Independent Thesis Project - Spring 2021

STIMULUS OF SOCIAL JUSTICE Advocating Solidarity through Humane Architecture

ADE 622 Independent Thesis Faculty Advisor: Claudio Vekstein Pratima Tatikonda

CONTENTS 1. Introduction 1.1 Hypothesis 2. Precedents 2.1 Preliminary Study 2.2 Artistic Influences - David Alfaro Siqueiros 2.3 Design Iteration 2.4 Previous Insights

3-4 6-13

3. Issue 3.1 Social Justice - The What?

3.2 Case Studies 3.3 Qualities of Built Environment

14-19

4. Context 4.1 Description 4.2 History of Mexico 4.3 Political Influences - David Alfaro Siqueiros 4.4 Current Issues/Injustices

20-27

5. Site Studies 5.1 Location 5.2 Zoning 5.3 Neighborhood Analysis 5.4 Mapping 5.5 Site Diagram

28-33

6. Project Development 6.1 Outline 6.2 Scope 6.3 Concept 6.4 Design Development

34-46

1.1 Hypothesis Social Injustices have been an unconcealed part of society that are evident through the adversities of the vulnerable.

These issues have worsened the spatial and structural inequalities that marginalize access to shared communal resources. By creating a wider platform for sociability through equitable and accessible built environments, these inequalities can be harmonized.

To address persistent societal concerns, art as a form of expression in social and political contexts is crucial to bridge the gap between the past and the future. With the inclusion of radical arts in built environments, social change can be mobilized by impacting user cognition.

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Stimulus of Social Justice Introduction

Stimulus of Social Justice Introduction

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2.1 Preliminary Study

Stimulus of Social Justice Precedents

Frida Escobedo Mexico City, 1979 Frida Escobedo, Taller de Arquitectura The richness of contemporary Mexican architecture derives from its diversity as value derived from the interaction between generations, styles and affinities.

Frida Escobedo specifically designs and restores urban spaces: housing, community centers, art venues etc.

She developed an approach based on the idea that architecture and design represent a crucial medium for asking questions and debating social, economic and political phenomena. Art, both contemporary and historical, serves as a starting point for the development of each project Civic Stage—Lisbon Architecture Triennial, Portugal - 2013

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Serpentine Serpentine Pavilion, Pavilion, Kensington Kensington Gardens, Gardens, London London -- 2018 2018

Stimulus of Social Justice Precedents Project: La Tallera Year: 2012 Location: Cuernavaca, Mexico The gallery complex was originally built by David Alfaro Siqueiros in the 1960s as a painting workshop. Frida Escobedo redesigned the complex to transform the pre-existing site into an exhibition space with a cafeteria, bookshop and reading room One single gesture - opening the museum’s courtyard to the plaza by rotating murals from their original position. With a simple operation, the symbolic art elements of the façade play a new role in engaging visitors in a new relationship with the museum.

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2.2 Artistic Influences

Stimulus of Social Justice Precedents

David Alfaro Siqueiros Chihuahua, 1896 Artist, Muralist, Social Realist Siqueiros believed art should be public, educational, and ideological. He painted murals and other portraits of the revolution – its goals, its past, and the current oppression of the working classes. His interest in the human form developed at the Academy in Mexico City.

His accentuation of the angles of the body, its muscles and joints, can be seen throughout his career in his portrayal of the strong revolutionary body. In addition, many works, especially in the 1930s, prominently feature hands, which could be interpreted as another heroic symbol of proletarian strength through work.

Birth of Fascism, 1936

New Democracy, 1944

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Stimulus of Social Justice Precedents

His interest in technical innovation and advancing mural making techniques made him opt for methods such as airbrushes, sprayguns, projectors, stencils etc. Painting fresco on an outside wall – visible to passersby as well as intentional viewers – forced Siqueiros to reconsider his methodology as a muralist. Instead of just constructing "an enlarged easel painting", he realized that the mural "must conform to the normal transit of a spectator.

Polyforum Siqueiros, his last major mural project, is the largest mural ever painted, an integrated structure combining architecture, in which the building was designed as a mural, with mural painting and polychromed sculpture.

