Projecting Technology
Systems of Production in 1950s and 60s Spanish Architecture
(Supervisors: Marina Lathouri, Carlos Naya)
Technology reconfigures architectural strategies and concepts transforming methods of construction and affecting production processes and thereby, the way architects think and conceive architecture. This thesis reflects on the relationship between technology and architecture. In particular, it explores how mass-production and industrialization in the decades after WWII not only transformed the construction –or rather production- of architecture but also reconfigured the practice of architecture or architectural modes of thinking. Through the analysis of new methods of construction in Spain during the 1950s and 60s, the investigation examines the concept of component design and the resulting production and reproduction systems from a material, structural, formal and spatial perspective. Departing from systems of construction as case studies, the research evolves from the notion of prefabrication, towards open systems and ultimately to the relation between architecture and technology. Thus, regarding systems of production, it moves from the production of ideas to the reception of the production.
PhD to be completed this summer.
Biography:
Clara Oloriz is a PhD researcher, tutor and practising architect. She studied architecture at the ETSA Universidad de Navarra. She has worked for Foreign Office Architects, Plasma Studio and Groundlab. She teaches at the ETSAUN and in the AALU Masters programme. At present, she is finalising her PhD as visiting student at the Architectural Association. Along with her PhD research, she co-directs an AA research cluster on Urban Prototypes.
