Osthang with Collectif Etc

Kitchen (collectif ETC)

The tasks of the team were to build up the kitchen area and to cook lunch and dinner for everybody. This was the team I was taking part in. The Kitchen Team was divided in 4 smaller groups, composed of 1 to 3 tutors and 3-4 students and we were rotating of 2 days of building, 1 day of cooking and 1 day off.  

Programme. The Kitchen Area was composed of a place for washing the dishes, a cooking area and a working area. Of course, there were planned also a storage place and several chill-out terraces, as the already-built Kiosk had to be integrated. The complex kitchen zone was developed by modules on a grid of 2,40 x 2,40m. 

The Osthang Project - Conclusions

The Osthang Project Summer School in Darmstadt was a great experience for me, and for sure, for the other participants, too. It was conceptualized as an Experimental Building Workshop, curated by Jan Liesegang (raumlaborberlin), but it also opened a discussion about what a community is nowadays and how we can live together. 

www.osthang-project.org

The social experiment of Living Together (“in a bubble”) was quite successful. I was really surprised that unknown people could contact so easily and become so close in days. It might be because of the lack of internet connection in the beginning, so that everybody could talk with and get to know everybody. The second very important reason was that (almost) all daily activities were concentrated in one place and there was no need to go out of the construction and living site. All basic facilities were there and moreover, we were building and improving them day by day. The hard weather circumstances in the beginning made us even more determined to collaborate with each other so that the work could go on in the best possible way.

Student Participatory Initiatives. Comparison

This summer I took part in the Osthang Project together with other 60 participants and around 30 tutors. During the same dates there were other similar (building) experimentations I was interested in, but unfortunately, I couldn´t participate. But my curiosity of how they were working made me compare them in diverse aspects.

It seems that such building initiatives in public spaces are quite common and they aim the re-activation of the space, but do they really achieve such a goal? Aren´t they too short in time to achieve a real re-use of the space? What is the role of the students that arrive from abroad to the certain spot and context? Could they really feel the atmosphere of the place and react by building an object to the current needs of the local population? What is the role of the neighbours that will use the public space/object - visitors or participants? Is it possible to intervene with local small businesses and are these initiatives beneficial for them? and many other questions. Some of them were discussed during the Osthang Project in Darmstadt.

Also I could visit Villena for a day and talk to tutors and organizers of elCASC where I received a lot of precious information and good vibes from the participants and the neighbours.

The Osthang Project Summer School

July 2014_Darmstadt, Germany

The Osthang Project Summer School is an international building workshop. Its aim is to discuss the topic of Living Together by Thinking Together and Working Together. The community of workshop participants will live together at the site and will share thoughts and experiences during 21 days. 

Applications for taking part in the workshop should have been on several topics. Although it was insisted that they might be quite Utopian, probably due to my professional experience, my presentation tended to be realistic and to explain the stakeholders and the processes of How Can We Live Together in the (near) future. 

Check out the Osthang Project website!

Application concept sketch_How can we live together?

Self Promotion

Some time ago I realized that things are not what I was promised them to be. After graduating the university and having some really bad moments, risk was the only salvation. Risk is what makes your eyes widely open to receive every stimulus that might excite your heart and try to make a living out of it (at least for some time).

Analyzing the situation, it was obvious that I was not prepared to promote myself in such a competitive professional world. My qualities and skills were not presented as the employers might get interested in hiring me. My inspiration came from the American way of "selling" and their knowledge and experience of how to promote yourself.

Quite naturally I was enlightened that my inspiration was the constant change - a variety of stimuli and conditions that complemented my diverse experience and my hybrid background. So, after setting the goal, I started investigating trends, watching videos of recruiters, deepening in what my new "branding" should look like and present. 

Having in mind all this for a long time I started elaborating a whole Self Promotion pack, that step by step was getting fulfilled. Now, having the opportunity to try out a great part of what I have learned about, I am glad to present yourself my new portfolio, still in progress.

Your feedback is welcome.

About me

My work experience complements my hybrid background. The traineeships in architectural studios in Spain and in Slovenia showed me a variety of manners of work within Europe.

My fields of interest have moved around the sustainability topic – first, concerning materials, recyclability and passive systems in buildings; then, I got interested in the flexible housing and the possibility of fast changes that a system may offer in order to meet the necessities of a community. And finally, I am exploring the urban reactivation or renewal by active participatory processes, and especially the theme of the self-management and the flexibility in the connection with the institutions.

AEscala

AEscala participatory project

El proyecto AESCALA plantea re-activar los espacios en desuso bajo las escaleras, promoviendo los contactos sociales entre alumnos de la misma escuela y de toda la UPV en un espacio de reducida escala, en ambiente íntimo y personal. Se pretende incitar a los alumnos a formar parte de este proceso planteando actividades que les interesen y cuales podrían interesar a otros alumnos.

Después de un análisis de las necesidades de los estudiantes de UPV, se detectaron carencias de contactos entre alumnos de distintas facultades/ escuelas y espacios para la propia expresión. Los usos y actividades pueden ser muy distintos - relax, lecturas, tándem, exposiciones, música, banco de tiempo y otros, siempre promoviendo la expresión de los intereses e inquietudes de los alumnos y el intercambio de conocimientos y experiencias.

AEscala es un proyecto participativo y de autogestión que ha surgido desde el taller multidisciplinar POP-UP VALENCIA. Reactiva la ciudad (www.popupvlc.com) y ha sido apoyado por el Área de Actividades Culturales de la UPV y por la ETSAV. Se desarrolla entre marzo y mayo de 2014 y se divide principalmente en 3 etapas debido a las vacaciones en el calendario lectivo de la ETSAV, teniendo un cuestionario de evaluación después de cada etapa.

El equipo de AEscala actualmente tiene el rol de mediar entre los alumnos que proponen actividades y la Dirección de la ETSAV para la realización de las mismas. Estas actividades pueden ser no estrictamente relacionadas con la arquitectura, sino multidisciplinares y abrir el diálogo entre distintas carreras de la UPV.