Syllabus Gibraltar 2012 Taubman College Architectural Arbitrage 2012 In its purest form, arbitrage is risk free. This studio will explore the architectural potentionals of arbitrage.

Architectural Arbitrage will inspect the spatial The objective of the studio is to demonstrate: implications of non-architectural factors in the 1) That space and material are mediums with past and future shapings of the built environ- enormous agency; 2) How architects can act as ment. This investigative studio will work through representatives of these mediums in order to ef- analytic research and generative exercises that fect change, rather than only as respondents to cultivate a mastery of translation between the a set of predetermined demands. Thus, concepts abstract and the material. such as “fairness”, when considered through an architectural lens, can begin to redefine the de- cision making of society at large.

- Satellite Image of Gibraltar

- syllabus Syllabus Gibraltar 2012 Taubman College

- - A: Irene Hwang E: [email protected] 2010-11 Oberdick Fellow W: www.constructing-communication.com A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning University of Michigan 2000 Bonisteel Boulevard Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2069 USA

- COURSE DESCRIPTION: (Outlined in Four Parts) -

1. Location: 3. Outcomes and Deliverables:

The site of the studio is located and structured along the two coasts For the duration of the course, students will speculate and develop that flank the Strait of Gibraltar. For millennia, this region has been abstract concepts through spatial and material definition. At various the locus of shifting (swapping) religious, political, cultural, linguis- sites along the Strait, students will be asked to examine their physical tic, climactic, and economic regimes. Yet, unlike other regions of surroundings through an initial documentation of the site’s non- such contrasts, such incongruencies have managed to strike a pro- material and physical characteristics. This documentation will take vocative balance that is imbedded in the physical and non-physical on the form of two glossaries: one verbal and one visual. Next, stu- space of the area. Moreover, given the region’s long and ongoing het- dents will execute a series of spatially driven, design projects to pro- erogeneous character, it contains abundant and irrefutable evidence duce multiple, but specific outcomes. Students will pair an abstract of the mutual influence of the built environment with religious, concept (i.e. closeness, comfort, public, private) to a specific design political, legal, and financial processes. project (i.e. plaza, entryway, passageway, , kiosk, boundary, threshold). What are the formal characteristics of “comfort” defined North of the Strait, we find Gibraltar, a territory that is both British in house located in the desert versus a temperate climate? How is and Spanish, and neither. Its location has made it a crucial military “sacred” understood when a is re-appropriated as a church? asset; yet, its continued survival rests on its ability to be open and How is “community” interpreted in a Christian, versus Muslim non-strategic, a destination for tourism and banking. Immediately to residential neighborhood? What does a study of “closeness” yield in the South of the Strait, in an act of a geographic mirroring, we find terms of medina architecture (old city), vernacular residences, and Ceuta, a Spanish city that is not in at all, but in the unusual cultural practices? How private is a riad (traditional house) under a place between two nations (Spain and ) and two continents restrictive political regime versus a tourist governance? (Africa and Europe). 4. Long-term Objectives: The actual geographic and political situation of these places is far from straightforward: the accumulation of millennia of social, cul- As professionals, architects are held accountable for affecting/im- tural, and religious dysplasia provides the studio with an incredible pacting the wellbeing of society, historically exercising their agency territory for conducting an investigation into architectural arbitrage. through the making of buildings. Yet, space and material, mediums In its purest form, arbitrage is risk free: it produces profit through the of tremendous agency, still remain extremely underrepresented in exploitation of differences in the price of a particular asset. It is the society’s decision-making. “Architectural Arbitrage” hopes to in- objective of the studio to identify and record the spatial and material crease the discipline’s agency not through an understanding of how outcomes of this dysplasia and to grasp the opportunity to occupy to make a better building, but rather though a development of skills this arbitrage space as a means to not only expand the potential that refine the architect’s ability to communicate the agency of space products of architectural activity, but also to expand the agency of and material itself. Whereby architects and architecture are involved the discipline in contemporary society. By understanding first-hand, in decision making at the level of policy: imagine a welfare state that the spatial and material consequences of the various social, cultural, no longer distributes wealth under an accounting-based formula or economic factors that have shaped the built environment of and of “fairness” that dictates that each citizen receives the same dollar around Gibraltar’s extremely layered contexts, students will work to amount; a type of accounting that would drastically change if it were translate between the traditional artifacts of architectural agency and to consider the cost differentials of a person living in a city versus the contexts within which they operate. one in the countryside.

