El campo y la ciudad, áreas de reencuentro = The field and the city, areas of reunion

English Summary: Both in the remote origin of the city and the more recent one of urbanism as a remedial discipline conceived as a means of tackling with the urban and territorial impacts of industrialisation, the relatively balanced relation between town and country was a constant which endured until the progressive fragmentation and separation among the different areas of knowledge and action contributed to create a gap between them both, with disastrous consequences in environmental, social and economical terms. The tasks at hands from the perspective of integral sustainability is to promote a reunion throughout a new culture of territory. Resumen Tanto en los orígenes remotos de la ciudad como en los recientes del urbanismo como disciplina surgida para mitigar el impacto urbano y territorial del industrialismo, la relación relativamente equilibrada entre campo y ciudad fue una constante que se mantuvo hasta que la progresiva fragmentación entre áreas de conocimiento y de intervención contribuyó a un paulatino desencuentro entre ambos, de desastrosas consecuencias en términos sociales, ambientales y económicos. La tarea que se presenta desde la óptica de la sostenibilidad integral es propiciar el reencuentro a través de una nueva cultura del territorio

Intermodal exchange stations in the city of Madrid

The City of Madrid is putting into operation Intermodal Exchange Stations (IESs) to make connections between urban and suburban transportation modes easier for users of public transportation. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the actual effects that the implementation of IESs in the City of Madrid has on the affected stakeholders: users, public transportation operators, infrastructure managers, the government, the abutters and other citizens. We develop a methodology intended to help assess the welfare gains and losses for each stakeholder. Then we apply this methodology to the case study of the Avenida de América IES in the city of Madrid. We found that it is indeed possible to arrive at win–win solutions for the funding of urban transportation infrastructure, as long as the cost-benefit ratio of the project is high enough. Commuters save travel time. Bus companies diminish their costs of operation. The abutters gain in quality of life. The private operator of the infrastructure makes a fair profit. And the government is able to promote these infrastructure facilities without spending more of its scarce budgetary resources.

Decoding urban landscapes through the analysis of place names and imaginaries at a local scale.

Toponomastics is increasingly interested in the subjective role of place names in quotidian life. In the frame of Urban Geography, the interest in this matter is currently growing, as the recently change in modes of habitation has urged our discipline to find new ways of exploring the cities. In this context, the study of how name's significance is connected to a urban society constitutes a very interesting approach. We believe in the importance of place names as tools for decoding urban areas and societies at a local-scale. This consideration has been frequently taken into account in the analysis of exonyms, although in their case they are not exempt of political and practical implications that prevail over the tool function. The study of toponomastic processes helps us understanding how the city works, by analyzing the liaison between urban landscape, imaginaries and toponyms which is reflected in the scarcity of some names, in the biased creation of new toponyms and in the pressure exercised over every place name by tourists, residents and local government for changing, maintaining or eliminating them. Our study-case, Toledo, is one of the oldest cities in Spain, full of myths, stories and histories that can only be understood combined with processes of internal evolution of the city linked to the arrival of new residents and the more and more notorious change of its historical landscape. At a local scale, we are willing to decode the information which is contained in its toponyms about its landscape and its society.

Seismic Risk Scenarios in Puerto Principe (Haiti). A Tool for Reconstruction and Emergency Planning

The 12 January 2010, an earthquake hit the city of Port-au-Prince, capital of Haiti. The earthquake reached a magnitude Mw 7.0 and the epicenter was located near the town of Léogâne, approximately 25 km west of the capital. The earthquake occurred in the boundary region separating the Caribbean plate and the North American plate. This plate boundary is dominated by left-lateral strike slip motion and compression, and accommodates about 20 mm/y slip, with the Caribbean plate moving eastward with respect to the North American plate (DeMets et al., 2000). Initially the location and focal mechanism of the earthquake seemed to involve straightforward accommodation of oblique relative motion between the Caribbean and North American plates along the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system (EPGFZ), however Hayes et al., (2010) combined seismological observations, geologic field data and space geodetic measurements to show that, instead, the rupture process involved slip on multiple faults. Besides, the authors showed that remaining shallow shear strain will be released in future surface-rupturing earthquakes on the EPGFZ. In December 2010, a Spanish cooperation project financed by the Politechnical University of Madrid started with a clear objective: Evaluation of seismic hazard and risk in Haiti and its application to the seismic design, urban planning, emergency and resource management. One of the tasks of the project was devoted to vulnerability assessment of the current building stock and the estimation of seismic risk scenarios. The study was carried out by following the capacity spectrum method as implemented in the software SELENA (Molina et al., 2010). The method requires a detailed classification of the building stock in predominant building typologies (according to the materials in the structure and walls, number of stories and age of construction) and the use of the building (residential, commercial, etc.). Later, the knowledge of the soil characteristics of the city and the simulation of a scenario earthquake will provide the seismic risk scenarios (damaged buildings). The initial results of the study show that one of the highest sources of uncertainties comes from the difficulty of achieving a precise building typologies classification due to the craft construction without any regulations. Also it is observed that although the occurrence of big earthquakes usually helps to decrease the vulnerability of the cities due to the collapse of low quality buildings and the reconstruction of seismically designed buildings, in the case of Port-au-Prince the seismic risk in most of the districts remains high, showing very vulnerable areas. Therefore the local authorities have to drive their efforts towards the quality control of the new buildings, the reinforcement of the existing building stock, the establishment of seismic normatives and the development of emergency planning also through the education of the population.

