manifesto maria helene saether

Index

Introduction 1-2Team 3 3-4Introduction Stories of houses 5-93 Chosen houses 10Video 11-14Casa De Blas 15-20About the architect 21-22Autism 23-26Interview 27-30Continuing the story 31-32Microarchitecture 33-38Action in the original house 39-40Proposal 41-42Manifesto 43-46Workshop 47-52Bibliography 53-54

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Introduction

This manifesto is a part of the subject Architectural Projects 4, belonging to the degree in Architecture of Universidad de Alicante. Javier Sanchez Merina is the professor.

Normally I am studying City and Urban Planning at the university ’Norwegian school of life sciences’ in Norway. This is a master degree of 5 years, and I am currently on year 3. This year I am studying Ar-chitecture at Universidad de Alicante as an exhange student.

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In this subject we have worked with «Stories of hou-ses» or rather «re-reading stories of houses». In the start of the subject we were introduced to a list of houses where the information not only included the facts about the houses, but also about the architects and the clients. This showed us in what way the architect listens to the clients. Their specific needs and wishes to make a house the clients can use in the best way possible.

This was even more clear to us a bit further into the subject where we was introduced to the project face. We where to develop the story of one house and its family and adding a person with a neurological disease. This is for us to see how we can turn the disease to something positive with the help of architecture.

Our group (Team 3) have been working with Casa de Blas basing the story on a child with autism.

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Team 3

Maria Helene Sæther

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Rafał Strzelczak

Lisanne Alexandre

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Introduction Stories of houses

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Because most of the people in this class are exchange students it was very interesting for us to work with spanish houses in this subject. This makes us more aware of spanish architecture and since we all chose to come to Spain for our exchange program it is very interesting to learn more about spanish architecture and architects.

This is the spanish houses we could choose from, located all over Spain.

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Name: Casa en never never land Architect: Andrés Jaque

Name: Small House for a KolonihavenArchitect: Enric Miralles

Name: Can Lis and Can Feliz in MallorcaArchitect: Jørn Utzon

Name: Casa de Blas in Sevilla la Nueva in MadridArchitect: Alberto Campo Baeza

Name: Casa en La Moraleja in MadridArchitect: Miguel Fisac

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Name: Casa de Retiro EspiritualArchitect: Emilio Ambasz

Name: Casa en Corrubedo in GaliciaArchitect: David Chipperfield

Name: Casa de la lluvia in SantanderArchitect: Juan Navarro Baldeweg

Name: Barrio San Matías in GranadaArchitect: Juan Domingo Santos


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3 Chosen houses

Casa En La MoralejaBy Miguel Fisac

Casa en Never Never LandBy Andrés Jaque

Casa de Retiro EspiritualBy Emilio Ambasz

The reason why I choose these 3 houses was because they all have the idea to preserve the trees and the nature. They are all framing a great view, and are placed in a relaxed atmosphere and safe surroundings. It is also safe to say that they also make a big statement in the landscape, while blending in at the same time. It is also a really interesting choice to build a house over the ground, and they had to take so many precautions not only for the trees, but for all the other regulations as well. This was for me the most interesting about the houses I chose. But then my group presented Casa de Blas and I was intrigued. The idea about making a house where music can be heard with silence was a very new and interesting way of thinking for me. We chose therefore Casa de Blas to work with.

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Video 1.

Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1-dd_twMlk

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Video 2.

Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIn0hDBnn9U

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Casa De Blas

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Casa De Blas

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Casa de Blas by Alberto Campo Baeza is located in Sevilla la Nueva, Madrid in Spain. It was in construction between 1999 and 2000.

The house is a response to its location. It is placed on top of a hill, southwest of Madrid, with an amazing view. Since the house is so high in the landscape makes it distant to the neighbouring houses keeping them away and leaving space for the enjoyment of the landscape in the distant horizon. The house it’s self is a box of concrete. The box is making clear edges and clean patterns with the windows and how these are framing the view of the landscape surrounding it. The glass box on top is without carpentry and has a metal structure. It is a lookout point for the view making it usable even on the hottest and coldest days. The house is intended to be a literal translation of the idea of a tectonic box supported on a stereotomic box. It is a distillation of the most essential in architecture. The idea of the house is ”more with less”. This is not the same as minimalism. Campo Baeza wanted no elements of adjectives and figurative concessions, but on the other hand is the house rich in content, proposed findings and bright space.