2. Pedagogic Intent: By understanding the multiple spatial/material outcomes for a common abstract concept, students will lay the groundwork for dem- The studio is primarily concerned with the act of translation—as a onstrating how spatial thinking, or the particulars of an architectural means and an end: students will learn how to operate in both the ab- mindset, can exert influence beyond the immediate and traditional stract and the concrete, moving back and forth, from one to another. domain of the discipline. Students will reinforce their ability develop a self-critical, intellectual project of architecture through the shaping of space and material. Through a series of action driven, spatial exercises, students will acquire a series of conceptual skills that deal directly with space mak- ing through a consideration of shifting and competing contexts. Syllabus Gibraltar 2012 Taubman College

- RE-ESTABLISHING INQUIRY -

The area occupied around and along the Strait of In the tradition of anthropological fieldwork, we Gibraltar is a highly contested territory that will be acting as observers and our task is to is unexpectedly balanced. act as ghostwriters of the spatial narratives of the region. Centuries of political, religious, and economic shifts have resulted in an incredibly rich and Take for example the paired photos featured on layered built environment that is unreplicated this page: and Fez - two cities that anywhere else in the world. These shears and bridge two continents and two religions are shifts are the subject of our inquiry. equilateral in terms of their architectural DNA, but how the two cites operate at a finer grain of There is a surprising dearth of recent inqui- communal space and building, lies at the heart ry into the spatial and material consequences of our intellectual inquiry. of the territories along the Strait. Elsewhere these conflicts have created tears (both liquid and rips) in the social and physical fabric of the communities that endure such radical chang- es. Yet in this area, there is a certain spa- tial co-existence that begs to be documented and unpacked.

- Africa and Europe -- They don’t look so different. Syllabus Gibraltar 2012 Taubman College

- ALONG AND INBETWEEN THE STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR -

The Strait is not so straight.

Even as young architects, we know that a build- Nowhere is this condition of shifting abstrac- ing design is the cummulative result of thousands tions as present as in the area along the Strait and thousands of design decisions. Contrary to of Gibraltar. Millenia of shifts in governments, what non-architects think, space is not empty. relgions, and markets have specific architectural consequences that we will be examining at great The ojective of Studio Arbitrage, is to under- detail. stand the complicated processes of translation that lies at the core of our discipline and pro- Both historical and contemporary examples (at all fession. Simply: how does architecture transform scales) will form the focus of our work: church- the abstract into concrete material and space? , palace-museums, house-hotels, countries- How do we know when what we’ve done is correct? within-other-countries, to name a few. How do we know when what we’ve built is comfort- able? What makes the same space private for one community and public for another?

- Domus Magazine -- Project Herecles Syllabus Gibraltar 2012 Taubman College

- THE POWER OF THE ARCHITECTURAL MINDSET -

What is a dollar worth?

As professionals, architects are held account- Imagine a welfare state that distributes re- able for affecting the wellbeing of society, sources under a predictable formula of “fair- historically exercising their agency through the ness” where each citizen receives the same dollar making of buildings. Yet, space and material— amount: such fairness accounting would drastical- mediums of tremendous agency—remain extremely ly change if considerations of urban/rural cost underrepresented in society’s decision-making. differentials were introduced. Only architecture Architectural Arbitrage frames the discipline’s can provide a completely considered, material agency not through an understanding of how to response to the complex set of criteria and con- make a better building, but rather though the sequences that determine the cumulative material architect’s capacity to communicate the instru- and non-material cost differentials of a person mentality of space and material to a much larger living in a city versus one in the countryside. constituency.

- Revised accounting -- Redefinition of “Fairness”

Syllabus Gibraltar 2012 Taubman College

- STUDIO FOUNDATIONS -

The foundation for the pedagogical intent of the The studio is designed so that students will Taubman 2012 Gibralater studio is grounded in my develop skills that serve them far beyond the own background in architectural publishing and academic environment. as an architect and editor. Thus, in addition to the more traditional meth- Architects are increasingly generating their own ods of drawing, photography, and video, students areas of agency. Instead of relying on the dic- will also be asked to participate directly in tates of the spatial-functional requirements of a the office visits through student-lead conver- building, our discipline is increasingly moving sations. Moreover, students will focus on de- forward into other realms of archiectural action veloping their own architectural topics and to that are not immediately recognized within the position themselves within not only the Taubman traditional spheres of our practice. architectural community, but also the discipline at large. In order to prepare for a long and prosperous career within the field, this studio will help to - prepare students to explore a variety of differ- * Please refer to original Gibraltar presenta- ent techniques, and then be asked to focus on tion that discusses architectural activity at those methods which offer the most promise for different scales and formats long-term development. Syllabus Gibraltar 2012 Taubman College

- STUDIO CALENDAR AND BUDGET (WORKING) -

PRE-COURSE SPAIN + UK

Apply :: 02/03 Week 5 :: 05/28 F :: Initial Registration Strait :: Tarifa :: Algeciras Confirm :: 02/17 :: Ceuta W :: Final Decisions :: Gibraltar

