More than architecture

--Originally published at Identidad digital

Through the history of knowledge the definition of space has changed, several philosophers such as Wilhelm Leibniz, René Descartes, Aristotle, and Immanuel Kant have proposed different meanings for such concept. Mathematicians have also contributed to define space, they speak of space in a mathematical language, and they have achieved to classify it quite precisely, the problem is that mathematicians have define it in a theoretical and mathematical way that does not relate much to the space experienced and lived by society, is with this problematic that philosophers enter again to the existence space issue. Philosophers have drawn upon other branches of knowledge, as an aid to solve the problem epistemology emerged, “[…] Epistemology has inherited and adopted the notion that the status of space is that of a “mental thing” or a “mental place” (Lefebvre 1974).

Shigeru Ban, a Japanese architect, educated in America and influenced by the five architects, is worldwide known for his work with paper. One of his most important works with this material are the emergency shelters for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, this project was made in 1994 for the Rwandan refugees that lost their homes due to the genocide and civil war. This project is especially relevant in various ways: the techniques and materials used the place as a representation of hope for the people that had lost everything and the query if the places created should be considered homes or fake places. The construction of these places went further than just creating mass asylums; shelters were made with a humanitarian focus. The shelters should be considered a real space and must be classified as heterotopias.

Rwanda’s 1994 civil war left more than 2 million people homeless; refugees required a shelter and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees supplied aluminum poles and plastic sheets as resources to create temporary dwelling. The refugees used the aluminum poles and branches as structural support; this leaded to contribute with the grave deforestation suffered in the region, the situation was critical. Ban suggested using paper tubes to remediate the circumstances, and the use of these materials instead of branches did not affect the deforestation problem, were easily found and handled and served as structural support for the construction of simple shelters consisting of paper tubes and blue tarps. The UNHCR accepted the proposal and after some tests approved the prototype.

Leibniz stated that space “itself” is neither nothing nor something; to know if space is something we have to introduce an origin and axes, these two elements give direction and orientation. This direction and orientation are given to the space by bodies that occupy it. The shelters posses’ direction and orientation, the asylums have certain boundaries (floor, wall, and ceiling) that denote that they work as spaces. The ancient greeks stated that boundary is that from which something begins its presence, having a presence denotes that something exists; hence, it can be conclude that the shelters work as spaces.

Assuming that shelters are spaces, now it can be discussed if these places can be called “homes”. In the other hand there is a concept called heterotopias, according to Teyssot (1997) Foucault establishes some characteristics of heterotopias:

(1) Though they assume a wide variety of forms, heterotopias are a constant feature of all cultures. (2) Over the course of its history, a society may take an existing heterotopia and make it function in a different way. (3) The heterotopia has the power of juxtaposing in a single real place different spaces and locations that are incompatible with each other. (4) Heterotopias are linked to time, entering fully into function when traditional time is breached (as in, for example, the cemetery, where the loss of life and the perception of eternity coincide). (5) One does not usually enter a heterotopia by one’s own will (think of the prison), and, as a visitor by force or permission, one must perform certain gestures only to be still excluded from its true heart. (6) Heterotopias perform the contradictory functions of revealing the illusory quality of all space and compensating for that illusion with a perfect, meticulous, and well-arranged real space.

The materials used to build these places are not typical materials used for creating houses; the particularity of the materials used is that they are seen as ephemeral matter because paper is not known for its resistance and durability, usually homes are created with “stronger” materials because houses are thought to last for a long time. The shelters’ main purpose is to work as a place to protect people from the environment but the refugees have given the shelter another meaning; the shelter works as a home for them, as a place where they can find peace and faith.

These places will not exist forever; they are temporary places that serve as dwelling for the refugees. They did not decide to live in that shelter; they were forced to inhabit such place because they had lost their real homes. If they rearrange the place and introduce certain details the semiotics behind them will transport the users to the idea that they are at home. In fact, semiotics play quite an important role in this situation because society has embraced an ideology, “Ideology has the social function of maintaining the overall structure of society by introducing men to accept in their consciousness the place and role assigned to them […] (Agres and Gandelsosonas)” they acquire this ideology by different means and through their whole lives. Architecture is a whole system of signs and by reproducing certain signs an idea will be transferred to the society. In this case semiotics will contribute to create an idea and opinion about the place inhabited, which will derive in the signification that is pretend to give to the asylums.

Human beings had always questioned their existence and their surroundings, people have tried to look for a definition of abstract and complicated concepts such as space, from those concepts many others may derive. The human being is not only concerned in that type of studies, society has other kind of issues, such as dwelling and humanitarian sense. When a society is needy people have done certain activities to help them such as the case of the Rwandan refugees of 1994. Shelters were provided to help them. The shelters for the refugees may not be precisely what is called a home but the people that inhabit them have given the space a different meaning, for these people the place represented that not everything is lost, that they can still believe in hope and in the human race.

