La arquitectura, ¡también!

Bajo este título inclusivo el director de la Cité de l’Architecture et du

Patrimoine, Francis Rambert, nos explicaba in situ la exposición
que documenta los hechos de mayo del 68, trasladados al ámbito
de la arquitectura. La definitiva ruptura con la Academia de Bellas
Artes incorporó a la enseñanza de la arquitectura una visión social
e histórica, urbana y pluridisciplinar, hasta entonces enfocada a
cuestiones de tipo formal.

A rebufo de esta sacudida surge, con algunos titubeos, una

arquitectura más atenta a la ciudad, pero también una serie de
propuestas experimentales que hoy vuelven a estar de actualidad.
Recogemos en nuestras páginas una de ellas, la “Instant City”
celebrada en 1971 en la Isla de Ibiza, Carlos Ferrater. Producto de
la contestación al estatus-quo profesional y político, una serie de
estructuras hinchables, autoconstruidas, teje una ciudad, instantánea
y efímera, soporte de una nueva manera de relacionarse.

Parece como si las paradojas a las que se enfrentara la generación

anterior, representada aquí por el Grupo R, derivaran en el estallido del
modelo establecido. El artículo de Carolina García “Sun and Shadow”
destaca algunas de ellas a través de las obras de Sostres y Breuer.
Las contraposiciones entre los dos arquitectos y entre términos
y conceptos reflejan una arquitectura en cierta descomposición,
superada la contundencia de la modernidad funcionalista.

También en los 50 como extensión a los postulados del Team X,

una serie de arquitectos y profesores desde la revista Archigram en
Londres imaginan una utopía mecanicista y urbana materializada
más tarde con la construcción del Pompidou. Cedric Price,
personaje polifacético, había dibujado el universo festivo del Fun
Villa in Bordeaux, 1998. Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond
>

Palace (1961). El profesor de París la Villette, el canadiense Jim Structural scheme with Koolhaas’ notes
Njoo, nos aporta de su tesis doctoral una semblanza del arquitecto
inglés desde su menos conocida condición de periodista.

La consideración de la sociedad y de la ciudad como ingredientes

seminales permanece hoy en nuestros medios académicos.
Recogemos en nuestras páginas la tesina de María Villanova que
contempla la ciudad como un gran escenario fílmico. Como sucede
en el libro de Carla Sentieri sobre la calle Jaime Roig, Valencia, Interview with
Cecil Balmond
reseñado por Raúl Castellanos. Una secuencia de implantaciones
urbanas y arquitecturas de los años 70 de gran interés.

Alain Bourdin, sociólogo, urbanista y profesor, nos señala la

preponderancia de los procesos urbanos sobre el proyecto, a través
de un profundo análisis del concepto de gentry-ficación (Ruth Glass,
1964). Un tema de nuevo a caballo entre los años 60 y la actualidad.
Alberto Peñín
En el cuestionamiento de los límites de la disciplina, entra de lleno DOI: 10.5821/palimpsesto.18.5683
la entrevista a Cecil Balmond. Tras la conversación con Javier
Manterola (Palimpsesto#5), recuperamos la voz del ingeniero, aquí
indisociable a la del arquitecto. Muchas de sus obras realizadas a
dúo con Siza, Koolhaas o Ito son el producto de un conocimiento
compartido –diferente de aquella transferencia de conocimiento que P Beginnings there is so much of the world to see? One could say
puntúa en el universo académico-, y cuestionan, también hoy, las
fronteras entre las disciplinas, un terreno intermedio, fértil y prolijo. I am what I need to be depending on the situation.
How did you decide to be a structural engineer? However I do not feel that one must not adhere to
El profesor Enric Granell cierra este número 18 desde la mirada definition in order to innovate. Anyone can innovate
múltiple que requiere la arquitectura, glosando el viaje de estudio As with so much of my career, the trajectory wasn’t at any moment; it’s about the implementation of
como fuente insustituible de aprendizaje. Aquello que no se ve en planned per se. My decision was informed by a series change – the transformation of patterns, relationships,
los libros -ni en las revistas- alimenta nuestras alforjas para seguir of incremental factors – principally my fascination ideas, concepts, behaviors. This methodology exists
viajando y aprendiendo. Y, ¡también es arquitectura! with configuration and process - the systems shaping both within and outside definition. Innovation is not
the cosmos and the world around us. In terms of inextricably tied to either.
design, I always saw structure as the hidden language
determining object, it fascinated me. How mathematics
Art and engineering have always been in relation in the
PALIMPSESTO and physics are in themselves systems of organization
to be engaged with and understood. modern theory. Sigfried Giedion in his “Space Time
and architecture” states how, not only the modern
LA ARQUITECTURA, ¡TAMBIÉN! architecture but also the Art, share procedures with
Which would be the main references you had in your science. Do you think this is still possible today with the
#18 Año 07. Otoño 2018 (20 páginas) ISSN 2014-1505 studies? Were they all engineers? increasing complexity of technique? Would this be a risk
Revista semestral de temática arquitectónica of again a separation between architects and engineers
I studied the conventional members of the structural as it happened -as Giedion stated- in the first half of
Dirección 19th century?
Carlos Ferrater y Alberto Peñín engineering curriculum, but to be honest I was reticent
to let these references influence or shape my thinking
Redacción y diseño gráfico beyond a certain point. I spent just as much time looking The overlap between disciplines is being explored more
Cecília Obiol and more. They are co-existing systems that actually
outside the syllabus to philosophy, art, and quantum
Editorial y traducción “El arquitecto como narrador” y “Mai 68” AP feedback into each other, one influencing the other
physics. One could say I was searching beyond the
Agradecimientos boundaries of definition even then. and so on. The economy, efficiency and possibility
Elena Fernández Salas, Enric Granell, Francis Rambert stimulated from the phenomena leads me to feel that
Colaboradores en este número What did you get from a figure as Peter Rice? a more concrete distinction between engineering and
Cecil Balmond architecture will probably not manifest.
His wider interpretation of the engineer as part
Otoño 2018

