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[Noviembre/Diciembre 2001]
JUHANI PALLASMAA
I
Steven Holl: Tengo encima de la mesa su artculo 'Hapticity
the haptic qualities that you speak of in 'Hapticity and Time' can
las cualidades tctiles de las que se habla en el artculo mencionado pueden combinarse con una arquitectura fuerte en lugar
de dbil. La vigorosa originalidad de Lewerentz parece oponerse
al argumento en favor de la 'arquitectura dbil.
Juhani Pallasmaa: Conozco el libro de Lewerentz al que se refiere. En
terious world, which is engaged with the dialectics of life and death.
Su obra evoca otra esencia del tiempo, un 'tiempo profundo' que casi
His work evokes another essence of time, a 'deep time', that almost
tual strength and haptic intimacy, as in your work, or the work of Peter
Vision and hapticity, however, are opposed in the sense that vision
macy and identification. But they are also integrated, in the sense that
Yes, I agree with you, a strong image can have powerful haptic and
muscular qualities, like Richard Serra's sculpture, but in that case the
visual percept turns into an embodied experience of weight, gravity,
balance, texture or temperature.
[November/December 2001]
JUHANI PALLASMAA
II
En un clima cultural internacional que parece premiar los
res universales?
sal values?
today. The obsession with the object is part of the nature of our mate-
rialist and fetishist culture as well as the ideas of commodity and pos-
from its existential sincerity. On the other hand, I do not believe in the
into Kitsch here I agree with Italo Calvino and Milan Kundera. Archi-
equalization of value.
III
Dice usted que cuando era joven quera ser pintor. Tambin tengo noti-
painting and sculpture. The arts have also had a strong role in my life
its own right, I feel that painting, sculpture, cinema, poetry and nov-
tics and qualities; often you seem to paint a space with colored light,
meaning of the arts for you after you decided to be an architect rather
inferred in poetry.
stam.
Fair. There beside the prize hogs and blue ribbon cows, I took
Nueva York en 1976; as que me march all para tener una expe-
De acuerdo en que hay un plano mental que pone en relacin los fen-
tencial. Por otro lado, cada forma artstica tiene una especfica ontologa,
hand, each art form has its specific ontology, which it continues to
echo. In his book The ABC of Reading, Ezra Pound argues that
"music decays when it goes too far from dance, and poetry with-
ers when it distances itself too far from song". This suggests that
cancin". Esto nos sugiere que las diversas formas artsticas comienzan
various art forms begin to drift rootlessly when they forget their own
IV
La mayora de nosotros hemos encontrado en nuestros aos de for-
I have had the fortune of meeting two of your teachers, Astra Zarina
and Herman Pundt. You have told me about their influence and, in
fact, you pay a tribute to them in your first book, Anchoring. In par-
ticular de sus clidos recuerdos del mtodo del profesor Pundt para ense-
is rarely given due credit. Being a teacher and idol of students today,
how do you see the mission of architectural education and its pos-
society. Professor Pundt could focus all the issues while inspir-
Today the overload of information brings with it an atmosphere of exhaustion and superficiality. A great breadth of infor-
space; and point to the great examples which could speak from
uations". This very sentence has provided the most important les-
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V
"Trabajar con la filosofa como trabajar con la arquitectura en
mos el inters por la filosofa y los dos tenemos amigos filsofos. Cmo
do you see the role of philosophical discourse and ideas in your own
thinking? What is the use of philosophy for the architect? Does a phi-
filosofa de la arquitectura?
Una filosofa de la arquitectura, aunque sea superficial, es lo
derful mystery.
correcta mi observacin?
in my observation?
So yes, I hope you are right in your observation and yet I feel
que la msica, puede concebirse de manera filosfica e idealista, pero la verdadera prueba est en su experiencia pblica.