With the word “home” many ideas, memories, scents, images come to our heads, each one has experienced their homes in a different way. What all those definitions have in common is that home is more than a place, is a certain friendly atmosphere that contains elements that make you feel comfortable and alludes the feeling of belonging somewhere.

We can only have one home; actually the world can be divided in two: the home and all the places that are not our home. People can feel homelike in other places that are not theirs, for example the emergency shelters, in such place users can feel cozy there but these will never be what it pretends to be. They are not precisely the user’s homes’ but they work as one, they are what is called an “heterotopia” because these asylums will eventually stop existing, they emerged as an alternative to create dwelling for people that had lost everything, but they will not last long. They serve as something they are not. Even though the asylums are not homes they posses something special due to the interaction between the inhabitants, the space, the semiotics and the architects’ purpose the shelter has conceived a certain meaning that goes beyond a place to protect people from the environment, Ban has re-signified the consign, he aimed to create a certain atmosphere; Ban’s humanitarian purpose change the place since its conception, as he mentions: “to work for each and every human being is the mission of the living architect (Ban, 2009)”. He has the strong desire to improve people’s life by creating architecture that comes from the heart.

Bibliography

 Nesbitt, Kate. Theorizing a new agenda for architecture: an anthology of architectural theory: 1965-1995. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1996.

 Lefebvre, Henri. The production of space. Oxford, OX, UK: Blackwell, 1991. Print.Heterotopias and the History of Spaces- Georges Teyssot

 The ethical Function of architecture- karsten Harries

 http://www.designboom.com/architecture/shigeru-ban-architects-emergency-shelter-partitions-for-japan/

 “Spotlight on Design – Shigeru Ban interview – YouTube.” YouTube. N.p., n.d. 13. Nov. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZZw_v6EQqI>.

 “The emergency architecture of Shigeru Ban – YouTube.” YouTube. 13. Nov. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VykVaOFwok>.

http://sitios.ruv.itesm.mx/portales/crea/identificar/como/formatosAPA.htm

http://www.unap.cl/p4_biblio/docs/Normas_APA.pdf

http://www.spaceandtimeareone.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Lefebvre#The_.28social.29_production_of_space

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/spacetime-theories/

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:52t3OLRW5IEJ:https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/1811/4849/1/V62N02_101.pdf+&hl=en&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiXoZRyEuFmgHlOvCc2668RLcAuGuYvuMw-w3jmnPrZo1PObRQ0K77RvOvcBHyaaljA7zFKXfZIE9iHuZOLyLnjIO-MZhVeul3Bi3hujp7fo9M4Xe3ug4qOKduAj0v1m5LStHCU&sig=AHIEtbQHLDe2JvSRl1Yk1CTogB4TpC9bhQ

Diseño en México y miedo a equivocarse

--Originally published at Identidad digital

Durante mis cinco años de carrera y desde hace tiempo atrás me sudan las manos y el corazón late más fuerte cuando se trata de expresar una de mis ideas.

El enfrentarme a la crítica me da pavor. Siento como el espacio se llena de juicios. Quisiera no estar presente en el momento de la crítica.

La crítica, la que corta más que una navaja afilada, la que lastima el ego.

Considero que la crítica como tal no es mala pero hay que ser lo suficientemente sensibles para saber cómo y en qué momento expresarla

Con la crítica viene el saber del error. En mi educación mexicana el error es castigado. Las miradas agresivas con un poco de lástima y pena ajena te juzgan generando un sentimiento de culpa por haber cometido el error.

A veces se aprende del error a veces hay que recurrir varias veces a él para entender.

Está bonita la idea de dejar que los jóvenes y los no tan jóvenes puedan equivocarse cuantas veces quieran sin que nada pase ¿pero hasta dónde está bien equivocarse?

Como seres sociales vivimos en comunidades, nuestras acciones repercuten de alguna otra manera, en un nivel u otro en la vida de la gente que nos rodea.

Como diseñadxres y arquitectxs tenemos responsabilidades con la sociedad, con el mundo. Un error puede afectar el desarrollo de otro humano, su experiencia, sus rituales.

¿Hasta dónde es permisible equivocarse? ¿Cuándo y bajo qué condiciones? ¿bajo qué contexto?

Cuando el gel de ducha en crema se termina

--Originally published at Identidad digital

Cuando el gel de ducha en crema está por terminar se escuchan sus gritos de agonía antes de dar el último esfuerzo. Aquel equipo de envase y líquido da todo lo que le queda soltando un grito ahogado que más que grito parece una flatulencia sonora que despide un agradable olor.