Edición
Cátedra Blanca - E.T.S.A.Barcelona - UPC philosopher, part mathematician, part inventor.
palimpsesto@cbbarcelona.com In your opinion which is the position that science should
Impresión
occupy in the scope of a designer comparatively to
Vanguard Gràfic intuition?

Depósito Legal B-5689-2011 P Cross discipline The two exist simultaneously. They engage one another,
ISSN 2014-1505
e-ISSN 2014-9751 locked in a push and pull, a tension.
How would you define yourself? A designer, an
V.O. PALIMPSESTO respeta el idioma original de los autores.
architect, an engineer, an artist…Do you think to be in a
PALIMPSESTO #18

© De los textos: sus autores. way “unclassifiable”, living in the border of disciplines, is
Las imágenes han sido cedidas por los autores de los artículos. No ha a condition for innovation?
sido posible encontrar todos los propietarios de sus derechos. Las partes P Theories
interesadas pueden ponerse en contacto con el editor.
I am reluctant to define myself as the process of
Reservados todos los derechos. Ninguna forma de reproducción, distribución,
comunicación pública o transformación de esta obra se puede hacer sin definition is, by its very nature, reductive. I like to think What is the role of your theoretical thoughts in books as
autorización expresa de los titulares. expansively, why look through a microscope when Informal or Element?
 I believe that number itself is
the new materiality. Data is
organizational, systemic and
functional – like structure.
Algorithm generates structural
stability with repetitive iterations
in space. One functional move
in isolation is unstable, multiple
moves form solid structural
intent. We need to start
appreciating material in the
abstract.

investigation between engineering and architecture

and art and their inputs were the fertile ground. As with
all creativity there are no boundaries and their design
imagination directly influenced my own explorations
into space, mater, organization and potential outcome.
With more completed jobs came more respect for my
Serpentine Gallery temporary pavilion in London, June 2002 approach and capabilities, which lead to more projects
>

Toyo Ito and Cecil Balmond

and so on.

