Transformation by Ruination

Abstract

Cities are becoming places for Instagramable experiences and Disneyfication. People are moving as fast as possible to get from one place to the other. We often forget to really look and be aware of our surroundings. I believe that some parts of the city should be dedicated to a more slower, more enjoyable, experimental way of moving through and being in the city. Within this thesis, the decision is made to intervene in an extremely sensitive and politically charged point in the urban context of Bogota. Not by traditionally transforming it by giving it back its original function, or by simply demolishing it, but by introducing an alternative way of transformation; namely transformation by ruination. This is inspired by Guillaume Apollinaire who says: ​“To prepare for ivy and passing time, a ruin more beautiful than any other.” Ruinating one part of the building creates opportunities for a biotope and gives the importance of time and imagination a place in the city. Besides that, I am also introducing basic and minimal architectonic elements to create a public space which connects the ruin to the river on the site. I have decided to only introduce platforms, plazas, and plateaus. By these 4 interventions, the area becomes an articulator of public and natural resources of the city. By being guided by genuine curiosity and evolved through multiple instances of trial and error, I have created a project that is elegant and provides clarity. Besides that, this project reflects upon the collective nature of architecture (e.g., architects layering their work on top of their predecessors), the acknowledgment of decay and destruction as necessary complements to creation and construction, and the possibility of developing serious, rigorous work with simplicity and happiness. This project is inspired by and operates at the work of Rogelio Salmona. The inspiration and underlaying guiding theme can be perfectly explained by an excerpt of a speech he gave at the Alvaro Alto Award: "…between the “elephant” and the “butterfly”; between the permanent and the ephemeral, there is a relationship that we cannot ignore, for it would mean sacrificing the enormous importance of diversity. .... The issue is to constantly extract, as Baudelaire used to say, the eternal from the transitory. There it is."