ARCHITECTURAL SYNTHESES. SOWED ARCHITECTURE: ATLAS OF ENCOUNTERS BETWEEN VEGETATION AND ARCHITECTURE

In her presentation, Monica Tarrega shows some questions discovered in her thesis, which was developed as an atlas with the intention that it could be used as a manual, as a project tool available to students and architects.

The appeal of natural spectacles leads to imagining, dreaming, rambling and questioning, causing the designer to encounter limits of various kinds and look for tricks, techniques, discoveries, bright ideas, innovations. Some are passable borders while others are difficult to reach.

This is what happens when you try to incorporate vegetation as a design tool. Multiple questions then appear, when other disciplines are being combined or incorporated and it is not known what the relevant aspects are. The questions that arise are some of the following: What knowledge is essential to be able to incorporate vegetation? Can vegetation be incorporated as another project tool? How should we approach other disciplines?

The encounter between the plant world and the built world is the most relevant. The intersection between both worlds involves a delicate approach and prone to deterioration, given that it comes to put at risk the survival of the flora or the support that sustains it. The contact between both parts is in itself conflicting because the vegetation is a living, growing element, while the building is, on the other hand, static. The tree can die if it does not have the minimum natural conditions. In contrast, the ruins are the consequence of the predation of the climate and the vegetation. In principle, flora and everything that we build are mortal enemies.