SANAA Kazuyo Sejima Ryue Nishizawa On 1A Intervention in the Mies van der Rohe PavilionMies-en-scene‘But of gazing even on water that mimics The other blue in its depth of sky, That at times gleams back the illusory tight Of the inverted bird, or that ripples, And in front ofthe silent surface OF subtle ebony whose polish shows Like @ repeating dream the white Of something marble or something rose. From Dreamers, by Jorge Ls Borge, warlated by Haris Morand ‘As the result of exaggerated reverence to architectural history, we tend to think of the time of a building as a mark on {a chronological scale somewhere between the age of the pyramids and the present. However, this simple and seem- ingly unambiguous way of classifying artifacts according to 2 finear, abstract concept of time contradicts our exper ‘ence when we walk in a city, surrounded by buildings from different ages, continuously altered during their life spans some of them surviving centuries, others disappearing after a couple of weeks or months. The time of the Barcelona Pavilion cannot be described as a single mark on the time axis: the memory of the original building, which existed for ‘about nine months between the inauguration on 26 May 1929 and its dismantling in the spring of 1930, now inhabits a reconstruction. But even this characterisation is incorrect, since the 'memory’ of the original building survived as black and white photographs, while the colours of the replica appeared just as shocking as the discovery of layers of paint fn antique sculptures and buildings the resurrection fet frivolous, as a loss of dignity. The new, ‘erotic’, identity of ‘Mies, as revealed in the photographs of Thomas Ruff or Thomas Florschuetz, became for a couple of months in 2008 «2 tangible’ realty in the form of a curved, pirouette-lke acrylic scroen built by SANA, the office of Kazuyo Sojima and Ryue Nishizawa. Their installation, which visitors could enter, used the stage of the Barcelona Pavilion not just to yoke together different temporalities: it was a device to connect discordant concepts of visual space. SANAA's decision to use architecture a6 a means to insert this unstable, blurred, bent ~ in any case distorted — image of the Pavilion into its own interior was not only their own attempt to ‘restore’ the buliding but also a reflection on their own appropriation ‘of Mios's aesthetic vision. ‘This was not the first attempt to bend Mies's bold straights, however. At the 1985-1986 Milan Triennale Rem Koolhaas ‘and OMA exhibited the results of theirresearch into the “true history of the Pavilion after the closing of the 1926 World Fair In order to fit the Mies bulldina into the ‘ste’. the curved exedra of the Triennale building, “the pavilion had to ‘As the result of exaggerated reverence to architectural history, we tend to think of the time of a building as a mark on {& chronological scale somewhere between the age of the pyramids and the present. However, this simple and seem- ingly unembiguous way of classifying artifacts according to @ near, abstract concept of time contradicts our experi ‘ence wen we walk in a city, eurounded by buldings from diferent ages, continuously altered during their lite spans some of them surviving centuries, others disappecring after a couple of weeks or months, The time of the Barcelona Pavilion cannot be described as a single mark on the fe axis: the memory of the original building, which existed for about rine months between the inauguration on 26 May 1929 and its dismanting inthe spring of 1880, now inhabits a be bent”. Pacing the distorted Mies Pavilion inside a Fascist building of pharacnic charm was clearly a ‘misfit, but one which claimed a “higher authenticity" in search of a “true history" ~ at least compared to the reconstruction inTromas Freche ‘2am Kansas / OMA Encesure #4, 200, -P Liscasa palates Galene Marks Rene, Born Alan Teennake Barcelona which Koolhaas compared to Disneyland.? The bent pavilion, lke a flexed biceps, became a "casa palestra" 1 bodybuilding home “which aimed 10 shock people into an awareness of the possible ‘hidden’ dimensions of modern architecture". Hidden dimensions: the reference to a then-famous book means in this context the sensual pleasure of the modern individual ~ a fact hidden beyond the claimed sobriety and sel-restraint ofthe style, only admitted when the building is subjected to joyful distortion Koolhaas's video installation, a postmortem storybook of scenes from the afterlife of the Pavilion, showed architecture 28 dismantled and reassembled by the forces of history. Jorge Luis Borges, who in his short story The Meeting con: tonds that the life of objects is governed by internal laws, did not share this view of the life of objects in time as ‘victims! of history. The storyteller narrates a poker game in a house containing a collection of famous gauchos' weapons. The players start a fight, decide suddenly and without evident reason to duel, and choose their weapons from the collection. Neither the winner nor his dying victim can understand the sense of their ‘meeting’, which strikes them as a dream: / began fo wonder whether [...]in some uncanny way it could heve been the weapons, not the men, that fought. stil remember how Uriarte's hand shook when he first grigped his knife, and the same with Duncan, as though the knives were coming awake after along sleep side by side in the cabinet. Even after their gauchos were dusi, the knives - the knives, not their tools, the men - knew how fo fight. And that night they fought well. Things last longer than people; who knows whether these knives will meet again, who knows whether the story ends hera® Pointing opt that works of architectu 1s inmnovable night be staing the obvious but il tke the kien i Borges’ sonata oie notion rae ee ‘Salen Ma Barcelona which Koolhaas compared to Disneyland.? The bert pavilion, lke a flexed biceps, became a “casa palestra", a bodybuilding home “which aimed to shock people into an awareness of the possible ‘hidden’ dimensions of modern architecture" Hidden dimensions: the reference to a ther-famous book* means in this context the sensual pleasure of the modem individual ~ a fact hidden beyond the claimed sobriety and self-restraint ofthe style, only admitted when the building is subjected to joyful distortion story ~, they frequently meet not only in the context of cites but also on the pages of books. One of the negative impliae re 8.Conpeition proctor he Campus Cone foe tren ise o Tochnalogy. 