Unit 2 2003-04
Horizontal Topographies
Horizontal Topographies
Diploma Unit 2 addresses concrete urban conditions in locations undergoing rapid change. Through a combination of research and creative practice we are proposing interventions which resolve existing problematic situations and introduce more audacious elements of cultural and imaginative vigour. Extremes of scales, from a dwelling's tectonic and inhabited qualities to the constitution of landscapes are explored, and found to be mutually supportive and suggestive of radical responses to seemingly intractable problems.
Location One - Elemental Housing Competition in Chile
"Concept: if the Weißenhofsiedlung in Stuttgart, in 1927 can be seen as the beginning of Architecture's commitment to reduce the housing deficit... and the Previ Lima in the 1970's can be seen as the end of that collaboration between Avantgarde architecture and low-cost housing... well, this initiative seeks to write the 3rd chapter of this story by bringing together the best architects in the world back to the problem of 'Elemental Housing'." (http://www.elementalchile.cl/)
We used the competition to launch straight into a design charette, examining our own personal living experiences and values.
Location Two - Action in the Zones of Change
Zone 6: Woolwich - Thamesmead - Belvedere - Erith, where we are making proposals for this Third Chapter in relation to the planned expansion of London eastwards, exploring ways in which housing are seen as the grain of a city, and look at how it can be reestablished as an integral part of city life, the role of local and civic institutions to make coherent places at the scale of a dwelling, street, neighbourhood and city.Collectively we are attempting to develop an urban and building catalogue of generic components to be negotiated and adjust to specific locations and existing material/ social/ cultural/ economic/ environmental/ topographical context.We are looking for the development of a pilot project that can serve as a model for (utopian) development and help to launch an international ideas competition for the largest planned urban redevelopment are in Europe.
Diploma Unit 2 addresses concrete urban conditions in locations undergoing rapid change. Through a combination of research and creative practice we are proposing interventions which resolve existing problematic situations and introduce more audacious elements of cultural and imaginative vigour. Extremes of scales, from a dwelling's tectonic and inhabited qualities to the constitution of landscapes are explored, and found to be mutually supportive and suggestive of radical responses to seemingly intractable problems.
Location One - Elemental Housing Competition in Chile
"Concept: if the Weißenhofsiedlung in Stuttgart, in 1927 can be seen as the beginning of Architecture's commitment to reduce the housing deficit... and the Previ Lima in the 1970's can be seen as the end of that collaboration between Avantgarde architecture and low-cost housing... well, this initiative seeks to write the 3rd chapter of this story by bringing together the best architects in the world back to the problem of 'Elemental Housing'." (http://www.elementalchile.cl/)
We used the competition to launch straight into a design charette, examining our own personal living experiences and values.
Location Two - Action in the Zones of Change
Zone 6: Woolwich - Thamesmead - Belvedere - Erith, where we are making proposals for this Third Chapter in relation to the planned expansion of London eastwards, exploring ways in which housing are seen as the grain of a city, and look at how it can be reestablished as an integral part of city life, the role of local and civic institutions to make coherent places at the scale of a dwelling, street, neighbourhood and city.Collectively we are attempting to develop an urban and building catalogue of generic components to be negotiated and adjust to specific locations and existing material/ social/ cultural/ economic/ environmental/ topographical context.We are looking for the development of a pilot project that can serve as a model for (utopian) development and help to launch an international ideas competition for the largest planned urban redevelopment are in Europe.
Unit 2 Trip to Chile in 2003
Someone turned around and asked: "¿which country?" A group of people turned around and replied: "England, Belgium, Italy, West Indies, Nigeria, Pakistan, Germany, Brazil, Korea, Norway and Yugoslavia." With other words, Unit 2 was in Chile. It is a country 14000 km around the globe, quite thin and very long, even longer than India. One end is very cold and the other one quite hot, with us in the middle as visitors of Santiago and Valparaiso.
Looking from a distance, Chile has long been associated with Pinochet never ending regime and him still running around, the Latin American economic crisis, typical overcrowding, urban misery and all that.
