Architecture and Urbanism 005: Architecture according to architects I

I found an article from the magazine CÓDIGO titled “La arquitectura según los arquitectos. 10 citas de nuestro archivo” (“Architecture according to architects. 10 quotes from our archive ”), in which they cite excerpts from previous articles about various architects and artists, and I found it very interesting and ideal for reflection. So with this post I start a series of publications in which I will be addressing and reflecting aloud on some of them, as well as others I find in other sources.

This statement by Mexican architect Mauricio Rocha has the merit of focusing attention on the truly important architecture: its users.

Unlike sculpture, whose main objective is the form and what it conveys, the architecture arises as a result of a specific need and without it it makes no sense. In this sense the important thing is not in itself the form itself, but that the use that originated it is carried out in the best possible way.

This does not mean that the form is not important, of course it is, but unless its objective is merely contemplative, which in fact can occur, the most important thing is that this form meets its objective, and that Users can perform in it the, or, activities for which it was conceived.

If we use an analogy with clothing, we could say that it is of no use how beautiful a garment is, if in the end it does not fit us, or it bothers us. A garment, before being beautiful, has to be our size, and feel good, or it makes no sense. The same goes for architecture, since this is done with an objective, which has to meet before anything else.

The architect in the appointment refers to the accident, at random, and there again the wonder of the utilitarian nature of the architecture enters the scene, since the spaces can have more uses than the architect himself considered when designing them, and these are revealed by themselves from how users take ownership of them and make them their own, sometimes in the most unexpected and surprising ways.

This capacity of the architecture to house multiple uses is known as versatility, and it is extremely important, since the greater the versatility of the use, the more importance and relevance of the projects, and to a large extent it allows a greater useful life of them..

And finally, it is striking the importance that Rocha gives at random, to the indeterminacy that can be the result and the acceptance of a project by people, since it does not matter how much you imagine your project already built and in use , people are always the one who finally determines if your project will be successful or not, and all the uses that it may have, and that is one of the many charms of this difficult but wonderful career of creating and transforming spaces, architecture .

Important note: The Spanish version of this post was published almost a month ago, and is now shared because it is the first in a series of publications that I want to share in both languages. The Spanish and English versions of the following publications of this series will be made in parallel.

Thank you very much for reading this post and dedicating a moment of your time. Until next time and remember to leave comments.