Energy dependency at the urban scale and its social consequences

Spatial planning & energy. Young planners workshop. Final reports - conclusions

Del plan a la realidad: gobernanza y toma de decisiones en los procesos de regeneración urbana. El caso de Boston = From plan to reality: governance and decision-making in urban regeneration processes in Boston

En las últimas tres décadas, las dinámicas de restructuración económica a nivel global han redefinido radicalmente el papel de las ciudades. La transición del keynesianismo al neoliberalismo ha provocado un cambio en las políticas urbanas de los gobiernos municipales, que han abandonado progresivamente las tareas de regulación y redistribución para centrarse en la promoción del crecimiento económico y la competitividad. En este contexto, muchas voces críticas han señalado que la regeneración urbana se ha convertido en un vehículo de extracción de valor de la ciudad y está provocando la expulsión de los ciudadanos más vulnerables. Sin embargo, la regeneración de áreas consolidadas supone también una oportunidad de mejora de las condiciones de vida de la población residente, y es una política necesaria para controlar la expansión de la ciudad y reducir las necesidades de desplazamiento, promoviendo así ciudades más sostenibles. Partiendo de la hipótesis de que la gobernanza de los procesos de regeneración urbana es clave en el resultado final de las operaciones y determina el modelo de ciudad resultante, el objetivo de esta investigación es verificar si la regeneración urbana es necesariamente un mecanismo de extracción de valor o si puede mejorar la calidad de vida en las ciudades a través de la participación de los ciudadanos. Para ello, propone un marco de análisis del proceso de toma de decisiones en los planes de regeneración urbana y su impacto en los resultados de los planes, tomando como caso de estudio la ciudad de Boston, que desde los años 1990 trata de convertirse en una “ciudad de los barrios”, fomentando la participación ciudadana al tiempo que se posiciona en la escena económica global. El análisis se centra en dos operaciones de regeneración iniciadas a finales de los años 1990. Por un lado, el caso de Jackson Square nos permite comprender el papel de la sociedad civil y el tercer sector en la regeneración de los barrios más desfavorecidos, en un claro ejemplo de urbanismo “desde abajo” (bottom-up planning). Por otro, la reconversión del frente marítimo de South Boston para la construcción del Distrito de Innovación nos acerca a las grandes operaciones de regeneración urbana con fines de estímulo económico, tradicionalmente vinculadas a los centros financieros (downtown) y dirigidas por las élites gubernamentales y económicas (la growth machine) a través de procesos más tecnocráticos (top-down planning). La metodología utilizada consiste en el análisis cualitativo de los procesos de toma de decisiones y la relación entre los agentes implicados, así como de la evaluación de la implementación de dichas decisiones y su influencia en el modelo urbano resultante. El análisis de los casos permite afirmar que la gobernanza de los procesos de regeneración urbana influye decisivamente en el resultado final de las intervenciones; sin embargo, la participación de la comunidad local en la toma de decisiones no es suficiente para que el resultado de la regeneración urbana contrarreste los efectos de la neoliberalización, especialmente si se limita a la fase de planeamiento y no se extiende a la fase de ejecución, y si no está apoyada por una movilización política de mayor alcance que asegure una acción pública redistributiva. Asimismo, puede afirmarse que los procesos de regeneración urbana suponen una redefinición del modelo de ciudad, dado que la elección de los espacios de intervención tiene consecuencias sobre el equilibrio territorial de la ciudad. Los resultados de esta investigación tienen implicaciones para la disciplina del planeamiento urbano. Por una parte, se confirma la vigencia del paradigma del “urbanismo negociado”, si bien bajo discursos de liderazgo público y sin apelación al protagonismo del sector privado. Por otra parte, la planificación colaborativa en un contexto de “responsabilización” de las organizaciones comunitarias puede desactivar la potencia política de la participación ciudadana y servir como “amortiguador” hacia el gobierno