VLC arquitectura. Research Journal

The architectural project as an impulse for standard furniture

María Villanueva Fernández — 2022-10-28

In the 1920s the architect takes on a special role in the furniture scene. Faced with the need to equip their works with standard furniture, appropriate to the new architecture, he finds in the interior a field for the
development of their work. It is precisely in the performance of their work as architects that the new types of furniture emerge: standard pieces that, paradoxically, are born from integral architectural projects. It is then
when the written media of the time presented a debate, both outside and within Spain, about the limits of the
architectural project and the role of the architect in the design of furniture. In this context, several Spanish
architects, such as C. Arniches and M. Domínguez, L.M. Feduchi, L. Gutiérrez Soto, and J.M. Aizpurúa and
J.Labayen, contribute their visions from a theoretical point of view, but also through their built work, constituting
themselves as examples of this phenomenon that gave rise to integral architectural works and standard pieces in
the same project. By analyzing the contents of Spanish architectural magazines of the time and other specialized
writings, this article aims to shed light on the role of the architectural project as an impulse for the development
of modern standard furniture.

The time trap in the epistemology of the contemporary project

Jose Manuel Barrera Puigdollers — 2022-10-28

Time interests architecture and art as a form of construction of reality, as it refers to what can be thought more than to the thing itself. This new context brought architects closer to other disciplines in order to be familiar with their foundations: the uncertain classical concept of truth, the rise of the culture of difference and the revision of the concept of time. One consequence of this was the redefinition of individuation through otherness; since my constitution is through my other self, before myself, to which the outside gives rise to the exterior. Since then, architecture will participate as an artificial culture, using design strategies that integrate techniques or systems such as pseudo-prosthetics where artifact, accident, invention and individuation collide. During the course of events the critics detect an anomaly; the transition from individuation to individualism and the priority on desires with an object or drive over needs, altering the structure of satisfaction (needs, demand, desire). In what follows, we will try to identify in contemporary project epistemology the process that leads to this anomaly; through sketches, outlines or configuration maps, in relation to time. It will also be confirmed if such an investment constitutes the time trap.

Barragán & his generation in Guadalajara: the house, the patio and the garden

Claudia Rueda Velázquez — 2022-10-28

This research examines the work of a group of engineering colleagues: Ignacio Díaz Morales, Rafael Urzúa, Pedro Castellanos and Luis Barragán as the leader, who between the 1920s and 1930s, proposed a transformation of the suburban house or chalet –a typology that incorpored the prevailing foreign architecture influences of that time– which they rejected. Inspired by the teachings of the Escuela Libre de Ingenieros and the works of Ferdinand Bac, they rediscovered the universal and everlasting values that united the vernacular Mediterranean architecture with that of their place. We have used a comparative study method to find the commonalities and differences between the works that we analyze. Our research demonstrates how through intermediate spaces the house merges with the exterior space, the garden acquires greater relevance as an
extension of the house and finally, how tradition is linked to modernity.

David Haid and the Mannheim Theater of Mies van der Rohe

José Santatecla Fayos — 2022-10-28

This article investigates the role played by David N. Haid - a graduate student at IIT and assistant in Mies van der Rohe’s office - developed in the National Theater project, which was submitted to the competition announced by the city of Mannheim in 1952 and decided in the spring of 1953. The archival work and the method of comparative analysis reveal two important aspects. Firstly, that Mies van der Rohe’s project for the competition on invitation is contemporary with the final master’s project, entitled An Arts Center, which Haid defended in June 1953, a master thesis supervised by Mies, as stated in his preface. Secondly, the resemblance between Haid’s proposal for a multi-purpose Arts Center and Mies’s Mannheim Theater is very evident, with the two projects being identical in almost every aspect: metrics, proportion, structure, and even the construction of the two models and the staging of their photographs. The temporal and architectural coincidence of the two works reveals the decisive role that David Haid played in this singular project, hitherto only attributed to Mies van der Rohe.

