Functionalism and Caprice in Stonecutting. The Case of the Nativity Chapel in Burgos Cathedral

Starting from the inaugural text of Philibert de L'Orme, stereotomic treatises and manuscripts are subject to the opposing forces of reason and fancy. The Nativity Chapel in Burgos Cathedral provides an outstanding case study on this subject. It was built in 1571-1582 by Mart��n de B��rriz and Mart��n de la Haya, using an oval vault resting on trumpet squinches to span a rectangular bay. Bed joints and rib axes are not planar curves, as usual in oval vaults. This warping is not capricious; we shall argue that it is the outcome of a systematic tracing method. As a result of this process, the slope of the bed joints increases slightly in the first courses, but stays fairly constant after the third course; this solution prevents the upper courses from slipping. Thus, in the Nativity Chapel of Burgos Cathedral, the constraints of masonry construction fostered a singular solution verging on capriccio. It is also worthwhile to remark that the warping of the joints is not easily appreciable to the eye and that the tracing process does not seem to start from a previous conception of the resulting form. All this suggests that we should be quite careful when talking about the whimsical character of Late Gothic and Early Renaissance; in some occasions, apparent caprice is the offspring of practical thinking.

M��quinas o atm��sferas: La est��tica de la energ��a en la arquitectura, 1750-2000 = From Machines to Atmospheres: The Aesthetics of Energy in Architecture, 1750-2000

La energ��a es ya un tema arquitect��nico, pero su incorporaci��n al proyecto ha sido hasta ahora fundamentalmente t��cnica, dando pie a una especie de funcionalismo ecol��gico cuyo destino es acaso repetir los errores de los viejos funcionalismos en su confianza de encontrar modos ���objetivos��� de transmutar la energ��a en forma construida, pero sin que en tal proceso parezca haber hueco para mediaciones de tipo est��tico. Sin embargo, son precisamente tales mediaciones las que necesitan analizarse para que la adopci��n de los temas energ��ticos resulte fruct��fera en la arquitectura, y asimismo para dar cuenta de otras perspectivas complementarias ���filos��ficas, cient��ficas, art��sticas��� que hoy forman el complejo campo sem��ntico de la energ��a. Partiendo de la fecha de 1750 ���que da comienzo simb��licamente al proceso de contaminaciones ���modernas��� entre la arquitectura y otras disciplinas���, esta tesis analiza los diferentes modos con los que proyectos y edificios han expresado literal y anal��gicamente ciertos temas o ideales energ��ticos, demostrando la existencia de una ���est��tica de la energ��a��� en la arquitectura y tambi��n de una tradici��n proyectual e intelectual sostenida en ella. Con este fin, se han seleccionados siete met��foras que vinculan tanto t��cnica como ideol��gicamente a la arquitectura con la energ��a: la met��fora de la m��quina, asociada al ideal de movimiento y la autorregulaci��n; las met��foras del arabesco, del cristal y del organismo, afines entre s�� en su modo de dar cuenta del principio de la morfog��nesis o energ��a creadora de la naturaleza; la met��fora de la actividad interna de los materiales; la met��fora del gradiente, que expresa la condici��n t��rmica y clim��tica de la arquitectura, y, finalmente, la de la atm��sfera que, recogiendo los sentidos anteriores, los actualiza en el contexto de la est��tica contempor��nea. La selecci��n de estas siete met��foras se ha llevado a cabo despu��s de un barrido exhaustivo de la bibliograf��a precedente, y ha estructurado un relato cuyo m��todo combina la perspectiva general ���que permite cartografiar las continuidades hist��ricas��� con la cercana ���que atiende a las problemas espec��ficos de cada tema o met��fora���, complement��ndolas con una aproximaci��n de sesgo iconogr��fico cuyo prop��sito es incidir en los v��nculos que se dan entre lo ideol��gico y lo morfol��gico. El an��lisis ha puesto de manifiesto c��mo detr��s de cada una de estas met��foras se oculta un principio ideol��gico com��n ���la justificaci��n de la arquitectura desde planteamientos externos procedentes de la ciencia, la filosof��a y el arte���, y c��mo en cada uno de los casos estudiados las asimilaciones m��s fruct��feras de la energ��a se han producido seg��n mecanismos de m��mesis anal��gica que inciden m��s en los procesos que en las formas que estos generan, y que en ��ltimo t��rmino son de ��ndole est��tica, lo cual constituye un indicio