local. Asimismo, la sustitución del planeamiento general como instrumento de definición de la ciudad futura por una planificación oportunista basada en la actuación en áreas estratégicas que tiren del resto de la ciudad, no permite definir un modelo coherente y consensuado de la ciudad que se desea colectivamente, ni permite utilizar el planeamiento como mecanismo de redistribución. ABSTRACT In the past three decades, the dynamics of global economic restructuring have radically redefined the role of cities. The transition from keynesianism to neoliberalism has caused a shift in local governments’ urban policies, which have progressively abandoned the tasks of regulation and redistribution to focus on promoting economic growth and competitiveness. In this context, many critics have pointed out that urban regeneration has become a vehicle for extracting value from the city and is causing the expulsion of the most vulnerable citizens. However, regeneration of consolidated areas is also an opportunity to improve the living conditions of the resident population, and is a necessary policy to control the expansion of the city and reduce the need for transportation, thus promoting more sustainable cities. Assuming that the governance of urban regeneration processes is key to the final outcome of the plans and determines the resulting city model, the goal of this research is to verify whether urban regeneration is necessarily a value extraction mechanism or if it can improve the quality of life in cities through citizens’ participation. It proposes a framework for analysis of decision-making in urban regeneration processes and their impact on the results of the plans, taking as a case study the city of Boston, which since the 1990s is trying to become a "city of neighborhoods", encouraging citizen participation, while seeking to position itself in the global economic scene. The analysis focuses on two redevelopment plans initiated in the late 1990s. The Jackson Square case allows us to understand the role of civil society and the third sector in the regeneration of disadvantaged neighborhoods, in a clear example of bottom-up planning. On the contrary, the conversion of the South Boston waterfront to build the Innovation District takes us to the big redevelopment efforts with economic stimulus’ goals, traditionally linked to downtowns and led by government and economic elites (the local “growth machine”) through more technocratic processes (top-down planning). The research is based on a qualitative analysis of the processes of decision making and the relationship between those involved, as well as the evaluation of the implementation of those decisions and their influence on the resulting urban model. The analysis suggests that the governance of urban regeneration processes decisively influences the outcome of interventions; however, community engagement in the decision-making process is not enough for the result of the urban regeneration to counteract the effects of neoliberalization, especially if it is limited to the planning phase and does not extend to the implementation of the projects, and if it is not supported by a broader political mobilization to ensure a redistributive public action. Moreover, urban regeneration processes redefine the urban model, since the choice of intervention areas has important consequences for the territorial balance of the city. The results of this study have implications for the discipline of urban planning. On the one hand, it confirms the validity of the "negotiated planning" paradigm, albeit under public leadership discourse and without a direct appeal to the leadership role of the private sector. On the other hand, collaborative planning in a context of "responsibilization" of community based organizations can deactivate the political power of citizen participation and serve as a "buffer" towards the local government. Furthermore, the replacement of comprehensive planning, as a tool for defining the city's future, by an opportunistic planning based on intervention in strategic areas that are supposed to induce change in the rest of the city, does not allow a coherent and consensual urban model that is collectively desired, nor it allows to use planning as a redistribution mechanism.

La Revista El Arquitecto Peruano: reseña de la Cultura Arquitectónica del Perú 1937/1977