Structure and Space. The Headquarters of Seville Electricity Company

Cristobal Miró-Miró — 2022-10-28

In the third quarter of the twentieth century, several notable architectural projects were carried out in Seville, among which the building for the Headquarters of the Seville Electricity Company deserves special mention. Designed by the OTAISA project management office, this work is a milestone for the city in several aspects; both OTAISA’s work methodology, in the style of the large American project management offices, together with the innovative spatial, structural, and constructive proposal of the building, brought contemporaneity to the city of Seville. The project clearly has the influence of the German architect Mies van der Rohe, which raises this building of national contemporary heritage to a prominent place, developing and delving into certain issues that the master postulated regarding office buildings. A project of proven architectural quality, but largely unknown due to its irrelevance within the national panorama, it is approaching half a century of age while maintaining the architectural values and wich is recognised landmark of contemporaneity in the city.

An Avant-garde house for Dr. López-Trigo (1934). Architect, A. Gómez Davó

Antonio Miguel Gómez Gil — 2022-10-28

When modern architecture was built in Spain, it was from an almost exclusively formal perspective, leaving aside the industrial and social considerations that were an important part of its reason for being in the rest of Europe. The article studies one of the peri-urban space buildings that became fashionable in our territory during the 1920s and 1930s. It was these new population centres that led to the appearance of new architectural types, very characteristic of the Spanish pre-civil war period. The house for Dr. López-Trigo, currently demolished, is a good example of these new architectural typologies that were intended to give an idea of progress and modernity. There was the difficulty that, since it was not a new construction, the architect had to adapt to the existing elements. For this reason, he not only transformed the building giving it an avant-garde appearance, but also took advantage of all those materials that were in a position to be reused. The result was a cubist building to which curved elements were added, referring it to machinist architecture and reinforcing its idea of modernity.

Energy and comfort. The historical evolution of the façade in Western Architecture

Irene Sánchez-Ramos — 2022-10-28

The envelope is considered to be the boundary between the outside and the inside of a building. The aim of this study is to analyze both the process that led the concept of the façade to evolve in Western architecture and the repercussions of such evolution, focusing on energy consumption and comfort. The entire evolution of the façade has been closely related to the evolution of materials and construction technologies. The comfort and energy characteristics of architecture have always been determined by the materials and construction technologies employed in façades. Architecture has improved in technical aspects, especially in terms of lighting and thermal comfort. Nevertheless, thermal comfort is usually linked to energy consumption, which is the parameter that has increased the most in this development, with the only exception being sustainable architecture.

Reclaiming Urbanism (despite everything…)

Antonio Font Arellano — 2022-10-28

This article aims to reflect on the social significance of Urbanism and claims for its necessary renewal; it is written based on the author’s investiture speech as Honorary Doctorate from the UPV (Polytechnic University of Valencia) last spring. After trying to define its disciplinary nature and point out its origins and own ways of approaching its object of study and intervention, Urbanism’s material incidence in our cities and territories is confirmed through urban
history, as its indisputable cultural, political, economic and social importance. Changes in productive processes and technological advances that have occurred since the economic crisis of the mid-1970s and during the globalisation process are the main reasons for the emergence of a new city model, of new territorial dynamics and new social behaviours, with relevant consequences in the use and configuration of urban and territorial space - aggravated by the recent pandemic. These trends characterize the current situation, question some of the traditional principles of the discipline and frame the present crisis of Urbanism. This brings up the current need to rethink our discipline from the diversity of situations, the growing complexity of the processes and the uncertainty of the future, within the framework of a well-understood transdisciplinary, but without abandoning or undervaluing the relevant physical dimension of Urbanism.
Finally, some of the main current issues for its renewal are pointed out, as an instrument of government and
rational and democratic administration of the city and the territory, for the positive progress of our society.

The Instituto Universitario de Urbanística (1991-2021): building a research culture

María A. Castrillo Romón — 2022-10-28

The Instituto Universitario de Urbanística (IUU) (University Institute of Urban Planning) of the Universidad de Valladolid was founded in 1991 and it is the only one of its kind in the Spanish territory. Throughout those three decades of existence, the research group “Planificación territorial y urbanística” (IUU_Lab) (Territorial and Urban Planning) has developed, as the driving force of the institute, a very diversified activity that this article seeks to analyse and show synthetically, inserted in the urban development in Spain since the 1980s. The study of the scientific production that has marked the group’s trajectory as well as the disciplinary influences it has received, allows the authors to characterise four main fields of knowledge construction and disciplinary reflection: reformist urban planning, urban-territorial planning, urban regeneration, and rural environment. The whole analysis developed reveals, on the one hand, some links established between certain problems of Spanish urbanism and research in Urban and Territorial Planning; and, on the other hand, the validity of an epistemological vision of Urban Planning understood as a knowledge of interdisciplinary nature and practical orientation, nurtured by a historical conscience.

