keir alexander 19585
TRANSCRIPT
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morfdaelstisekattcejorpngisedsisehtsihTMadrids much admired Plaza Mayor, which
presents itself as a calm formal square, but is in
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addition. Its one room deep frontage is spliced to the
cut ends of medieval buildings. Irregularly placed
streets are ingeniously received by the Plaza, and
topography and an underground carpark.
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Mayor prompted the question whether such an
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contemporary egalitarian principles rather than
the conceits of kings?
In the counter-cultural district of Malasaa, home
of the revolutionary cultural movida, narrow
erehwosnofedlInaSedazalPotdnecsasteerts
local people gather after dusk for conversation.
An unremarkable retained faade conceals a large
Menos / Ms
proposes an experimental circular incision, investi-
gating the option of incorporating the empty site in
a re-shaped public plaza.
new local trends for artist residences and gallery
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The incision creates from the existing buildings a
collection of unpredicted negative spaces, potent
as garret studios; each viewing/viewed from the
square, each part of a collective, each unique.
Rather than splicing a new urban faade, a
,azalpehtselcricneerutcurtslievdehcated
casting dappled light on studio interiors and the
urban exterior. Gentle contours climax in a perfect
point in central Madrid. Beneath, a huge cripta
traegralrofgnittescilbupwenasedivorpecaps
installations, performances and work space.
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e t: igita mo e o P aza Mayors one-room ining
rig t: exaggerate mo e ing o t e ur an terrain s owe t at t e Paza
orms a very e i erate an stri ing fatness on w at is ot erwise a ri ge.
e ow: a mo e escri ing t e p azas c ange in use an ormation revea e
t e notion t at t e square itse is essentia y a one-room- eep ining.
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a ove e t: ana ysis o t e various squares o Ma asana,
t e counter cu tura istrict, o interest as a potentia site
a ove rig t: 500 years o a justment, a series o istori-
ca p ans o t e p aza mayor are over ai to i uminate
ow t e square came to e.
rig t: initia incision tests at t e P aza De San I e onso,
t e ig est point in centra ur an Ma ri
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e t: p ase construction iagram s ow
ing ow t e ormation o t e square
wou ta e p ace as eac o t e neig -
ouring properties were acquire
mi e: organisationa concept iagram
or t e reconstructe pu ic square
ottom: Dos e Mayo Ce e rations: 2n
May 10am
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concept mo e tests o t e vei structure t at provi es spatia unity an so ar s a ing to over oo ing ui ings
A crisp winter morning Menos Ms - 5t Jan 9am
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T e Foun Vo umes: 30t Dec, 10am
Ga eria e Ma asaa: 20t Marc , 3pm
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A ove: Dus Conversation in Autumn, 1st Oct 7pm
ove: Occupying t e s a e, 12t Decem er 3pm
Be ow: A Vi age o Garrets, 5t Ju y 9pm
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ove: Imagining a Ric ar Wi son
insta ation in t e Cripta, 25t a May 11am
Rig t: Propose Groun F oor P an o
Menos Mas
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This project originated during a choreographed
survey of Madrid and its anking territories inOctober 2010.
At the heart of the city, Plaza Mayor is an elegant
square tightly wedged in a medieval labyrinth
of streets all following the unruly topography
beneath. The expanse of atness upon which every-
day rituals and special events occur is an articial
datum held in place by a one-room-deep perimeter,
spliced to the cut ends of earlier buildings.
Keir began by unpicking the history of this
ingenious urban clearing, revealing it to have been
500 years in the making, a patient sequence of
adjustments co-ordinated by a strategic vision
subtraction/addition, -/+, Menos / Ms.
This research prompted the question whether such
an idea of public space making could be informed
by contemporary egalitarian principles rather than
the conceits of kings?
Central Madrid is in a state of perpetual ux, (re)
adjusting physical space to correspond to new
demands, primarily through the reex of retaining
facades, concealing the present behind the past.
Keirs menos/mas piece explores a -/+ strategy at
the topographical high point of the counter-cultural
district of Malasaa, responding to its sequence of
almost squares and cleared sites behind retained
facades.
His work is meticulous and questioning. Drawings
and models probe the qualities of the territory at
all scales, and develop as a strategy for a circular
clearing intended as a device to enhance rather
than destroy connective tissue and occupation.
The incision creates a collection of extraordinary
residual volumes that can be re-inhabited as
studios and garrets. These cut rooms and unex-
pected sections are healed and extended as new
deep elevations, framing the adjusted interiors and
facilitating new connections in section and plan.
A perforated veil structure encircles the clearing
casting its dappled light and shadows on the many
interiors and the exterior.
The work is phrased as a question, and articu-
lated in many ways: strategically, culturally,
politically, technically, aesthetically.
The drawings and models are beautifully
intelligent, and the nal representations of a com-
plex proposition are both lyrical and exquisitely
accurate.
It is an impressive accomplishment, a truly originaladventure with(in) architectural conventions.
Jeanne Sillett & Mark Rintoul
A word from my tutors...
e t: Garret 3, Menos Mas, 28004, Ma ri : 26t June