Santiago Cirugeda

 

 

Santiago Cirugeda - 3/1/2021

This week’s post I will be building off the ideas I wrote about in my previous post. My previous post broke down John Habaraken’s methodology. I found a parallel between him and Guerrilla Architect Santiago Cirugeda. I feel that Santiago is Habraken if you took away Habraken’s resources. Santiago states that he doesn't care about making “ugly” buildings. He cares about providing a space for the people who are in crisis. Spain has hit a rough spot, money is drying up and the citizens are beginning to turn on the government and banks. Due to this there are thousands of unfinshed architectural projects located throughout the country. Santiago is trying to reclaim the spaces and give it back to the people who need it. In the process he is not trying to create beautiful architecture he is trying to create functional architecture. He is using inexpensive materials to create his unique spaces. Like Habraken he feels that there is a space in architecture for this type of work. Work that expands on the built environment rather than just trying to make it pretty. I feel where Habraken and Santiago differ is in resources and architectural language. Habraken was trying to create a framework/space to help people navigate through their everyday 

Environment that utilized the best materials. As well as he wanted to create a language that was specific to Amsterdam. Santiago is trying to create the most efficient building for the people of Spain, it does not seem that he is trying to form any specific architectural language. Santiago focuses more on the political side. He is trying to create an alternative model of building construction to help mitigate the crisis in Spain.