The Idea of the house started when a professor of literature asked the architect Alberto Campo Baeza to design him a home where the family could ”hear music”. The first day the client gave Campo Baeza a poetry book by Luis Cernuda that was published in Mexico in 1950. This book is full of intense emotions, which describes the sensitivity and love, pain, lonliness, and the contrasts between the completion of personal desires, hopes and the limits imposed by the surrounding world-reality. The popular poem by Cernuda ”Donde habite el olvido” (1932-33), describes a world where one leaves aside all their problems to achieve the desired freedom. This was the reading material that is made the ideas about the house. It was clear Francisco de Blas wanted something more than a house. In the house the emotions and thoughts should be considered as a part of the construction material. The house is therefore planned with a mutual cultural understanding between the architect and the client where the house shows that music can be heard with silence.

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Casa De Blas

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About the house:Campo Baeza decided to devide the house into two parts with a floor space to enjoy the site in relation to the environment. The ground floor is provided with squares in the walls framing the view of the landscape. The windows facing the landscape and the general massive concrete box are associated with the idea of a massive shelter space. The upper level of the house is a contrast to the massive ground floor. This level has a transparent structure that forms a lookout platform on the ground floor where one is literally absorbed by the power of the environment. The top looks for contact with nature, and is a hut that protects the people inside from the elements. Inside the glass box nothing interrupts the visual communication between the audience and nature. This is a dramatic look that shows the opposites between the two floors, and determines the physical character of the building. There is also a pool on the terrace outside the glass box that makes the water go in one line with the horizon.

The structure:In a plot 15mts drop the architect created a platform that would split the house into two components: a platform comprising a box of concrete, well carved in the mountains, and above it, a light steel structure painted white and glass that almost disappears into the landscape. These two components are in fact two opposing qualities or states of how the light is transmitted through the materials: one opaque and one transparent. The dimensions of the house:The concrete box is 9 by 27 meters. The metallic structure is 6 by 15 meters.The glass box is 4,5 by 9 meters, and 2,26 meters in height.

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About the architect

Alberto Campo Baeza was born in Valladolid in Spain in 1946. After he graduated from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid he became a professor of this institution in 1986. His works have been widely recognized and he has won a lot of rewards for his works.

To highlight a few other than Casa de Blas:

Gaspar House in Zahora, Cádiz (1992)The Olnick Spanu House in Garrison, NY, USA (2008)Andalucia’s Museum of Memory (2009)Rufo House in Toledo (2009)The House of the Infinite in Cádiz (2014)

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The House of the Infinite

The Olnick Spanu House

Gaspar House

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The House of the Infinite

The Olnick Spanu House

Gaspar House

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Autism

Seeing the world from a different angle

IntroductionAutism is a spectrum disorder often referred to as ASD (autism spectrum disorder). This means that even though they might have some similar traits or habits, every person with autism will be affected differently. Some people with autism will therefore be able to live relatively independent lives while others need a lifetime of specialist support.

Each child with an ASD will have their own pattern. For some children can the lack of language be the major symptom of autism, while for others unusual behaviours can be the dominant factor. Even though no person with autism has the exact same traits, we can still in general say that people with autism often experience over sensitivity or under sensitivity to things others find normal. This can be sounds, touches, tastes, smells, light or colours. People with autism have described that the world to them is a mass of many people, places and events, and they have trouble to make a sense of it all which can cause them anxiety. They can also have trouble understanding and relating to other people, and to take part in social activities either with friends, family or other people.

Sometimes a child’s development is delayed from birth, while other times the child develops normally until they suddenly lose for example social or language skills. Others again will have a normal development until they have enough language to demonstrate some thoughts and preoccupations.

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Autism

Typical symptoms of autism at an early age:6 months - No big smiles or other joyful expressions. 9 months - No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles or other facial expressions.12 months - No babbling, no back-and-forth gestures (for example pointing, showing, reaching or waving). 16 months - No words being said.24 months - No meaningful two-word phrases (this does not including imitating or repeating)

Any age - any loss of speech, babbling or social skills.

People with autism often have three main areas of difficulties

Difficulty with social communicationFor example reading another person body language, or understand their facial expressions or tone of voice. It can also be difficult for them to understand jokes and sarcasm.

Difficulty with social interactionFor example can people with autism have trouble recognising and/or understanding other people’s emotions and feelings, and express their own. This makes it difficult for them when socialising with other people. They might appear insensitive because they are not able to recognise what someone else is feeling, and therefore might prefer to spend time alone. They can also sometimes behave inappropriately because it is not always easy for them to express feelings, emotions or needs like other people would. This can make finding friends hard for people with autism since some may want to make friends, but are not able to express their thoughts.

