataforma Arquitectura. Accedido el 10 Oct 2016. <http://www.plataformaarquitectura.cl/cl/02-265617/ clasicos-de-arquitectura-instituto-del-mundo-arabe-jean-nouvel> Oliver Hellowell Photography<http://www.oliverhellowell.com/ Accessed 14 Dec 2016> Gordon Cullen,”The Concise Townscape”, Ed.: Architectural Press 1961. ISBN: 978-0750620185 “Vidrios fotocrómicos y fotosensibles” Donald M. Trotter, en: “ Investigación y ciencia”,Nº 177, 1991, págs. 66-72, ISSN 0210-136X, Verb Processing Ed. Actar Juan Domingo Santos/ Accessed 22 Sept 2016 <http://www.juandomingosantos.com/Juan_Domingo_Santos> Aspau. Community asociation <https://www.facebook.com/Aspau-223092593115/?fref=ts>
INDEX: 06-07 Stories of houses 08_09 Video images 10_11 Workshop 12_19 San MatĂas Houses. 20_31 Down Syndrome 20_23 General features 24_31 Important figures 32_61 Trisomy 21 at San MatĂas. The project 34_39 Concepts and techniques 40_51 Intervention 1 52_61 Intervention 2 66_77 Microarchitecture process 78_79 Group experience 80_83 Manifesto 84_84 Bibliography