de los m��todos de la arquitectura por venir. ABSTRACT Although it is already an architectural theme, the matter of incorporating energy into projects has up to now been mainly technical, giving rise to a kind of ecological functionalism which may be bound to old funcionalist mistakes in hopes of finding ���objective��� ways of transmuting energy into built forms without aesthetic considerations. However, it is precisely such considerations that need to be analyzed if the adoption of energy issues in architecture is to bear fruit and also to account for other complementary perspectives ��� philosophical, scientific, artistic ��� which today form the complex fabric of the energy semantic field. Beginning in 1750 ��� symbolic start of ���modern��� contaminations between architecture and other disciplines ���, this thesis analyzes the different ways in which projects and buildings have literally and analogically expressed certain subjects or ideals on energy, and demonstrates the existence of an ���aesthetics of energy��� in architecture, as well as of an intellectual and design tradition based on such aesthetics. For this purpose, seven metaphors are selected to link energy to architecture both technically and ideologically: the machine���s metaphor, associated with the ideal of mouvement and self-regulation; the arabesque, glass and the organism���s metaphors, which account for the morphogenesis principle, i.e. creative energy of nature; the metaphor linked to matter and the ideal of internal activity; the gradient���s metaphor, which expressed the thermal and climatic condition of architecture, and, finally, that of the atmosphere which, collecting the above meanings, updates them in the context of contemporary aesthetics. The selection of these seven metaphors was carried out after a thorough scan of the preceding literature, and has structured a reasoning that combines the overview method ��� which accounts for historical continuities ��� with the nearby one ��� which meets the specifics problems of each theme or metaphor ���, both supplemented with an iconographic bias, the purpose of which is to visually express the links existing between the ideological and the morphological. So presented, the analysis shows how, behind each of these metaphors, lies a common ideological principle ��� the justification of architecture from scientific, philosophical and artistic ���external��� angles ���, and how in each of the studied cases the most successful assimilation of energy were those produced by aesthetic mechanisms of analogical mimesis not focused in forms but in processes that generate them: an indication of the methods of architecture to come.

1950 En torno al Museo Louisiana 1970

La tesis ���1950 En torno al Museo Louisiana 1970��� analiza varias obras relacionadas con el espacio dom��stico, que se realizaron entre 1950 y 1970 en Dinamarca, un periodo de esplendor de la Arquitectura Moderna. Tras el aislamiento y restricciones del conflicto b��lico que asol�� Europa, los j��venes arquitectos daneses, estaban deseosos por experimentar nuevas ideas de procedencia internacional, favorecidos por diferentes circunstancias, encuentran el mejor campo de ensayo en el espacio dom��stico. La mejor arquitectura dom��stica en Dinamarca, de aquel periodo, debe entenderse como un sistema compuesto por diferentes autores, que tienen en com��n muchas m��s similitudes que diferencias, se complementan unos a otros. Para la comprensi��n y el entendimiento de ello se hace necesario el estudio de varias figuras y edificios, que completen este sistema cuya investigaci��n est�� escasamente desarrollada. La tesis propone un viaje para conocer los nombres de algunos de sus protagonistas, que mostraron con su trabajo, que tradici��n y vanguardia no estar��n re��idas. El objetivo es desvelar las claves de la Modernidad Danesa, reconocer, descubrir y recuperar el legado de algunos de sus protagonistas en el ��mbito dom��stico, cuya lecci��n se considera de total actualidad. Una arquitectura que asume las aportaciones extranjeras con moderaci��n y cr��tica, cuya ��ntima relaci��n con la tradici��n arquitect��nica y la artesan��a propias, ser�� una de sus notas especiales. Del estudio contrastado de varios proyectos y versiones, se obtienen valores comunes entre sus autores, al igual que se descubren sus afinidades o diferencias respecto a los mismos asuntos; que permitir��n comprender sus actuaciones seg��n las referencias e influencias, y definir las variables que configuran sus espacios