Difficulty with social imaginationFor example it can be hard for autistic people to interpret other people’s thoughts, feelings and actions, and to predict what could happen next. They can struggle with understanding the concept of danger. And they can have troubles with engage in imaginative play and activities.

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Interview 1An interview between Lisanne and Dagmar.

Basic questionsWhat are the names and the ages of the family members?Tim, 38 yearsDagmar, 39 yearsJarno, 7 years

Which family member has autism?Jarno

What kind of autism does he/she have? (Asperger’s syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder, autistic disorder etc.)PDD-NOS, diagnosed at age 2,5

Is he/she aware of his/hers neurological disease?Not really

What kind of school does he/she goes to?Special education (SBO Het Tangram, Purmerend)

Does he/she play sports or any other hobbies?No sport, huge fan of Lego and iPad (games and videos)

Is he/she at himself or does he/she like to play or work with others?Both. It depends on the situation and state of mind.

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Questions about the houseMain question: How can we as architects make it easier to live as someone with a neurological disorder?Every person with autism has his/her own issues, Talk to them. There is no general rule to make life easier.

What is his/her favourite colour?No specific favourite, it changes over time.

What kind of materials will be best for the house? (No busy prints on the wall or crazy tiles for example) Our living room has one wall with a busy print, a not very organized book shelf and 3 tables with lego. This doesn’t seem to make any diffrence in comparison to a clean and organized room. In his bedroom we tried to apply light colors and soft materials. And we try to keep it as neat as possible. This is the place where he has to rest (prefent overstimulation).

Can the furniture be possible to move or is it better to have it at one place all the time? In my opinion it is better to keep furniture in the same place. As minor changes in the surroundings as possible. Every change can be disrupting with out proper preparation.

What kind of surrounding is best? (city, nature etc.) It depends on the person.

Any other tips? See answer of the main question.

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Interview 2An interview between Rafal and Barbara Sloma

It hurts. It hurts very much. They feel pain in their ears. The sound is so strong to them that it feels like physical pain.

Sounds that are not even loud for us, can be very noisy for them. They may hide their ears, seak shelter, shout and may feel the need to mute the sound.

Some of the people with autism want to be in tiny rooms and spaces all the time to feel something around them that is always touching them.

They may sit in boxes, under the table or hiding in wardrobes. Especially children. They need that feeling of comfort and security.

The main thing is that autistic children have their own world. Somebody may even compare a person as an object, like a chair for example. They don’t have the same emotions like we have. We think that they can understand what we want to say but he doesn’t get it at all. Therefore with help from therapy those children will be prepared to live in our world.

I have heard statements saying that the most tragic for parents is to have an autistic child. I work with autistic children and they are fantastic, nice, joyful and amazing.

Do they like to be alone?They can’t. If they are alone they could unconsciously hurt themselves. If something dangerous is going on they can’t express those emotions like we do.

It means that they must be observed all the time?Yes. They have to be under supervision all the time.

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Continuing the story

In 1999 Francisco de Blas approached the Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza. He gave him a book with the poems of Luis Cernuda. It’s a book full of intense emotions, translated in poems. The populair poem ‘Donde habite el olvido’ describes a world where one leaves aside all their problems to achieve the desired freedom. Francisco sent this poem to the architect and it was clear that he wanted something more than just a house. He wanted a home where emotions and thoughts were considered as part of the construction material. The house refers to a cave and opposite to a hut.

In 2000 the house was finished and Francisco moved in together with his girlfriend Sara. In 2002 they got married and in 2003 their firstborn Pablo came to the world. They were very happy with the three of them, but they also liked to expand the family a little more in the future.

A few years later their dream came true and Sara got pregnant again. In 2006 Diego was born, but unfortunately he has a severe form of autism. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication. Also with some forms it can happen that there is a restricted and repetitive behaviour. But that’s something which develops over the years. The first few months they didn’t notice anything different about Diego than they had with Pablo. But then the differences started to get clear.

By 12 months: no babbling and no gesturing like pointing and waving.By 16 months: no single words.By 24 months: no two-word phrases.And as the time went by, they could see that Diego had a loss of any language or social skill. He would have that for the rest of his life, at any age. Although they found it hard, they made the best of their lives together. Diego’s favourite colour is green, whenever he would go bad, they could just sit him in front of the glass and he would go calm again.

This was until now 2015. Diego is now 9 and living with him gets harder every day. They are having contact with different psychiatrics in the surrounding, but they also wanted to ask us, as architects, how we could make their lives any easier. Not only for the sake of Diego, but also for their own and their other son Pablo, who almost gets forgotten.

