WEBVTT 00:00:00.537 --> 00:00:03.054 My work focuses on the connection of 00:00:03.054 --> 00:00:06.561 both thinking about our community life 00:00:06.561 --> 00:00:08.221 being part of the environment 00:00:08.221 --> 00:00:10.509 where architecture grows from the natural 00:00:10.509 --> 00:00:13.981 local conditions and traditions. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:13.981 --> 00:00:16.130 Today I brought two recent projects 00:00:16.130 --> 00:00:18.403 as an example of this. 00:00:18.403 --> 00:00:20.479 Both projects are in emerging countries, 00:00:20.479 --> 00:00:23.518 one in Ethiopia and another one in Tunisia. 00:00:23.518 --> 00:00:25.277 And also they have in common 00:00:25.277 --> 00:00:28.309 that the different analyses from different perspectives 00:00:28.309 --> 00:00:32.892 becomes an essential part of the final piece of architecture. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:32.892 --> 00:00:35.634 The first example started with an invitation 00:00:35.634 --> 00:00:37.657 to design a multistory shopping mall 00:00:37.657 --> 00:00:39.962 in Ethiopia's capital city Addis Ababa. 00:00:39.962 --> 00:00:42.257 And this is the type of building 00:00:42.257 --> 00:00:45.082 we were shown as an example, to my team and myself, 00:00:45.082 --> 00:00:47.246 of what we had to design. 00:00:47.246 --> 00:00:49.321 At first, the first thing I thought was, 00:00:49.321 --> 00:00:51.271 I want to run away. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:51.271 --> 00:00:53.332 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:00:53.332 --> 00:00:55.640 After seeing a few of these buildings -- 00:00:55.640 --> 00:00:57.440 there are many in the city -- 00:00:57.440 --> 00:01:00.882 we realized that they have three very big points. 00:01:00.882 --> 00:01:02.978 First, these buildings, they are almost empty 00:01:02.978 --> 00:01:04.759 because they have very large shops 00:01:04.759 --> 00:01:07.730 where people cannot afford to buy things. 00:01:07.730 --> 00:01:10.570 Second, they need tons of energy to perform 00:01:10.570 --> 00:01:12.738 because of the skin treatment with glass 00:01:12.738 --> 00:01:14.706 that creates heat in the inside, 00:01:14.706 --> 00:01:16.346 and then you need a lot of cooling. 00:01:16.346 --> 00:01:18.307 In a city where this shouldn't happen 00:01:18.307 --> 00:01:20.202 because they have really mild weather 00:01:20.202 --> 00:01:23.951 that ranges from 20 to 25 degrees the whole year. 00:01:23.951 --> 00:01:27.141 And third is that their image has nothing to do 00:01:27.141 --> 00:01:29.296 with Africa and with Ethiopia. 00:01:29.296 --> 00:01:34.898 It is a pity in a place that has such rich culture and traditions. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:34.898 --> 00:01:37.718 Also during our first visit to Ethiopia, 00:01:37.718 --> 00:01:39.846 I was really captivated by the old merkato 00:01:39.846 --> 00:01:42.027 that is this open-air structure 00:01:42.027 --> 00:01:43.919 where thousands of people, they go and buy things 00:01:43.919 --> 00:01:46.286 every day from small vendors. 00:01:46.286 --> 00:01:48.574 And also it has this idea of the public space 00:01:48.574 --> 00:01:51.816 that uses the outdoors to create activity. 00:01:51.816 --> 00:01:55.182 So I thought, this is what I really want to design, 00:01:55.182 --> 00:01:56.971 not a shopping mall. 00:01:56.971 --> 00:02:00.251 But the question was how we could do a multistory, 00:02:00.251 --> 00:02:03.140 contemporary building with these principles. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:03.140 --> 00:02:05.596 The next challenge was when we looked at the site, 00:02:05.596 --> 00:02:08.144 that is, in a really growing area of the city, 00:02:08.144 --> 00:02:10.628 where most of these buildings that you see in the image, 00:02:10.628 --> 00:02:12.230 they were not there. 00:02:12.230 --> 00:02:14.902 And it's also between two parallel streets 00:02:14.902 --> 00:02:17.269 that don't have any connection for hundreds of meters. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:17.269 --> 00:02:20.663 So the first thing we did was to create a connection 00:02:20.663 --> 00:02:22.399 between these two streets, 00:02:22.399 --> 00:02:24.598 putting all the entrances of the building. 