Cuando el gel de ducha se termina las lágrimas inundan mis ojos, aquel grito desesperado me transmite la agonía del envase, está a punto de convertirse en un envase de pet vacío, sin propósito en la vida, todo lo que tenía dentro, todo su valor, paulatinamente va disminuyendo hasta que no queda nada, su dolor empieza cuando lo voltean de cabeza para que así sea más sencillo exprimir la vida que le queda dentro. Después de mantener aquella posición durante cierto tiempo lo estrujan por su parte media, le hunden los dedos y lo aprietan para que vomite todo lo que queda de aquel preciado gel, el gel sin ánimos de nada se deja llevar, permite que lo unten en un cuerpo ajeno, el gel al estar en contacto con el agua se va transformando en una sustancia más ligera, se empiezan a crear burbujas, su metamorfosis comienza, aquel bello estado culmina resbalándose por el cuerpo, el cual vierte agua para dejar que la espuma fluya y siga su camino, que baje por el vientre, que pase por las piernas, por los pies hasta terminar en el piso de la regadera donde después, por medio de la gravedad, es llevado hasta la coladera.

Todo esto lo presencia el envase, el cual está de cabeza, lo cual hace que sea una escena aún más grotesca, el gel de baño que aún queda en su interior se acumula y se precipita para poder salir de él, el envase se da por vencido y deja que el hombre haga lo que quiera con lo que queda de su alma.

El impulso

--Originally published at Identidad digital

He escuchado que, en ocasiones, odiamos comportamientos que tenemos y que vemos en otras personas. No se hasta que punto esto sea cierto. Pero lo que si se es que hay varias cosas que logran molestarme demasiado, es un enfado que no puede describirse fácilmente con palabras.

Opinión siempre tengo sin embargo intento ser cautelosa al momento de expresarme. Pero hoy he visto algo que me indignó bastante y me hace actuar de manera impulsiva: un video de una zarigüeya siendo golpeada, maltratada, masacrada por una muchedumbre en un partido de baseball. Fue tal mi dolor y furia que comencé a llorar. Detesto que haya gente que tenga tan poco respeto por la vida.

El pobre animal nada malo hacía, pero la gente que estaba ahí sí. No se si se dejaron llevar por el momento pero varias personas lanzaban objetos en contra del pobre ser. Al leer que fue golpeado con un bate hasta su muerte no continué con el video, era demasiado morbo.

He escuchado y leído como el hombre está inclinado hacia el mal y como al pertenecer a una muchedumbre un ser humano es capaz de cometer actos atroces. Ciertamente no puedo juzgarlos de manera severa, yo no sé que haría en su lugar.

Creo que odio ese tipo de comportamiento porque genuinamente quiero un mundo diferente, con más educación y amor. Sin violencia, intolerancia y demás comportamientos generados por la ignorancia.

Como consejo al mundo opino que deberíamos dejar en paz de una buena vez a los demás seres que habitan nuestro planeta. Preocuparnos y ocuparnos de dejar el planeta en las mejores condiciones para los que viven con nosotros y los seres del futuro. Considero que la educación es clave para que este tipo de cosas no sucedan más. Vivimos tan encerrados en nosotros mismos, en nuestro mundito consumista e indiferente que no nos detenemos a reflexionar sobre el prójimo y sobre lo que estamos haciendo.

Nuestro propósito de vida debería incluir amar a todo el que esté cerca (o lejos), hacer lo mejor para todos, dejar un mundo más feliz, más educado y con más amor.

Day III

--Originally published at Identidad digital

14445745_10209527245993164_39207453_n — Rosa’s visitor and resident chart

What’s up my peeps,

So we are on our third day of the “Digital Identity” course. Today we are exploring the visitor/resident concept. Before this course I did not know anything about that matter. “Visitors” are people that visit a website and do not leave any trace of their presence there, on the other hand, “Residents” are the ones that leave a trace.

The platforms that I consider myself a resident of are: Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and Hotmail because I am constantly using them and interacting with machines and people through them all the time. Speaking about identity on those sites I think I am pretty constant about my “personality” in all of them I am always the same person but I share different quantities of my personality in each.

Another aspect about being resident or visitor is the personal and professional approach. In my experience I try to be as “professional” as possible in all platforms because you never know who is going to see that information. I have heard about cases where school teachers posted pictures of them having alcoholic drinks and losing their jobs because of that. Hence I try to be cautious with all my actions and posts, which I think it should not be like that but society is very hypocrite in that sense: people say that you should be free, and do whatever you want with your life but there is always people judging you, I mean, sometimes giving your opinion is seen as a bad thing, anyways that’s a whole other topic.

As a conclusion each person has a different background that may affect whether they are visitors or residents in different websites and places. There are no rules nor correct answers.