19971298 Couneny of SANAA cations is that the these objects. n the context of the city the importance of real, rather than imaginary, spatial constellations should be obvious, but SANAA's installation in Barcelona shows the consequences of a prearranged meeting, based on certain imaginary museum” that the historian constructs suppresses the very real spatial configuration of, theoretical or aesthetic assumptions on the part of the organisers, in real space and real time. ‘An intervention in an existing work is always critical, even i the author of the intervention has only admiration for the work, which he or she has to confront. The architecture of Mies and the architecture of SANAA, like the knives in Borges's cabinet, are similar, but their interaction ie not at all friendly. Micsiaa’ themes like the platform, allowing pas sage between @ loose assemblage of posts and partitions, appear very early in Sejima's work.” In the Mies Pavilion, the od, elements. Its not their role as supports that is emphasised, but rays of light between the strong horizontals. Sejima had appropriated these principles already al the beginning of her career. Describing her proposal for the new Campus Center for the linois, Institute of Technology (1997-1998). an earlier ‘confrontation’ of Mies on an urban scale, Kazuyo Sejima emphasised: we selected a very small, thin column and very thick glass for the partitions. We wanted to study an idea of reduc: ing the usual hierarchy between structure and partition, where the structure comes first and partitions are infil, So we tried to make the structure disappear and the partitions very thick and heavy® This interpretation of Mies was an attempt t0 offer an alternative reading to the one that regards his buildings as based on classical principles, with an ‘emphasis on tectonic expression. Sejima's intention, to "make the structure disappear and the partitions very thick and non-supporting parts (walls) are dominant; the supports are mirroring, almost demateral heavy” of the Barcelona Pavilion certainly encouraged this interpretation of Mies, which was not unprecedented, considering the writings of critics lke Josep Quetglas (Fear of Glass, 2000) Courtesy of SANAK ‘was essentially anti tectonic. The experies cations is that the “imaginary museum” that the historian constructs suppresses the very real spatial configuration of these objects. In the context of the city the importance of real, rather than imaginary, spatial constellations should be ‘obvious, but SANAA's installation in Barcelona shows the consequences of a prearranged meeting, based on certain theoretical or aesthetic assumptions on the part of the organisers, in real space and real time, ‘An intervention in an existing work is always critical, even i the author of the intervention has only admiration for the and others, and the photographs by Thomas Flors Forg taken between 1988 and 2001, ;chuetz, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Kay Fingerle, Thomas Ruff and Guntheredd 4 Installation for he Ama Jacobsen Cenensry 5 Glass Panton st he Toledo Muceur att Toledo Losetna Museum ol Madam Ar, Humiabaek, Dena (Ore 2001-2008 (El Cogs 199: SANAA, 2004-2008, 2002 Courtesy SANA 99) courtesy f SANAA) In their competition entry, Sejima and SANAA used glass with different degrees of transparency. According to their description, the campus building “reflects the Mies-designed campus thal is being superimposed over the activities inside’. ‘Sejima’s reflections on Mies suggest a mimetic relationstip. The mimetic response, according to Adorno, has paradox ‘cal and antithetical eiements ~ the basic unity thal ties the two tagether allows the establishment of antithetic gestures, distortions. Distortion was a tool for SANAA already in the case of an installation for the Arne Jacobsen centenary: a circular screen of shaped, not entirely fat, acrylic: The abject fills the space with a distorted scenery, rendering new ‘images of the park with each visitor’ The Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art (Toledo, Ohio, 2001-2008) is the fullest realisation of the superimposition of a curving glass wall and a rectangular grid. The result is @ beautifully ‘odd combination of panoptic transparency that comprises all views into one, permitting the whole interior and the ‘environment to be seen at once, together with a network af mirror images. But the spaces inside the bubbles temain impenetrable: the eyes of those inhabiting them, although i+ a central position, imprison the observer. Mies's Barcelona Pavilion is based on Cartesian perspectivalism, the strong horizontal slabs of the platform and root, as ‘well as the free-standing parallel walls embody an idea of space formulated by German art historian August Schmarsow in his famous lecture The Essence of Architectural Creation!? For Schmarsow, the roots of architecture as creator of ‘space ‘lie at the very place where the origin of our mathematical thinking, the psychological basis of the science of ‘space, is to be sought” The orthogonal coordinates of Euclidian geometry, according to Schmarsow, are congruent with the structure and physiology of the human body and therefore with the psychology and phenomenology of per ception, Euclidian geometry is an adequate representation ot space, because it is developed on the basis of human anthropology, experience of and exchange with the environment. Mies, as an architect working with collaged photo- In their competition entry, Sejima and SANAA used glass with different degrees of transparency. According to their description, the campus building “reflects the Mies-designed campus that is being superimposed over the actwities, inside’? ‘Sejima’s reflections on Mies suggest mimetic relationship. The mimetic response, according to Adorno, has paradox: cal and antithetical elements ~ the basic unity that ties the two together allows the establishment of antthetic gestures, distortions. Distortion was a tool for SANAA already in the case of an installation for the Ame Jacobsen centenary: a circular screen of shaped, not entirely fit, acrylic: The abject fills the space with a distorted scenery, rendering new ‘graphs and drawings early in his career, was very aware of the potential of arranging two-dimensional images, observed orthogonally in perspectival space.6 Hoc Thak(1598-1610) Pw kv 1B Cantar Natons Masur. Tego In the Japanese language, the word used to translate the term ‘space’ means an interval, a void between things, @ void tat constantly fluctuates between form and emptiness. Despite numerous attempts to emphasise the simiaries between Japanese architecture and the buildings of Mies on the basis of the precise articulation of skeleton and skin, the underlying concep! of space appears 10 be quite different. A work like the two famous folding screens, Pine Forest by Hasegawa Tohaku (1539-1610), shows groups of trees taking shape by detaching themselves from the milky paper con which they are painted and then dissolving again. Ths lleting, unsteady movernent between poles, which also de- soribes the work of SANAA, ctfers radically from the spatial idea ofthe Barcelona Pavilon, and privileges an ahistorical, ésombociod subject ently ouside the world it claims to know oniy rom afar Despite the similarity between the elements that Mies and SANAA work with, such as transparency, lightness and reflections, the moments of non-identty are made that much more striking. Martin Jay in his Downcast Eyes, describes the ideal typical models: Cartesian perspectvalism vis-a-vis post-Carlesian "scopic regimes", such as the temporalised, kaleidoscopic techniques used by impressionist and post-impressionist painters. The Japanese tradition nf visualis: ing space represents a non-Cartesian scopic regime, in which non-perspectival projections (lke isometry), patterned surfaces, ornaments and letters overlap. In place othe perspective's focus on a clear narration, this technique isa form ‘of mapping, based on a fat surface, which allows the insertion of words as well as images in its visual space, Mies's ‘Barcelona Pavilion, with its abstraction and clarity, is stl dominated by Cartesian perspectivaliam, while the inclusion of ‘Sejima’s acrylic snail makes the two spatial ropes clash. Dart Graham followed a similarly ‘destabilising’ strategy when he placed an acrylic pavlion with two straight and two curved