Call for Papers. VAD 10. The matter

The material paradigm

Idealism and materialism, these two antagonistic visions of philosophy, are constantly present in architecture. Juan Gris said that a nail was made with the idea of a nail, while Braque thought that a nail was made with iron.

For us, thought and design action have been the same thing, the matter of the projects. We agree with the classical idea that poetics is

"what is made that makes, what is constructed that builds".

Praxis makes architecture the union between theory and practice, understanding it as a praxis-process. Designing would be the most significant aspect of architectural praxis, as it is the wise way of building that is self-referential to the very essence of the project. We believe that it would be an occasion for debate, for continuous reasoning, something more complex and dense in its intellectual and cultural formation than the mere judicious or shrewd resolution of a problem.

We understand construction as the art of building an idea, with the appropriate materials and forms. Adaptation to new technologies must be naturally accompanied by versatile ideas that transform the object, beyond its constructive presence, into true architecture. Jean Prouvé warned that what worried him was what we were doing with the new materials, more precisely what we were not doing with them. This old reflection is still valid when applied to the world of construction, as it links technique with research. The technological aspect should involve an investigation, exploring the possible transfers from other disciplines (biomaterials, complex polymers, textile membranes or aerogels) that produce important advances and where their incorporation leads to innovative project developments.

When Lacaton and Vassal incorporated the greenhouse into their first work, they were transferring a technology from the plant-growing industry to the domestic setting. But it was not simply a technical anecdote; rather, the use of this element intuitively led to the appearance of this double space, a temperate area that ended up becoming a focus of interest and the articulation of unprogrammed areas of the home.

Another essential field of the material would be that which is involved in the inescapable energetic aspect. Halfway between the artistic and the tectonic, we find some works such as those of François Roche who, taking advantage of the virtues of electromagnetism, conceives active façades capable of generating an interface between the excess energy of the urban environment and the protected subject with the standard processes of climatic conditioning. Through passive architecture or active architecture by means of gadgets, we think of low-tech subtractive processes, austerity of means and reuse. Or material economy as proposed by Shigeru Ban.

On the other hand, it is true that architectural matter is no longer just a question of solidity, but an environmental issue as well explored by Philippe Rahm, who makes atmospheric quality the main defining material of construction.

To process a progressive suppression of the limits between architecture, landscape and environmental technology, to produce energetically receptive constructions, which promote new types, lexicons and instruments that evidence the disciplinary convergence between the aesthetic, critical and technical spheres, will allow us to go beyond the tectonic matter to access the thermodynamic matter as a denouement.

Thus, we encourage you to reflect, both from a theoretical point of view and through specific case studies, on the concept of matter, from different visions, not only from the best known ones linked to a tectonic spatial reality perceptible by the senses, but also those that question what would be the matter of projects in our days, when the classical and modern paradigms are in total crisis. Texts that help us to rethink whether the historical relationship between matter and form is still valid, and what kind of matter we are talking about.

Submissions rules.
Check the SUBMISSIONS section to find out the procedure to follow to send the documentation.

Calendario.
Calendar.
Opening reception of articles: August 1, 2023.
Deadline for receipt of articles: September 30, 2023.
You can check the calendar in the ANNOUNCEMENT section.

Web.
All the information web.

Issue coordinated by Carmen Espegel Alonso.