00:02:24.598 --> 00:02:27.383 And this extends with an inclined atrium 00:02:27.383 --> 00:02:29.711 that creates an open-air space in the building 00:02:29.711 --> 00:02:32.440 that self-protects itself with its own shape 00:02:32.440 --> 00:02:34.242 from the sun and the rain. 00:02:34.242 --> 00:02:35.898 And around this void 00:02:35.898 --> 00:02:39.201 we placed this idea of the market with small shops, 00:02:39.201 --> 00:02:42.971 that change in each floor because of the shape of the void. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:42.971 --> 00:02:45.242 I also thought, how to close the building? 00:02:45.242 --> 00:02:47.152 And I really wanted to find a solution 00:02:47.152 --> 00:02:50.615 that would respond to the local climate conditions. 00:02:50.615 --> 00:02:52.723 And I started thinking about the textile 00:02:52.723 --> 00:02:54.604 like a shell made of concrete 00:02:54.604 --> 00:02:58.175 with perforations that would let the air in, 00:02:58.175 --> 00:03:00.799 and also the light, but in a filtered way. 00:03:00.799 --> 00:03:06.603 And then the inspiration came from these beautiful patterns of the Ethiopian women's dresses. 00:03:06.603 --> 00:03:08.778 That they have fractal geometry properties 00:03:08.778 --> 00:03:10.909 and this helped me to shape the whole facade. 00:03:10.909 --> 00:03:12.514 And we are building that 00:03:12.514 --> 00:03:14.655 with these small prefabricated pieces 00:03:14.655 --> 00:03:18.093 that are the windows that let the air and the light 00:03:18.093 --> 00:03:20.075 in a controlled way inside the building. 00:03:20.075 --> 00:03:22.457 And this is complemented by these small colored glasses 00:03:22.457 --> 00:03:25.060 that use the light from the inside of the building 00:03:25.060 --> 00:03:27.946 to light up the building at night. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:27.946 --> 00:03:32.068 With these ideas it was not easy first to convince the developers 00:03:32.068 --> 00:03:33.224 because they were like, 00:03:33.224 --> 00:03:35.912 "This is not a shopping mall. We didn't ask for that." 00:03:35.912 --> 00:03:41.721 But then we all realized that this idea of the market 00:03:41.721 --> 00:03:44.495 happened to be a lot more profitable than the idea of the shopping mall 00:03:44.495 --> 00:03:47.215 because basically they had more shops to sell. 00:03:47.215 --> 00:03:51.289 And also that the idea of the facade was much, much cheaper, 00:03:51.289 --> 00:03:53.517 not only because of the material compared with the glass, 00:03:53.517 --> 00:03:56.205 but also because we didn't need to have air conditioning anymore. 00:03:56.205 --> 00:03:58.362 So we created some budget savings 00:03:58.362 --> 00:04:00.259 that we used to implement the project. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:00.259 --> 00:04:02.191 And the first implementation was to think 00:04:02.191 --> 00:04:05.431 about how we could make the building self-sufficient in terms of energy 00:04:05.431 --> 00:04:08.765 in a city that has electricity cuts almost every day. 00:04:08.765 --> 00:04:12.982 So we created a huge asset by placing photovoltaics there on the roof. 00:04:12.982 --> 00:04:15.063 And then under those panels 00:04:15.063 --> 00:04:18.799 we thought about the roof like a new public space with gathering areas and bars 00:04:18.799 --> 00:04:21.613 that would create this urban oasis. 00:04:21.613 --> 00:04:23.403 And these porches on the roof, 00:04:23.403 --> 00:04:28.139 all together they collect the water to reuse for sanitation on the inside. 00:04:28.139 --> 00:04:33.301 Hopefully by the beginning of next year, because we are already on the fifth floor of the construction. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:33.301 --> 00:04:36.356 The second example is a master plan 00:04:36.356 --> 00:04:39.635 of 2,000 apartments and facilities in the city of Tunis. 00:04:39.635 --> 00:04:43.569 And for doing such a big project, the biggest project I've ever designed, 00:04:43.569 --> 00:04:45.834 I really needed to understand the city of Tunis, 00:04:45.834 --> 00:04:49.956 but also its surroundings and the tradition and culture. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:49.956 --> 00:04:53.064 During that analysis I paid special attention to the medina 00:04:53.064 --> 00:04:57.041 that is this 1,000-year-old structure that used to be closed by a wall, 00:04:57.041 --> 00:05:01.490 opened by twelve different gates, connected by almost straight lines. 