Athanasius Kircher, Garden of Eden in Arca Noë, 1675
CONTENT / Paradise comes from the latin paradisus, from the greek paradeisos, from the persian pairidaeza or “enclosure”, from “pairi” (meaning “around”, in Greek it’ll derive to “peri”) and “daeza” (meaning “wall”). Paradise or Eden was, therefore, first of all, a fortress, a place to protect from the outside (from Una breve historia del jardín, Gilles Clément, Ed. Gustavo Gili, 2019).
We may not talk about it, but architecture (and architects, its most prominent agents) is aiming towards paradise in every work.
In this workshop we’ll focus on radical paradise-seekers (or radical architects) that pushed the possibility of imagining Eden to extreme ideas. From the single mind of Ledoux to the collective partnership of Neom (via Boullée, Le Corbusier, The Metabolist group, Archigram…etc) our goal will be to learn about contemporary paradises (or fenced environments), to criticize them and to finally create one of our own.
This course is as a way to understand that within the clear taxonomy of architectural Edens the linear ones have their own qualities and expectations. From there, each group of students will imagine one Contemporary Eden (verbally first, graphically at the end) and explain it to the rest of the class.
Our workshop takes this radical projects as an inspiration to imagine new paradises in order to extend the radical family. In this workshop we must push our limits (literally…the two sides of our fenced Eden) and believe that utopia is still possible (please, do not forget that Eden was a garden, so the experience of Nature is a must).
AIMS / To study, think about the idea of paradise and to imagine a linear one. To address the experience of radicality, to conceal nature between two walls, to draw…. To dismiss scale to start with a project. To generate a world map or radical lines that may coexist. To explain your ideas to the rest of the group. To design a cross section (the most efficient way to understand a linear city) of your Contemporary Edens.
METHOD / Radical knowledge and imagination as a tool. To imagine, agree and design your own Contemporary Eden.
1st day- 20 minutes + homework: Introduction of the course by the professor, students questions and comments about the workshop and homework details.
2nd day- 4 hours: Short lecture by the professor + Group work to start the design of your Contemporary Edens. Submission 01: First sketches and 200 words brief of the project (free technique).
3rd day- 3 hours + 30 minutes final crit: Feedback of submission 01 (before the class). Group work to complete the design of your Contemporary Edens. Submission 02: Cross section of the project (free technique and scale). Final crit.
SCHEDULE / 2-Week Workshop. Weekly 4-hour class arranged with the students:
Introduction / 28 Oct 2022.
First class / 04 Nov 2022.
Second class and Crit / 11 Nov 2022.
EVALUATION AND EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES/ After these two weeks workshop the student will be able to:
- Understand radical architecture main concerns and tools
- Develop architectural criticism by analysing radical architecture
- Develop radical architecture projects through radical design processes and conceptual work methods
- Compose a radical architectural project and present it orally and visually to the class.
- Design a radical cross section of a Contemporary Eden.
Bibliography and Basic References:
- Exodus: Exodus, or the voluntary prisoners of architecture. – SOCKS (socks-studio.com)
- The line: THE LINE (neom.com)
Universidad Europea de Madrid (SPAIN) /
Miguel Luengo Angulo (miguel.luengo@universidadeuropea.es)