walls, named "Hall Square Half Crazy.” in front of the Casa dei Fascio in Como by Giuseppe Terragni on the centenary of his birth, in 2004, installations, in which he uses contain- ut tho frnilty nf SANAA's intervention is also similar to Norivuki Haraauct In the Japanese language, the word used 10 translate the term ‘space’ means an interval, avoid between things, a ‘id that constantly fluctuates between fort and emptiness. Despite numerous attempts to emphasise the similarities between Japanese architecture and the buildings of Mies on the basis of the precise articulation of skeleton and skin, theunderying concept of space appears to be quite different, A work ike the two famous folding screens, Pine Forest by Hasegawa Tohaku (1539-1610), shows groups of tees taking shape by detaching themselves from the milky paper ‘on which they are painted and then dissolving again. Ths fleeting, unsteady movement between poles, which also de- serves the work of SANA, difers cadically rom the spatial iden ofthe Barcelona Pavilion, and privileges an ahistorical, dsemibarteg spies) entirely outside the world it claims to know only from afr. ers filed with ol to create mirar images that appear more dense and substantial then realty. Despite siilaites with Western minimal art, the materality of the arilactiselt is much more subdued, fragile and Meeting, reacting 10 every step of the observer. The dialogue with the environment is more important than the autarchy.Dan Grab, Hai Square Hall Ciaay 8 Nowak Haraguchi Bucs wi aesscng sta! ‘Com, 2004 (phon Akos Mervin) ‘Stoo a. a soa plate Ada hed Galen, Japan, 1987 The fist of Sejima's ideas was to place @ second sheet of slightly undulating acrylic behind the glass facade of the Pavilion, which would have created blurred images, recalling the curtains of the café Samt und Seide (Velvet and Sik) designed by Lilly Reich and Mies van der Rohe for the Die Mode der Dame (Women's Fashion) exhibition in Berlin. But Sejima’s executed solution takes up another aspect of this 1927 exhibition: the curved (in Berlin, semicircular) part: tions of space, attributed to Lily Reich.® Lilly Reich and Mies were living together a ‘ooperating already at the time of the Weissenhof-Siedlung (1927), designing a Wohnraum in Spiagelgvas (Living Room in Mirror Glass) in Stuttgart ‘hore is much speculation on her role in the semicircular form of Mia's tubular steel chair from 1927°* What is certain, however, is that Lilly Reich designed a miror for Migs's apartment in the Weissenhof-Siedlung, mounted on a tubular steel frame with a semicircular suppor. Lilly Reich was in charge of the artistic direction of the German section of the ‘World Exhibition in Barcelona, and she designed with Mies a "Silk Room" with panels of rellecting mirror glass standing in the middle of the exhibition space. Particularly strking is the similenty between the glass exhibit, consisting of twelve large curved glass plates, in the min ing industry section which Mies and Lily Reich designed for Deutsches Volk, Deutsche Arbeit, the first propaganda exibition after the Nazi takeover in Berlin, 1934 (in which architects of the Moder Movement stil participated), and SANAA's proposal for acrylic paritions in the Mies Pavlion, Option B. The executed version made the echoes of this exhibition sound more distant. In the mirror surfaces that supposed to reflect Mies, another face appears unexpected Hee in the miata hi Reoraes which I chase aa the matin far this assay’ that af Lilly Reich. the most imoortant partner of The fist of Sejima’s ideas was to place @ second sheet of slightly undulating acrylic behind the glass fagade of the Pavilion, which would have created blurred images, recalling the curtains of the café Samt und Seide (Velvet and Silk) designed by Lilly Reich and Mies van der Rohe for the Die Mode der Dame (Wamen's Fashion) exhibition in Berlin, Bul Saimas execyted aplution takes ue anather asoact ofthis 1927 gytihition: the curved (ig Betlin, semicircular part- Mies’ life and work. Sejima used the ‘platform’ of Mies as a stage to enact her mis-en-scéne, to make Mies’ space ap- pear in a way that was not perceivable belare, while still eemembering, ke Borges’ mirrors, her silent contribution‘ot ure Seid (Velo! and Sak fs Bein, 927. ~toanencnyis Architects U Three Critics Vey S New? Six Projects Searching for Clues ATheme References Place New Technologies, Alternatives, Mies van der Rohe | ‘ . | Pavilion, B | Public/Private | Pavilion, Barcelona Projects Media-TIC Building Hayrack Apa rtments m5 Six Architects LU Three Criti WEN CMa ccs Searching for Clues AThemeReeser: Enric Ruiz-Geli / Cloud 9 SAA, ‘ 4 my a =! oiiArchitect Enric Analyse Arree-Gere Moravanszky Analyse Science and Fiction We've entitled this intervention Science and Fiction because this is our approach to architecture We wort with scientists, physicists, artists, like Pep Bou. He makes bubbles, seap bubbles; maybe it's possible to make a living out of bubbles, so he did it. He plays like he's nuts, with smoke, with @ surface... Bul maybe it's nota game, maybe it's architecture, pecause there is a scale, a space, a structure, sometimes you have to {go inside one of his bubbles to see what's in there... sometimes there's manipulation of the structure. There’s a link between our software and the engineering firm BOMA Engineers calculate the structure day by day and bubbles, they don't always happen, they last seconds but you can feel them and eventually map them. This involves science and calculations, but also fiction, it's Iike anarchitect's dream. All you have to do is dream and measure the dream, map the dream. But at the same time it's all one thing. So there's 42 possibility, which isto act as a positive virus inside this system. There's a relationship between all the hackers and everything else and this rela tionship can lead somewhere twas great fun listening to the presentation of Enric Ruis-Geli - whathe has said, and even more the way he said it. His enthusiasm for ‘science and fiction’ brings me backto the world of lules Verne, Eugéne-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc and Antoni Gaudi. | share his exciterrent about ‘positive Viruses’ and bubbles, even if many of the bubbles of our globalised world have burst and are still bursting day by day. Butas the German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk argued, we live in the interiors of spheres: bubbles, globes and foams! are not mere metaphors, they determine our thinking, and de- cide about our destiny. Some bubbles might burst for instance, the ‘real estate bubble’ — but this transfers us into the interior of another bubble of economical experimentation. is telling us: “All you have to do is to dream and measure the dream, map the dream.”2Isn’the describing here the task of every architect: think of something that does noi yet exist, and draw a plan? But obviously he is ‘3 possibility, which isto act as.a positive virus inside this system, There's a relationship between all the hackers and everything else and this rela tionship can lead somewhere Iewas great fun listening to the presentation of Enric Ruiz-Geli - what he has said, and even more the way he said it, His enthusiasm for ‘science and fiction’ brings me back to the world of Jules Verne, Eugne-Emmanuel Misllet-le-Duc and Antoni Gaudi. I share his excitement about ‘positiveLet me take you to a very Disney-like resort near Barcelona, These people