Territories of social interaction

J o n a t h a n

M o n t o y a

Territories of Social Interaction

The city is a high concentration and interaction point of people who dwell in each of its spaces; it creates a constant tissue of social language which becomes a natural stage where we can find the most diverse social relationships.

These areas of social interaction allow men to be free since they appropriate them, these are places where men can be identified, translated and leave their marks. Then, a concern arises about the relationships between people and the different ways in which these relationships affect the space, since we cannot deny that humanity throughout history, has been affected by socializing with others, and It is precisely in this social environment, where men have a behavior that is represented in a number of elements that complement the social act, generating exchanges of different kinds and using ‘the place’ in different ways.

"The tendency to form associations is given in multiple ways: when a man thinks, calculates, builds, believes, prays, celebrates, dances, listens music, when he invents prosthesis and integrates them to his body, when he shows himself to the world, when he decorates himself, when he communicates, in all these activities he shows his constituent socializing trend. This multiplicity reveals different ways of being in the world; mechanisms that allow the human being relate with others, create and give meaning to everyday life"1 From this, the concept of place, understood as the point where men can live, expand, and develop as a social being, is no longer a simple space and becomes an anthropological place, a place on which all the effects of social relationships are present.

The question this research is trying to answer is how these relations and exchanges affect the space generating new territories?

1. RUIZ G. MIGUEL ANGEL; LA NATURALEZA SOCIAL DEL HOMBRE

FROM THE CONCEPT OF PLACE TO THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PLACE

To refer to the term "place", it is necessary initially to be recognized as an enclosed space, a physical frame which includes physical objects. It is a geographical location that occupies space, and from where we reference any movement, up, down, right, left, back, forward, but the term “place” takes its true meaning, when they are integrated expressions between objects and phenomena around them.This is an issue that has been developed since ancient Greece, where Aristotle in his book physics refers to the term place saying that “it has three dimensions, length, breadth, depth, the dimensions by which all body also is bounded” 1 Later on in the nineteenth century, Bachelard argues that "the value of the site is expressed by the ownership that the individual has of it." In other words, when a man takes over a place, he carries with him the sense of dwelling, the concept of place is seen then as a stage where, as Erving Goffman says, "to be collective represents a range of roles, where human beings interact in response to the actions of other individuals "2

Life is then a theater where the individual is part of a series of performances that take place in stages exclusively used for that purpose and that are largely worked through ornamentation, where the performance of the individual is shown as a facade.

It is then the involvement of men which gives meaning to the site, through its appropriation, suggests Manuel Martín Hernández, who refers to the place in the architecture, saying that "A place is thus, in principle, a space travel. The place is an appropriated space, lived, made owned through its use, a space (which Christian Norberg-Schulz has called "existential space")3. where the human being identifies its self and from which it relates to the world ", and Norberg-Schulz, in his book, Existence, Space and Architecture, addresses the issue of space as a dimension of human existence, saying, "You cannot dissociate the space from the man, space is neither a external object or an internal experience, we cannot locate the man and the space next to each other, the relationship between people and places, and through them with spaces consists in the act of dwelling, which is the essential property of existence " 1 2 3

ARISTOTLE, Physics, BOOK IV GOFFMAN Erving, La presentación de la persona en la vida cotidiana. Buenos Aires. 1959.

Martín Hernández, M.: "Alguna idea de ciudad en la crisis del espacio-tiempo" en Revista de Historia y Teoría de la Arquitectura, Sevilla, 1998.

It is clear then that in the appropriation by man of the place, the place is no longer just a geographic location, bounded by physical space, it becomes instead an anthropological place, which Norberg-Schulz defined as "places where we experience the most significant events of our existence ", every point where man can live, grow and develop. It is the place where there is a total body expression, appearing in all its glory, as space permits it.

Given then, that the human being is the protagonist of the anthropological place, we can deduce that all forms of social manifestations, the relationship man has with the other, and different forms of ownership of it, not only occur in this place, but they are also the elements that give life to the anthropological place, the exchange of affects, perceptions and feelings, and the relations which the subject establishes with himself, with others and his environment.

The hypothesis put forward is that the exchange of perceptions and sensations; the relationships that the subject sets with himself, with others and with their environment, not only gives meaning to the anthropological place, but also generates new territories within it, not physical territories but symbolic scenarios.

These symbolic scenarios mentioned above are the result of coupling between the subject and the city, generating new forms of symbolic interaction, which in turn to relate to others, create new spaces. That is, each of these spaces is the product of the subject - object relationship that transcends their physical and mental limits, giving way to new sensibilities, where we find various forms of expression, collective action, the Culture, etc.

"The city is an unfinished scenario, where each of its spaces is subject to further changes and new meanings, which are characterized by the presence of codes and images, shapes and volumes, signs, which acquire a value, and allow the Man to be identified, represented, and develop socially.�4 For purpose of this research I will classify these symbolic scenarios into four elements which are: place of mine, place of ours, architectural place, and urban place.

The definition of these four types of place will help us analyze and understand the site where the unit project will be developed.

4. CALLE, margarita. MetĂĄforas urbanas, el artista y la ciudad. Pereira: instituto de cultura de Pereira, 2003. PĂĄg. 5

PLACE OF MINE the body can be understood as a proper place in which everyone affect themselves. the main subject is the body, taking into account the various manifestations of identity, and use that are carried on today, as the practice of tattooing, piercing, clothing, ornaments etc. Activities or customs that allow the man to be identified mark his place or consumed himself.

The body becomes the object on which fall all the affectations of relationships with others. It can be understood as an object of consumption, because of the various manifestations of identity mentioned above, tattoos, Pierce, clothing, ornament, which in turn are also media. These practices where the body is the center not only generate identity but also can define a territory and allow the personal development of each subject.

PLACE OF OURS This is a symbolic space that lies between the subjects, and in which they develop all kinds of relationships between people, the seller, the buyer, who walks, who runs the bicycle, the viewer, etc. it is a shared public space, where each one marks its territory, but is affected by the participation of others. It is in this place is where emerges trade, political discussions, cultural activities, popular entertainments, and all kinds of interpersonal relationships, is an urban jungle, where every condition is revealed or displayed in all its essence, each element is shown without hiding anything.

ARCHITECTURAL PLACE Here we find that the walls that limit our physical space, have been affected, to be used by people in different ways to express themselves through written messages, such as graffiti, or to make them part of their workspace permanent or mobile.

The boulevard, the park, the street which express urban aesthetics, the buildings and trees that blend with the objects and their different languages. The benches, lighting, drinking fountains, columns, kiosks for sales, the many elements that cause an emotional, psychological reaction, and communicate feelings.

URBAN PLACE We can understand the urban place as the result of the collectivity, which is formed by all actors involved in social relations.

Manuel Delgado, in his text: from town conceived to town practiced, refers to urban, saying: "The urban space cannot be read, since it is not a speech but a pure potentiality"5, whereas Norberg-Schulz believes that, "Within the urban level, the individual usually has its private existential space, but it must be interpreted as part of a larger whole ... socialization has to be accompanied by the development of existential space"6. The urban place is the social scene and a product of the collective, the appropriation of space, where everyone lives in a personal space, but is part of another global, in which the leading role is occupied by social relations and is the way of appropriation of the space which generates an urban image.

5 DELGADO, Manuel. De la ciudad concebida a la ciudad practicada, pag 55 6 Norberg-Schulz Chistian, Existencia, Espacio y Arquitectura, Nuevos caminos de la arquitectura,

Blume, Barcelona, 1975, Pรกg. 150