arquitect��nicos. La l��nea de conexi��n entre los edificios elegidos ser�� su particular relaci��n con la naturaleza y el lugar en que se integran. La fachada, lugar donde se negociar�� la relaci��n entre el interior y el paisaje, ser�� un elemento entendido de un modo diferente en cada uno de ellos, una relaci��n que se extender�� en todas ellas, m��s all�� de su per��metro. La investigaci��n se ha estructurado en seis cap��tulos, que van precedidos de una Introducci��n. En el cap��tulo primero, se estudian y se se��alan los antecedentes, las figuras y edificios m��s relevantes de la Tradici��n Danesa, para la comprensi��n y el esclarecimiento de algunas de las claves de su Modernidad en el campo de la Arquitectura, que se produce con una clara intenci��n de encontrar su propia identidad y expresi��n. Esta Modernidad floreciente se caracteriza por la asimilaci��n de otras culturas extranjeras desde la moderaci��n, con un punto de vista cr��tico, y encuentra sus ra��ces ancladas a la tradici��n arquitect��nica y la artesan��a propia, que fragua en la aparici��n de un ideal com��n con enorme personalidad y que hoy se valora como una aut��ntica aportaci��n de una cultura considerada entonces perif��rica. Se mostrar�� el debate y el camino seguido por las generaciones anteriores, a las obras an��lizadas. Las sensibilidades por lo vern��culo y lo cl��sico, que aparentemente son contradictorias, dominaran el debate con la misma veracidad y respetabilidad. La llamada tercera generaci��n por Sigfried Giedion reanudar�� la pr��ctica entre lo cl��sico y lo vern��culo, apoyados en el esp��ritu del trabajo artesanal y de la tradici��n, con el objetivo de conocer del acto arquitect��nico su ���la verdad��� y ���la esencia original���. El cap��tulo segundo, analiza la casa Varming, de 1953, situada en un ��rea residencial de Gentofte, por Eva y Nils Koppel, que reinterpreta la visi��n de Asplund de un paisaje interior continuaci��n del exterior, donde rompen la caja de ladrillo macizo convencional propia de los a��os 30. Es el ejemplo m��s poderoso de la uni��n de tradici��n e innovaci��n en su obra residencial. Sus formas sobrias entre el Funcionalismo Dan��s y la Modernidad se singularizar��n por su abstracci��n y vol��menes limpios que acent��an el efecto de su geometr��a, prism��tica y brutalista. El desplazamiento de los cuerpos que lo componen, unos sobre otros, generan un ritmo, que se producir�� a otras escalas, ello unido a las variaciones de sus formas y a la elecci��n de sus materiales, ladrillo y madera, le confieren a la casa un car��cter org��nico. El edificio se ancla a la tierra resolvi��ndose en diferentes niveles tras el estudio del lugar y su topograf��a. El resultado es una versi��n construida del paisaje, en la cual el edificio da forma al lugar y ensalza la experiencia del escenario natural. La unidad de las estructuras primitivas, parece estar presente. Constituye un ejemplo de la ���La idea de Promenade de Asplund���, el proyecto ofrece diferentes recorridos, permitiendo su propia vivencia de la casa, que ofrece la posibilidad vital de decidir. El cap��tulo tercero trata sobre el pabell��n de invitados de Niels Bohr de 1957, situado un ��rea boscosa, en Tisvilde Hegn, fue el primer edificio del arquitecto dan��s Vilhelm Wohlert. Arraigado a la Tradici��n Danesa, representa una renovaci��n basada en la absorci��n de influencias extranjeras: la Arquitectura Americana y la Tradici��n Japonesa. La caja de madera, posada sobre un terreno horizontal, tiene el car��cter sensible de un organismo vivo, siempre cambiante seg��n las variaciones de luz del d��a o temperatura. Cuando se abre, crea una prolongaci��n del espacio interior, que se extiende a la naturaleza circundante, y se expande hacia el espacio exterior, permitiendo su movilizaci��n. Se establece una arquitectura de flujos. Hay un inter��s por la materia, su textura y el efecto emocional que emana. Las proporciones y dimensiones del edificio est��n reguladas por un m��dulo, que se ajusta a la medida del hombre, destacando la gran unidad del edificio. La llave se su efecto est��tico est�� en su armon��a y equilibrio, que transmiten serenidad y belleza. El encuentro con la naturaleza es la lecci��n m��s b��sica del proyecto, donde un mundo de relaciones es amable al ser humano. El cap��tulo cuarto, analiza el proyecto del Museo Louisiana de 1958, en Humleb��k, primer proyecto de la pareja de arquitectos daneses J��rgen Bo y Vilhelm Wohlert. La experiencia en California de Wohlert donde ser�� visitado por