Learning From Amateurs
Learning From Amateurs: How Madrid Balcony Appropriations can Instruct Architects
M.E. Perez (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
A.M.R. van der Meij – Mentor (TU Delft - Theory, Territories & Transitions)
J.A. Kuijper – Mentor (TU Delft - Theory, Territories & Transitions)
F.J. Speksnijder – Mentor (TU Delft - Teachers of Practice / AE+T)
Michael Peeters – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Real Estate Management)
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Abstract
An analytical collection of theoretical, psychological, and methodological research applied to spatial appropriation. Understanding our innate need to modify existing conditions to satisfy personal needs begins with understanding user perception and action to uncover the user’s needs and motives. This research is explored on the balcony and applies its history and multi-programmatic character to understand the residents of the Lavapies Neighborhood in Madrid. Site visit research and interviews reveal how locals reflect, project, and respond to the current situations of their personal and communal needs through balcony and gallery appropriations. Utilizing the Catalogue of Balcony Appropriations, the main visual supportive source of my field research and site understanding, revealed seven reasons for spatial appropriation. The analysis of these
seven derived four general conclusions that can be applied to learn from the amateurs ofother locations.