E-013

Casa Sotavento, Caraballeda, Venezuela . Carlos Raúl Villanueva . 1957-58

'Es necesario arrancarse del ojo y del lápiz la forma dormitorio, la forma cocina, la forma escalera, la forma sala de estar/comedor, la forma ventana; que como rutinarios frutos de memoria y experiencia nos guían y, por lo tanto, nos limitan y condicionan a esos viejos moldes convencionales.'

Carlos Raúl Villanueva

P-004

Plaça vuit de març, Barcelona . © estudi08014 . 2015

E-012

Project E-2 . Hiromi Fujii . 1968-1971

'Project E-2 (1968-1971) by Hiromi Fujii is an example of the Japanese architect’s research on “neutral” architecture, one liberated from any burden of stylistic or historical reference. The works of this period are marked by an intense research on the grid as the most abstract way to organize architectural space.

In this specific project, a house is structured on a sequence of two rows of six adjacent square rooms which are connected one another to form an “enfilade”. Each room is equipped with specific built-in furniture that is concentrated at the center of the square, to leave free circulation on the four sides. An identical row of square rooms is connected to the first one, but this time, the rooms are empty and deprived of a roof to make an exterior counterpoint to the house.

In order to enhance the abstract nature of the project, the projections are all drawn on squared sheets of paper. The projects, which stands at the center of the paper sheet, seems to materialize out of the square pattern as if its structural and formal logics are already intrinsically contained within the grid.'

http://socks-studio.com/2016/09/10/materializing-abstract-space-project-e-2-a-house-by-hiromi-fujii-1968-71/

A-004

The four rooms . Vilhelm Hammershøi . 1914

E-011

House on a curved road, Tokyo . Kazuo Shinohara . 1978

F-004

Kies und Schotterwerke . © Bern & Hilla Becher . 1988-2001

'Bernd Becher, born 1931 in Siegen, Germany, died 2007; Hilla Becher, born 1934 in Potsdam, Germany, lives and works in Düsseldorf. The photography of the Bechers is a documentary one. The buildings, mostly industrial manufacturing plants, regarded by the artists as "anonymous sculptures", appear isolated without the workers. They are monuments in and of themselves, and at the same time symbols of functionality. In typological series, constructions or devices with the same functions and comparable structures are analyzed, always under the same  - objective - shooting circumstances, in absolute abstention from an expressive treatment.'

http://www.schellmannart.com/sa/sa_worklist.php?aid=5

E-010

Stone House, Tavole, Italy . Herzog & de Meuron . 1985-88

Set in an undulating landscape of abandoned olive groves, the three-storey house stands on a promontory, engaging part of a former stone terrace. The design concept of the house is based on the fusion of plan, elevation and section. The building is characterized by a cross, made visible in the construction of the side walls where the in-fill dry stone comes in contact with the reinforced concrete frame. The structure occupies the centre on the “piano nobile“, while on the top floor spaces are more interconnected. Here, the house rises above the trees, giving a panoramic view through the vertically articulated strip windows. This notion of extension has its equivalent in the opposite direction with the raised terrace and its pergola-like enclosure. The external wall infills are of slate-like rubble stones, the window shutters are of steel sheets and the door and window linings are of split slate sheets. On the whole, the detailing is spare.

https://www.herzogdemeuron.com/index/projects/complete-works/001-025/017-stone-house.html

P-003

Wadden Sea, Borkum . © unknown

E-009

Comlongon Castle, Clarencefield, Scotland . s.XV

A-003

San Girolamo nello studio . Antonello da Messina . 1474

'San Gerolamo viene sì rappresentato nel suo studio, ma intento a togliere al leone la spina della zampa. Antonello lo rappresenta invece come un umanista intento a studiare, senza neppure l’aureola, assimilandolo all’immagine che doveva avere uno studioso del suo tempo. L’ambiente assomiglia molto alle architetture del Meridione d’Italia d’età aragonese. Ma la cosa più straordinaria del dipinto è proprio la rappresentazione di questo spazio. Qui c’è una costruzione prospettiva assolutamente precisa e senza sbavature, ma vi è anche un’attenzione alla luce che è sicuramente di derivazione fiamminga. Da notare, infatti, è soprattutto il virtuosismo di come la luce si distribuisce sul pavimento. Ma è tutto il quadro che trasmette una grande sensazione di ariosità, proprio grazie alla sapiente costruzione tonale dell’immagine. Anche le finestre sullo sfondo, con il paesaggio che ci svelano, contribuiscono a dare ulteriore ariosità e profondità al quadro'

