PORTFOLIO EXPERIMENTAL 2023

_PORTFOLIO

Laboratorio de colaboración creativa Ciudad de México

_ARCHITECTURE AND DIALOGUES

_2018_2023

EXPERIMENTAL

Alejandro Cárdenas Ciudad de México

Miriam Engelmeyer Ciudad de México

Ante la creciente globalización de las ideas y estandarización de los procesos creativos, Experimental surge como un espacio para la colaboración creativa; un centro para la creación de diálogos y manifiestos que cuestionen las corrientes ideológicas de nuestro país. El centro busca juntar a investigadores, profesionales y creativos mexicanos de las diferentes áreas sociales y de humanidades, todo con el fin de generar proyectos que atiendan a las necesidades de nuestro territorio.

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Diego Sierra Ciudad de México

Alejandro Ricote Ciudad de México

El proyecto se plantea como un espacio crítico que rechaza el dogma en todas sus dimensiones, buscando abrir nuevas perspectivas para las diferentes áreas creativas, de investigación y diseño mexicano. Se propone como un laboratorio interdisciplinario con enfoque académico y crítico, presentándose a través de trabajos escritos, gráficos y audiovisuales. @experimentalab_ +52 5569173565 espacioxperimental@gmail.com

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_CONTENT

Between thresholds and membranes Published article

TEXTILE SYNERGIES Mextropoli Pavilion 2022 | INT Architecture competition

_01 URBAN PATIO Finalist Mextropoli Pavilion 2019 | Architecture Competition

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MEMBRANES AND THRESHOLDS Microhome | Shortlisted INT Architecture competition

_03 PHENOMENOLOGY OF MEDITATION Meditation cabin | INT Architecture competition

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Between thresholds and membranes Published article: Eltorosalvaje digital magazine | Universidad Iberoamericana (UIA) There is an unconscious dialogue between the spaces we inhabit, and it is in their invisibility that a routine is built in which we exist and inhabit without even noticing it. However, it is this that orders our life and those little things that break it are those that sacralize our existence, our inhabiting, our living.

The designer Nendo talks about the importance of small “Wow” moments: through them, it is possible to enrich human experiences. In every house there are transition spaces, be they doors, windows, openings, etc; But, what happens if these thresholds stop being a mere transition to become a reminder, a requirement for the enjoyment of small special moments?

To begin to answer this question, we must think that man is an architectural being that not only builds to make a refuge. Since the beginning of our times, human beings have sought to give meaning to their inhabiting the world. It was through architecture that we have found a means to communicate and generate belonging, creating buildings capable of satisfying our physical and mental needs. Thus, the architectural phenomenon is positioned beyond the built object; it is filled with purpose in how we live, in how we generate a dialogue that is built on the appreciation of the moments that, in the midst of the agitation of a life that goes by in a hurry, usually go unnoticed, silent.

It is said that the human being suffers from “querencia” when he returns to the place where he was raised. The reason for this special nostalgia is found, precisely, in the thresholds and membranes that make up what we call and recognize as “home”.

Nostalgia and taste for special moments run in the blood of Mexicans; hence, Mexican architecture is distinguished by its patios, niches, porticoes, and atriums. We love the threshold and the dialogue we have with it, the image of the grandparents sitting in the shade of a tree shows —as well as finding shelter by the window when reading a good book and feeling the sun a ray of light in the morning— the importance of “Wow” moments, of the brevity of an instant that, although it appears as a shadow, is only possible when there is a dialogue with space, when spatial voids are filled with our own and private mental states; in the spectrum of a ritual, of an almost invisible sacredness.

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These virtues are requirements of good architecture, of that which is delicate and that —therefore— does not need ornaments to immerse us in unique experiences, which focuses on a special value that transcends the walls when it is questioned about the way in which that its users inhabit. Architectural value has recently been confused with ornamentation, with the coating of the harsh spatial realities offered by what are commonly called “modern” buildings, those that offer a luxury that enchants due to the superficiality that characterizes them without worrying about the quality of the spaces, without considering the importance of the human moments that give us a clue of what makes us feel alive. Given the possibility of opting for a good garden with social, flexible and harmonious spaces, it is decided to have an ornate room that exalts the celestial figure of television.

Just as Sartori in Homo Videns speaks of a remote-controlled society, in architecture we have to speak of a fachadist culture that falls into the tendency to design what we will see, like a carcass, leaving the environments we inhabit in the background. And, although it is true that architecture must be communicative, the purity of a few sculptural forms in a house —no matter how beautiful it may be— forgets the importance of human study and the essence of living.

It is then that the importance of thresholds appears, of introspection that forces us to pay attention to the human moments that allow architecture to generate spaces that really fill us, those that go unnoticed and that do not overwhelm —as would a sculptural space whose Existence depends on generating passing impressions. We therefore have to question the spaces we inhabit because, to be honest, the way of living has not changed in the last hundred years: we continue to inhabit the same inflexible spaces of ancient generations where the house is reduced to rooms and rooms, walls that they isolate human activity for itself, ceasing to respond to the coexistence membranes that operate as the engine and foundation of human coexistence that transforms existence into life.

