This project is situated within a larger
system of natural geographic accidents where the typological sequence
Bay-Bar-Peninsula-Cape-Lagoon-River is repeated with alternative topological
differentiations. One of this moments is defined as a particular peninsula
within two bays that articulates a large lagoon, and the beginning of the bay
in Uruguay.
This project articulates within this special
site a landscape-sensitive proposal to develop housing with care to natural
formations and dynamic processes. This green initiative goes further within
ecological concerns, redefining the concept of "nature" that is by to
begin with, a human artificial category identifying the first contradiction in
current green initiatives that aim at most for natural preservationism.
This initiative focus on a deeper understanding of what may be considered to
mean to develop an ecological approach within artificial interventions. An
artificial ecology that is sensitive to the logic of the environment within
which is situated.
This project develops a variety of low to
large scale building units, ranging from independent isolated house units and
that through various intermediate scales that open u deviations within the
types, arrive to larger scales of intervention, constituting medium density
building types that critique large tabula rassa modern interventions. By these
means, the project intends to develop a series of intermediate discrete types
articulating bottom up and top down modus-operandi, alternating tactics based
on the latency of the opportunities for discrete categorization that the
topo-logos resist and aiming for the constitution of indexed larger
architectural strategies that incorporate organizational strategies as well as
systemic logics.
Cartesian strategies and top down systems are
constituted by mirroring existing rock formations. But this mirroring of nature
is purposely put against a Hegelian mirroring of Nature. A negative dialectic
becomes active when the existing rock formations are considered articulate
cuasi-Cartesian rational orders. These rocks formations conform large linear
strata of rocks that develop perfect straight lines, differentiating these
accidents from mere natural formless rocks and opening up other larger
humanistic questions. Due to such interesting faults in the rock this potential
latency opens up a different consciousness about the known relationship between
nature-artifice. Within this basis, the project develops a Cartesian order
within a topo-logos sensibility aiming for the accidental formal logic that
these rock formations develop, from an humanist artificial understanding, a
logo-centric philosophy that is also sensitive to the logic of the place,
tactical movements and the problems that arise through abstract metaphysical
categories.
Facts: building area: 20,000.00 sqm (m2)
Units: apartments and houses from 55 m2 to
400m2
Site area: 50,000 m2 (only 20% occupied)
Architect: Eiroa Architects, Buenos Aires-New
York
Team: Design Principal: Pablo Lorenzo-Eiroa;
team: Glen Barfield