00:05:01.490 --> 00:05:05.859 When I went to the site, the first design operation we did 00:05:05.859 --> 00:05:09.879 was to extend the existing streets, creating 12 initial blocks 00:05:09.879 --> 00:05:13.063 similar in size and characteristics to the ones we have in Barcelona 00:05:13.063 --> 00:05:16.054 and other cities in Europe with these courtyards. 00:05:16.054 --> 00:05:18.839 On top of that, we selected some strategic points 00:05:18.839 --> 00:05:22.040 reminded of this idea of the gates and connecting them by straight lines, 00:05:22.040 --> 00:05:24.810 and this modified this initial pattern. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:24.810 --> 00:05:27.260 And the last operation was to think about the cell, 00:05:27.260 --> 00:05:29.950 the small cell of the project, like the apartment, 00:05:29.950 --> 00:05:31.728 as an essential part of the master plan. 00:05:31.728 --> 00:05:34.901 And for that I thought, what would be the best orientation 00:05:34.901 --> 00:05:37.200 in the Mediterranean climate for an apartment? 00:05:37.200 --> 00:05:41.963 And it's north-south, because it creates a thermal difference between both sides of the house 00:05:41.963 --> 00:05:44.826 and then a natural ventilation. 00:05:44.826 --> 00:05:48.412 So we overlap a pattern that makes sure that most of the apartments 00:05:48.412 --> 00:05:50.552 are perfectly oriented in that direction. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:50.552 --> 00:05:52.012 And this is the result 00:05:52.012 --> 00:05:55.777 that is almost like a combination of the European block and the Arab city. 00:05:55.777 --> 00:05:57.375 It has these blocks with courtyards, 00:05:57.375 --> 00:05:58.498 and then on the ground floor 00:05:58.498 --> 00:06:00.634 you have all these connections for the pedestrians. 00:06:00.634 --> 00:06:03.741 And also it responds to the local regulations that establish 00:06:03.741 --> 00:06:07.404 a higher density on the upper levels and a lower density on the ground floor. 00:06:07.404 --> 00:06:10.950 And it also reinforces this idea of the gates. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:10.950 --> 00:06:12.842 The volume has this connecting shape 00:06:12.842 --> 00:06:16.144 that shades itself with three different types of apartments 00:06:16.144 --> 00:06:19.787 and also lets the light go on the ground floor in a very dense neighborhood 00:06:19.787 --> 00:06:22.687 And in the courtyards there are the different facilities, 00:06:22.687 --> 00:06:24.417 such as a gym and a kindergarten 00:06:24.417 --> 00:06:28.487 and close by, a series of commercial [spaces] that bring activity to the ground floor. 00:06:28.487 --> 00:06:31.287 The roof, which is my favorite space of the project 00:06:31.287 --> 00:06:34.997 is almost like giving back to the community the space taken by the construction. 00:06:34.997 --> 00:06:37.281 And it's where all the neighbors, they can go up and socialize, 00:06:37.281 --> 00:06:40.818 and do activities such as having a two-kilometer run in the morning, 00:06:40.818 --> 00:06:44.202 jumping from one building to another. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:44.202 --> 00:06:46.561 These two examples, 00:06:46.561 --> 00:06:49.945 they have a common approach in the design process. 00:06:49.945 --> 00:06:52.524 And also, they are in emerging countries where you can see 00:06:52.524 --> 00:06:54.670 the cities literally growing. 00:06:54.670 --> 00:06:59.411 In these cities, the impact of architecture in people's lives of today and tomorrow 00:06:59.411 --> 00:07:04.552 changes the local communities and economies at the same speed as the buildings grow. 00:07:04.552 --> 00:07:07.160 For this reason, I see even more importance 00:07:07.160 --> 00:07:12.190 to look at architecture finding simple but affordable solutions 00:07:12.190 --> 00:07:16.251 that enhance the relationship between the community and the environment 00:07:16.251 --> 00:07:20.169 and that aim to connect nature and people. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:20.169 --> 00:07:22.067 Thank you very much. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:22.067 --> 00:07:23.894 (Applause)