1. Architectural form has no inherent meaning.

2. Architecture is a thing—a phenomenal presence—in which people experience their lives.

3. People assign meaning(s) to form.

4. Plurality and difference prevent a unified reading of a work.

5. Meaning(s) in buildings are constantly being rewritten or reevaluated.

6. Experience of architecture occurs mostly in passing (or subconsciously).

7. In their primal condition, buildings serve as reference points or markers: “let’s meet at the corner of…”

8. Non-architects mostly appreciate architecture for its beauty.

9. Experience of space prevails over aesthetics of surface.

10. Architectural space can always be reprogrammed.

11. Architects discuss volumes, space, scale, proportions, representation, tectonics, and other related topics because—in essence—they generate beauty and experience.

12. Materials, textures, graphics, and decoration always enhance the reception of a project, but can never replace spatial organization.

13. (“Good”) Architecture, although a product of its era, transcends the time in which it was built.

14. Architecture does not represent nor can it shape/generate ideology.

15. Recovery of a past is always-already a failed project. Architecture can never replicate that which has been lost.

16. Good architecture learns from the past and uses it to move forward.

17. Despite technological advances, craft remains inversely proportional to the quality of the material. The “cheaper” the material, better is the craft required.

18. Money can hinder the aesthetics of a building, but it can never dictate nor prevent it.

19. A building should be treated like a story or a puzzle, where the architect leaves signs for people to interpret at different levels.

20. The more layers of information a project has or considers, the more meaning people can interpret and so the better the architecture.

Time will tell how I rethink my beliefs…

Recently I made use of Lego’s Design by Me service to purchase a model of one of my father’s architectural designs. The experience with the purchasing experience was bitter-sweet, but the model arrived and I was able to build it in under seven hours!

This past week, while researching through Dr. Arturo Dávila’s personal library, I came across a stack of pamphlets, about 11 of them in total, sewn and bound in varied marbleized papers. Trim-wise, these are considerably small, ranging from 3×4.5 inches to 5.5×8 inches, and yet, they called my attention. Don Arturo, as wise as he is, felt as my eyes were drawn to the colorful spines. “Pick them up; take a look“. In the process, he explained that these reproductions were used by the Church to spread its message. Little did I know, my curiosity had brought me to a series of original 18th Century texts—printed versions of homilies recited by Catholic priests in Mexico.

To share these, I took the time to scan one of the leaflets in its entirety. Please note a curious type treatment that has been killing me since I became aware of it: at the end of every page the typesetter included the first few characters of the word that follows on the next page. I had never seen this kind of strategy employed, and it was used in almost all of the documents, printed in a range of many different years, which means it was not a one time thing.

In their time, these documents would have probably not attracted any aesthetic conversation, but today, I can’t help but see them with a clinical eye, and hold them in my hands with admiration. Right now, everything about them—texture, color, smell, sound—is just fantastic. More importantly, each and every one of them holds some kind of typographic lesson that I can learn from.

Click on any of the images for a larger look.

Visual interpretation of the negative space in the Herbert F. Johnson Museum.

My dad once told me that there are two kinds of architects: the ones who can understand spatial transparency (the privileged) and those who cannot (the rest). Robert Slutzky and Colin Rowe develop in “Trasparency” and “Transparency 2″ (from Architecture Culture: 1943-1968, by Joan Ockman) an understanding of how a building’s formal structure can demarcate spaces. They single out two types of transparencies: the literal and the phenomenal.  The first refers to how a material like glass, although physically “transparent,” is still tangibly present in the structure’s form. In contrast, phenomenal transparency allows for a simultaneous perception of different spatial locations within the same space. The idea is that, like in an optical illusion, forms are suggested –or implied, as Peter Eisenman would prefer to say– rather than depicted. In other words, it allows for spatial stratification within given limits. Phenomenal spaces are never different, but differentiated. Like in Cubist paintings, phenomenal forms are suggested, not stipulated. The viewer defines what he/she sees.

In ‘Transparency 2″, the authors try to explicate more concretely the idea behind literal and phenomenal transparency. Two examples stand out: the facades of Le Corbusier’s Algiers Skyscraper and Michelangelo’s  San Lorenzo. The facades have a basic, skeletal organization, yet a closer look reveals that “objects function as a series of relief layers for the further articulation of th[e] space” (Ockman, 218). That is, the arrangement of the formal elements can refer to multiple interacting planes at the same time. The shapes get “transfigured,” since they “change,” while still preserving their original form. Hence, different understandings get revealed through the interrelationships between figures within a composition. Like in a El Lissitzky painting, each figure, in relation to another, exists in a kind of floating tension that “forces” one’s eyes to focus on them in various ways. Possibilities are rather endless.