La tesis se centra en el análisis de 356 números de la revista El Arquitecto Peruano publicados entre 1937 y 1977. La revista fue fundada en agosto de 1937 por Fernando Belaúnde Terry, arquitecto graduado en la University of Texas at Austin en 1935 quien la dirigió por 25 años hasta marzo de 1963. Desde abril de 1963 la dirige Miguel Cruchaga Belaunde. Durante esta última etapa la revista deja de ser regular, publicándose intermitentemente con varios años sin editarse, hasta desaparecer finalmente en 1977. La revista es la publicación periódica de arquitectura más importante del siglo XX en el Perú. La investigación ubica a la revista en el contexto nacional donde se desarrolló vinculando además los diversos eventos de la arquitectura y el urbanismo del panorama internacional sucedidos durante las tres décadas de estudio. El trabajo empieza por establecer una secuencia de periodos. Esta se basa en la identificación de una estructura fija existente en la revista conformada por las secciones permanentes. Una paulatina inserción de secciones temporales fue complementando y detallando nuevas temáticas y contenidos generando variantes de la estructura fija a lo largo del tiempo. Como resultado de este proceso se reconocen 5 periodos vinculados a una serie de temas vertebrales durante la dirección de Fernando Belaunde: Periodo 1 (Agosto de 1937 a marzo de 1942). Vivienda Unifamiliar. Periodo 2 (Abril de 1942 a mayo de 1944). Urbanismo moderno. Periodo 3 (Junio de 1944 a diciembre de 1949). Vivienda Colectiva. Periodo 4 (Enero-febrero de 1950 a enero-febrero de 1956). Proyectos y obras. Periodo 5 (Marzo-abril de 1956 a enero-febrero-marzo de 1963). Territorio. Los años finales bajo la dirección de Miguel Cruchaga conforman el último Periodo. En la década de los treinta, durante el primer periodo se analiza el rol que un grupo de revistas de arquitectura europeas y norteamericanas tuvieron en la construcción formal y temática de El Arquitecto Peruano. En sus inicios existen influencias de The Architectural Forum, The American Architect, Architecture, California Arts and Architecture y Architectural Digest . Y junto a estas, las revistas alemanas Moderne Bauformen e Innen Dekoration. A raíz de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, las referencias a las revistas alemanas desaparecen y las relaciones con Estados Unidos se intensifican por la posición del Perú dentro del área de influencia norteamericana. El canal de las revistas no fue el único medio de influencia, durante los años cuarenta hubo un marco de apertura hacia Latinoamérica que incluyó viajes de cooperación de arquitectos norteamericanos por el sur del continente. Como parte de estos vínculos, en 1945 Paul Lester Wiener de Town Planning Associates y Richard Neutra, - ambos miembros del CIAM y el segundo Presidente del CIAM USA- prestaron asistencia a la iniciativa más importante promovida por la revista peruana, un proyecto de vivienda popular para obreros y empleados llamado el Plan Peruano. La revista tuvo siempre una fuerte actitud de cambio de la realidad existente en el medio peruano. Para modelar su nueva versión de la realidad instrumentó una serie de campañas de prensa. En la más importante utilizó las ideas del urbanismo moderno que circulaban durante la guerra nacidas en los CIAM de entreguerras. El Arquitecto Peruano aprovecha la coyuntura de los primeros años de la posguerra para canalizar sus iniciativas, tomando como modelo de su propuesta la idea de la Neighborhood Unit, convirtiéndolo en proyecto y finalmente construyendo la Unidad Vecinal N°3, el proyecto de mayor escala asociado con la revista. A esta perspectiva favorable para las ideas vertidas por la publicación se une el hecho de que su Director, es elegido Diputado por Lima y es un miembro muy cercano al gobierno de turno que dio la cobertura legal y de gestión para cristalizar los proyectos desde 1945 hasta 1948. Durante este periodo se producen las propuestas de mayor alcance promovidas por Fernando Belaunde y difundidas por la revista, como el propio Plan Peruano de Vivienda, los Centros Climáticos de Invierno, el Plan Piloto de Lima y los Concursos de Vivienda popular. Existe un trabajo anterior sobre la revista, restringido al campo del urbanismo realizado en 1992 por el historiador Antonio Zapata y titulado El joven Belaunde: Historia de la revista El Arquitecto Peruano en donde se inclina el peso de la revista hacia la Vivienda Social y se señala a Walter Gropius como el arquitecto más influyente en la publicación. La presente tesis plantea que el Plan Peruano es la punta del iceberg, pero que todos estos proyectos relacionados con la revista, conforman un conjunto indisoluble y que el paquete completo tiene una directa influencia de proyectos, ideas y labor editorial de José Luis Sert desarrollada desde finales de los años veinte hasta los años cincuenta. Sus libros Can Our Cities Survive? , The Heart of the City y la revista del GATEPAC AC Documentos de Actividad Contemporánea tienen improntas claras en la revista peruana que atraviesan tres de los periodos propuestos. Durante la década de los cuarenta cuando Sert junto a Wiener fueron socios en Town Plannning Associates y tuvieron contacto directo con el director de la revista