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VI
Concretamente, su ltimo libro, Parallax, revela un profundo inters por
different aspects. For me, the speed and exhilaration of new dis-
thoughts in architecture.
progress. In fact, art dives back to the opposite direction towards ani-
mistic thought. The two realms slide past each other, as it were. In
meno 'impuro' y mixto, ya que slo una parte de ella pertenece al mbito
VII
Desde que le conozco, siempre me ha fascinado el uso que hace de
las metforas como activadores de sus proyectos: por ejemplo, 'las bote-
own working method. How do you integrate the tangible and intan-
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15
in each project, after analyzing the site and program and some-
rebel y dijo: "De eso nada, este edificio se basa en siete bote-
llas de luz [...], la semana tiene siete das, as que aqu tiene que
uous brick wall of street front buildings along the site of Vassar
gaps and holes giving the community to the North views through
the Charles River and Brigg's field. Each building would be 25%
porous
norte algunas vistas del ro Charles y del campo Brigg. Cada uno
(which
appealed
to
the
precision
of
the
MIT
16
The concept seems to be a kind of a poetic core, a gravity center, around which your projects develop.
VIII
VIII
Me sorprendi bastante orle hablar de su apasionado mensaje ambien-
yecto para la Depuradora del Lago Whitney parece apuntar hacia una
project for the Lake Whitney Water Treatment Plant seems to point
issues seriously and deeply is becoming the main challenge for archi-
tura. Como suele ocurrir con frecuencia, una serie de artistas han enta-
blado un dilogo sutil con la naturaleza y los fenmenos naturales con los
and natural phenomena before our profession. Could you tell what
You are right, the word 'replace' is not the right word here. What I
IX
Las narraciones y explicaciones verbales que hacen los arquitectos de
to write any further text after the building is complete. For twenty
years we have published the project idea text, the raw working
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X
En el curso de nuestra colaboracin en el proyecto para el museo de
otro lado, Alvar Alto con frecuencia poda convertir los cambios de ltima
other hand, Alvar Aalto could often turn last minute changes or even
sheer mistakes into brilliant improvisations. How do you see the struc-
light bollards in the gardens were delivered from New York and
'improvisational elements'.
de improvisacin'.
for variety.
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XI
Con independencia de las expresiones arquitectnicas individuales,
ness, dynamism, layering, elegance, etc. Now and then I have heard
etctera. Algunas veces he odo comentar que los edificios de Steven Holl
Would you dispute this observation, or can you explain your aesthetic
thirteen years from the time we began this work to its realiza-
likewise had its fashionable moment; now its light skins; I'm in
riality, etc.. In the same way, Louis Kahn stepped outside the mod-
XII
Su inters por la esencia de los materiales o la 'imaginacin material'
por primera vez sus obras en la exposicin del Museo de Arte Moderno
your works for the first time in the MoMA exhibition in 1989. In my view,
tial experience.
rama. Los materiales y los detalles se desarrollarn simultneamente a nuestra capacidad de imaginar, proyectar y persuadir.
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peso de las superficies. Tocamos un objeto antes de verlo, por decirlo as.
ture and weight. We touch an object before we see it, as it were. The
tificacin tctil. Incluso nuestros mapas mentales parecen ser de tipo tc-
enrooting in the world or prevent it. In our age of alienation and dis-
XIIIIII
La aspiracin a reflejar la armona del mundo y el uso de sistemas de
tecture since Egypt and Greece, but this realm associated with meta-
sures in your work. How did you end up using this proportional sys-
mentor Aulis Blomstedt in the late 1950s and early 60s. His system
and the ear, as it were. Many Pythagoreans, like Dr. Hans Kayser at
cin urea. Incluso Blomstedt ide su canon como una alternativa racio-
Ghyka, The Geometry of Art and Life.I was impressed with the
joints of the fingers on the human hand to the nautilic shell, pine
cones, all the way to the spiral of the solar wind we find this mys-
una
contractor to cut all the plywood for the house from 10'
metros aproximadamente), lo que obligaba al contratista a cortar toda la madera contrachapada de la casa, que vena en tableros de 10 pies (unos 3 metros). La proporcin su delicado equilibrio todava me fascina.