As a result, phenomenal transparency can efface the boundary between the figure and its ground – which alludes to the way we phenomenologically experience the world around us as a sum totality. This refers to Gestalt psychology and means that our sensory perception already processes the information it receives before transferring it to the mind. If, our senses are “intelligent” (Ockman, 224), then the possibility of apprehending new levels of information expands the potentialities of space.

This being said, “Transparency 2” lags behind its first part because it is limited to the discussion of phenomenal transparency in façades. “Transparency 1,” by focusing on how phenomenal transparency gets revealed through the interplay of architectural spaces, the authors could show how the built environment as a whole and not just figural elements on the façades can communicate powerful implied meanings. If the architect should be assigned a social role, then the interaction between spaces can be imbued with philosophical, social, and political messages through phenomenal transparency. For now, I will briefly focus on phenomenological implications.

While theorists, critics and the common person alike tend to argue in regards to design styles that the essence* of architecture lays somewhere within the topic of space. Although I consider that architecture cannot just be simplified into the issue of transparency – style, technique, representational medium, etc. are indeed important –, I agree that it founds the architecture discipline. While painting concerns itself with paint (and color), sculpture with an array of materials, and dance with movement, architecture irreducibly deals with space.By understanding the literal and the phenomenal we can analyze how space can affect a spectator (consciously and subconsciously –I even  wonder, sexually? –). As the authors note: transparency “is richly loaded with the possibilities of both meaning and misunderstanding” (Rowe and Slutzky, 22). If space can serve as a tool for human self-reflection, then through transparency, the architect can reveal different ways of what it means to be human: not only the beautiful, the pleasant, and the entertaining, but also the ugly, the offensive, and the uncanny. In depth interpretations of how literal and phenomenal transparencies affect spectators can transform the architectural practice into a way of being that interprets and renews human existence in the world more honestly.

On a final note, as the philosophical postmodern trend grew on me in the last years, I have constantly looked for definitions or interpretations of what would be the postmodern space. From the literature – primarily focused in Derrida with side readings of Eisenman, Venturi and Scott Brown –, I can say that po-mo spaces (try to) recognize the Other to reflect tensions and contradictions.  I now think that if we classify traditional space as literal and modern as phenomenal, only the latter – by opening up the possibility of multiple spatial readings that simultaneously include and exclude each other – can realize postmodern principles. But then, how can one differentiate between modern and postmodern built environments aside from preferences in style? Maybe the postmodern intelligently uses both transparencies at the same time. Nevertheless, no doubt many architects through history have playfully and successfully employed the use of transparencies – evidence that for now makes my answer seem sophomoric and baseless.

(Writing this I wonder: Could the construction of a text yield readings of phenomenal transparency?)

*I usually avoid using the word ”essence” because it implies a traditional philosophical notion of Truth and its understanding that can never be grasped. Even though I have decided to insert it in the text, I clarify that the essence is somewhere within the boundaries of the topic of space, which means that it can never be fully grasped.

Cover | Indice Anotado, 13 years of Mid-Career research investigations from architecture students of the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico.

Jorge Rigau, FAIA, founding dean of the School of Architecture of the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico; Miguel Rodríguez, current dean; and funds from the Historic Preservation Office of Puerto Rico have made it possible to publish the Índice Anotado (Anotated Index). This publication documents the Mid-Career research investigations completed by students at the School of Architecture of the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico.

These texts were completed between 1996 and 2009 and executed by students at the end of the 3rd year of study. Their topical range is extensive, and most are complemented by photographs, drawings and inventories that will be useful to others following similar lines of research. While the collection is mainly about Puerto Rico, some projects look at Cuba, Dominican Republic and Panamá.

The index is organized by themes, and while some overlap, researchers will have to asses the focus areas of each of their topics to find relevant investigations. The documents are written in Spanish, but the the index provides a blurb about each of them in English to expand the ideas to a larger audience.

Copies of the full writings will be available for public consult at the library of the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico and at the library of the Historic Preservation Office. The Índice Anotado has been designed by Alberto Rigau and published by Editorial Revés.

Back in the 60′s, Puerto Rico’s government considered the development of a social housing project called “Habitat“. The monstrous structure had its life, for pre-fabricated pieces were actually ordered and many arrived on the island. Thankfully, it was never built.