The March of Humanity, 1960

Polyforum Siqueiros, 1960

Tropical America, 1932 9

2.3 Design Iteration

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Stimulus of Social Justice Precedents

Stimulus of Social Justice Precedents La Tallera being a space for experimenting with mural techniques, the idea was to extend the original intention of why Tallera was built and connect the park to provide a space for collective experimentation by engaging community in the process of making art. The idea of bridging the two sites, one of La Tallera and The Park Siqueiros was established intentionally to bring the art production process to the public. The intention behind creating the structure the way is to make a strong sense of gesture to bring the art world into public.

Considering architectural fiction as a narrative through space, the act of bringing the art production into the community is intentional to set up the plot by creating an experience for the viewer to build their own perception of space in time.

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2.4 Previous Insights Various projects of mexican contemporary architects studied integrate the idea of creating spaces for the public – user specific to form a social relationship with the built structures. Whether it be in relation to context or history, most of the architects use the idea of artistic expression of space within architectural boundaries sometimes pushing the limits.

Through the ideas of scale, pattern, materials, perception, user experience, multi-functionalism and experimentation... the design iteration tested out the possibilities of social integration by manifesting art. However, architectural liability of the built structure is to be worked on. How does the intention of creating spaces to set up the plot for the users impact them?

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Stimulus of Social Justice Precedents

Stimulus of Social Justice Precedents

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3.1 Social Justice?

Stimulus of Social Justice Issue

Social Justice is the relation of balance between individuals and society in terms of the privileges availed. In a way, the intended or unintened consequences of human actions result in injustices among society.

Bearing in mind the principles of Social Justice - equity, access and participation, the identification of societal needs through social, cultural or geographical aspects to assess prevailing social injustices is imperative.

Hannibal 14

Stimulus of Social Justice Issue

Struggle for Emancipation, 1961 15

3.2 Case Studies

Stimulus of Social Justice Issue

WHAT

Student Memorial

WHY

Acknowledgement

HOW

Public Interaction

River Reading Room Adjaye Associates

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WHAT

Lynching

WHY

Acknowledgement

HOW

Community Engagement

National Memorial For Peace And Justice Mass Design Group

Stimulus of Social Justice Issue

WHAT

Martin Luther King Jr. Ideals

WHY

Education

HOW

Artist Collaboration

The Embrace Mass Design Group

WHAT

Underused Space

WHY

Development

HOW

Public Rehabilitation

Cancha Rozana Montiel 17

3.3 Qualities of Built Environment WHAT

Social Issue

WHY

Intention

HOW

Tool/Technique Narrative Elements Context/Approach Experience Agency

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Stimulus of Social Justice Issue

Stimulus of Social Justice Issue By addressing disparities through equitable supportive environments, there is hope for meaningful transformation within the society.

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4.1 Description The project will address few of the current social injustices for just humane futurities by jeopardizing the implementation of humanitarian aspect of design that originates from the revolutionary ideals manifested in the art works of the avant garde muralist.

The aim is to conceptualize and configure a contemporary civic space with the muralist’s take on the evolution of progressive humane futurities. Particularly, to understand the current implications of his ideology in the art discipline being carried into an architecture that could reconcile injustices by leveraging public design as a tool to respond to the present-day scenario of social concerns.

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Stimulus of Social Justice Context

Stimulus of Social Justice Context

The Revolution, 1957 21

4.2 History of Mexico

Olmecs

Teotihuacan

Mayan Civilization

Ancient Civilizations

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Stimulus of Social Justice Context

Toeltcs

Aztecs

Spanish Conquest

Civil War

Mexican Federal Republic

Mexican Revolution

Mexican War for Independence

Emiliano Zapata

Porfirio Diaz rule ends

Stimulus of Social Justice Context

Institutional Revolutionary Party

Alvaro Obregon

Cristero War

Petroleos Mexicano

Mexican Miracle

Women's right to vote

Tlateloco Massacre

Earthquake

Vicente Fox

Felipe Energy Sector Calderon Reforms

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4.3 Political Influences - David Alfaro Siqueiros

Stimulus of Social Justice Context

David Alfaro Siqueiros Chihuahua, 1896 Communist, Fascist At the age of eighteen, Siqueiros joined Venustiano Carranza's Constitutional Army fighting the government of President Victoriano Huerta. He was then exposed to Marxism and saw the life of the working and rural poor while traveling with the Constitutional Army.