Funding :: 02/21 W :: ELF Grant Due MOROCCO

Deposit :: 03/05 Week 6 :: 06/04 W :: Deposit Due Africa :: Tangier :: Rabat Prep :: March :: Fez :: Accomodation :: Marrakech :: Travel :: Visits Week 7 :: 06/11 :: Visas (paperwork) Layers :: Malaga :: Granada :: Almeria SPRING 2012 - TAUBMAN

USA - BUDGET OVERVIEW (WORKING) Week 1 :: 05/04 - AA :: Review Itinerary

:: Finalize Visas :: Vaccines (if required) Flight = 1000-1500 USD (DTW - MAD)

Housing = 40-45 USD/night (Spain) Week 2 :: 05/07 = 35-40 USD/night (Africa) AA :: Introduction to Arbitrage :: Prepare Documentation Eurail** = 301 USD (5 days) Materials = 405 USD (8 days)

Food + = 30 USD / day SPAIN Admission

Week 3 :: 05/14 ______Capital :: TOTAL = +/- 4150 USD :: Toledo = +/- 3150 USD (with Dept. stipend) :: Escorial :: Segovia - ** Train costs can be combined with Eurail for Week 4 :: 05/21 longer more expensive legs, and local RENFE South :: Cordoba (Spain) and ONCF (Morocco) shorter train legs. :: Seville :: Cadiz Syllabus Gibraltar 2012 Taubman College

- Working Bibliography: Jan. 22, 2012

Contreras, Rafael. Estudio Descriptivo De Los Atelier Bow-Wow. Pet Architecture. Tokyo: World Monumentos árabes De Granada: Sevilla Y Córdoba Photo Press, 2002. ó Sea La , El Alcázar Y La Gran Mezquita De Occidente. 2a ed. Madrid: A. Rodero, 1878. Atelier Bow-Wow. Graphic Anatomy / Atelier Bow- wow. Tokyo: Toto Shuppan, 2007. Abrams, Janet. Else/where: Mapping New Cartogra- phies of Networks And Territories. Minneapolis, Banham, Reyner. : the Architecture of MN: University of Minnesota Design Institute, Four Ecologies. Berkeley: University of Califor- 2006. nia Press, 2000.

Alomar, Mohammed Abdulrahman. History, Theory Barrucand, Marianne, and Achim Bednorz. Moor- And Belief: A Conceptual Study of the Tradition- ish Architecture In Andalusia. Cologne: Taschen, al Mosque In . , 2000. 1992.

Anderson, Glaire D. Revisiting Al-Andalus: Per- Blaser, W. Innen-Hof in Marrakesch: islamische spectives On the Material Culture of Islamic Geschichte als Gegenwart = in Mar- Iberia And Beyond. Boston: Brill, 2007. rakech : the living presence of Islamic history. Basel: Birkhäuser, 2004. Aranda, Benjamin, and Chris Lasch. Tooling. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006. Bravo Nieto, Antonio. Modernismo Y Art Decó En La Arquitectura De Melilla. Barcelona: Edicions Ascher, Kate, and Wendy Marech. The Works: Anat- Bellaterra, 2008. omy of a City. New York: Penguin Press, 2005. Corfis, Ivy A. Al-Andalus, Sepharad And Medieval Atelier Bow-Wow, Kaijima, Momoyo, Junzŏ̄ Kuroda, Iberia: Cultural Contact And Diffusion. Leiden: and Tsukamoto, Yoshiharu. Made In Tokyo. Tokyo: Brill, 2009. Kajima Institute Publishing Co., 2006. Syllabus Gibraltar 2012 Taubman College