así como con los principales colaboradores, y durante la década posterior. A la luz de las evidencias analizadas, la figura de José Luis Sert emerge como la del arquitecto más influyente para la revista El Arquitecto Peruano a lo largo de todo su recorrido. ABSTRACT The thesis focuses on the analysis of 356 issues of the magazine El Arquitecto Peruano published between 1937 and 1977. The magazine was founded in august 1937 by Fernando Belaunde Terry, graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1935 who leaded it 25 years until March 1963. Since April 1963 was leaded by Miguel Cruchaga Belaunde. During this last stage the magazine ceases to be published on regular times, being published intermittently, unreleased several years, and finally disappear in 1977. El Arquitecto Peruano is the most important magazine of architecture of the twentieth century in Peru. The research located the magazine in the national context where was developed further by linking the various events of architecture and urbanism of the international scene occurred during the three decades of study. The research begins to establish a sequence of periods. This identification is based on a fixed structure existing in the journal formed by the permanent sections. A gradual insertion of temporary sections was complementing and detailing new themes and contents generating variants of the fixed structure over time. As a result of this process we recognize five periods linked to a series of central themes developed under the lead of Fernando Belaunde: Period 1 (September 1937 to March 1942): The Small House. Period 2 (April 1942 to May 1944). Modern urbanism. Period 3 (June 1944 to December 1949). Housing. Period 4 (January-February 1950 January-February 1956). Projects and Buildings. Period 5 (March-April 1956 January-February-March 1963). Territory. The final years under the direction of Miguel Cruchaga make the last Period. In the thirties, during the first period, is analyzed the role that a group of European and American magazines in architecture had in formal construction and thematic of the magazine. In the beginning there are influences of The Architectural Forum, The American Architect, Architecture, California Arts and Architecture and Architectural Digest. And along with these, the german magazine Moderne Bauformen and Innen Dekoration. Following World War II, the references to german magazines disappear and US relations are intensified by the position of Peru in the area of US influence. The magazines was not the only ways of influence, during the forties there was an open framework with Latin America that included cooperation trips of american architects on the south of the continent. As part of these links, in 1945 Paul Lester Wiener of Town Planning Associates and Richard Neutra, -both members of CIAM and the second President of the CIAM USAassisted the most important initiative promoted by the peruvian magazine, a popular housing project for workers and employees called El Plan Peruano. The magazine always has a strong attitude of change of the reality in the peruvian scene. To model the new version of reality created a series of media campaigns. In the biggest it used the ideas of modern urbanism that circulated during the war born in the CIAM of twenties and thirties. El Arquitecto Peruano take advantage of the situation of the early postwar years to direct their initiatives, modeled his proposal with the idea of Neighborhood Unit, making project and finally building the Unidad Vecinal N° 3, the larger scale project linked with the magazine. This favorable outlook for the ideas expressed by the publication joins the fact that its Director is elected deputy for Lima and is very close member to the current government who gave legal instruments and management to crystallize projects from 1945 to 1948. During this period of far-reaching proposals promoted by Fernando Belaunde and diffused by the magazine, as El Plan Peruano itself, the Centros Climaticos de Invierno, the Plan Piloto for Lima and the Concusos de Vivienda Popular. There is an earlier work on the magazine, restricted to the field of urbanism in 1992 by historian Antonio Zapata, entitled El Joven Belaunde: Historia de la revista El Arquitecto Peruano where the weight of the magazine leans Social Housing and notes Walter Gropius as the most influential architect in the publication. This thesis suggests that El Plan Peruano is the end of the iceberg, but these related projects to the magazine, form an inseparable whole and that the whole package has a direct influence of projects, ideas and editorial work of José Luis Sert developed from late twenties to the fifties. His book Can Our Cities Survive? , The Heart of the City and the magazine of GATEPAC AC Documentos de Actividad Contemporanea have clear signs in the peruvian magazine cross three of the proposed periods. During the forties when Sert and Wiener were partners in Town Plannning Associates and had direct contact with the director of the magazine as well as with key colaborators, and during the following decade. In light of the evidence examined, the shape of José Luis Sert emerges as the most influential architect to the peruvian magazine along its entire route.