Bo, ser�� trascendental para el desarrollo de Louisiana, donde la identidad Danesa se fusiona con la asimilaci��n de otras culturas, la arquitectura de Frank Lloyd Wright, la del ��rea de la Bah��a y la Tradici��n Japonesa principalmente. La idea del proyecto es la de una obra de arte integral: arquitectura, arte y paisaje, coexistir��an en un mismo lugar. Diferentes recursos realzar��n su car��cter residencial, como el uso de los materiales propios de un entorno dom��stico, la realizaci��n a la escala del hombre, el modo de usar la iluminaci��n. Cubiertas planas que muestran su artificialidad, parecen flotar sobre galer��as acristaladas, acentuar��n la fuerza del plano horizontal y establecer��n un recorrido en zig-zag de marcado ritmo acompasado. Ritmo que tiene que ver con la encarnaci��n del pulso de la naturaleza, que se acompa��a de juegos de luz, y de otras vibraciones materiales a diferentes escalas, imagen, que encuentra una analog��a semejante en la cultura japonesa. Todo se coordina con la trama estructural, que conlleva a una construcci��n y proporci��n disciplinada. Louisiana atiende al principio de crecimiento de la naturaleza, con la que su conexi��n es profunda. Hay un dinamismo expresado por el despliegue del edificio, que evoca a algunos proyectos de la Tradici��n Japonesa. Los blancos muros tienen su propia identidad como formas en s�� mismas, avanzan prolong��ndose fuera de la l��nea del vidrio, se mueven libremente siguiendo el orden estructural, acompa��ando al espacio que fluye, en contacto directo con la naturaleza que est�� en un continuo estado de flujos. Se da todo un mundo de relaciones, donde existe un dialogo entre el paisaje, arte y arquitectura. El cap��tulo quinto, se dedica a analizar la segunda casa del arquitecto dan��s Halldor Gunnl��gsson, de 1959. Evoca a la Arquitectura Japonesa y Americana, pero es principalmente resultado de una fuerte voluntad y disciplina art��stica personal. La cubierta, plana, suspendida sobre una gran plataforma pavimentada, que contin��a la secci��n del terreno construyendo de lugar, tiene una gran presencia y arroja una profunda sombra bajo ella. En el interior un espacio ��nico, que se puede dividir eventualmente, discurre en torno a un cuerpo central. El espacio libre fluye, extendi��ndose a trav��s de la transparencia de sus ventanales a dos espacios contrapuestos: un patio ajardinado ��ntimo, que inspira calma y sosiego; y la naturaleza salvaje del mar que proyecta el color del cielo, ambos en constante estado de cambio. El proyecto se elabora de un modo rigurosamente formal, existiendo al mismo tiempo un perfecto equilibrio entre la abstracci��n de su estructura y su programa. La estructura de madera cuyo orden se extiende m��s all�� de los l��mites de su per��metro, est�� formada por p��rticos completos como elementos libres, queda expuesta, guardando una estrecha relaci��n con el concepto de modernidad de Mies, equivalente a la arquitectura cl��sica. La preocupaci��n por el efecto est��tico es m��xima, nada es improvisado. Pero adem��s la combinaci��n de materiales y el juego de las texturas hay una cualidad t��ctil, cierto erotismo, que flota alrededor de ella. La precisi��n constructiva y su refinamiento se acercan a Mies. La experiencia del espacio arquitect��nico es una vivencia global. La influencia de la arquitectura japonesa, es m��s conceptual que formal, revelada en un respeto por la naturaleza, la b��squeda del refinamiento a trav��s de la moderaci��n, la eliminaci��n de los objetos innecesarios que distraen de la experiencia del lugar y la preocupaci��n por la luz y la sombra, donde se establece cierto paralelismo con el oscuro mundo del invierno n��rdico. Hay un entendimiento de que el espacio, en lugar de ser un objeto inmaterial definido por superficies materiales se entiende como interacciones din��micas. El cap��tulo sexto. Propone un viaje para conocer algunas de las viviendas unifamiliares m��s interesantes que se construyeron en el periodo, que forman parte del sistema investigado. Del estudio comparado y orientado en varios temas, se obtienen diversa conclusiones propias del sistema estudiado. La maestr��a de la sustancia y la forma ser�� una caracter��stica distintiva en Dinamarca, se demuestra que hay un acercamiento a la cultura de Oriente, conceptual y formal, y unos intereses comunes con cierta arquitectura Americana. Su lecci��n nos sensibiliza hacia un sentido fortalecido de proporci��n, escala, materialidad, textura y peso, densidad del espacio, se valora lo t��ctil y lo visual, hay