The aim of these sessions is to propose forms of representation that allow Plus Ultra's neighbors to understand the urban environment and to promote the dialogue and reflection on it.

sesión de participación: Barrio Plus Ultra. Vivienda

¿Qué creéis que es lo más importante de vuestra vivienda? ¿Qué es mejor en las viviendas existentes en comparación a unas nuevas viviendas?

sesión de participación: Barrio Plus Ultra. Resistencia

¿Qué valoras en el barrio que justifica su permanencia? ¿Qué habría que conservar? ¿Qué lo diferencia de los barrios vecinos?

sesión de participación: Barrio Plus Ultra. Límites

¿Percibes el barrio como una isla en la ciudad? ¿Cómo se podrían romper los límites que le separan de los barrios vecinos y de la ciudad?

SESIÓN DE PARTICIPACIÓN: BARRIO PLUS ULTRA. Espacio Público

¿Qué otras actividades podrían desarrollarse en el barrio para un mayor aprovechamiento público?

¿Qué otras actividades podrían desarrollarse en la plaza?

SESIÓN DE PARTICIPACIÓN: BARRIO PLUS ULTRA. DENSIDAD

¿Qué beneficios crees que podría aportar un aumento de la densidad del barrio?

SESIÓN DE PARTICIPACIÓN: BARRIO PLUS ULTRA. COMUNIDAD

Además de los problemas relacionados con la renovación del barrio, ¿Qué caracteriza a la comunidad del barrio Plus Ultra? ¿Qué les mantiene unidos? ¿Qué les distingue de otras comunidades y barrios?

SESIÓN DE PARTICIPACIÓN: BARRIO PLUS ULTRA. ARRAIGO

¿Crees que la mayoría de gente joven que se fue del barrio volvería si pudiera? ¿Qué habría que hacer para que los nuevos habitantes lleguen a arraigarse en el barrio? ¿Conoces a gente que aunque no vivan ya en el barrio mantengan aún vínculos con él?

SESIÓN DE PARTICIPACIÓN: BARRIO PLUS ULTRA. Accesibilidad

¿Tienes alguna necesidad diaria que no puedas satisfacer en los establecimientos cercanos al barrio? ¿Crees que los comercios del barrio son atractivos para los vecinos de los alrededores?

SESIÓN DE PARTICIPACIÓN: BARRIO PLUS ULTRA. MEMORIA

¿Cuáles son las memorias personales que te vinculan al barrio?

Plus Ultra Context

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APPROACHING PEOPLE

The face-to-face dialog is the most direct method to extract the worries and interests of the inhabitants. The important thing is to be able to read between the lines, without giving for supposed things that are said directly. It is important to give emphasis to the “because” of what it is said in this kind of conversations.
From these dialogues there are extracted key ideas on that they put on the table together with others extracted from the rest of activities.

(Español) El dialogo cara a cara es el método más directo para extraer las preocupaciones e intereses de los habitantes. Lo importante es saber leer entre líneas, sin dar por supuestas cosas que se dicen directamente. Es importante dar énfasis al porque de lo que se dice en este tipo de conversaciones.

De estos diálogos se extraen ideas clave que se ponen sobre la mesa junto a otras extraídas del resto de actividades.

COLLECTING STORIES / RECOLECTANDO HISTORIAS

To carry out the project was necessary to find a method to collect site specific information, identifying the experiences of residents, neighbors or relatives who visitthe area. That is why we use as a resource to identify households based on theirfacades. So the proyect needed that the people who have some relationship with the district made ​​a free discharge of data over the facade that "was or is" part of their daily activities. The main reason of the use of individual photos of the facades in place of images instead of perspective of the streets was that the streets are so thin to capture all the constructions, in addition this seems that this resource allows participants to have an objective view of their neighborhood. At the end the proyect adquire a lot of data;historical, cultural or just daily life anecdotes that will be useful to try to capture the essence of the neighborhood.