live in kind ol folkloric, ancient houses built two years ago, and. they drive kind of Miami Vice boats... Let's consider the situation, let's consider the asphalt and the water. Let's consider doing experiments on ice and water to break through; to generate topography, vakimes and accidents, Maybe the accident will tell us what iLis. The topagraphy, the making of layers, cut in the resolution of the accident, of the eyes, maybe this will lead us to a geometry, toa nurb. Maybe this will ead us (0 space, to architecture, t0.a poo! Maybe this will lead us to an interior land- scape, and building an interior landscape. Can this landscape deliver, can it fly away, lly over? How is this going ta work? This ise fluid space, 2 continuous space How is that up and down space relationship? There are many possibilities to live inside this accident; many possibilities of building schemes in this accident. But the lact is that we are in the digital age and have the knowledge and the tools to build digitally. What is next? Should it be a cloud? Energy is our main script; it's all about energy, to produc to have a balance and know where energy can be made. It's about the management of complexity, complex geometries. The geometry and the 1, to consume, our actions? Should we understand, therefore, his buildings and projects, the Villa Nurbs, the MediaTIC building or the Coney Island Aquarium as the liberation of suppressed desires in architecture? Is the fulfillment of the dream of floating in an ethereal world on the Costa Brava, or standing inthe musical forest of the Aviary the triumph of dreams over reality, at Jeast what our ‘professional’ knowledge takes for reality? If this is the case, “dream’ means the opposite meaning to ‘vision’. Vision in architecture is always associated with a critical perception and transformation of reality guided by the idea of a better society. | wonder if "measure the dream means doing what is delightful, even if we know what is right. As the etymology suagests, we ean visualise a vision. But how can we measure and map dreams? Are dreams ‘mappable’ at all? Would mapped dreams still fascinate us, or strike us as slightly ridiculous, infantile fanta- ane minht halos to out Enric Rujz-Gell's work Energy is our main script, it's all aboul energy. to produce it, to consume, to have a balance and knaw where energy can be made. j's about the management of complexity, complex geometries. The geometry and the our actions? Should we understand, therefore, his buildings and projects, the Villa Nurbs, the MediaTIC building or the Coney Island Aquarium as the liberation of suppressed desires in architecture? |s the fulfillment of <8 ian, oa althesas eid nathe Coste Brave:enctaadingEwe Raab architecture are made at the same moment, What's important is not to be a praducer of energy bul to be autonomous. When we won the Aviary competition for the Marine Zoo in Barcelona we thought it was possible to de a building and a landscape all in one, 50 we said it'sa building and it’s tree There's a 3d software, it generates a path, mapping, folding, cut, still work, laser cut, printing, with hydro. ponic capsules, in order to build a tree that is building: a structure with holes, There's water going up and coming down. Morphorest is a shadow, a shadow maker, but at the same time it’s @ scientific map ol leaves and trees; it’s a complex performance of nature in Iractal way, every leave has its shape; i's a shadow and a musical instrument at the same time, because the aluminium plate is 0.1 mm thick and produces. noise. Is a forest building? Could these four trees became a building? Could we imagine 6,000 artificial leaves working together, generating & space, a shadow? Generating silent space and micro space? And climate, a certain ecology. The MediaTIC building isin the 22@ area in Barcelona. \t's a place for digital architecture to be applied to the city, so we decided to doa byte of information, » building as a byte, We're working parametric again, so of Hamlet's fentasies and Polonius' responses. Artists and architects Sram the Renaissance to John Ruskin were concerned about how to represent clouds in perspective. Brunelleschi in his famous experiment in Florence, did not try to represent clouds but covered the upper part of his table with reflecting layer of silver: the abserver saw the mirror images of the clouds surrounding the perspective drawing of the Bapiistery. The ambiguous status of clouds reflects quite well the way architecture enters into new relationships with the body and its senses. A cloud might look object-like from a distance but itis an atmospheric phenomenon; 35 2 fog, it can surround us and blur our vision. The desire for such immersive ‘environmentsis as old as architecture itself, as Gothic cathedeals, frescoed rooms, or the panoramas of the 19th century demonstrate. Today we are entering a new era when all these separate fields art, architecture, sc: vv hoe thairhaundarias. interfere with each other, The Mediatic building sim the 3@ area m boreclone: (tse pete se digital architecture to be applied ta the city, so we decided to doa byte of information, a building as a byte. We're working parametric again, so of Hamlet's fantasies and Potonius' responses. Artists and architects from the Renaissance to John Ruskia were concerned about how to represent clouds n perspective. Brunelleschi, in his famous experimentin Florence, i —lL..dateil aanacameslates salen eanabest hile tolilewiththese are software solutions. We decided to make a steel structure which hangs the floors with cables, so the ground floor is free, without columns This increases the flexibility in all the floors because we don't know what going to happen with the renting ol the building, so it has to be open. flexible. We believe that the programme must build the structure. The programme comes Irom outside and generates the structure, and the structure generates a topographic feeling. landscape of layers and couching In the EXPO Zaragoza we were working in the Thirst Pavilion and made 2 lew experiments with an igloo of salt. When it's hat we sweat water with salt, with the burning Of this energy we jeel better. Could we imagine a building that also sweats? So we imagined ETFE couching with watery, sally sweat. Science Fiction. How could we move these particles again and again? How long can it last? What's the amount of water related tosalt? Alter 3 days ol 30s shots, we came up with 9mm of salt, When the ETFE surlace is 40° the water evaporates and at that moment sall rystallises, Ths is the balance of energy; this is the structure, and again parametric, how to make it work Gottiried Semper, whom | consider the most important theoretician of architecture inthe 19th century, emphasised the theatrical aspects of art and architecture, when he developed his theory of cladding as@ particular technique to give cultural significance to everyday objects: "I thinkthat the dressing and the mask are as old as human civilisation and that the joy in both is identical to the joy in those things thatled men to be sculptors, paint- ers, architects, poets, musicians, dramatists (...) the haze of the carnival candlesis the true atmosphere of art.” Itis theater, which turns the banal story of ajealous lover into something that has a meaning to us and r-aybe changes the way we think about life. It is architecture that is able tc ture the improvised decorations of a festivity