Banking crises and government intervention

Intervention has taken different forms in different countries and periods of time. Moreover, recent episodes showed that in front of an imminent crisis, the promise of no interventions made by governments is barely credible. In this paper we address the problem of resolving banking crises from the government perspective, taking into account the fact that preventing banking crises is crucial for the government. In addition, we introduce the moral hazard problem, inherent in the banking system, and consider the interaction between regulation, policy measures and banks’ behavior. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that compares different policy plans to resolve banking crises in an environment where insufficiently capitalized banks have incentives to take risk, and the government has to decide whether to provide public services or impede crises. We show that when individuals highly value public services then the best policy in terms of welfare is to apply the tax on early withdrawals, as the government can transfer those taxes to the whole population by investing in public services (although at some cost). Conversely, when individuals assign a low value to consuming public services, recapitalization is the dominant policy. Finally, when the probability of a crisis is sufficiently high, capital requirements should be used

Viviendas productivas

El presente trabajo recoge los resultados de una investigación sobre la «vivienda productiva», es decir, de la casa como lugar de trabajo. Dicha investigación se ha ocupado de explorar cómo influyen las cotidianeidades doméstico-laborales actuales —junto con sus arquitecturas y los urbanismos que estas generan— en la sociedad, en especial en temas sociales centrales como la construcción de las subjetividades, y de una vida en comunidad. Asimismo, explora cómo podrían influir en un futuro. La hipótesis sobre la que se trabaja, y que finalmente se intenta demostrar, consiste en que, en la territorialidad múltiple de lo laboral, la vivienda, como plataforma doméstica multiusos, productiva y reproductiva de la que muchas personas disponen, desempeña un papel nodal, y es posible que en el futuro su papel sea aún más importante y más visible. La vivienda productiva funciona como una infraestructura urbana desde la cual se construyen diferentes tipos de bienes materiales e inmateriales, pero sobre todo formas de relación, sociales y productivas con otros, además de imaginarios y afectos. La vivienda como infraestructura productiva y reproductiva es tanto «fábrica fundamental de lo social», como nos enseña Silvia Federici, como «fábrica de lo urbano». El trabajo en casa, como parte de diferentes dinámicas «dispersas» del trabajo que se dan en la actualidad, presenta tanto problemáticas y desafíos importantes, como capitales y posibilidades sociales. Por un lado, puede facilitar una absorción de tipo «24/7» vinculada a las lógicas de producción dispersa y consumo dominantes además de la que se da por las dinámicas patriarcales tradicionales, y en múltiples casos situaciones de evidente asimetría y de explotación laboral. También puede propiciar situaciones socialmente extendidas o impuestas de soledad y aislamiento. Sin embargo, está asimismo vinculado al surgimiento de espacios de experimentación tanto en soledad como en compañía, de cooperación y de intercambio, además de a la evidente posibilidad de construir rutinas propias y, por tanto, una subjetividad laboral propia. Por otro lado, frente a la idea general y homogénea del trabajador casero como un sujeto mayoritariamente aislado de su entorno, las jornadas de trabajo de los trabajadores caseros estudiados presentan una gran diversidad. Estas pueden conllevar aislamiento y exclusión, así como acompañar diferentes formas de construcción de una ciudadanía activa, tanto en solitario, como mediante formas de participación activa en la construcción de una vida en comunidad. En esta investigación se analizan, pues, desafíos y oportunidades de estas espacialidades del trabajo y, a través de este análisis, se indaga en el papel de los marcos físicos, organizativos y simbólicos actuales para la vivienda y para la ciudad pensada desde los trabajadores caseros. Al mismo tiempo se exploran nuevos tipos de vivienda y urbanismos que puedan quizás acompañar procesos sociales de inclusión, así como de emancipación, cooperación e intercambio y, en general, nuevas formas de vecindad y bienestar compartido en los ámbitos doméstico-productivos. Metodológicamente, las singularidades presentes en las realidades estudiadas invitan además a explorar protocolos de análisis, métodos de diseño, de gestión y gobierno que, desde lo micro, puedan dialogar con lo cotidiano y sus singularidades. Diego Barajas, autor de la tesis, es arquitecto dedicado a la práctica, a la investigación y la docencia. Su trabajo se focaliza en explorar el carácter mediador de la arquitectura frente a lo cotidiano y sus microrrealidades. Es profesor de proyectos de urbanismo en la IE School of Architecture y es miembro de Husos, una plataforma de investigación y diseño orientada a la innovación en arquitectura y urbanismo, con sede en Madrid. Es el autor del libro Dispersion, A Study of Global Mobility and the Dynamics of a Fictional Urbanism (Episode Publishers, Róterdam, 2003). Sus trabajos teóricos y de