[Español] Para llevar a cabo el proyecto era necesario encontrar algún método para recolectar información puntual del sitio, identificando las vivencias de los habitantes, vecinos o familiares que visitan la zona. Es por ello utilizamos como recurso la identificación de las viviendas en base a sus fachadas. En donde lo que se buscaba era que las personas que guardan alguna relación con el barrio hicieran un vaciado libre de datos encima de la fachada que formaba o forma parte de sus actividades cotidianas. La razón principal por la que se pensó en fotos individuales de las fachadas en lugar de imágenes en perspectiva de las calles, fue que las calles son demasiado estrechas para poder captar todas las construcciones, además de que este recurso permite a los participantes de esta actividad tener una visión objetiva de su barrio. La respuesta pareciera haber sido buena, se logró hacer una recolección de datos tanto históricos, culturales o simplemente anécdotas de la vida diaria que nos servirán para intentar captar la esencia del barrio.

Otros testimonios de experiencias vividas en el barrio Plus Ultra pueden leerse en este blog: son la expresión de la memoria -aún viva- del lugar.

REPRESENTING DWELLING/REPRESENTANDO EL HOGAR

The intention is to look for the essential of the dwellings, the main rooms for the inhabitants. To get this information, we have done an activity where the participants had to draw their dwellings. From these schematic draws we can check the importance of the different parts of the house and how they see them, and the way they live there. This way we can take conclusions that we will use to the future design process of the neighborhood.


[Español] La intención es buscar lo esencial de las viviendas, las partes de la casa que para los habitantes son importantes aunque a veces no son conscientes de ello. Para conseguir esta información hemos realizado una actividad en la cual los participantes tenían que dibujar su propia vivienda. En estos dibujos esquemáticos se pueden apreciar diferentes cosas, entre ellas el grado de importancia y como ven ellos cada sala, así como la manera que tiene cada uno de habitar en ellas. De esta manera se pueden sacar conclusiones de cara al futuro proceso de diseño del barrio.

Relating places / Relacionando lugares

The objective of this activity was to relate the people from the neighborhood with the rest of the city; to know where they do their main activities. To reach that objective, a map of Barcelona was presented; the different districts where delimited for the people to locate easily a place in the city. On the right side of the panel, was a list with activities organized by color; each activity had a group of pins with the correspondent color, and the instruction was to put a pin in the place of the city where they do each activity. The activities that were proposed were Visiting Family, Shopping, Entertainment, Work, School, Doctor and Taking walks. When the activity was finished, most of the pins were located in or near the neighborhood.

[Español] El objetivo de esta actividad era el de relacionar a las personas del barrio con el resto de la ciudad; para conocer en dónde realizan sus principales actividades. Para alcanzar dicho objetivo, se presentó un mapa de Barcelona; se delimitaron los diferentes distritos para que la gente ubicara los lugares más fácilmente. En el lado derecho del pánel, estaba una lista de actividades organizadas por color; cada actividad tenía un grupo de alfileres con el color correspondiente, la instrucción era colocar un alfiler en el lugar de la ciudad en el que llevan a cabo cada una de las actividades. La lista incluía Familia, Compra, Ocio, Trabajo, Escuela, Paseo y Médico. Cuando se finalizó la actividad, la mayoría de los alfileres habían sido colocados dentro o cerca del barrio.

Representing and Analyzing a Case of Study

The objective of this activity is to summarize the analysis of one of the two cases of study documented in OIKODOMOS Case Repository.

Explain why the analyzed concept (e.g. flexibility, sustainability, ....) should be taken into account by today’s architects

FLEXIBLE SPACES

The flexible spaces of this group of houses are refers to spaces that can be separated or connected turning into a unique space with different characteristics from the ones that they had when they were separated; they can have a different use or can turn into a transitional space between the exterior and the interior. To get this type of spaces they use mobile transparent divisions. This system gets spaces with a special characteristic that probably can’t be get with a rigid division of a house. These divisions and these spaces haven’t got the same characteristics that ones that are separated, so it is a good option for flexible uses. A rigid use of the rooms couldn’t work correctly with this system, so it is important to be sure that the use of the building is according to the system.

COMMUNAL BUILDING

This project is characteristic by its shape but also by its program and operation. The building contains a wide variety of dwellings and some communal services, that create this feeling of community. It’s like a little town in the middle of the city.

Space controlled by the dweller

Usually a house is made of spaces with their own function and dimension, forcing the dweller to adapt to that situation.

Understanding space as a tool that suits our requirements is the main argument of this collection. Through elements which we can interact with we organize the space around us and we provide it with a function.

LOW STAY HOUSING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Both summer homes as housing for young people share the idea of the low stay housing on the place, the user is expected to be a dynamic inhabitant and his housing must be very flexible. In these cases, the constant is to use a exterior shell that serves as the building structure, while in the interior space the walls can be modified easily. These homes may be considered as semi-open floor plan, a single volume where the communal spaces prevail over the private ones.

