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Ritual, memory and project

Part 1 Project 2005
Juan Pablo Benavides Cárdenas
 National University of Colombia - Bogotá campus | Colombia
The following work has been presented as my thesis project. The main intention was to use the rituals of a building as a basis from which to develop the project. I started from the premise that it is possible to learn from other important architectural projects, finding their basic principles and applying them in a similar fashion to a new construction and new program.

I selected five projects from different times, cultures and places in order to study them: Karnak (Egypt); Uxmal Mayas (Mexico); Buddhist temple of Horiu-ji (Japan); Muslim mosque (Cordoba); Christian church of Cluny (France).




The project is the result of a solid and clear theoretical exposition (approach), in which is valued the study and understanding of different buildings, whether they are modern, classic or ancient and belongs to different cultures, all of this into the design process.

This transverse look, contributes to understand the problems that arise the edifications, and could be considered as a tool for the architectural project.

In the project, is synthesized the learning of the analytical previous exercises, keeping the concepts of monument, temple and library and settles impeccably in the place with great sensibility and technical conscience.

2005
Analysis of temples, and rituals.The procession in Karnak. The offering in Uxmal. The mediation in the Kondo. The prayer in the Mosque. The liturgy in the Church.
THE LIMIT: separation between the profane thing and the sacred thing. From the analysis of the spatial relationships, I tried to find the elements common to each project and establish the basic principles that could be applied in a similar way to a new p
THE ACCESS: it is a threshold; it borders, excludes, and separates. To overcome this stage one must be pure.
THE INSTANCES: are destined to remove the profane thing, besides it articulate relations of similar importance.
THE CELLA: it is the last instance, the more sacred space, and therefore it is the space more isolated, its the purpose or the Telos.
The analysis allowed to recognize common characteristics such as: the procession, the limits, the sacred and the profane, the transitions , the isolation of the profane functions, the exclusion, the purification and the monumental aspect.
General plan. The project: in order put in practice the topic, I chose the Library as an architectural program similar to the one of the temple. In the library, the ritual structures play an important role in establishing crucial relationships between th
Instances of the architectural program. During the design stage, it was necessary to consult continuously the previous studies to assume important conceptual decisions such as the implantation, the spatial relationships between the functions and the acce
First floor
Second floor.
Third floor
Cross section
Project Images
The place of implantation, in Bogotá Colombia, looks for specific relations with the environment, similar to the temple, such as: isolated land, place of authority, procession.
The place (Usme; Bogotá Colombia)
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