- Working Bibliography (cont): Jan. 22, 2012

DeLanda, Manuel, A Thousand Years of Nonlinear Miller, Susan Gilson. The Architecture And Memory History. New York, 2000. of the Minority Quarter In the Muslim Mediterra- nean City. Cambridge, Mass.: Edwards, Brian. Courtyard Housing: Past, Present Graduate School of Design, 2010. And Future. Abingdon [England]: Taylor & Fran- cis, 2006. Nicolai, Carsten, and Dorothea Strauss. Carsten Nicolai: Static Fades. Zürich: JRP/Ringier , Frishman, Martin. The Mosque: History, Architec- 2007. tural Development & Regional Diversity. London: Thames & Hudson, 2002. Nicolai, Carsten. Grid Index. Berlin: Gestalten, 2009. Foreign Office Architects. Phylogenesis: Foa’s Ark. Barcelona: Actar, 2003. O’Meara, Simon. Space And Muslim Urban Life: At the Limits of the Labyrinth of Fez. London: Gold, Peter. Europe Or Africa?: a Contemporary Routledge, 2007. Study of the Spanish North African Enclaves of Ceuta And Melilla. Liverpool: Liverpool Univer- O’Reilly, Gerry. Ceuta And the Spanish Sovereign sity Press, 2000. Territories: Spanish And Moroccan Claims. Durham: International Boundaries Research Unit, 1994. Gold, Peter. Gibraltar: British Or Spanish? Lon- don: Routledge, 2005. Petruccioli, Attilio. Beyond the Wall: Notes On Multicultural Mediterranean Landscape. Bari: Un- Gold, Peter. A stone in Spain’s shoe: the search ione Tipografica Editrice, 2009. for a solution to the problem of Gibraltar: Liv- erpool University Press, 1994. Petruccioli, Attilio. Understanding Islamic Ar- chitecture. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2002. Goury, Jules, and Owen Jones. Plans, Elevations, Sections, And Details of the Alhambra. London: Reston, James. Dogs of God: Columbus, the Inqui- O. Jones, 1842-45. sition, And the Defeat of the Moors. New York: Doubleday, 2005. Grabar, Oleg. The Alhambra. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1978. Slyomovics, Susan. The Walled Arab City In Lit- erature, Architecture And History: the Living Herdeg, Klaus. Formal Structure In Islamic Ar- Medina In the Maghrib. London: Frank Cass, 2001. chitecture of Iran And Turkestan. New York: Riz- zoli International Publications, 1990. Sordo, Enrique. Moorish Spain Cordoba, Seville, Granada. London: Elek, 1963. Irwin, Robert. The Alhambra. London: Profile, 2004. Tadgell, Christopher. Islam: From Medina to the Magreb And From the Indies to Istanbul. Abing- Kadish, Sharman. Jewish Heritage In Gibraltar: don: Routledge, 2008. an Architectural Guide. Reading: Spire Books in association with Jewish Heritage UK, 2007. Turan, Neyran. New Geographies. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Graduate School of De- Klanten, Robert. Data Flow 2: Visualizing In- sign, 2009. formation In Graphic Design. Berlin: Gestalten, 2010. Varnelis, Kazys. The Infrastructural City: Net- worked Ecologies In Los Angeles. Barcelona: Ac- Lasansky, D. Medina. Architecture And Tourism: tar, 2008. Perception, Performance And Place. English ed. Oxford: Berg, 2004. Weston, Stephen. Remains of In the Span- Laseau, Paul. Freehand Sketching: an Introduc- ish And Portuguese Languages. With a Sketch by tion. New York: Norton, 2004. Way of Introduction of the History of Spain,: From the Invasion to the Expulsion of the Moors. Luna, Ian. Behaviorology. New York: Rizzoli, London: printed by S. Rousseau, Wood Street, Spa 2010. Fields; and sold by Payne, Pall Mall; and Clark, New Bond Street, 1810. Maas, Winy. Costa Iberica: MVRDV. Barcelona, Spain: ACTAR, 1998. Whishaw, Bernhard, and Ellen M Whishaw. Arabic Spain: Sidelights On Her History And Art. Lon- Micara, Ludovico. The Mediterranean Medina. don: Darf Publishers, 1986. Roma: Gangemi, 2009. Wright, Gwendolyn. The Politics of Design In Mikou, Khalid. Riad, Modulor Et Tatami. Casa- French Colonial Urbanism. Chicago: University of blanca: Arch Media Editions, 2003. Chicago Press, 1991. Syllabus Gibraltar 2012 Taubman College

Working Building Bibliography: Urban Conditions and Typologies: Jan 22, 2012

Reina Sofia Market Souk / / Fez / Marrakech Prado Extention / Courtyard Riad Housing / Marrakech Bankinter / Fez / Rafael Moneo Corrala Atocha / Madrid / Rafael Moneo Ports Commerce and Power La Maternidad / Algeciras / Rafeal Moneo / Tangier / Cadiz La Caixa Forum / Gibraltar / Herzog and deMeuron Symbolic Palace El Mirador Power / Madrid / MVRDV Alcázar Carabanchel Housing / Southern Spain / Dosmasuno / Northern Africa

Ecobulevar Old City Medina / Ecosistema Urbano / Rabat vs. Fez

Caranbanchel Housing Casco historico / FOA / Madrid vs Toledo

Madrid Public Housing Land Desert / Thom Mayne / Almeria / Sahara Villaverde Housing / David Chipperfield Borders Political and Geographic / Ceuta Escalator / Gibraltar / Torres La Peña Architects / Tarifa

Santa Ana Church Infrastructure Water / Miguel Fisac / Segovia

Metropol Parasol Religious / Juergen Mayer H / EVERYWHERE

Retiro Park / Madrid

Cordoba Mosque-Church / Cordoba

Alhambra / Granada

Bullrings / Seville / Madrid / Cordoba / Granada

Real Alcázar / Seville

Marrakech Airport / E2A Architecture