The few discussions of Alejandro de la Sota's Domínguez House which currently exist cite a retrospective text, dated 1976, where he developed activity and repose as two distinct images within human dwelling. While the Domínguez House has previously been understood in relation to biological rhythms, this paper presents a different reading of this remarkable project – as a deconstruction and reformulation of the contemporary dwelling, one which challenges the inward-looking understanding of human dwelling as shelter. I therefore propose that Alejandro De la Sota was as an architect with a theoretical agenda, far from the conventional view that his was an empirical approach to architecture.

This paper examines the museum dedicated to Pierre Soulages and its relationship with Soulages, the city of Rodez, the Forirail Garden (which is the site of the museum), and the ideas and practices realised by Catalan architects Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem and Ramon Vilalta (RCR). The Musée Soulages is defined by the colour black and the luminous fluidity of steel as designed by RCR Arquitectes; it is also aligned with an environmental ecology that literally and figuratively represents the town of Rodez with its Notre-Dame Cathedral. The central thesis is that the Musée Soulages inducts the visitor into a role of active participation and exchange in an atmosphere of transcendental logic, and, ultimately, a new way to experience black as a colour rather than the lack of one. A visitor to the Musée Soulages becomes part of a theatrical event in which two actors —one French abstract painter, three Catalan architects—communicate in physical terms about the metaphysical environment, and the relationship between the scenographic and the tectonic in architecture. The Musée Soulages is a fascinating metaphorical representation of not only Pierre Soulages's character and his work, but also of the role of the built environment and material culture that is intertwined with the body of Soulages's expressive works. This essay focuses on the material and symbolic gestures created by Pierre Soulages and RCR Arquitectes to maintain and promote their particular world views, and examines the ways in which their expressive mediums and ideas are by turn harmonious and contradictory.

This article explores issues of gender and modern architecture in Mandatory Palestine in the context of 1920s and 1930s modernism. Women architects, newly immigrated from Germany, collaborated with WIZO, Women's International Zionist Organisation, in building Domestic Science and Agriculture training schools for Jewish immigrant women in the country. WIZO adopted the concept of the modern domestic sphere, particularly the rational kitchen, believing that a modern and efficient household will benefit women and society as a whole. Thus, their planned schools were to be modern both in appearance and in their built-up space: rational, airy and full of light. The women architects who studied and worked in Germany prior to their immigration, emphasised these modernist concepts in their design. These early ambitious architectural achievements by women for women were unique in the context of modernism and helped structure the national identity of the ‘New re-formed domestic woman’ in Mandatory Palestine.

Colonisation initiated the transfer of Western ideas about both heritage discourses and conservation understandings into the non-Western world. The process turned colonised territories into domains where developing heritage views in metropolitan countries were put into practice. Coinciding with the evolution of heritage discourses and modern architectural conservation movements in the West, the British colonial era (1878-1960) in Cyprus became a period where the importation of knowledge introduced new ways of thinking about the treatment of ancient buildings. Based on archival sources, this paper sheds light on the genesis of modern understandings of architectural conservation in Cyprus during the early colonial period (1878-1905), which established the foundations that future practice would be built on. An historical account of the early conservation activities at the key Gothic cathedral-mosques is presented, which illustrates the role of the medievalist conservation ethos imported from Britain and local considerations in the formation of modalities and techniques of intervention. It is shown that, at a time when the protection of built fabric as an amalgam of medieval and postmedieval periods was contested in Britain and Continental Europe, the political reality in Cyprus actually facilitated this approach.

This article introduces the cortijos of İzmir and discusses them as heterotopic places. Originally belonging to the Sephardi Jewish residents of İzmir during the Ottoman times, cortijos were one or two-storey buildings organised around a courtyard, with shared facilities such as toilets and kitchen. The Sephardi inhabitants of cortijos were among the poorest in their community and each family lived in a small single room opening out onto a courtyard. After the immigration of the majority of the Sephardis to Israel in the 1950s, these buildings started to be occupied by equally poor migrants from Eastern Anatolia. In time the demographics of the inhabitants changed even more, replacing families with single, aged and unemployed individuals. Despite changes in the resident profiles, the heterotopic features of cortijos were neither changed nor challenged and only oscillated between heterotopias of crisis and heterotopias of deviation. With a special focus on a documentary photography exhibit on cortijos, titled Kortejo/Aile Evleri, this article discusses their heterotopic features, both in relation to their history and to their current condition. The article concludes by highlighting the new-found public and municipal interest in these buildings after their aestheticisation through photographic images. This new interest suggests an appropriation of the cortijo into the needs and expectations of the consumer society.

Sustainability is gaining a firm presence within the discipline of architecture in spite of the number of obstacles with which it has been challenged: either confronting detractors, sceptics, and the discredit resulting from the abusive use of the term as a marketing tactic, or dealing with the actual practicalities inherent to its implementation. This heightened environmental consciousness increasingly engrained within the profession is solidly supported by a growing social, political and media interest, which has impelled new regulations and the involvement of new experts like physicists, engineers, and ecologists in the design process. This phenomenon is transforming architectural practice and design techniques, moving the focus from a mechanical perspective of architecture (tectonics, construction, materiality, structure) to a biotechnical approach which attempts to equip the architect with instruments to regard buildings as living structures permanently exchanging energy with their environment. Using the environment as a creative generator for design has prompted the emergence of new aesthetic models in current architectural design. The access to new tools, together with new concerns and ways of thinking, have opened new lines of intervention that seem to affect the profession in a more fundamental way. The focus of this paper is to provide an account of these cultural constructs as experimental aesthetic systems, with the intention of not only clarifying their principles and objectives, but also reflecting on the design techniques associated to them. Ultimately, this paper provides a reflection on the role of aesthetics in sustainable design, and on the critical question: is sustainability finally becoming an intrinsic part of architecture?

Complex design challenges exist in designing for a dynamic and ageing world. Designing for older adults is a timely and important issue. Understanding user requirements is vital and the appropriate exchange of this knowledge is crucial in the pursuit of supportive, sustainable buildings and the longevity of built-environment design.

Capturing reflections from Built Environment Professionals (BEPs) in the UK, this paper investigates the practitioners’ viewpoint on knowledge exchange by specifically focusing on the scenario of designing for the requirements of older people. Thematic analysis of BEP conversations (n=10) and the results from a questionnaire (N=35) are presented.

Findings uncover recommendations towards the enhancement of knowledge exchange. They highlight the fundamentals of good communication, the desire for structured knowledge, the value of contextual guidance, the importance of a visual format for BEPs, and the need for forms of guidance to support client motivations.

The design process can be enabled by equipping practitioners with information about user requirements. Interestingly, it was also found that BEPs find value in direct user-engagement although further support tools for these engagements with building users was desired.

Appropriate exchange of knowledge is essential for effective ‘real-world’ design impact. These findings, built from the scenario of designing for older adults, also apply to the broader context of all guidance used by Built Environment Professionals.