una sensibilidad hacia la naturaleza, hacia lo humano, hacia el paisaje, la integridad de la obra. ABSTRACT The thesis ���1950 around the Louisiana Museum 1970��� analyses several works related to domestic space, which were carried out between 1950 and 1970 in Denmark, a golden age of modern architecture. After the isolation and limitations brought about by the war that blighted Europe, young Danish architects were keen to experiment with ideas of an international origin, encouraged by different circumstances. They find the best field of rehearsal to be the domestic space. The best architecture of that period in Denmark should be understood as a system composed of different authors, who have in common with each other many more similarities than differences, thus complimenting each other. In the interests of understanding, the study of a range of figures and buildings is necessary so that this system, the research of which is still in its infancy, can be completed. The thesis proposes a journey of discovery through the names of some of those protagonists who were showcased through their work so that tradition and avant- garde could go hand in hand. The objective is to unveil the keys to Danish Modernity; to recognise, discover and revive the legacy of some of its protagonists in the domestic field whose lessons are seen as entirely of the present. For an architect, the taking on of modern contributions with both moderation and caution, with its intimate relationship with architectural tradition and its own craft, will be one of his hallmarks. With the study set against several projects and versions, one can derive common values among their authors. In the same way their affinities and differences in respect of the same issue emerge. This will allow an understanding of their measures in line with references and influences and enable the defining of the variables of their architectural spaces. The common line between the buildings selected will be their particular relationship with nature and the space with which they integrate. The fa��ade, the place where the relationship between the interior and the landscape would be negotiated, wouldl be the discriminating element in a distinct way for each one of them. It is through each of these facades that this relationship would extend, and far beyond their physical perimeter. The investigation has been structured into six chapters, preceded by an introduction. The first chapter outlines and analyses the backgrounds, figures and buildings most relevant to the Danish Tradition. This is to facilitate the understanding and elucidation of some of the keys to its modernity in the field of architecture, which came about with the clear intention to discover its own identity and expression. This thriving modernity is characterized by its moderate assimilation with foreign cultures with a critical eye, and finds its roots anchored in architectural tradition and its own handcraft. It is forged in the emergence of a common ideal of enormous personality which today has come to be valued as an authentic contribution to the sphere from a culture that was formerly seen as on the peripheries. What will be demonstrated is the path taken by previous generations to these works and the debate that surrounds them. The sensibilities for both the vernacular and the classic, which at first glance may seem contradictory, will dominate the debate with the same veracity and respectability. The so-called third generation of Sigfried Giedion will revive the process between the classic and the vernacular, supported in spirit by the handcraft work and by tradition, with the objective of discovering the ���truth��� and the ���original essence��� of the architectural act. The second chapter analyzes the Varming house, built by Eva and Nils Koppel 1953, which is situated in a residential area of Gentofte. This reinterprets Asplund���s vision of an interior landscape extending to the exterior, where we see a break with the conventional sturdy brick shell of the 1930s. It is the most powerful example of the union of tradition and innovation in his their residential work. Their sober forms caught between Danish Functionalism and modernity are characterized by their abstraction and clean shapes which accentuate their prismatic and brutal geometry, The displacement of the parts of which they are composed, one over the other, generate a rhythm. This is produced to varying scales and is closely linked to its forms and the selection of materials ��� brick and wood ��� that confer an organic character to the house. The building is anchored to the earth, finding solution at different levels through the study of place and topography. The result is an adaption constructed out of the landscape, in which the building gives form to the place and celebrates the experience of the natural setting. The unity of primitive structures appears to be present. It constitutes an example of ���Asplund���s Promenade Idea���. Different routes of exploration within are available to the visitor, allowing for one���s own personal experience of the house, allowing in turn for the vital chance to decide. The third chapter deals with Niels Bohr���s guest pavilion. Built in 1957, it is situated in a wooded area of Tisvilde Hegn and was the architect Vilhelm Wohlert���s first building. Rooted in the Danish Tradition, it represents a renewal based on the absorption of foreign influences: American architecture and the Japanese tradition. The wooden box, perched atop a horizontal terrain, possesses the sensitive character of the living organism, ever-changing in accordance with the variations in daylight and temperature. When opened up, it creates an elongation of the interior space which extends into the surrounding nature and it expands towards the exterior space, allowing for its mobilisation. It establishes an architecture of flux. There is interest in the material, its texture and the emotional effect it inspires. The building���s proportions and dimensions are regulated by a module, which is adjusted by hand, bringing out the great unity of the building. The key to its aesthetic effect is its harmony and equilibrium, which convey serenity and beauty. The meeting with nature is the most fundamental lesson of the project, where a world of relationships softens the personality of the human being. The fourth chapter analyzes the Louisiana Museum project of 1958 in 1958. It was the first project of the Danish architects J��rgen Bo and Vilhelm Wohlert. Wohlert���s experience in California where he was visited by Bo would be essential to the development of Louisiana, where the Danish identity is fused in assimilation with other cultures, the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, that of the Bah��a area and principally the Japanese tradition. The idea of the project was for an integrated work of art: architecture, art and landscape, which would coexist in the same space. A range of different resources would realize the residential character, such as the use of materials taken from a domestic environment, the attainment of human scale and the manner in which light was used. Flat roof plans that show their artificiality and appear to float over glassed galleries. They accentuate the strength of the horizontal plan and establish a zigzag route of marked and measured rhythm. It is a rhythm that has to do with the incarnation of nature���s pulse, which is accompanied with plays of light, as well as material vibrations of different scales, imagery which uncovers a parallel analogy with Japanese culture. Everything is coordinated along a structural frame, which involves a disciplined construction and proportion. Louisiana cherishes nature���s principle of growth, to which its connection is profound. Here is a dynamism expressed through the disposition of the building, which evokes in some projects the Japanese tradition. The white walls possess their own identity as forms in their own right. They advance, extending beyond the line of glass, moving freely along the structural line, accompanying a space that flows and in direct contact with nature that is itself in a constant state of flux. It creates a world of relationships, where dialogue exists between the landscape, art and architecture. The fifth chapter is dedicated to analyzing the Danish architect Halldor Gunnl��gsson���s second house, built in 1959. It evokes both Japanese and American architecture but is principally the result of a strong will and personal artistic discipline. The flat roof suspended above a large paved platform ��� itself continuing the constructed terrain of the place ��� has great presence and casts a heavy shadow beneath. In the interior, a single space, which can at length be divided and which flows around a central space. The space flows freely, extending through the transparency of its windows which give out onto two contrasting locations: an intimate garden patio, inspiring calm and tranquillity, and the wild nature of the sea which projects the colour of sky, both in a constant