The local picture was of course quite different and not the kind of problem zone like Senegal’s Dakar or East London’s London, where Unit 2 normally roams around.
Chile has seen an enormous social change since the end of the regime in 1989 and Santiago reflects that. Large paintings in tube stations admonish of the 11th of September ´73, when the countries trauma began, vending machines sell Allende books and public press wrangles again politically. More open markets combined with thoughtful public services allowed the old inner city to rise on a colonial grid and to expand eastwards in a way that make Canary Wharf look like a starter. Other city expansions look rarely like barrios d´invasion or slums, but more like developers dreams.
Colourful sections and textured ground made us meander around the city, but architectural pieces in the mind of the local architecture school are unfortunately rare. It is with no doubt one of the most beautiful schools and marks the start of our Unit. In the beginning of the academic year, we participated in the Elemental low cost housing competition and it was initiated here. The presented winning entries taught us from around the world.
The second half of the two week trip brought us to Valparaiso. Unlike Santiago, it is located on the Pacific Ocean and fog floats over cold sea-water regularly. The centre is also based on a grid, but it’s the little tin lifts, connecting the curvy upper hill side locations, which makes the city a world heritage site. Because Chile gained independence already over 200 years ago, it became quickly home to many different cultures. Sailors and emigrants settled here from Europe and America. Colourful corrugated iron sheets wrap Spanish, French, English or German reminiscent to form a motley carpet in the bay.
One hour drive to the north is the open city. It is a city in a philosophical sense, because it is a polis of poetics, thought, landscape and architecture. Founded over 30 years ago and located on dunes and rocks along the coast it has some of the most intensive pieces of contemporary architecture.
Around 30 people, most of them white haired teachers from Valparaiso, live space here. The poets, artists and architects decide in an agora on the buildings. Each piece is the communal product of a long and engaging process of doing and being. Buildings catch the music of the sea, read movements of soil, play wind or become dune and get carried away.
Looking from a distance, Chile has long been associated with Pinochet never ending regime and him still running around, the Latin American economic crisis, typical overcrowding, urban misery and all that.
The local picture was of course quite different and not the kind of problem zone like Senegal’s Dakar or East London’s London, where Unit 2 normally roams around.
Chile has seen an enormous social change since the end of the regime in 1989 and Santiago reflects that. Large paintings in tube stations admonish of the 11th of September ´73, when the countries trauma began, vending machines sell Allende books and public press wrangles again politically. More open markets combined with thoughtful public services allowed the old inner city to rise on a colonial grid and to expand eastwards in a way that make Canary Wharf look like a starter. Other city expansions look rarely like barrios d´invasion or slums, but more like developers dreams.
Colourful sections and textured ground made us meander around the city, but architectural pieces in the mind of the local architecture school are unfortunately rare. It is with no doubt one of the most beautiful schools and marks the start of our Unit. In the beginning of the academic year, we participated in the Elemental low cost housing competition and it was initiated here. The presented winning entries taught us from around the world.
The second half of the two week trip brought us to Valparaiso. Unlike Santiago, it is located on the Pacific Ocean and fog floats over cold sea-water regularly. The centre is also based on a grid, but it’s the little tin lifts, connecting the curvy upper hill side locations, which makes the city a world heritage site. Because Chile gained independence already over 200 years ago, it became quickly home to many different cultures. Sailors and emigrants settled here from Europe and America. Colourful corrugated iron sheets wrap Spanish, French, English or German reminiscent to form a motley carpet in the bay.
One hour drive to the north is the open city. It is a city in a philosophical sense, because it is a polis of poetics, thought, landscape and architecture. Founded over 30 years ago and located on dunes and rocks along the coast it has some of the most intensive pieces of contemporary architecture.
Around 30 people, most of them white haired teachers from Valparaiso, live space here. The poets, artists and architects decide in an agora on the buildings. Each piece is the communal product of a long and engaging process of doing and being. Buildings catch the music of the sea, read movements of soil, play wind or become dune and get carried away.
Unit 2 in Chile - Open City Music Room, 26.01.2004
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