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Microarchitecture first proposalThe idea People with autism are the same as us, the only difference is the amount of autistic traits. No person is exactly the same and there are a lot of different types and graduations of autism.

The good thing about autism is that mostly they are very good at a few things, but therefore they under develop other things. Someone can for example be very good at maths, but his social skills on the other hand can be poor.

Their expertise are the best thing about them. Sometimes they are even better than people that society thinks as ’normal’. They are really good at focussing and concentrating on that thing.They also are the people they want to be, their true selves. They don’t try to be someone else, someone they are not.

We tried to translate this into a 1:1 model, a micro architecture.The idea is a box. The inside represents the persons ’own world’, the red dot will be the good part of autism, their expertise. The outside represents the rest of the world. The person inside is mostly concentrated on the red dot, because he is very good at it and likes to do it. He can look and interact with the outside world trough a small window whenever he wants, but mostly he will be concentrated at the dot.

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MeasurementsResource:De menselijke maat. Prof.ir.A.J.H.Haak & ir.D.Leever-van der Burgh. Delftse Universitaire Pers. (1980)The human scale. Prof.ir.A.J.H.Haak & ir.D.Leever-van der Burgh. Delft University Press. (1980)

We added 10 centimeters to the measurements, because this is an average human scale. 625 + 100 = 725875 + 100 = 925 Final box: 725 x 975 x 975 mm

MaterialsFor materials we choose carton. We did this because the material is easy to work with and fits well with the box idea.We will use stenley knives to cut the carton and as adhesive we will use glue or tape.

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Michroarchitecture second proposalThe idea This micro architecture is inspired by some of the positive aspects of autism. While their social skills may be poor, they often have some things they are very good and passionate about. They are also always their true selves. A person with autism is good at focusing and concentrating on that specific thing for a long period of time, which makes them very skilled in that specific area. Some can for example be very creative.

First of all, this construction is designed to be a tiny space since that is what many autistic people prefer. The materials are going to be carton, and we want the person that is inside the construction to be able to draw or write something on the walls of the construction, as well as leaning against the wall while sitting. This is to encourage the person inside it to be creative and use his or her imagination while being inside the construction. The walls are built with slopes so that it is easier to draw on it, and it makes a more comfortable space to be in and to sit in. The entrance is small, so the outside world is less interesting than the inside mind of the person with autism.

The idea is to stimulate the creativity. To be in a comfortable area with the chance to be really creative and concentrated. When they are inside our micro architecture they want to be in there, that’s the idea we hope for.

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Microarchitecture in the making

The material we used to make the model in is carton. We calculated the measurements to get the model on scale. Then we cut out all the pieces and glued it together. At the end we painted it white with a white spray box to make it paintable.

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Video of the prosses of making the microarchitecture

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emPC6Hjfe20

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Action in the original house

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In this task we where asked to draw a detailed action of the original house we selected. The action shouldreflect the neurological disorder of our client.

This drawing shows the action of an autistic child sitting and playing. Both the child as well as the parent and the environment that the child has around is in black and grey because autistic people tend to get very focused on what they are doing. This up to the point that they even might treat other people like objects because they are just so focused in their own head.

The colourful patterns in the picture represent the imagination the child has while playing. Autistic people can have an incredible imagination but maybe have trouble to socialize and explain their ideas to others.

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ProposalFirst version

Second version

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The thought behind this new space under the stairs is to make a safe and protected place for the autistic person while he still is exposed to the rest of the room. If the family have guests or someone is visiting this can be overwhelming for the autistic person, as well as the furniture may me moved around and change location. For an autistic person the changes happening around him can make him feel insecure and overwhelmed. Therefore I wanted to make a space where he can feel safe but still are able to interact with the rest of the people in the room if he wants to.

The walls are formed in the shape of someone’s back while sitting with a good posture. This is to help the autistic child because they can sometimes sit in weird positions that might be bad for them in the long run, and might hurt after a while. However it is only the two sidewalls that are shaped this way which means that the child can use the whole space, sitting in different positions and moving around as well. I have also used the paintable wall from the microarchitecture so he can sit or stand and be creative while still be included in the rest of the room. I have not changed the roof of this new space. This is because they are easier to paint and use in this shape, and it also makes that little change in the environment which is good for the autistic child.