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work, but nowadays we are fairly rarely concerned with issues of har-
Golden Section in further detail for the benefit of the student reader.
was used to refine all the design elements such as door open-
ing in New York and 5 in Helsinki) had the little scale and when
etc., they could work much faster moving to the closest pro-
tes y hacer una obra con una relacin interna en las proporcio-
quite powerful.
XIV
Al principio de su carrera profesional, estaba usted muy interesado
ter Principles', Perspecta 21, 1984). How, in your view, have these
1980 we looked at the nature of the plan and building forms typ-
ical in the American city grids. Light and air penetrating the sec-
architecture.
In Rural and Urban House Types, 1983 we analyzed the minimum basic house forms as they developed in vernacular archi-
task. I relate this with your early interest in typology and your use of
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XV
En la colaboracin mantenida con mi estudio en Helsinki, a menudo
charged. The process can take off using all the rapid comput-
XVI
Ha diseado y construido usted en varios pases. Puesto que hay
ior and traditions, how do you see the current globalization of archi-
ludiblemente?
Ahora mismo estoy a punto de ir a China para visitar el solar
desire it. I would prefer to build in New York City for exam-
truir en Nueva York, por ejemplo. Sin embargo, no nos han invi-
tects from Europe, Japan, etc. build but we are invited else-
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aspects. The concept for the Fukuoka Housing 'void space and
1991, all of the 28 apartments were sold out; a great joy and
cano del siglo XXI, lo que se cre fue un singular bloque de vivien-
XVII
En muchos pases se aprecia una distancia creciente entre el mundo
tecture and today's vulgar reality. How do you see the mission of
puede darle forma; la arquitectura puede responder y, sin sentimentalismos, dar forma a esa cruda situacin.
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XVIII
Durante las ltimas dcadas ha viajado usted mucho, siguiendo los
You have traveled a lot during the past decades following the
first hand. Can you mention architectural phenomena that you find
with color distortion from film and filters. Transparent colors are
ment of the sunlight; these and other tactile dimensions are part
ideas y con la vida. Todas las ideas, todos los pensamientos, son
what we really feel when we apprehend it. The fluid time of phe-
Juhani Pallasmaa (n. 1936), arquitecto SAFA, Hon FAIA, Helsinki, es en la actualidad Raymond E.
Maritz Visiting Professor de la Universidad de Washington en St. Louis. Director de la oficina Juhani
Pallasmaa Architects, con sede en Helsinki, su obra ha sido expuesta y publicada en numerosas
ocasiones. Ha impartido clases y conferencias en diversos pases de Europa, Amrica, Africa y
Asia, y escrito ms de 250 artculos traducidos a diecisis idiomas diferentes. Entre sus ltimos libros editados se incluyen: La Arquitectura de la Imagen: el Espacio existencial en el Cine,
Helsinki 2001; Alvar Aalto: Villa Mairea 1938-39, Helsinki 1998; La Casa Melnikov, Londres 1996 y
Arquitectura Animal, Helsinki 1996.
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Juhani Pallasmaa (b. 1936), architeet SAFA, Hon FAIA, Helsinki, is currently Raymond E. Maritz Visiting
Professor at the Washington University in St. Louis. He is the owner of Juhani Pallasmaa Architects, Helsinki.
His work has been exhibited and published widely, and he has lectured and taught in numerous countries in
Europe, North and South America, Africa and Asia. Pallasmaa has published over 250 essays in sixteen languages, and his most recently published books include: The Architecture of Image: Existencial Space in
Cinema, Helsinki 2001; Alvar Aalto: Villa Mairea 1938-39; Helsinki 1998; The Melnikov House, London 1996
and Animal Architecture, Helsinki 1996.