POLITICS OF FABRICATION III: February 2012

Recent demonstrations in public spaces of our cities are confirming a profound crisis of political institutions worldwide. While citizens are claiming a change in national political agendas to ask for more focus on their own everyday life concerns and less on global finances, public squares are emerging as places of political discussion. Moved by this contemporary interest, Intermediate Unit 8 have worked on redefining what constitutes a public space today, which is the role of the architect and the agency of people, and how innovation on fabrication methods might serve as fundamental tools for constructing a city of the commons.

This year the work of the unit has been located in the city of Mexico, a metropolis developed under neoliberal rules for the last two decades. The particular site for the unit work has been the massive modernist housing complex of Tlatelolco, and more specifically, the Plaza de las Tres Culturas. This urban square is well known not only for the mixed presence of Aztec, Spanish Colonial and Modernist constructions, but also for its past political life including the students’ massacre before 1968 Olympic Games. Based on a confrontation with the everyday life in the city, students have researched on the most “mundane” contemporary issues, including insecurity, informal economy, drug cartels, social segregation or cultural repression. These issues are the ones employed as alternative micro-agendas to inform the public space of today. After intense research and reflection on the realities of the city, students have proposed different material and programmatic tactics, reflecting on how traditional construction methods can be used to generate new fabrication techniques in which citizens have a more active role. Therefore, social participation and public action are considered a fundamental part in the definition of new political spaces as an endless process of contestation, negotiation and transformation.

24.2.12

W20 - Tutorials

Next Tuesday 28th of February you should present the Fabrication drawings and tasks talk in the last tutorial as follows,

10.30 Anand
11.00 Erez
11.30 Andrew
12.00 Fragkiskos
12.30 Eleni

2.00 Frederique
2.30 Andreas
3.00 Camille
3.30 Elliot
4.00 Hao Wen
4.30 Carlotta

W20 Associative Processes of Construction and Development

Students should define the construction system, materiality, agents involved in the construction of their frames. A dealing scheme between the different parts involved will be part of the work developed this week.

In addition, previous proposals to channel actions of different individuals should be fully detailed in technical drawings that express materials, sizes, mounting indications, etc. Students should construct a 1/50 detailed model of their designs accompanied with drawings at the same scale.

Suggested Readings & References
Voluntary Architects Network Making Architecture, Nurturing People: From Rwanda to Haiti, Shigeru Nan & Keio University SFC Ban Laboratory, INAX Publishing, 2010.
Branko Koralevic & Kevin Klinger, Manufacturing Material Effects: Rethinking Design and Making in Architecture, Routelidge, 2008.
Peter Blundell Jones Architecture and participation. London: Routledge, 2005Markus Miessen and Shumon Basar (eds), Did Someone Say Participate? An Atlas of Spatial Practice, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
TEDDY CRUZ - http://www.california-architects.com/en/estudio/en/

Lara Yegenoglou

Max Hacke

Yonatan Buchhandler

23.2.12

Mid-Term Jury Videos

Presentation of Politics of Fabrication Portfolios

Session of four portfolio presentations by previous Politics of Fabrication students

Max Hacke & Gary Dupont (09-10)

Vidhya Pushpanatan & Lara Yegenoglou (11-12)

21.2.12

W19- Tutorials 2

This Friday 24th of February you have to submitt your Interaction drawings and tasks reviewed in the last tutorial. The meetings will be as follows,

10.30 Camille
11.00 Carlotta
12.00 Elliot
12.30 Frederique

2.00 Andreas
2.30 Hao Wen
3.00 Anand
3.30 Erez
4.00 Fragkiskos
4.30 Andrew
5.00 Eleni

17.2.12

W19 - Tutorials

Tutorials on Interaction drawings and review of comments in the Mid-term jurywill be on Tuesday 21st of February as follows,

10.30 Camille
11.00 Andreas
11.30 Elliot
12.00 Hao wen
12.30 Frederique

2.00 Carlotta
2.30 Anand
3.00 Erez
3.30 Andrew
4.00 Fragkiskos
4.30 Eleni

5.30 Portfolios presentation

Mid-Term Jury Pics

Thanks to all crits, students. tutors and specially to Charlie for his help in Hooke Park.

W19 - Interaction

The ability of designs to work as interfaces that can draw upon individual participation is a recurrent interest in contemporary society. Students will explore this dimension in their designs through performative diagrams.

Suggested Readings
Lucy Bullivant(ed.), 4dsocial: Interactive Design Environments, AD Magazine, Academy Press, 2007 Rudolf Frieling, Art of participation: 1950 to now, London, Thames and Hudson, 2008

Max Hacke 3rd year (09-10)

16.2.12

Politics of Fabrication Exhibition

From the 13 of February to the 3 of March Politics of Fabrication (Nuria Alvarez-Lombardero & Francisco Gonzalez-Canales – AA Intermediate Unit 8) will exhibit their work in the Miami Beach Urban Studio (420 Lincoln Rd, Suite 440, Miami Beach) of the School of Architecture of Florida International University, Miami, Florida, under the title “Politics of Fabrication: Challenging Political Expression in Little Havana".