http://www.francescomorante.it/pag_2/205ca.htm

E-008

Institut La Llauna, Badalona . Enric Miralles & Carme Pinós . 1986

'La fàbrica d'envasos metàl·lics de Gottardo de Andreis, coneguda popularment com 'la Llauna', va ser construïda entre 1906 i 1909. És una de les obres més interessants de l'arquitecte modernista Joan Amigó [...] La fàbrica va ser rehabilitada el 1986 per convertir-la en institut d'ensenyament secundari segons projecte d'Enric Miralles i Carme Pinós. Aquesta restauració va rebre el premi FAD de rehabilitació l'any 1987.'

http://www.poblesdecatalunya.cat/element.php?e=1808

F-003

Michigan Theater (from Detroit Photos) . © Stan Douglas . 1999

'Bernd Becher, born 1931 in Siegen, Germany, died 2007; Hilla Becher, born 1934 in Potsdam, Germany, lives and works in Düsseldorf. The photography of the Bechers is a documentary one. The buildings, mostly industrial manufacturing plants, regarded by the artists as "anonymous sculptures", appear isolated without the workers. They are monuments in and of themselves, and at the same time symbols of functionality. In typological series, constructions or devices with the same functions and comparable structures are analyzed, always under the same  - objective - shooting circumstances, in absolute abstention from an expressive treatment.'

http://www.schellmannart.com/sa/sa_worklist.php?aid=5

E-007

Convention Centre, Agadir . OMA . 1990

Our project can be read as a single building 'split' in two parts, a roof and a sockle, to create a major urban 'room', a covered plaza on the beach, facing the sea. The two axes culminate on the plaza. Floating above the verandah; the hotel: a single layer of rooms, each its own view. The conference centre forms the lower part, the sockle.
It was our challenge in this competition to find an original architectural expression for this enormous program which is compatible with the beauty of the site.
The curvilinear landscape of the dunes continues as the 'hills’ and 'valleys’ of the sockle, which accommodate the major components of the program: auditorium, etc.
As in a mirror image, the same kind of relief appears on the roof where it accommodates the royal chamber.
In this way the experience of the plaza will be determined by the similarity between above and below. 
The landscape which is generated with its concave and convex domes, with the 'forest’ of columns, its shafts of light, is a modern interpretation of Islamic space which will also be expressed by the materials: polished concrete, mosaic, tiles etc.

http://oma.eu/projects/agadir-convention-centre

P-002

Masuleh, Iran . © unknown

E-006

Hunstanton School, Norwich . Alison & Peter Smithson . 1954

'Fue Reyner Banham quien identificó esta antibelleza y antiacademicismo como cualidades brutalistas. Visto este periodo retrospectivamente, llama la atención la lucidez de algunos de sus protagonistas como los Smithson para identificar ya entonces las posibilidades expresivas de la apropiación de lo que llamaban «found objects», más allá de “hallazgos” formales, que criticaban como prefigurados en mayor o menor medida en su propio método de elaboración [...] De acuerdo con esta sensibilidad, el orden profundo de las cosas no se encuentra en una anticipación o planificación más o menos ideal, sino en un ir haciendo y seleccionando directamente. Se centra básicamente en un modo de mirar el mundo a nuestro alrededor como fuente de un método de trabajo, sobre los métodos de «encontrar procesos», de coleccionar hallazgos: «Lo “tal como se encontró”, donde el arte se dedica a recoger del suelo, dar la vuelta y poner junto a… El “hallazgo” donde el arte reside en el proceso y el ojo vigilante…». La estructura original de las cosas o bien se encuentra dada sin propósito, o bien aparece espontáneamente durante el proceso de ejecución de la obra.'

