Study Abroad : Summer 2014Department of Architecture : DoArchSouth Dakota State University

CITIES ON THE WATER : MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY

CONTENT

Cities on the Water is a study abroad program, based in Montevideo, Uruguay, organized by the Department of Architecture (DoArch) at South Dakota State University.

This publication is a synthesis of the study and work produced by architecture students during an intensive four week period from May 26th to June 20th, 2014. Additional work and travel log is documented on the program website, doarchmontevideo2014.wordpress.com

Printed in the USA by Blurb

ISSN: 9807-6749Typeset in Open Sans, and Garamond

Copyright 2014 the Department of Architecture, South Dakota State University. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher.

CITIES ON THE WATER 2014Designed and produced by Federico Garcia Lammers

EDITORIAL ADVISORSBrian T. RexJessica Garcia Fritz

CONTRIBUTORSShaun Davis Blake Foxley Emily Hamer Alex Krug Ethan Millar Brian Skrovig

PUBLISHERDepartment of Architecture (DoArch)South Dakota State University

Box 2203Intramural Building (The Barn) 108Brookings, SD 57007Phone: (605) - 688 - 4841

FOREWORD : DRAWING IN & ON PLACE

Brian T. Rex, Department Head & Associate Professor

INTRODUCTION : CITIES ON THE WATER

Federico Garcia Lammers, Assistant Professor & Program Coordinator

PEOPLE

Students & Faculty

SCHEDULE

Uruguayan & Montevideo Territory

PUBLIC SPACES

Plazas & Urban Enclosures

WATER’S EDGE

Lines & Adjacencies

MATERIAL PRACTICES

Surfaces & Technology

POSTSCRIPT : THE DEEP DEEP SOUTH

References

Inside-out Jokes

Acknowledgements

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Above Playa Pocitos : Montevideo, Uruguay Photo : Brian Skrovig Night time walk at the beach.

5FOREWORD

For two centuries (1660 to 1840) young women and men seeking a liberal arts education found it first and foremost through tours studying archaeology, painting, sculpture, architecture, and the general culture and civilization of other societies. The notion of the ‘Grand Tour’ was invented by someone remembered well today as an architect, Inigo Jones, but who, in his day, was known first as a ‘great traveler’. Jones designed the tour as a very standardized itinerary to be done in the company of a ‘Cicerone’, an eloquent and knowledgeable guide.

Its no mistake that the notion of study travel was invented by an architect. Long after the ‘grand tour’ was abandoned by most we find Le Corbusier filling 80 sketchbooks in Southern Europe in 1911 and Colin Rowe in 1962 shepherding the young Peter Eisenman around Europe in a VW. Study travel, ample time spent in an unfamiliar place meticulously studying itgraphically, is an invaluable facet to our disciplinary education. Like drawing, its something the discipline of architecture hasn’t given up in the name of virtuality or distance education.

One draws in place to best draw on place across a lifetime of practice.

The Summer 2014 trip to Montevideo, Uruguay is our second study travel but is the first to really get down to drawing a place to draw on a place. The graphical and photographical studies in this record volume areoutstanding. The travelers toured well and the ‘cicerone’, our Federico Garcia Lammers, was an eloquent and knowledgeable guide.

August 7th, 2014Brookings, SD

DRAWING IN & ON PLACEBrian T. Rex, Department Head & Associate Professor

Above Las Bóvedas : Montevideo, Uruguay Photo : Brian SkrovigAfternoon discussion at colonial military battery.

7INTRODUCTION

Cities on the Water is an intensive four week study abroad program, based in Montevideo, Uruguay, organized by the Department of Architecture (DoArch) at South Dakota State University. This publication is a synthesis of the student work and study done from May 26th to June 20th, 2014.

South Dakota is a small place in a sublime landscape. The urban environment that surrounds our inland school is defined by the establishment of cities along the railroad. In spite of the distance between these two places, they are linked as small scale urban conditions positioned in sublime landscapes. One condition is inland the other is coastal.