into a material environment that structuresthe life of generations to come. He called the material process, which transforms the wooden scaffolding and attached decoration into marhie. brick and frescoes Stoffwechsel. German for metabolism, a word crystallises. This is the balance of energy; this is the structure, and again parametric, how to make it work Gottiried Semper, whom I consider the most important theoretician of architecture in the 19th century, emphasised the theatrical aspects of art and architecture, when he developed his theory af cladding asa particular Vasibiintansin (eh soles siibherad alii ieanantes atervdeyeisiects: “i think thatthe Coney Island project brings many things together: one is water _and global warming, so it's about the animal kingdom: the genetics of ~ Snimals; bout not losing this information, trying ta bring back the 70's ig of collecting animais to ‘earn Irom them, to generate medicines rrinstance. It’s also about social tissues and architecture control. fing the flow of people so that their experience will be interesting and knowledge will be created, To do that maybe we need low density, more quality. Water meeting the people, the animals, and the sea: there's 3 “certain mathematical process and all of this could generate architec tore, a building, 3 system, sa this system could be applied all round ‘the perimeter. In fact, all around the place, we must be creative. For identity purposes, we need everybody. This is a kind of web, a rool that surrounds everything, like Coney Island used to do, There have been several historical moments in Coney Island, sometimes an elephant was the icon, and this time the aquarium can play this rale. And to accomplish this we need people working in vertical scale - like Frei Otto worked in the Olympic Stadium in Munich - with a stcucture that generates this kind of membrane or skeleton that can allow different shapes, for instence, animal shapes, and react to the wind in a performative way. So stance, he piled 7,000 pieces of basalt stone on the streets ofthe city, to _ be exchanged for so many trees planted. Artlul science, science-inspired art: hybrid forms of the The Two Cultures, tOuse an expression of the British scientist-novelist C.P. Snow. are as old ashuman civilisation, but they enjoy today particular attention, What is ‘the significance of the interferences between ari, architecture, theater, Stience and technology? Are architects masquerading as scier 's, be~ use they can only win the moral and financial ‘support of society if they declare their work ‘research’? They are, however, also acting as artists, claiming autonomy and critical edge for their work. Take for instance Bruce aus successful book Life Style as an example forthe new hybrid practice, pisearchtgraphic-designtsell advertising. In addition, he is claiming for = Possibility of an exit from the consumerist dead end. ectacular. aiant steel structure of the MediaTIC buildina wovld have inthe Olympic Stadivmnin Munich with's wructore iat cance this kind of membrane or skeleton that can allow different shapes, for instance, enimal shapes, snd react to the wind in a perlormative way So stance, he piled 7,000 pieces of basalt stone on the streots of the city, to ‘be exchanged for so many trees planted. Artlul science, science-inspired art: hybrid forms of the The Two Cultures, peal atta Re aa aia oe in aS,rie Ruinbel all together itwill create a certain scenario from which the structure is calculated. Coney Island's skyline will change; the water line will change the scale of itis empty, natural Could we learn from nature, could we leara fram the perlormance of nature? Is it possible to link this nature with architecture? Nature protects, regulates and communicates. Again from the 70s, there was, metabolist architecture and in a 200, an aduarium, we can't loose this track, the opportunity to show the building with its content, So context and content becomes the same thing. What's first? I don't know, it's a good challenge. It's an exhibition as well a5 3 system: a system that explains science, nature and animal performance. It's an ambiguous design, which is a Good way to proceed, because if there are questions, there is interaction That's the dream: if we come to a point where we can integrate architec lure, landscape and natural systems, We can't touch the public space but we can project sound to the public space, create @ soundscape. At the same time, fill it with motion, motion sensors. We strongly believe 1 structural acupuncture. It's not about one solution because there isn't justone problem, there are thousands of problems at a small scale and activities ~just think of the Centre Beaubourg, which is an important point of reference here. But programme means something different for Enric ~it has nothing to do with the use; he just told us that he doesn't know "what is going to happen in the near future, with the renting of the building The programme is what shapes the form: “the programme must build the structure. The program comes from the outside and generates the structure and the structure generates a topographic feeling, a landscape of layers and cushion:".* Like Gaudi letting the forces determine the structure using a suspended model, he likes to think that itis not him who generates the form. Maybe he is a bit of a mystic, just like his kindred spirit and master, only this time God is in the computer. The steel construction of the MediaTIC building will soon disappear behind a puffy jacket made of ETFE (Ethylene-Tetrafluorethylene) cushions, net un self re ara wearing including Eneie the same time. fill itwith motion, motion sensors. We strongly believe 1p structural acupuncture. It's nol about one solution because there isnt just one problem, there are thousands of problems at 4 small scale and ee the anne veka activities just think of the Centre Beaubourg, which isan important point of reference here. But programme means something different for Enric— it hhas nothing to do with the use; he just told us that he doesn't know “what bn Rube weAZUR Sacer an Oia Jution can only be addressed by a diverse architecture as solu here must be different fluxes, different paths, To do that the i hides the towers and an the boardwalk and publie pavilions protective spaces. There will be green rools over the pavilions, the ‘ones and new ones, and in this way when people in Coney Isiand jun they won't see the pavilions, instead they'll have this land We must recover the dunes and the coast with WRT, our partner ww York. Hopetully the competition explains the different tasks Wig goels to build this— it’s the only way lo have a high performance Maybe one day this skin wil tellus stories of sealife. Maybeit will change. dramatically, in 2 good way. the housing skyline; have a dialogue with the gea—in fact, act like a living system. 