This is an archive page for Ciudad Abierta; Valparaiso, Chile
Ciudad Abierta; Valparaiso, Chile
Politics of Fabrication Laboratory (PFL)Monday 1 – Friday 12 August 2011
Politics of Fabrication Laboratory (PFL) is a research-through-design initiative which explores the changing political implications of material experimentation when applied to the construction of urban public space.
PFL workshops will be structured in two one-week segments. In the first part (tools and conceptual-scheme), students will learn new software to construct innovative political arguments by experimenting with the relationship between everyday activities and particular material organisations. In the second part (fabrication-construction), students will work collaboratively on the implementation of one of the schemes. This temporary prototype, fabricated on site, will evaluate the potential and achievements of the design.
As part of an interest in the relationship between particular socio-cul- tural conditions and fabrication techniques, PFL will be based in a Latin American context. The energetic everyday life in these cities has been paralleled with radical experimentations in fabrication since the early 1950s. From Felix Candela’s double-curvature concrete shells to Eladio Dieste’s undulated brick surfaces, Latin American architecture has demonstrated an outstanding vitality in material expression. The capacity of this work to change the relationship between architecture and the public will be used to open up creativity in current digital fabrication experiments.
This itinerant workshop will visit three Latin American countries (Chile, Cuba and Mexico) with strong traditions in specific material constructions that will be further explored through digital fabrication techniques. In 2011 the first PFL workshop will take place in Ciudad Abierta (Open City) in Valparaiso, Chile, where we will be experimenting with architectural structures in wood. The Ciudad Abierta is an inspiring initiative promoted by a group of artists, poets and architects who looked for an alternative way of living in a vast landscape of dunes facing the ocean. Led by architect Alberto Cruz and poet Godofredo Lommi, the city was founded in 1971 as an open site that included residences for artists and architects and the Architecture School of the Catholic University in Valparaiso. Ciudad Abierta is still expanding and configures one of the most intriguing landscapes of experimental architecture in the world.
Applications
The deadline for applications is 25 July.
Fees
The AA Visiting School requires a fee of £650 per participant, which includes a £50 Visiting Student Membership. Fees do not include flights or accommodation.