As the southernmost capital of the American continent, Montevideo is intrinsically tied to El Río de la Plata and its mixture with the Atlantic Ocean. This relationship to water has shaped and molded the city and its architecture. As a major historical port of entry into South America for European immigrants, Montevideo’s urban transformations have been shaped by its colonial and modernist past. These transformations are most evident in the relationship among public spaces, the water’s edge, and material practices. In order to prompt discussions students explored and analyzed these three categories through reading, writing, drawing, and photographing. These categories are not mutually exclusive, nor do they suggest a linear method of study.

Through a combination of methods students spent four weeks tracing four centuries of architectural and urban history in Uruguay.

June 20th, 2014Montevideo, Uruguay

“Sublime objects are vast,beautiful objects are relatively small.”Edmund Burke 1

CITIES ON THE WATERFederico Garcia Lammers, Assistant Professor & Program Coordinator

Above Playa Pocitos : Montevideo, Uruguay Photo : Emily HamerDrawing during the sun set at La Rambla.

9PEOPLE

DoArch STUDENTS Place of Origin

Shaun Davis Ipswich, SD

Blake Foxley Platte, SD

Emily Hamer Jordan, MN

Alex Krug Sioux Falls, SD

Ethan Millar Redfield, SD

Brian Skrovig Colton, SD

DoArch FACULTY

Federico García Lammers, Assoc. AIA Montevideo, Uruguay

COLLABORATORS

Arq. Inés González Montevideo, Uruguay

Arq. Juan Andrés Morlan Montevideo, Uruguay

Ing. José Luis Valverde Montevideo, Uruguay

AboveIglesia del Cristo Obrero : Atlántida, Uruguay Photo : Federico Garcia LammersGroup photo at exterior undulating brick wall.

11SCHEDULE

WEEK ONE May 26th - June 1st

Montevideo

Population : 1,360,000

Colonia del Sacramento

Population : 56,000

WEEK TWO June 2nd - June 8th

Montevideo

Population : 1,360,000

WEEK THREE June 9th - June 15th

Atlántida

Population : 5000

Piriápolis

Population : 8000

WEEK FOUR June 16th - June 20th

Durazno

Population : 30,000

TERRITORIAL ORGANIZATION : URUGUAY19 DepartmentsDepartment of Montevideo National Capital, Montevideo

POPULATIONCountry: 3.3 MillionMontevideo: 1.3 Million

AREAUruguay: 176,000 sq. km (68,000 sq.mi) Montevideo: 195 sq.km (75 sq.mi)

BORDERSBrazil (East)Argentina (West)Rio de la Plata (South)

LANGUAGESpanish

0km 20km 40km 60km

N

MONTEVIDEO

COLONIA DEL SACRAMENTO

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA

ATLÁNTIDA PIRIÁPOLIS

DURAZNO

Left Uruguay & El Río de la Plata Photo : Google satellite imageRío de la Plata delta and the Uruguayan territory.

Rio de la Plata

Uruguay

BrazilArgentina

GLOSSARY : SPANISH, ENGLISH

Ciudad Vieja = old cityEl Centro = city centerPuerto (Area Portuaria) = port (port area) Parque = parkCerro = hillAvenida = avenueBulevar = BoulevardCosta = coastLa Rambla = coastal wayPlaya = beach

Plaza = plazaMercado = marketFeria = street fairCalle = streetGallery = galeria

Edificio = buildingIntendencia = city hallMonumento = monumentEstadio = stadiumIglesia / parroquia = churchMausoléo = MausoleumFaro = lighthouseFacultad = college/schoolMuro = perimeter wallCiudadela = old city gateTorre = towerBóveda = vaultMuelle = pier

Hormigón = concreteLadrillo = brickPiedra = stoneAcero = steelHierro = ironVidrio = glass

CIUDAD VIEJAFORTALEZA DEL CERRO

AREA PORTUARIA

PARQUE BATLLE

FACULTAD DE ARQ.

PARQUE RODÓ DESTINO 26 HOSTEL

0km 2km 4km 6km

N

Rio de la Plata

AboveMontevideo & El Río de la Plata Photo : Google satellite imageMontevideo territory and points of reference