7 The issue of architecture's taste reminds me of a performance by the artist Carolyn Butterworth, which took place in this ery building, She was licking the onyx doré of the Barcelona Pavilion fo direct ourattention not so much Aofetishism, but to the domiaance of vision in our physical relationship with the constructed world. We try o ‘understand’ the meaning ol the building, but seem to forget the smoothness of the marble, the hotness of the red vel- vet, the cold shine ofthe steel, The pavilion has a sensuous materiality the eye isnot enough, you want to touch it, enjoy it with ail of your senses. Enric’s description of the Thirst Pavilion in Zaragoza goes a step further interms of ora! pleasures. Instead of the somewhet tedious pleasure of licking stone, he imagines the "EFTE cushions with watery, salty sweat”, a Sensation mach less éitare, more down-to-earth, even proletarian than the Sensation of polished marble which is being cleansed regularly, at ieast far the famous left Wall photooraph ccture’s taste reminds me ofa performance by the artist, Carolyn Butterworth, which took place in this very building. She was licking the onyx doré of the Barcelona Pavition to direct our attention not so much ftofetishism, but to the dominance of vision in our physical relationship withbuild the theoretical, utopian legacy of the 70s today and, with the same intensity, there is an urgent need to create a utopian legacy for 2025. But at the same time and above all, there is an urgent need to get up to today's speed, and get today's work done today. Society: open your eyes. You are hypnotised by the real estate bubble you are sleeping on, Don't you know that you can live today in a technological space as light and as sale as space"? While I share Enric’s critique and impatience with the sleeping society, J don't quite understand his contrasting of the real estate bubble that he rejects and the technological bubble that he is dreaming about. After assu: ring us that "Nature will be safeguarded thanks to technology and human intervention’ he turns to rural fe introducing the theme of his Villa Nurbs: "The road to Rural Life exists, a certain return to the country, to the slow pace of life, to the simple cave. But | believe in the road forward, towards the construction of natural landscape with technology. Architecture is Ife. Ithas to be mutant, evolutionary, interactive, integrated, progressive Spaces with sensors, that feel.”* Already the villa's name is an abbreviation for Non-Uniform Rational Basis Splines. Enric contrasts the refined technology of the speedboats at Em puriabrava and the fake coastal architecture; this is exactly how the critic of the New York Times Style Magazine described it: "The villa’s compact design represents a seismic mental shift, His aim, instead, i to bend techno- logy to serve the needs ofthe individual. As silent and amorphous as a cloud, his house functions to smooth our relationship with an increasingly complex world rather than provide a comforting veneer of nostalgia”? The villa isthe latest step in evolution of the house full of technological gad getry, more perfectly taylored toward the fulfillment of individual desires. But are those Miami Vice-style speedboads of the Costa Brava really that different from the fake regionalism of the houses? Just as the speedboats and jot ckic convey a sense of excess and waste asa legitimate lifestyle, the tacky Costa-Brava-style offers its own dream of a great tradition of idyllic life on the Mediterranean Coast. The details may differ, but both dreams are products of the same mind, both are crafted according to the rules of the same master. Let's assume for a moment that the proposed ‘urban acupuncture’ will be successful, the houseowners will remodel their homes ‘Spaces with sensors, hatte"? “ . Already the villa's name is an abbreviation for Non-Uniform Rational Basis Splines. Enric contrasts the refined technology of the speedboats at Em- puriabrava and the fake coastal architecture; this is exactly how the critic of the New York Times Style Magazine described it: "The villo's compact design represents a seismic mental shift. His aim, instead, isto bend techno logy to serve the needs of he individual.As silent and amorphous as a cloud. his house functions to smooth our relationship with an increasingly complex world rather than provide a comforting veneer of nostalgia”? yrands in sport, set design, new technologies, media-art and architecture - wouldconverve under the idea of new patents" ® hall the new brand of city, speedboats and architecture give reason to gelebrate our start into a new era of invention and interactivity? Or, just the opposite, shall it signify the immediate past, just before ‘inventiveness, “atleast in the corporate world, became a synonym for the ‘toxic waste’ of “gpeculative investment? [started this statement voicing my pleasure over the enthusiastic tone of Enric’s presentation, and hope that you will not take my skeptical remarks ga sign of some kind of apocalyptic inclination. | think that his projects do have 2 potential to transform reality; Enric clearly realises this when ‘he speaks about affecting the public sphere. His attempts to overthrow the separation between art and architecture, science and fiction are very ‘much part of strategy not unlike that of the historic avant-garde. While asa critic | have to ask him about the dreams that he wants to measure land map, at the same time | am also aware of the contradictions on which “those dreams rest. those dreams rest. 17ela Gulf StreamArchitect Philippe Rahm prise Rohm eritecies Usvsanne / Pars Analyse Moravanszky Analyse Thermodynamic Shapes The problem of global warming has placed the relationship between climate and architecture at the centre of current preoccupations. Confronted with these new ecalagical cancerns, we must make the most of the moment in order to reappraise the field of architecture in a broader way, extending it to ather dimensions. ather perceptions, rom the physiological to the atmospheric, [rom the sensorial to the meteo- rological, from the gastronomic to the climatic. Architecture should no langer build spaces, but rather create temperatures end atmospheres. The tools of architecture must become invisible and light, producing places like open landscapes, free geographies, variations of meteo: rology: renewing the idea of form and use between sensation and phenomenon, between the neurological and the meteorological, between the physiological and the atmospheric. We want spaces with rio meaning, no narrative; interpretable spaces in which margins disappear, structures dissolve, and limits vanish. Itis no longer a case of building images and functions, but of opening climates and interpretations. What excites me most about Philippe Rahm's presentation is the uncer- tainty of what he is really aiming at. Is his proposal about ecological cor- rectness and sustainability, is it sbout thermal delight in a tropical dream world, oris it an updated version of the psychedelic art of 6B, enriched by the latest possibilities of biochemistry? lam reminded of Superstudio's new domestic landscapes and Reyner Banham’s thermo-bubble, but Philippe’s images strike me as either more benevolent or more unsettling. Yesterday, speaking about Enric Ruiz-Geli’s projects, | chose ‘cloud’ as a metaphor. which summarises well the issues | wanted to discuss. Since Philippe Rahm» just sent me the text of his presentatian, entitled Architecture is Meteorol- ogy, | will stick to this meteorological phenomenon. In this presentation, | will discuss the notion of atmosphere, which is frequently used in various statements attempting to explain certain developments in recent Swiss architecture. But | wish to point out not only some similarities, but also: which margins disappear, Structures gissoive, ana limits vanisn. Its nu longer a case of building images and functions, but of opening climates and interpretations. What excites me most about Philippe Rahm’s presentation is