Article link : https://www.eltorosalvaje.com/post/entre-umbrales-y-membranas

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TEXTILE SYNERGIES Mextropoli Pavilion 2021 | INT Architecture Competition Pavilion Mexico city, Mex The proposal seeks to exalt the work of the ar-

tisan

through

the

loom,

nal

warmth

and

shelter

a

symbol of

the

of

the

traditio-

Mexican

people.

Entretejidos invites the user to delve into the crafting process through a sensory experience. Seeking to encourage a modern Mexicanness through the reinterpretation of the elements that make up our identity.

The pavilion is articulated as an inclusive space that not only invites contemplation but also the pedestrian experience, generating an area that allows the development of various typical activities of a day in the Alameda, including urban shows, salsa classes, and artistic exhibitions, among others..

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Modular structure composed of columns and beams, armed with 2” x 2” strips, joined by means of screws.

Tie cotton rope dyed with natural pigments to the wooden structure to generate lattices of different densities.

Self-supporting structure with columns anchored to the wooden platform through steel joints.

Support for seats by means of double reinforced wooden beams.

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URBAN PATIO Finalist Mextropoli Pavilion 2019 | Architecture Competition Pavilion Mexico City, Mex.

Patio Alameda is a space that takes up the typical element of Mexican architecture; the patio. The project constitutes a reinterpretation of the centralized patio to generate a semi-private space, surrounded by a structure of reed and bamboo, with a mostly vertical arrangement, resulting in the decomposition of galleries and sheds of traditional Mexican patios that are formed by beams, columns, or retching.

The materiality is intended to show that, with the materials of Mexican vernacular architecture such as the reed, it is possible to create structures that, in addition to being sustainable, can be innovative without losing their folkloric essence.

Like the traditional patio, the pavilion is a space for rest and recreation, creating an atmosphere that interacts with the city but seeks to abstract from it. Patio Alameda seeks to cause intrigue and curiosity in the user through the permeability generated by the arrangement of the vertical elements of the project, inviting the user to explore and discover the project from any point. of the road or the Alameda, always creating a new experience.

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_AXONOMETRIC

Reed and bamboo

Hybrid structure of bamboo and concrete

Adobe

Modular blocks

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MEMBRANES AND THRESHOLDS Shortlisted | International Architecture Competition Microhome

“It seems like we can only have dwelling through a building, yet n o t a l l b u i l d i n g s a r e d w e l l i n g s .“ Martín Heidegger MEMBRANES AND THRESHOLDS

The experience of inhabiting and its concept can easily become to transit, to occupy and just e x i s t i n g a n d b re a t h i n g t h e v o i d .

Being imprisoned within four walls that shape our bodies and design our ways of life.

Hence the importance of questioning the possibility of k n o w i n g (o r b e i n g a b l e ) t o i n h a b i t , and understanding the home as an indefinite, spontaneous and fleeting space, as life itself.

B a s e d o n t h i s p h i l o s o p h y, our conception of dwelling i s d e f i n e d f ro m m u l t i p u r p o s e spaces that seek day-to-day c o e x i s t e n c e w i t h a n i n t ro s p e c t i v e c h a r a c t e r.

Making use of t h re s h o l d s a s e l e m e n t s t o a l l o w privacy intervals, as well as to allow the blurring of the limits of each space.

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The structure runs through lightened wooden beams, with a rail to connect with the dividing panels. The columns are articulated as fasciculated elements employing a system of plates that allow their lightening, resting on isolated foundations placed in situ.

The panels are displaced as a 1.20m x 2.4m modular scheme with metal flanges that articulate on the semiperforated beams as a rail.

This allows the flexibilit y of the modules depending on the need of the user.

The modules are then formed by polygons of 3.60 m x 3.60 m, distributed in panels and windows of 1.20 m, supported by modular floors and ceiling panels of 1.20 m x 1.20 m.

THE SRTUCTURE _27

Solar energy panels 475 W.

Rainwater collection through the patio.

Rainwater Tank

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PHENOMENOLOGY OF MEDITATION International Architecture Competition Meditation Cabin Mangatarata, New Zealand.

“I think that the ideal space must contain elements of magic, serenity, sorcery and mystery.”

L u i s B a r ra g a n

Fohat object,

is

the

being

the

link

between

universal

matter,

subject,

and

propelling

vital

force.

The meditation cabin is located in a bush clearing, siting 300 meters away from the main residence of The Earth Energies Sanctuary.

The geometry of the cabin, designed to bring about the balance of body, mind, and soul, is inspired by Fohat´s ancient symbol, resulting in a spiral path created by four staggered platforms and a central altar under a skylight where the energy concentrates. Its purpose is to allow guests to use the space in different and adaptable ways, providing a more personal and comfortable experience.

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0 5.5

m

0m

1

3

5

Floor plan

0m

Ceiling plan

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Steel Joints

Radiata Pine with tanalising treatment

Recycled polyester fabric

Fohat has a simple structure with traditional materials that help the design to connect with the surroundings, being kind to the users and to nature Bing wood and fabric the essence of the project. The steel is mostly used for the joints and the bioethanol bonfire case, glass is used on the Altar skylight and concrete only for the footings.

1. Radiata Pinewood ceiling with glass domes.

2. Fabric covering for the structure.

3. Structural framing with concrete pilings.

4. Structural Axonometric.

5. Ceiling-Beam connection detail.

6. Structural framing detail.

7. Column’s step detailing.

8. Structural Beams connection detailing.

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