As this cartoon from 1969 satirically emphasizes, the social implications associated to the design of this structure would have only lead to a catastrophe. It’s labyrinthic layout would have provided a space for crime and drugs to prosper, and a new meaning to the term “cacerío“.

It’s a learning experience to look back at these materials. As a designer, I can imagine all of the blind efforts that must have been pushed forward by the building’s creators. As this case clearly illustrates, designers have the responsibility of understanding the implications of one’s work, specially if the social impact is at a scale that affects communities or cities. Of course, you may think “duh”, but proposals like Habitat make me aware that not everyone out there actually thinks this way.

Today, there are a few of the prefabricated pieces of the Habitat still around Puerto Rico.

Recently my father, an avid architectural historian, managed to track 2 of them down in the town of Arecibo. These pieces never fulfilled their original purpose, but today form a new kind of habitat that keeps intriguing some of us whose curiosities never sleep.

Study for a commercial booth in a 1/2 scale model to test the assembly system.

While at NC State University’s College of Design I was encouraged to consistently prototype. Even though we had access to a full machine shop and a laser cutter, I always prototyped in paper. I loved the quick success granted by playing with some post-its and markers (I have to say my friend Valentina was the grad-school queen of markers who got me into the habit of using them again).

Now, a few months after leaving NC State, I am still consistently prototyping. I have to say that now, because I am trying to establish a multidisciplinary practice, I require more quick iterations than ever before, be it to keep my mind fresh or to be able to collaborate with another designer on a project.

Here I want to show a few images from two projects that are currently underway. In each of them I have prototyped using a laser cutter and some acrylic.

Custom typographic family study
Currently I am trying to make the case for a custom alphabet to be used in a company’s corporate headquarters. To make my case stronger, I decided to prototype a few of the custom letters by laser cutting them out of 1/2″ thick frosted acrylic to illustrate the presence and graphic authority that such a strategy could grant. I have yet had the opportunity to share this, but here a few images of what came out. I am now using these to study the vertical and horizontal stresses caused by the rough joints I have in my letters. I will use these models to re-shape the original hand drawn designs.

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Commercial Booth Project
For another client, Miguel Ortiz and I collaborated to design a commercial booth out of laser cut acrylic that can be re-used in many professional conventions. In order to be sure that the design would be made with precision, we made a 1/2 scale model of the final piece to study its structural system. We underwent two rounds of changes and adjustments before going into final production.

The final product, measuring 7 feet tall. It can be assembled with no ties or adhesives and reused.

Where were the Campana brothers? Did the One-Laptop Per Child deny an interview? Was Phillip Stark not available? Javier Mariscal? How come no electric cars made it to the edit? How about Massimo and Lella Vignelli? And those unsung heroes who today produce some of the most amazing work on the sustainability front? How about Catalan designer Juli Capella who constantly writes about Spanish objects, their design and influence in culture? How come Scandinavia’s and India’s work did not make it? And why were there no architects? (they happen to design a large percentage of the objects that surround us) I bet you can also instantly think of a few more examples.

This project being a film, I understand its need for editing and focus. Not everything can make it. I understand that, but… Would it have been too hard to minimize the fourth showing of one person and introduce the perspective of an up-and-coming designer? And how come Latin American design has not been referenced? (I am so shocked about the non-showing of the Brazilian Campana brothers).

As you can tell, I am a bit disappointed, but don’t let that discourage you from watching it. The film offers a rare look into the process and thinking of some of those whose work has changed the contemporary way of living. It is a good reference. It just left me with too many questions that probably only a design nerd like me will ever make…

Impressive facade overlooks the city.

I have to say that this fabric shading system not only looks beautiful, but it is very effective as well. I wish others in Puerto Rico could see that effectiveness of such an instrument. Concrete coverings are not the only solution to certain problems.

You know me, there needs to be some typography involved.

Impressive spatial sensation is provoked by the space.

A nice vertical play is at work in this interior space. Massive columns are actors in this play of architecture.

I really wonder if any of these vaults are filled with clay jars, just like it happened at Iglesia San José.

Even though it is a national icon, it still remains a church for those who wish to meditate, talk to god, etc.

Graphic tiles. Nothing less could have been expected.

When more is just definitively more.

More ceiling vaults.

And just in case, just a bit more ceiling vaults.

I wonder if this organ still works… but I have a feeling it does.

Huge space. Makes me feel so small.

6:00pm was rung when I was standing here. Ouch!