state of change. The project is realized in a rigorously formal manner. A perfect balance exists between the abstraction of his structure and his project. The wooden structure, whose order extends beyond the limits of its perimeter, is formed of complete porticos of free elements. It remains exposed, maintaining a close relationship with Mies��� concept of modernity, analogous to classical architecture. The preoccupation with the aesthetic effect is paramount and nothing is improvised. But in addition to this - the combination of materials and the play of textures - there is a tactile quality, a certain eroticism, which lingers all about. The constructive precision and its refinement are close to Mies. The experience of the architectural space is universal. The influence of Japanese architecture, more conceptual than formal, is revealed in a respect for nature. It can be seen in the search for refinement through moderation, the elimination of the superfluous object that distract from the experience of place and the preoccupation with light and shade, where a certain parallel with the dark world of the Nordic winter is established. There is an understanding that space, rather than being an immaterial object defined by material surfaces, extends instead as dynamic interactions. The sixth chapter. This proposes a journey to discover some of the unfamiliar residences of most interest which were constructed in the period, and which form part of the system being investigated. Through the study of comparison and one which is geared towards various themes, diverse conclusions are drawn regarding the system being researched. The expertise in substance and form will be a distinctive characteristic in Denmark, demonstrating an approach to the culture of the Orient, both conceptual and formal, and some common interests in certain American architecture. Its teachings sensitize us to a strengthened sense of proportion, scale, materiality, texture and weight and density of space. It values both the tactile and the visual. There is a sensitivity to nature, to the human, to the landscape and to the integrity of the work.

La casa de Norman Foster en Hampstead: tecnolog��a y domesticidad

Entre 1978 y 1979, Norman y Wendy Foster proyectan su propia vivienda en el barrio londinense de Hampstead. El proyecto m��s personal de los Foster permite ���como en tantos otros casos��� rastrear los referentes, obsesiones, sue��os y frustraciones de sus autores. Este proyecto representa el primer y ��nico intento de aplicaci��n en el campo de la arquitectura dom��stica de un modelo, denominado por Reyner Banham ���la nave bien servida���, que utiliza la integraci��n de sistemas como principal estrategia proyectual. Los 18 meses de intenso trabajo reflejan, a trav��s de las m��ltiples opciones desarrolladas, la evoluci��n de la obra de la pareja de arquitectos, que avanza desde el funcionalismo fabril de la ���nave bien servida���, hacia el expresionismo tecnol��gico del denominado High-Tech. En los motivos del fracaso del proyecto, que no llegar��a a construirse, subyacen los debates y conflictos ���entre arquitectura e ingenier��a, prefabricaci��n y artesan��a, expresionismo y funcionalismo��� en los que el estudio se encuentra inmerso a finales de los a��os 70, y que precipitar��n una nueva forma de entender la relaci��n entre arquitectura y tecnolog��a. | Between 1978 and 1979 Norman and Wendy Foster design their own home in the London neighbourhood of Hampstead. The most personal project of the Fosters allows us ���as in many other cases��� to trace the references, obsessions, dreams and frustrations of its creators. This project represents a unique attempt to apply the ���well-serviced shed��� concept ���as described by Reyner Banham��� to the domestic realm. A concept based in the use of systems integration as the main project strategy. The 18 months of intense work show, through the various options developed, the evolution of the production of the couple of architects, from the industrial functionalism of the ���well-serviced shed���, towards the technological expressionism of the so-called High-Tech movement. In the reasons behind the failure of this unbuilt project, one can read the debates and conflicts ���between architecture and engineering, prefabrication and craftsmanship, expressionism and functionalism��� in which the practice is immerse by the end of the 1970s. A series of events that will precipitate a new way of understanding the relationship between architecture and technology.