14.2.12

W18 - Mid Term Jury

Next week Friday 17th of February we will have our Mid Term Jury from 10am to 7pm in 38 First Floor Front. Offline

The external crits will be Esther Rivas Adrover (UEL), Theo Lorenz & Tanja Siems (AAIS), PierAndrea Angius (DRL, Zaha Hadid), Tommaso Franzolini (AAVS Ivrea), Kostas Grigoriadis (Diploma 2), Javier Castanon (AA Diploma TS director), Manuel Collado & Nacho Martin (Mi5), Adam Kaasa (LSE) & Brett Steele.

The presentation of the whole work, including last term, will be shown on the screen. Each of you have 15 min to explain the project. Some drawings (the key ones) could be printed. Models of Frame and Action should be a fundamental part of your presentation.

10.2.12

Mexican Culture

Novels:

Pedro Paramo - Juan Rulfo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_P%C3%A1ramo

The Night of Tlatelolco - Elena Poniatowska

5.2.12

W17- Hooke Park

From the 10th to the 14th of February we will visit Hooke Park to construct your 1/5 to 1/1 model of the action. The materials should have been already ordered to the workshop. Bring your computers to work there and your files to be cut by the CNC.

Anand & Andrew

Frederique & Fragkiskos

Camille & Eleni

Elliot & Hao Wen

Andreas & Carlotta

Erez

4.2.12

OPEN DAY

Intermediate Unit 8 will present their work for the rest of the school next week Friday 10th of February in the morning. Regarding this presentation we should meet this Friday at 5pm to talk about it.
We will take this meeting to talk about Hooke Park as well.

Open Day

REAR SECOND PRESENTATION (AM)

10:30 Intermediate Unit 6 Part to Whole

11.00 Intermediate Unit 8 - Politics of Fabrication III Framing Political Conflict in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas, Mexico City
Eleni Tzavellou, Hao Wen Lim & Andrew Bardzik

11.30 Diploma Unit 11 - Radical Remodelling
12.00 Design & Make
12.30 Emergent Technologies

Eleni Tzavellou

W16 - Tutorials

Next Tuesday 7th of February tutorials we will discuss the action designs, their fabrication and construction in Hooke Park. Materials should have been already ordered to Hooke Park workshop. In order to start the discussion in the tutorial you should bring,

-1/50 basic drawings (plan, section)
- axonometry or render
- a"sketchy" model

In addition, you should bring your Models of the Frame and the Axonometric with programs and activities to the unit space to be reviewed.
Tutorials will be as follows,
10.30 Camille
11.00 Elliot
11.30 Eleni
12.00 Fragkiskos
12.30 Andreas

2.00 Andrew
2.30 Anand
3.00 Erez
3.30 Hao wen
4.00 Frederique
5.00 Carlotta

3.2.12

W16-W17-W18 Fabrication I

Previous proposals to channel actions of different individuals should be fully detailed in technical drawings that express materials, sizes, mounting indications, etc. Students should construct a detailed model of their designs accompanied with drawings.The stay in Hooke Park between the 10th of February to the 14th of February will give you the opportunity to build your models from 1/5 to 1/1

Reference
Voluntary Architects Network Making Architecture, Nurturing People: From Rwanda to Haiti, Shigeru Nan & Keio University SFC Ban Laboratory, INAX Publishing, 2010.
Fabio Gramazio, Matthias Kohler, Digital Materiality in Architecture, Lars Müller, Publishers, 2008

More reference see TS report for 3rd years (http://www.aaschool.ac.uk/downloads/briefs2011/int8_Brief2011-12.pdf)

Lara Yegenoglou (3rd year -1011)

FABRICATION & CONSTRUCTION

This third part of the term we will explore the specific material dimension of your designs. This material exploration will rely largely upon physical models, although 2D and 3D construction drawings will also be required and completed during the next term. A visit to Hooke park will complement this phase.

Hooke Park workshop - Yonatan Buchhandler

1.2.12

W15-Tutorials_2

Next Thursday 3rd of February, we will have a meeting at 5pm in our unit space to talk about Open Week and Hooke Park trip. The rest of the day we will have tutorials as follows,

10.30 Frederique
11.00 Hao Wen
11.30 Erez
12.00 Anand
12.30 Andrew

2.00 Andreas
2.30 Eleni
3.00 Fragkiskos
3.30 Camille
4.00 Elliot
4.30 Carlotta