Keir Alexander 19585

7/29/2019 Keir Alexander 19585

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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

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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

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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

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Keir Alexander 19585