Last version

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Manifesto

Starting this subject I had no clue what to expect. Since I am studying city and urban planning back home in Norway where architecture and landscape planning is completely separated I was looking forward to try a few subjects from architecture to see how they differs from ours and as well learn a lot about architecture.Even though this subject is completely different from how I normally work it has been very interesting. Frustrating at times because I didn’t understand what to do or how to do it, but then again rewarding when I started to understand. It is interesting to be in a group with people from other countries as well. To hear their ideas, learn computer programs they use and to see different techniques being used for the same task is a very interesting thing. It has also been an experience to work and learn more about autism. Autism is a disease that most people know a bit about, so it was a good experience to dive deeper into this disease and best of all to learn the positive sides to it. The fact that we had to turn our thought around to see the positive things with something people normally see as negative was a challenge but very rewarding. When I now see someone with autism I will not be thinking things like ”poor thing”, but rather how many opportunities that person have that I don’t.

This subject has also provided us with some opportunities to travel in Spain. The main focus on the trips was however not just to see the cities but to see things normal tourists doesn’t see. For example, we went to Madrid and visited Casa de Blas. Since this is the house we have been working on, this was a very rewarding experience. We got to see the house, go inside it, take pictures and talk to the architect of the house Alberto Campo Baeza. This for me was important to understand the house and I must say I liked it even better after visiting it. We also travelled to Granada, Sevilla and Cordoba and visited Casa de Retiro Espiritual. Also here we got to go inside and experience the whole house as well as take pictures. The house is a masterpiece in itself and I love to be able to walk around and see everything. It was also a nice experience to see the school of architecture in Granada, visiting a violin maker and to walk around on walking tours to see the city.

In total this has been a very interesting subject to work with and I have learned a lot about both architecture, autism and how the architects need to listen to the clients to make the best house for them.

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Pictures from the trips

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Workshop

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Workshop

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Workshop

The 25th of September we had a workshop with Markella Menikou and Adonis Kleanthous from School of architecture of Nicosia which is located on Cyprus. The task we got at the start of the workshop was to draw a timeline that shows 1000 years back, 500 years back, now, 500 years forwards and 1000 years forwards.

Our group chose to make a timeline of the development of the kitchen. We ended up with two diffrent solutions for the final drawing in the future. The first one shows that the kitchen in year 3015 will be completly organic, making a net of organic cells that produses food for you, that you live in and that is connected to other cells. We can say that the kitchen works as a plant, always growing and produsing the food you need to survive.

The other solution we ended up with was a completely diffrent one. Here it shows that the food people eat in 3015 is in form of a capsule that you get directly from a factory delivered to your house in pipes. In this way people in 3015 will not need a kitchen at all, the only thing that is needed is the pipes where they will get their capsules from.

For me this was a very interesting and fun workshop. No idea was stupid because no one knows what will happen in the future, which means that the only limitation we had was our own imagination. It was also interesting to discuss with people from different countries to see how their kitchen has evolved from 1000 years back and till now. Then we could use all the diffrent stiles to combine one and make something that we thought could be possible in the future.

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Bibliography

LINKS

https://re-readingstoriesofhousesinspain.blogspot.com.es/

http://storiesofhouses.blogspot.com.es/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Campo_Baeza - about the architect

http://www.autism.org.uk/about-autism/introduction/what-is-autism.aspx

http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/autism-spectrum-disorders


http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/autism-spectrum-disorders

https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/learn-signs


PICTURES

http://www.metalocus.es/content/es/system/files/file-images/ml_fisac_hou-se_01_1080.jpg

http://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5127/b409/b3fc/4b11/a700/256b/me-dium_jpg/1256141937-never-neverland-00.jpg?1414356865

http://loffit.abc.es/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Casa-retiro-espiritual-Sevil-la-990x4951-200x200.jpg

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http://blogfundacion.arquia.es/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/alberto-cam-po-baeza-arquia1.jpg

http://www.archdaily.com/771777/gaspar-house-alberto-campo-baeza/55c-bc222e58ece5c7d000360-gaspar-house-alberto-campo-baeza-photo

http://www.archdaily.com/529098/the-house-of-the-infinite-alberto-cam-po-baeza/53c9c0e7c07a805e08000280-the-house-of-the-infinite-alberto-cam-po-baeza-photo

http://www.archdaily.com/416967/the-olnick-spanu-house-alberto-campo-ba-eza/5210462de8e44e4bf9000198-the-olnick-spanu-house-alberto-campo-bae-za-photo

https://zerodecor.com/pics/6537d568968547a2846b7f95d6e6aa59.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JLxmJyMyfro/UVKO6y367zI/AAAAAAAAWEI/ALhadHjG2LM/s1600/IMG_5585cfb.jpg

http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/color-whe-el-combination-palette.jpg

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5EHf4oV-XuY/maxresdefault.jpg

http://www.thecanaryexpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/education.jpg

http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/email-attachment-free-ipad-games1.jpeg

manifesto maria helene saether

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