Leslie Martin, Colin St. John Wilson y James Stirling : revisi��n de la modernidad en la arquitectura brit��nica = Leslie Martin, Colin St. John Wilson and James Stirling : review of modernity in British architecture

La b��squeda de nuevas formas de modernidad se convirti�� en la cuesti��n principal de la obras desarrolladas por Leslie Martin, Colin St. John Wilson y James Stirling entre los a��os 1955 y 1970. Enmarcadas dentro de la sensibilidad surgida en la posguerra brit��nica, su profundo sentido cr��tico supone una renovada interpretaci��n de alguno fundamentos del Movimiento Moderno as�� como la reflexi��n sobre la modificaci��n y el uso de formas que tienen sus ra��ces en la tradici��n cultural. Esta investigaci��n se estructura en cuatro temas ampliamente debatidos y que han articulado parte de la revisi��n moderna a lo largo de la segunda mitad del siglo XX: �� la abstracci��n y el realismo �� la revisi��n de la idea funcionalista �� la reconsideraci��n de los arquetipos formales �� la relaci��n entre forma y contexto urbano se muestran como base cr��tica para las obras seleccionadas. La tendencia hacia el realismo surgi�� como respuesta a la voluntad de universalidad (y objetividad) que represent�� el lenguaje abstracto, del mismo modo que la revisi��n de la idea funcionalista pretendi�� superar la consideraci��n de la obra arquitect��nica como producto racional de su funci��n y tecnolog��a. La reconsideraci��n de los arquetipos de la tradici��n, a su vez, muestra una preocupaci��n por el significado de las formas culturales del pasado, una cuesti��n igualmente decisiva en la renovada atenci��n a la estructura de la ciudad hist��rica. Estos temas evidencian un inter��s por ampliar la arquitectura moderna sin que el reconocimiento de las formas del pasado suponga un distanciamiento respecto al futuro. La idea de revisi��n, asimismo, se convierte en estrategia a la hora de encontrar nuevas respuestas. Si algunos de los principios del Movimiento Moderno surgen como reacci��n al clasicismo Beaux Arts que le precedi��, las propuestas analizadas muestran la validez operativa de este enfoque para crear obras de una intensa modernidad. Su inter��s, por lo tanto, no solo radica en su consideraci��n como objetos de estudio que ampl��an nuestro conocimiento de un per��odo determinado, sino como tradici��n reciente que sirve de base cr��tica para la pr��ctica actual. ABSTRACT The search of new forms of modernity became the main theme of the works developed by Leslie Martin, Colin St. John Wilson and James Stirling between 1955 and 1970. Belonging to the sensitivity emerged in postwar Britain, their deep critical sense encourages a renewed interpretation of some principles of Modern Movement and a reflection about the modification or the use of forms that are rooted in cultural tradition. This research is divided into four themes widely discussed and which has articulated part of modern review along the second half of the twentieth century: �� Abstraction and realism �� Review of Functionalism �� The reconsideration of the formal archetypes �� The relationship between form and urban context are shown as critical base for the selected works. The trend toward realism arose in response to the will of universality (and objectivity) that represented the abstract language, just as the review of Functionalism aimed to overcome the consideration of architecture's work as rational product of its function and technology. The reconsideration of traditional archetypes, in turn, shows a concern for the meaning of the cultural forms, a matter equally decisive in the renewed attention to the structure of the historical city. These themes evidence an interest to extend modern architecture, without thereby the recognition of the past forms imply a distancing regarding the future. The idea of review also becomes strategy in finding new answers. If some principles of the Modern Movement arose in reaction to Beaux-Arts classicism which preceded it, the analyzed proposals show the operational validity of this approach to create works of a strong modernity. Their interest, therefore, lies not only in its consideration as study cases that broaden our knowledge of a certain period, but as a recent tradition which serves as a critic basis for the current practice.