On Urban planning Theories, Urban Regeneration and Open Spaces. Explorations by PUPC

Javier Monclús — 2022-10-28

The group PUPC (Paisajes Urbanos y Proyecto Contemporáneo - Urban Landscapes and Contemporary
Project) focuses its research on some relationships between urban landscapes and several processes that are part of them. The aim is to explore their connections to urban strategies, plans and projects. The specific approach of
the line of research “Urban Landscapes, Urban Project, Heritage” is based on the need to stimulate debate about
the city and its urban forms by using cross-cutting perspectives. The group’s initiatives are rooted in the belief that there is a natural continuity between research and teaching, with the work of the urban planning workshop being an essential part of its activity. The transfer of results to the public and authorities also constitutes an essential aim of the group’s work. The research conducted has consolidated into three large blocks with other complementary approaches. The first block includes reflections that are related to urban planning and architectural theories and to the history of both disciplines. The second block consists of studies dealing with questions about urban regeneration, particularly those that discuss hosing-related historical, analytical and project explorations. The third block encompasses research into open spaces, both in urban and peri-urban contexts.

Rethinking the future of rural territories. Five perspectives of approach

Stefano Cortellaro — 2022-10-28

In recent years, the debate on rural territories has gained visibility in the media, in the political arena, and at different levels of administration. From the Urban Planning Research Group of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, we have been contributing to this debate with research that addresses issues related to the morphological analysis of settlements and territories in rural contexts. Throughout these investigations, we have focused on the analysis of problems linked to the imbalance in the distribution of population and activities in the territory and in rural depopulation, with the aim of evaluating the relevance and potential of so many areas, as well as the possibilities of reversing situations and processes of a certain complexity. This article shows some of the perspectives from which we have been reflecting on these territories. These works have in common their trans-scalar approach, the use of new technologies for analysis, the link between research applied to teaching, the implementation of research by design, and the collaboration between university departments and different administrations.

The urban impact of COVID-19: six neighbourhoods, three cities and three countries in social network data

Leticia Serrano-Estrada — 2022-10-28

The COVID-19 health emergency has impacted multiple dimensions of the complex physical, social, functional and economic structure of cities. This research encompasses a comparative diagnosis of some of the changes and transformations that have occurred in the urban environment due to the crisis and are reflected in geolocalised social network data. For this purpose, data from Google Places and Twitter are adopted as the main source of information. A mixed qualitative and quantitative methodology is proposed to analyse the increase and loss of economic activity (Google Places) and human presence (Twitter) in two periods: pre- and post-pandemic.
As a case study, two areas with very different socio-economic conditions are analysed in three cities located in countries that adopted different pandemic restrictions measures - Valencia in Spain, Mexico City in Mexico and Gothenburg in Sweden. The diagnosis reported by these social networks is of great use in formulating useful strategies both for identifying the changes that have been taking place and for dealing with future disruptive scenarios.

The role of planning in building typology characterisation

Andrés Viedma-Guiard — 2022-10-28

The usual practice in the determination of the morpho-typology of buildings, necessary for the development of urban rehabilitation and regeneration operations, is usually carried out through the exclusive analysis of the building itself, ignoring the applicable urban planning regulations and the relationship of the building with the plot (not always well defined) that contains it. Based on the methodology of ERESEE 2020, a method for characterising the building stock is tested, proposing a new definition of typological clusters based on the use of cadastral data and planning analysis. To this end, the layout of the buildings in relation to the boundaries of the plot, in relation to the public domain, is analysed, which is fundamental for actions that require increases in volume and occupation of additional space by the buildings, an operation that would not be viable in volumes that coincide with the boundaries of the plot. The application of this methodology to the nine most populated Spanish municipalities allows the typological characterisation of their residential stock, thanks to the analysis of the built reality, but also through the study of the planning and, therefore, establishing their real possibilities of transformation.

Editorial

Juan Serra Lluch — 2022-10-28

Editorial Findings in Urbanism

Javier Pérez Igualada — 2022-10-28