http://polired.upm.es/index.php/cuadernodenotas/article/view/863/884

A-002

Cidade (from Héliographias) . León Ferrari . 1980

'From a far point of view, the large images look as chaotic patterns of walls, people, furnitures and cars. At a closer look it is possible to realize that the symbols stage paradoxical situations in which, i.e., people line up to enter empty spaces or are confined in a series of small cubicles. The paradoxes can be read as metaphors of contemporary cities where alienated individuals wander – without any apparent logic – through irrational urban patterns.The works turn the technical drawings into a narrative and symbolic device filled with sarcasm'

http://socks-studio.com/2014/01/31/the-architecture-of-madness-leon-ferraris-heliographias/

E-005

Bo Bardi’s studio . Morumbi, São Paulo . Lina Bo Bardi . 1986

'Levantó su estudio en el jardín de su casa de cristal en la capital paulista. Y ese estudio de madera, levantado del suelo y cubierta a dos aguas la retrata. Provisional, como una caseta de obra, era exactamente eso para la arquitecta: que lo trasladaba a cada una de sus obras para trabajar in situ y dibujar "solo lo necesario para los trámites burocráticos" [...] La arquitectura de BoBardi se hacía haciendo. Y el lugar para hacerlo era esta caseta prefabricada, móvil, provisional, humilde y alegre.'

http://blogs.elpais.com/del-tirador-a-la-ciudad/2011/08/obras-maestras-de-bolsillo-6-lina-bo-bardi-en-movimiento.html

F-002

Scandiano (from Kodachrome) . © Luigi Ghirri . 1971

'Kodachrome is not a complete vision of our existence, nor does it attempt to be. Instead it is a collection that brings greater attention and transparency to our complex world and the choices made to create it. The photographs employ distortions such as, mirrors, murals and reflections in addition to, central verticals, spatial flattening, varied scale and competing geometries. Ghirri referred to the diverse aspects of reality as hieroglyphs, which he intended to become more comprehensible through the “fragmentary” restrictions of photographs.'

http://www.americansuburbx.com/2013/03/luigi-ghirri-kodachrome-2013.html

E-004

Museum for North Rhine Westphalia Art Collection, Düsseldorf . James Stirling . 1975

P-001

French Quarter, New Orleans . © unknown

E-003

Sea Ranch Condominium, Califormia . Charles Moore . 1963-65

'Los apartamentos responden a la idea de espacio único con ambientes diferentes construida mediante la inserción de un "edículo" que contiene, en un altillo, el dormitorio y el aseo y, debajo de él, un lugar caracterizado de la casa. Este edículo se reconoce como un volumen propio dentro del amplio espacio interior que forma el apartamento, con claras referencias a edificios agrícolas. Cada interior se asoma al paisaje mediante una galería o un balcón, que se proyecta hacía el exterior del volumen; el resto de la iluminación se produce cenitalmente desde la cubierta'

http://josejove.blogspot.com.es/2013/04/sea-ranch-charles-moore-1963-65.html

A-001

House, London . Rachel Whiteread . 1993

'Whiteread and her team faced the daunting challenge of actually creating 'House'. The meticulous process involved pumping 193 Grove Road full of liquid concrete and stripping off the exterior – that is, the house itself – so that only the impression of its innards remained [...]
It was an extraordinary work of art by any standard, an impenetrable inversion of domesticity – a machine for not living'

http://www.apollo-magazine.com/house/

E-002

Sonsbeek Paviljoen, Arnhem . Aldo van Eyck . 1966

'Six parallel walls almost 4m high are placed with a distance of 2.5m from each other. The way the walls bend forming semicircular spaces and the sudden cuts transform this simple pattern in a complex spatial device'

http://socks-studio.com/2013/11/18/sonsbeek-pavilion-in-arnhem-aldo-van-eyck-1966/

F-001

Viaduct, Stockport . © John Davies . 1986

'Stockport Viaduct shows the reflective waters of the River Mersey flanked by warehouses: the civic architecture of the future is seen through the soaring arches of the Victorian viaduct. This image is part of the series A Green & Pleasant Land, which documents the realities of the industrial and post-industrial landscape'

http://www.meadowarts.org/page.php?Plv=3&P1=&P2=61&P3=121

E-001

Studio House, London . Caruso & St.John . © Hélène Binet . 1993