AVS. Arkitektúr verktækni skipulag - 01.03.2004, Blaðsíða 39

Innanhússrými húsgagna-húsagerðar, sem komið er fyrir á lausum lóðum (Sevilla 2002). /
Interior spaces of furniture-housebuilding on empty sites (Sevilla 2002).
refused. In these circumstances,
present day activities become a copy
of a crystallised past.
The Street Reclaimed.
Faced with this inflexibility, the archi-
tect Santiago Cirugeda decided to
read the small print in city planning
regulations with the aim of allowing
residents more say in how they could
use their environment, without
breaking the law. One city he has
been working on is the central area
of Sevilla in Spain, where he also
lives. There, stiff regulations that
preserve the existing environment
govern all building. This results in
an almost hopeless search for a suit-
able site for new activities needed in
the district, such as a playground or
an information hall. After having stud-
ied the city’s regulations, Cirugeda
put forward a proposal he called „To
Reclaim the Street." This was a tem-
porary undertaking that consisted of
the salvaging of a refuse container,
altering it so that it could serve as a
children’s playground, information
booth, reading and exhibition area,
platform for flamenco-dances or a
giant flower-pot. City regulations per-
mit the use of this container, which
can easily be transported. The archi-
tect calculated the cost of the project
and presented his clients with a
pamphlet explaining the permit of the
planning department. When the per-
mit was obtained, the clients could
position the container and it resumed
the intended role. This humorous
undertaking underscores the inflexi-
bility of the city environment, which
should encourage the participation of
its inhabitants.
Building Shelter in the City
What happens when residents of the
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