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A former underground piece of infrastructure, fallen into oblivion, posits many dicotomies that the instalation incorporates.

In the one hand an underground space is far from being a space where human activity happens naturally or spontaneously. However its particular humid atmosphere generates curiosity and brings peole in. In the other hand, while public spaces are normally thought as open air places, this one has, regardless of being almost totally closed, a new public calling as a result of the evolution of the city and its purpose. Finally the proximity of Thames and the underground condition of the tunnels, strongly suggest the history of the urban as an invasion and the constant struggle of the water to claim back its domain. Such tension, between the urban realm and the water, has constantly been present across the history of both London and Mexico City; hence the intervention both acknowledges it and evokes this link.

The proposal reflects upon that fragile “balance” through a mental-physical construct:

Gravel from the Thames shores is brought in, both to suggest an open air setting by changing the texture of the floor, and to create a dam-like structure that replicates the somewhat basic building desire and effort. Water is also brought in to make the geometry of the place perform, as it mirrors in the water, but mostly to materialize the strenght of the river that could litterally leak into the space, making evident the tension between the two territories.

The installation results in a new underground scenery with a flooded crater or set of craters that re-articulate the space of the tunnels, evoking the idea of an outdoor space through sensorial means. The landscape and the transformed atmosphere are not a standalone installation; they act ambiguously as an art piece and as a background for the exhibition of the art work.

The volumes are programmed and positioned around a central courtyard and informed by the striking views towards the surrounding landscape. The volumes´ geometry is the result of the relationships between the programmed spaces and their hierarchy. Thus, reinterpreting a traditional pitched roof house, the design yields a pair of interlocked volumes shaped by both, the internal forces of the program and the parameters defined by their immediate context.

La posición de los volúmenes es definida por las plataformas del sitio. La orientación responde a la incidencia solar y las vistas hacia el imponente paisaje que rodea al conjunto. La geometría y la forma de los volúmenes es el resultado de las diversas dinámicas espaciales del programa contenido por una reinterpretación de las construcciones tradicionales de techos a dos aguas. De esta manera, la forma de las casas representa la síntesis de las variaciones programáticas en diálogo con las condicionantes, geográficas y constructivas del lugar.

Our strategy for a rural dwelling starts as a re-interpretation of the traditional housing unit. The design explores the idea of a base module that allows both maximum flexibility in terms of distribution layouts and structural efficiency.  Such unit has not been thought as a stand-alone element; on the contrary, it has been designed as an additive system that creates structured ensembles at different scales across the territory.

La estrategia para un módulo de vivienda rural comienza a partir de la reinterpretación del modelo tradicional de casa. La exploración busca generar una unidad base que permita máxima flexibilidad de uso y distribución así como una búsqueda de proceso constructivo eficiente. Dicha unidad no solo se plantea como elemento independiente sino como estructura base de agregación de un modelo de crecimiento a diferentes escalas dentro del territorio.

Working with an existing confined space rather than defining it is an exercise that architects seldom get involved in. The installation works with the redefinition of such limits and seeks to explore the experiential possibilities that tools such as scale, character and repetition can have upon the space in which the object is placed. As a result, the object and the space get merged together in such a way that a new configuration of the original space naturally emerges.

Textiles and patterns have always been present in Fashion. Thus, the studio decided to use the object assigned, unlimited number of credit cards, to create an additive system that could generate a tridimensional textile for us to use it to transform the assigned space.  More than sixteen thousands plastics where assembled upon a very simple logic of aggregation. The resulting canvas was then manipulated in the same way one would work with textiles, where a simple fold could restructure the special properties of the site with the least effort possible.

La moda, en sus mejores momentos, remite a la experimentación, la irreverencia, los límites transgredidos, las tendencias, la tradición y la manufactura y, en muchos casos, el denominador común son las telas, los tejidos, los patrones y las texturas. En una lectura directa y sencilla de estos elementos y virtudes, el estudio decidió tomar el único recurso material -ilimitadas tarjetas del patrocinador- como el componente básico de un sistema de agregación que, al igual que los tejidos, debía ser sencillo, flexible, adaptable y, sobretodo, posible de fabricar sin la necesidad de máquinas de control numérico y supervisión calificada. Más de dieciséis mil tarjetas, con atributos tridimensionales resultado de procesos mecánicos convencionales, fueron ensambladas bajo una lógica simple. El resultante tejido, suspendido en el espacio, que trabaja bajo los principios básicos de un textil, se pliega naturalmente para velar las fugas directas y re direccionar el flujo natural de los visitantes. La intervención se convierte en una extensión de la envolvente fusionando de forma efímera arte, moda y consumo, con un gesto que discute espacio, funciones y materia.

How can we create the maximum envelope with the minimum of elements?

A fractal structure that grows vertically defined by interconnected rotating triangles allows us to develop a geometry that only requires the formal definition of their frame to create a stand-alone element.

¿Cómo podemos generar el mayor volumen con el mínimo de elementos?

Una estructura fractal cuyo desarrollo solo depende de la definición de su perímetro se convierte en un elemento que crece en altura donde la estructura portante se vuelve la solución geométrica formal.

This project explores the idea of the room as the basic unit of the house. The dwelling should not be the result of fragmenting a larger envelope, but on the contrary, it should be the outcome of adding multiple rooms, each one with its own scale, proportions and identity.  

Este proyecto explora la idea de trabajar con la habitación como la unidad base de la vivienda.  El módulo habitable no es el resultado de una subdivisión de un contenedor sino por el contrario se plantea como una agregación de habitaciones con escalas, proporciones e identidades distintas.

How can we generate an outdoor room that feels like a garden?

This project explores the idea of generating a garden that works like a confined outdoor room, where all the elements that define both, the space and the programmed areas, are designed to strengthen the idea of an integral garden rather than stand-alone pieces added into it.

¿Cómo podemos crear un cuarto exterior programado bajo una estructura de jardín?

El proyecto explora la idea de confinar un espacio exterior cuyo carácter se acerque mucho más al de un jardín que al de una terraza exterior. El diseño trabaja tanto los elementos que definen el espacio, como aquellos que ayudan a programarlo, como partes integrales que refuerzan la idea del jardín y no como elementos autónomos añadidos al espacio.

The creation of confined spaces as well as specific corridors overlooking the city emerges from a landscape operation.  Specific cuts into the limestone ground together with earth movements structure a sequence of programmed spaces articulating various existing urban components.

This project was collaboration with Mauricio Rocha´s Studio

El terreno de piedra caliza nos da la pauta para explorar la generación de espacios a partir de la simple modificación del terreno. Espacios contenidos y fugas específicas son generados a partir de una serie de movimientos de tierra y cortes en el terreno como parte de un recorrido que articula diferentes elementos urbanos existentes.

Este proyecto fue una colaboración con el Taller de Arquitectura de Mauricio Rocha.

Compartimos las últimas fotografías de Yoshihiro Koitani y Ramiro Chaves

Here we share the latest photographs by Yoshihiro Koitani and Ramiro Chaves

Every project begins with the alteration of the place that contains it. For us, the site is not a sterile piece of land limited and defined by a master plan. Neither is it an empty platform onto which a monument stands up. To the contrary, the site is a place loaded with symbols, significance and history and, above all, with specific programmatic relations and spatial tensions that we consider essential to define and design the ground modifications, at multiple scales. For this we generated a basic sub-divisional logic capable of creating the gradient transition of the spaces and shapes with which the opened space is modulated. This variation generates different surface and ground conditions through the site as diverse entities and identities establish diverse spatial, programmatic and hierarchical circumstances.