the uncer- tainty of what he is really aiming at. Is his proposal about ecological cor- rectness and sustainability, is it about thermal delight in a tropical dream Iworld, or is it an updated version of the psychedelic art of 68, enriched byWorking on space, on the air and its movements, on the phenomena of conduction, perspiration, convection as transitory, fluctuating meteo- rological conditions that become the new paradi architecture; moving from metric composition to thermal con from structural thinking to climatic thinking, from narrative thinking to meteorological thinking, Space becomes electromagnetic, chemical, sensorial a hhermal, olfactory and cutaneous dimensions in which we are immersed. Between the infinitely small of the biological and the infinitely large of gical, architecture must build unlimited sensual exchange between the body and space, the senses, the skin, breath, the climate temperature, or variations in humidity and light Until now, the gestation processes of the city and buildings have produced petrified narratives, frozen forms of social, political and moral Jentions, We can today reappropriate the 1o0ls of the natural to generate cities and buildings drained of their narrative, functionalism and determinism: buildings and cities thal are then displayed as pure 1eres, open, objective, ‘non-adjectiva) lerprating them. Architecture as a nev emporary position, sphere wit he meteoro! presences, fluctuating ate landscapes that we inhabit, th "the cloud’ we ean regard it as the fulfillment of Philippe's programme Architecture is Meteorology. The success of the cloud was remarkable, since according to the architects’ statement it “was designed to be an anti-spectacle" ! Diller-Scofidio rejected the word ‘spectacle’ in its ety mological sense, 2s something to look at, to emphasise: “contrary to im mersive architectural environments that strive to achieve high-definition Visual fidelity with ever-greater technical virtuosity, the Blur Building was decidedly low-definition: there was nothing to see but our dependence on vision itself”? The fact that it became known asthe cloud’ rather than “Blur Building’, shows the shift from the theory of the new media toward @ new aesthetics of nature, the production of atmospheres, the simulation of a meteorological phenomenon not on the computer screen, but 23 2" almost archaic-looking steel skeleton spraying water. The German philosophers Hermann Schmitz and Gernot Bohme have ang Grier nmsit, bumuinigs alu Ciules Uial are (nen olspiayea as pure heres, open, objective, ‘non-adjectiva) presences, fluctuating landscapes that we inhabit, thus interpreting them, Archi “the cloud’ we can regard it as the fulfillment of Philippe’s programme Architecture is Meteorology. The success of the cloud was remarkable, since according to the architects’ statement it “was designed to be an anti-spectacle".! Diller-Scofidio rejected the word ‘spectacle’ in its ety.atmosphere and second meteorology s no longer the ‘subjective’ closed place of social and political relationships, but becomes the ‘objective’ open place where new social and political relationships can be invented Digestible Gulf Stream A Digestible Gulf Stream is the prototype lor architecture that works between the neurologic and the atmospheric, developing like a land scape that is simultaneously gastronomic and thermal Here, two horizontal metal planes are extended at different heights. The lower plane is heated to 28°C. the upper one is cooled to 12°C, Like a tiniature Guill Stream, their position creates a movement of air using the natural phenomenon of convection, in which rising hot air coos con contact with the upper cool sheet and, falling, 's thea reheated o contact with the hot sheet, thus creating a constant thermal flow, akin to an invisible landscape. What interests us here is not the creation of homogeneous, established spaces, but of a plastic, climatic dynamic, the activation of forces and polarities that generate a landscape of heat ln this case the architecture i literally structured on a current of air, opening upa lluid, airy, atmospheric space. This architecture is based entering a space ~ before noticing other people, things, signs ~ and still, atmospheres are rarely noticed, they are easily passed over in everyday life... Atmospheres are generally perceived together with other impres- sions, or they tint what we perceive. But this tinting is of great importance. Atmospheres determine the quality how we perceive things, people and signs, they modify our mental state”? Tospeak about atmospheres means to reject the usual reduction of percep tion to the merely visual. Atmospheres are neither exclusively subjective nor exclusively objective: they are invisible ‘extensions’ of matter, they generate sensations, but at the same time they are not mere projections, they touch us as real, as part of our environment. Bahme speaks of, “quasi-objective sensations”, He demonstrates (using examples such as the dusk, light, citys music, and church space) the benefits of a notion, which provides a new, surprising perspective on familiar phenomena the activation of forces and polarities that generate a landscape of heal In this case the architecture is literally structured on a current of air, opening up a fluid, airy, atmospheric space. This architecture is based entering a space ~ before noticing other people, things, signs ~ and still, atmospheres are rarely noticed, they are easily passed over in everyday life... Atmospheres are generally perceived together with other impres- “ates. me dhoarsint tod usm nmeraive, thetthic tinine i atarcet innortanee: cal development, Architecture was understood as a signifier, which corre- sponds with a signified in the socio-cultural sphere, and signifies aswell by associating itself with and dissociating itself from other artifacts of the past. The method became soon something of a signifying-decoding mechanism, disregarding the emotionality of the process of perception almost entirely. Today, many architects locate the perception of architecture ‘beyond the signs’, rejecting the semiological conceptof architecture. Philippe Rehm, too, emphasises that hes designing, “spaces with no meaning, no narrative: interpretable spaces in which margins disappear, structures dissulve, and limits vanish. Itis no longer a case of building images and functions, but of opening climates and interpretations; working on space, on the air and its movements, on the phenomena of conduction, perspiration, convection as transitory, and fluctuating meteorological conditions that become the new paradigms of contemporary archi comments of the visitors cal development. Architecture was understoodas a signitier, which corre- sponds witha signified in the socio-cultural sphere, and signifies aswell by associating itself with and dissociating itself from other artifacts of the past. a athe became seen eanthing cla’ Abela decal ied wieseheanitaan.on the construction of meteorology. The inhabitant may move around in this invisible landscape between 12°C and 28°C, temperatures at the two extremities of the concept of comlort, and [rely choose a climate according to his or her activity, clothing, dietary, sporting or social wishes. We then propose to add two culinary preparations to the two plates that directly stimulate the sensory receptors of hot and cold at the cereoral level and that can be eaten or applied to the body. The