Congress Expo at Lille, Serpentine Pavilion in London,

Kunsthaal in Rotterdam, Paris, China, Bordeaux…
Rem Koolhaas work cannot be explained without your
They don’t have one clear role. It depends on the Is there always a right solution to take or there are always contribution. What do you think is your main contribution
context. Within my books they could say they serve different decisions? to the work of this key architect?
as organizational principles, breaking down my design
process into wider theoretical ideas. One could also For me design is hypothesis – a philosophy of practice as You would have to ask him!! I can say that our process
say they simply provide an alternate perspective experiment. There are no set outcomes only predictions. was dialogue. Our thoughts propelled things forward in
that could perhaps influence someone else’s design This means there are no definitive concepts of right a constant exchange – fluidity from a natural chemistry.
approach. and wrong, rather there are multiple probabilities to be We brought the best out of each other perhaps.
calculated. Ideas are not based on principles of rigid
hierarchies but rather an intense exploration of the
The non - lineal theories could be an excuse to build any immediate. Reading Mr.Kommendant relation with Louis Kahn, there
kind of formal architectonic decision without a rational are many counterexamples: James Stirling used to say “I
consistence? never let the engineer to place the column”. What would
be the future of these collaborations?
Not really as non-linear thought is still a rational process.
It is a way of thinking based more on the simultaneous P Geometry, Art and Industry It is hard to predict the future, as every project is unique
multiplicity of hypotheses - prediction without a fixed with own set of internalities and externalities. What one
outcome. The process can still be formulaic and follow a can say is that the relationship between architect and
What was the purpose of the creation of the “Advanced
methodological rigor. engineer isn’t static, rather it is ever changing. A nexus
Geometric Unit” at Arup’s?
evolving in sync with cultural, philosophical, contextual
and disciplinary change.
I wanted to bring together an eclectic mix of minds and
Do you think the evolution of structures and its skill sets. To create an interdisciplinary network of people
relationship with architecture will still have to do with new with the specific aim of interrogating geometry, shifting
materials? Iron and concrete changed the architecture in Can architecture be reduced to an algorithm? When
from the inert Phileban solids to a more kinetic and
the 19th and beginning of 20th century. Is there any kind you worked with Ito at Serpentine, was it strictly
animate sense of geometry. The Advanced Geometric
of continuity nowadays to those epic days…? a laboratory or after mathematics there is also
Unit was the manifestation of design as hypothesis in its
manipulation?
purest form.
It depends on one’s perspective. I believe that number
itself is the new materiality. Data is organizational, I feel it is problematic to think in such clear-cut
systemic and functional – like structure. Algorithm What role plays context, the place, in those geometrical definitive terms. Architecture can, in some instances,
generates structural stability with repetitive iterations and artistic experiments? be reduced to algorithm in the sense that an algorithm
in space. One functional move in isolation is unstable, is a feedback condition, so an architectural outcome
multiple moves form solid structural intent. We need to It is difficult to define their roles exactly. But what is is unique to the starting motif, and the character of the
start appreciating material in the abstract. clear is that context, place, problem, necessity are solution is ‘locked’ into the first idea. However, in the
inextricably tied to, and often determine, the chosen case of the Ito Serpentine project, we extended the
design methodology. It is a mysterious connection that lines of such an algorithmic trace, cut the corners and
is in a constant state of flux. folded the edges creating a new box typology. This was
the manipulation.
P Procedures

Which is the role of the computer in your work? Does it P Your architects
explain intuition or does it substitute it?
P University
There are many misconceptions surrounding this You worked with many architects: Stirling, Moneo,
relationship. The computer is a tool – nothing more. Let’s Koolhaas, Siza, Souto, Shigeru Ban, Toyo Ito. Has your What would you do if you were the director of a School
Otoño 2018

look at things a different way – imagine the computer type of collaboration evolved through time? At a certain of Architecture?
is a paintbrush. The brush produces very different point, you change your role from a problem solver to a
results, whether it is in the hands of a Bacon, Rothko creator of new paths to design. In general terms I would create a wider interdisciplinary
or Picasso as opposed to a total novice. It possesses curriculum, exposing students to multiple and diverse
no preprogrammed sense of aesthetics or artistic The problem is that if engineering is seen only as a spheres of inquiry and study. We would look at things
sensibility. The outcome depends on the user. The artist technical calculating effort then it has nothing to do with holistically confronting the irreducibly complex (and yet
understands the nuances and capabilities of the brush, invention or creativity. This is false. Structural engineering not complicated) nature of the world.
its weight, its range of movement, how it responds more over is so un-intimate that I prefer to use the word
PALIMPSESTO #18

to pressure and so on. With this knowledge Picasso structure. It’s more about rhythm, fluctuations or episodes I would also expose students to as many real world
Bacon or Rothko can manipulate the tool to produce the in space; this is what structures do… Structure itself is briefs and opportunities as soon as possible within their
abstract idea in their head. the driving force that makes the architecture. studies. As we all know, there is a massive difference
between the hypothetical pages of a textbook and
In summation the computer itself is only a vehicle. The I never particularly compromised these principles. I working reality.
artist or designer infuses the tool with purpose and chose to work with architects that understood this
meaning, ultimately controlling the output. perspective and embraced it. They encouraged an open

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