Low stay housing for young people

Both summer homes as housing for young people share the idea of the low stay housing on the place, the user is expected to be a dynamic inhabitant and his housing must be very flexible. In these cases, the constant is to use a exterior shell that serves as the building structure, while in the interior space the walls can be modified easily. These homes may be considered as semi-open floor plan, a single volume where the communal spaces prevail over the private ones.

Adaptability

This projects share the idea of adaptability and flexibility in housing. They represent different aspects of how can a house being adapt or adjust to existing conditions, according to the needs of the dweller.

Communal spaces

The project of the Moriyama House in Tokyo designed by Ryue Nishizawa is a new way of private and community living. The house is designed according to the principle of “house-as-city”, which leads to the formation of urbanity on the inside of the building, a very important aim of the architect.

Participation + Neighborhood + Communal space

Today architects built the way they believe is the right one but sometimes we seem to forget the importance of user participation. The dwellers are going to live there. By asking the future dwellers’ opinion about how they want to live and see a neighborhood, you can actually create one. The use of communal spaces can create social activity. Participation + Communal spaces + Row housing has in my opinion a good chance of becoming a neighborhood.

Communal Spaces in Special Dwellings

When talking about housing, there are situations that can be considered extraordinary or differente to the usual, family housing-for-life, living space; such as temporary housing as a result of natural disasters, studies or work; or housing for the elder. In these dwellings, the communal space acquires a new, meaningful sense; as a result of dwellers' need of bonding and community sense.

TK 12_Description

Representing and Analyzing a Case of Study

The objective of this activity is to summarize the analysis of one of the two cases of study documented in OIKODOMOS Case Repository.

Energy efficiency II

As I mentioned already in my previous work, energy efficiency should be one of the most important aspects by designing buildings. Now, after studying many passive, energy efficent and sustainable projects I would like to present some of them more in detail. There are no strict rules what are the best solutions about saving energy - in this way is possible to see and study different ways and possibilities how to be friendly to enviroment and think about ecology.

Urban Structure: Brussels (II)

The proposed project for the Canal Zone in Brussels, by Gerard Corominas, who is a student of the LaSalle Urban Studio, attempts to answer three themes at different scales.

1. The current inaccessibility for traffic in our study area, inside the ring.
I propose to locate the circulation of the ring in our area on an underground level, this way a new avenue can enter the center of the city.

2. The lack of continuity between the neighborhoods on both sides of the ring.
The new ring tunnel allows a better relationship between the different neighborhoods. This way, we create the advantage to turn present parking space into green areas. The proposal to relocate the school makes it possible to redistribute the islands and to have higher continuity between the different districts.

3. The lack of relationship between the city and the canal
A pedestrian system along the channel is proposed. The borders of the canal will now meander and this way multiplies the surface on this waterfront. As this part of the city has a higher population of young people, the project wants to inject new facilities for younger people around the new canal system.

Urban Structure: Brussels

The Western part of the city of Brussels is divided socially and economically by the Canal and does not possess an order of well-structured spaces, so that, the purpose of this proposed urban structure has been to unite and equalize both sides by creating connections by means of open spaces and new urban facilities. The strategy is to create a system of three streets perpendicular to the Canal (which is repeated several times) where the central street turns into a pedestrian walk with local facilities and open spaces, to stimulate the movement of people in a transversal way, while the traffic would be transferred to both sides of the streets. Besides working perpendicularly to the Canal, a lateral tour is added that connects the different points of the previous system with a walkway (divided between the lateral streets of the Canal and a new one that is created at the level of the water). This walkway begins and ends in two rather big urban centers (Tour&Taxi and the Slaughter house) with new residential buildings and equipments that induce the movement of people. (proposal for Urban Structure by Usua Aseginolaza, student of the LaSalle Urban Studio group)

The questions to address in this assignment are the following:

- What is “vernacular” housing, today?
- What does “domestic” mean, today?
- Which is the “dweller”, today?
- What is considered to be a “house”, today?
- In which ways the sense of “belonging” can be reinforced, today?
- What are the relevant issues with regard to housing for the “architectural profession”, today?
- In which ways can “technology” be a driving force for the transformation of housing, today?
- In which way the “economic” system determines housing, today?