Lectura e ideación de la escala y 'escalaje' en arquitectura : inteligencia visual que adquiere identidad en la Geografía

Abstract

According to scientific findings of other sciences, scale is shown to be the most evolutionary, complex and unavoidable state of architectural thinking, refuting the efforts of some architects to make the issue of scale an obsolete matter. This approach complements contributions made by French architecturology to scaling conception, continuing an interrupted line of research developed from an existential focus in ETSAM-UPM since the late 60’s. Scale is understood as a sub personal and collective thinking activity, which acts on the conscience by creating a dynamic epiphenomenon when we face the architectural phenomenon in the real and imaginative realm; and by unifying all elements as a sized totality anchored to the surrounding. It is proved to be a necessity of human thinking of space; thus makes it indistinguishable from the Qualia of architecture which cannot exist without it. A kind of individual/social psychism of dimensional desire founded on the sensefull comprehension of the own geographical space, that finely induces ‘scaling’: a manifestative and creative way of thinking, susceptible of being operated as a peculiar open system -’scalage’, a sort of language, but being at the same time ‘system’ and ‘content’-. Revealing a specific heuristical way, scale interprets and narrates the tale of the local affection towards the own natural space, unchaining a tautological recursivity of ‘perverse and non sought effects’ that finally models and condenses local notions of dimensions, integrating architecture to the identity processes. It is proved also, that this local dimensional meaning acquires power in the immense spaces of American territory, succeeding in prevailing over prescriptions of the most dogmatic styles adopted, showing scale to be the main factor of adaptation, even in the work of the more personal and outstanding architects. The condensation of meaning attempted by buildings meant to be symbolic at a national representative level in three different countries of Ibero America, commissioned each one to the most renown architects at the Rationalist Modern Movement period, made it possible to prove the existence of a local way operating spatial intelligence in the reading and production of scale. XIV