After Venustiano Carranza's forces had gained control, Siqueiros briefly returned to Mexico City to paint before traveling to Europe in 1919. Siqueiros remained deeply entrenched in labor activities, in the union as well as the Mexican Communist Party, until he was jailed and eventually exiled in the early 1930s Francisco Goya - The Third of May, 1808

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Umberto Boccioni - The Charge of the Lancers, 1915

Stimulus of Social Justice Context

After spending many years in Mexico and heavily involved in radical political activities, Siqueiros went to Los Angeles in 1932 to continue his career as a muralist. Siqueiros was eventually arrested in 1960 for openly criticizing the President of Mexico, Adolfo López Mateos, and leading protests against the arrests of striking workers and teachers Known for making art that was easily read by the public, especially the lower classes, Siqueiros' message in The March is more difficult to decipher, though it seems to fuse two visions of human progress, one international and one based in Mexican heritage

Torment and Apotheosis of Cuauhtémoc, 1950

Cuauhtemoc against the Myth, 1944 25

4.4 Current Social Injustices

Stimulus of Social Justice Context

Slavery

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Dictatorship

Caste and Class system

Stimulus of Social Justice Context

Corruption/ Cronyism

Secularism

Poverty

Feminism

Homelessness

Terrorism

Drug Cartels

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5.1 Location

Stimulus of Social Justice Site Studies

Site - Park Siqueiros Area - 55650 sft Access on 3 sides

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5.2 Zoning

Stimulus of Social Justice Site Studies

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5.3 Neighborhood Analysis

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Stimulus of Social Justice Site Studies

5.4 Mapping

Stimulus of Social Justice Site Studies

Park Siqueiros is the key element that has the potential to unite the neighborhood communities. The proposal will revision the park as a built environment that can connect, inform of the current injustices within the area creating a a space for advocacy.

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5.5 Site Diagrams

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Stimulus of Social Justice Site Studies

Stimulus of Social Justice Site Studies

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6.1 Outline

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Stimulus of Social Justice Project Development

Collective Suicide, 1936

Stimulus of Social Justice Project Development

North wall detail, The March of humanity 35

6.2 Scope

Stimulus of Social Justice Project Development

The intent is to reconcile injustices through the muralist's take on progressive human futurities manifested in his murals. By identifying the intention behind a mural, there can be a possibility to extract architecture.

Identifying the time in which it was drawn, influences for the expression of the mural, techniques and materials used etc provided an opportunity for conceptualizing the project. While manifesting art that is political is the main intention of the project, the revelations in Siqueiros' murals that imply revolution through mass gatherings will be potentially taken into account.

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South wall detail, The March of humanity

Stimulus of Social Justice Project Development

"Controlled Accident"

Step 1 - Collectivity and Abstraction Step 2 - Subject and Representation Materials - Lacquer, Paint thinner, Nitrocellulose, Solvent Tools - Airbrush, Shotgun, Stencils, Cutawl Techniques - Pour, Drip, Splatter, Layer

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6.2 Scope

Stimulus of Social Justice Project Development

The Control

Sketchbook paper

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Construction paper

Regular paper

Stimulus of Social Justice Project Development

The Accident

Sketchbook paper

Construction paper

Regular paper

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6.3 Concept The Process

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Stimulus of Social Justice Project Development

Stimulus of Social Justice Project Development

Derivative

Flatten

Access

Space Division

Connection

Operation

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6.4 Design Development

Plan + 3.4 m

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Stimulus of Social Justice Project Development

Plan + 6.4 m

Top View

Stimulus of Social Justice Project Development

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6.4 Design Development

Stimulus of Social Justice Project Development

Screening panels

Gridshell Structure

Timber Gridshell detail Foundation

Concrete Block walls

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Stimulus of Social Justice Project Development

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Thank You

Stimulus of Social Justice

ADE 622 Independent Thesis Faculty Advisor: Claudio Vekstein Pratima Tatikonda