investigación han aparecido en libros y revistas internacionales tales como The Domestic and The Foreign in Architecture (010 Publishers, 2008), Public Spheres, a Europan Discussion (Europan9, 2007), Photoespaña 05 (La Fábrica, Madrid, 2005), Domus, Volume, Abitare, Architese, Plot, y Summa+. Su trabajo se ha expuesto en la Bienal de Venecia (selección principal), la Bienal de Róterdam, la Fundación Tapies, Photoespaña, entre otros y es parte de la colección permanente del FRAC Centre en Orleans y del Historisch Museum de Róterdam entre otros. Antes de estudiar en Róterdam, se gradúa con Honores en la Universidad de los Andes en 1999 y su tesis de grado de arquitectura recibe la máxima distinción como proyecto de Grado Meritorio. ABSTRACT The present study records an investigation into the «productive house», or the home as a workplace. This investigation looks at how working from home, its architectures, and the urban dynamics generated around it influence daily life and the construction of society. It also explores what influences home-based work might have in the future, particularly in central themes such as the biopolitical construction of subjectivities and community life. The central hypothesis revolves around the idea that the home, as a multi-use infrastructure that most of us have access to, plays a fundamental role in the contemporary work sphere, due to —or even in spite of— the omnipresence of work in practically every moment and area of our daily lives, and might play a main role in the future. The home functions as a kind of hub from which we create different kinds of material and immaterial goods, but above all relationships with others, both social and productive, as well as imaginaries and affections. The home, as a machine for production and reproduction, is as much a main «factory of the social» as Silvia Federici describes it, as a «factory of the urban». Working from home, as one of several «dispersed» work dynamics that are part of the contemporary world of work, presents as many important problematics and challenges as it does possibilities and social capital. On the one hand, it can contribute to kind of «24/7» absorption linked both to the logistics of the current dispersed production and consumption, and to that of traditional patriarchal dynamics, and in some cases even clearly asymmetrical situations that exploit the workforce. It can also lead to the socially widespread phenomena of isolation and loneliness, at times imposed upon home-based workers. However, by the same token, it is also linked to the growth of experimental spaces of cooperation and exchange, both solitary and in company, as well as the clear possibility of constructing individualised routines and, therefore, a personal laboural subjectivity. On the other hand, contrary to the generalised, homogenous idea of a home-based worker who is mostly isolated from his or her environment, the working days of those we studied went hand in hand with different ways of building subjectivities. This could be as much in exclusion and isolation as through building an active citizenship, at times in solitary and at times actively participating in the construction of communal life. In this investigation, therefore, the challenges and opportunities of the home as workplace have been analysed, and through this analysis we have inquired into the role of current physical, organisational and symbolic frameworks for the home and for the city from the perspective of home workers. At the same time we have explored new types of homes and of town planning that could perhaps accompany social processes of diversity and inclusion as well as emancipation, cooperation and exchange and, in general, new forms of shared welfare in productive domestic environments. Methodologically, the singularities present in the cases studied also invite us to explore protocols of analysis, methods of design, management and government that, from the micro level, could dialogue with the peculiarities of day-to-day life. The author of this thesis, Diego Barajas, is an architect dedicated to practice, investigation and teaching. His work is focussed on exploring the mediating nature of architecture and the built environment in terms of daily life and its microrealities. He is professor of urban projects at the IE School of Architecture and member of Husos, a platform for investigation and town planning based in Madrid. He is the author of the book Dispersion, A Study of Global Mobility and the Dynamics of a Fictional Urbanism (Episode Publishers, Rotterdam, 2003) and his theoretical works and investigations have appeared in books such as The Domestic and The Foreign in Architecture (010 Publishers, 2008), Public Spheres, a Europan Discussion (Europan9, 2007), Photoespaña 05 (La Fábrica, Madrid, 2005), and in international magazines such as Domus, Volume, Abitare, Architese, Plot and Summa+. His work has been exhibited in places such as the Venice Biennial (main selection), the Rotterdam Biennial, the Tapies Foundation and Photoespaña, among others, and forms part of the permanent collection of the FRAC Centre in Orleans and the Historisch Museum of Rotterdam. Before studying in Rotterdam, he graduated with Honours from the University of the Andes in 1999, and his architecture degree thesis received the maximum distinction of Meritorious Graduation Project.