lirst preparation, on the upper cold plate, contains mint, which has molecules of crystalline origin known as menthol that cause the same sensation in the brain as the coolness perceotible at temperature af 15°C. The menthol act vates the TRPM8 (transient receptor potential) molecular sensory recep. tors on the skin and in the mouth that stimulate the group of peripheral sensorial neurons known as cold-sensitive units. The second composi tion, on the lower hot plate, contains chill, in which one of the molecules, cansaicin, activates the neuro-receptor TRPV1, which is sensitive to temperatures over 44°C. The traditional field of architecture thus expands, operating on both the atmospheric and gastronomic scales, breaking down the barriers Cinnamon Mustard we > temperatures over 44°C. The traditional field of architecture thus expands, operating on both the atmospheric and gastronomic scales, breaking down the barriers between internal and external, body and space, neurology and physi- ology. The sensations of hot and cold may be perceived as much inside the body (diet) as outside (atmosphere). So the question of diet also comes into the field of architecture, on a par with its climatic d mension ‘Our architecture extends between the microscopic and the macro: scopic, the gastronomic and the atmospheric, the visible and the invis- ible Architecture becomes a ‘Gulf Stream’ that polsrises the contrasts on different scales (hot/cold, low/high, clothed/unclothed, internal/ external, rest/activity) to give rise to architecture as a convective move- ment of air, creating a place like geography, designing space like climate, atmosphere and gastronomy Interior Gulf Stream The thermodynamic ohenomenon of the Gulf Stream is 3 very interesting model for thinking about architecture today because it gives 3 route to escape from the normalisation and the homogenisation of modern space Modernity led to uniform, consistent soaces ia which the temoerature isreguiated around 21°C. The aim for us isto restore diversity to the Temperature (°C) 60 Camphor % = a space Modernity led to unitorm, consistent spaces in which the temperature is regulated around 21°C. The aim for usis to restore diversity lo the Temperature (°C) 60PieneRabe relation thal the body maintains with space, with its temperature, to allow seasonal movement within the house, migrations from downstairs to Upstairs, from cold to warm, winter and summer, dressed and undressed For people to feel comfortable ina heated room there must be equi- librium in the exchange of heat occurring via convection between their bodies and the surrounding air. This equilibrium is of course relative to clothing, from nudity in the bathroom, to the thermal protection of blar: kets, o light clothing worn in the living room, Today, confronted with the will to economise eneray resources, the demand is to set up in each building, and even in each room, a precisely calculated thermal capacity in order to expend only the energy that is strictly necessary. Instead of warming all the raoms at the good temperature, we propose to create in the architecture two sources of heat, like two different thermal poles creating a thermodynamic tension inside the whole house ‘one pale is cold at 15°C and situated in the upper layers of ai of the house. The opposite pole is warm, at 22°C situated in the lower layers ‘of the space. A movement of airwill be generated by this difference of temperatures and positions in the space. With the help of thermal model obvious semantic elements. Spaces with ‘no meaning, no narrative’? This, is not how visitors with various backgrounds experience them. Philippe Rahm does not subscribe to the emotionality and phenomeno: logical approach of most theoreticians of atmosphere. He focuses on the corporeal space of the occupiers of his houses rather than on the extra- corporeal space, which is usually shaped by architecture. This corporeal space is a sphere of communication with the internal organs, muscles, bones and various bodily fluids, directed by the neuro-hormonal system It 1s separated from the extracorporeal space by an ‘interface’, the skin. where body externalises its contents. The interaction of the corporeal and extracorporeal realm defines the individual's world, on which he acts, and by which he is acted upon; the world that he knows or explores and about swhich his cancnry nrnans inform him > house. The opposite pole is warm, at 22°C situated in the lower layers, ‘ol the space. A movement of air will be generated by this diflerence of temperatures and positions in the space. With the help of thermal model followed by» more complex mental elaboration of the situation, which has obvious semantic elements. Spaces with ‘no meaning, no narrative'? This is not how visitors with various backgrounds experience them Gbetbececia: Wadicssicksoace aca aabiccratecriec che icasmateataleg aid aimaminiiies software, we analyse the variation of temperature and its distribution in alf the spaces and find then places for activities, according to specific temperatures The floors and the open spaces are therefore designed to follow the form taken by the air in the entire height of the building, in accordance with vertical air movements in relation to temperature, and the functions that are suggested as a result. Next, various functions take their places in an ‘obvious manner on this stratification from the coldest to the warmest. The project process is thus reversed: an indvor climate is first produced and after, functions are freely chosen anywhere in the space related to the thermal quality required depending on activities, clathes, personal desires. The shapes of the house will be cut out from the shapes of the thermal movement given by the thermal model Architecture as Meteorology Although a building's form and the quality of a space are usually expressed in terms of their surface area and volume, the architecture we seek ss ke meteorology and atmosphere. The reason lor this shilt of paradigm, trom surface area to meteorology and Irom volume to ‘only by the sensory organs, but also by a fine synaesthetic network such as, light-sensitive cells in the skin or retinal stimuli connected to the hypo- and epithalamic systems. “Architecture becomes a new atmosphere and a second meteorology, no longer the ‘subjective’ closed place of social and political relationships, but instead a ‘objective’ open place where new social and political rela- tionships can be invented. The task of the work includad here is to invent a new sort of plan, to formulate new sorts of typologies within the realms. of meteorology and physics, articulating the movements or air, the trans: formation of water into vapour, the rates of renewal of a mass of air, sound pressures, temperature and respiration, perspiration, and metabolism", “writes Philippe Rahm with enthusiasm.” Shopping malls ill be amazed to hear the news; they will probably be the first to fill the void of spaces with ‘no meaning with a few drops of a hormonal substance, which stimulates the expressed in terms of their surlace area and volume, the architecture we seek is ike meteorology and atmosphere. The reason for this shift af paradigm, Irom surlace area to meteorology and from volume to ‘only by the sensory organs, but also by a fine synaesthetic network such as, light-sensitive cells in the skin or retinal stimuli connected to the hypo- and epithalamic systems. I a te re