diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md index 1250623..56ea684 100644 --- a/CLAUDE.md +++ b/CLAUDE.md @@ -35,8 +35,9 @@ and combine patterns. The paper's workaround: 1. A web tool ([APL-Companion](https://apl-companion.netlify.app/apl.html)) lets someone familiar with the patterns curate a **project-specific subset** of the 253, then export it as a condensed PDF (titles + - paraphrased summaries only, no navigation chrome). -2. That PDF is fed to an LLM as context, along with a prompt describing the + paraphrased summaries only, no navigation chrome). We convert these PDF + exports to Markdown once received (see Conventions below). +2. That pattern subset is fed to an LLM as context, along with a prompt describing the project (purpose, scale, local context) and a request for a **narrative description of the human experience** of the building — look, feel, and ornamental treatment — grounded only in the selected patterns. @@ -55,9 +56,9 @@ synthesis → evaluation*. ## Our process for this project -1. **Pattern subset** — Bruno provides a subset pattern language for a - national museum, built with the APL-Companion tool, exported as a PDF into - `ref/`. +1. **Pattern subset** — a subset pattern language for a national museum, + built with the APL-Companion tool, prepared by Nikos Salingaros (not + Bruno) and added to `ref/`. 2. **Condense the brief** — work through the official brief (see Reference material below) and extract only the aspects that serve genuine human needs (programmatic requirements, collection scale, site, functional @@ -75,6 +76,9 @@ synthesis → evaluation*. - Museum staff (curators, conservators, educators) - School group / children - Indigenous / community stakeholders whose heritage is represented + Note that it is important that the narratives are mutually consistent, + features described in a narrative from the point of view of one stakeholder + must not contradict those perceived by another stakeholder. ## Deliverable @@ -89,6 +93,23 @@ and record here once the narrative-writing step actually begins. - `buildings-15-02400-v2.txt` — the Postle & Salingaros paper this project's method is based on. +- `A Pattern Language Ecuador National Museum.md` — the project-specific + pattern subset (55 patterns from Alexander/Ishikawa/Silverstein, numbered + and paraphrased by the APL-Companion tool), prepared by Nikos Salingaros + for this museum project. This is the core design-constraint input for + narrative writing. +- `Ecuadorian_Form_Language_Grammar.md` — "Ecuadorian Form Language — Quito + Grammar", a companion design-grammar module (generated by Kimi.ai, source + unclear beyond that) covering Quito's climate response rules, a vocabulary + of regional/historical form elements (indigenous, pre-Columbian, colonial, + baroque, regional), composition syntax, and color/ornament systems. Written + as a prompt module for an LLM. Relevant to us for the "look, feel, and + ornamental treatment" part of narrative-writing (per the paper's Section + 4.2 approach) grounded in authentic Ecuadorian vernacular character, and + for glossary terms (zaguán, corredor, zócalo, alero, etc.) worth reusing + verbatim in our narratives. Its final output-template step ("camera-ready + visual summary" for image generation) is not relevant to us since we are + not producing images. - `Muna Technical Bases for Stage 1.txt` — the official Stage 1 open call document: scope, site (Av. Eloy Alfaro / Av. de la República, Iñaquito, Quito, 13,004.65 m² plot, min. 25,000 m² building), schedule, selection @@ -105,14 +126,19 @@ and record here once the narrative-writing step actually begins. others) of the winning proposal, analysing it against human-centered design/pattern-language principles. Use per "Condense the brief" above. -## Not yet received / open items +## Conventions -- Pattern subset PDF for a national museum (Bruno to add to `ref/`). +- Reference documents received as PDF are converted to Markdown (or plain + text, for documents like the academic paper where reflowing into headed + sections isn't worth the effort) and the PDF is then deleted — keeps + everything in `ref/` greppable and quotable rather than needing repeated + page-range PDF reads. Check conversions carefully: PDF text extraction can + silently mis-join hyphenated compounds and drop ligatures/symbols. ## Status -Project just started. This file will be updated as we condense the brief, -receive the pattern subset, and draft narratives. +Pattern subset and the Ecuadorian Form Language Grammar have been received. +Next: condense the brief (step 2), then draft narratives (step 3). diff --git a/ref/A Pattern Language Ecuador National Museum.md b/ref/A Pattern Language Ecuador National Museum.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4b68430 --- /dev/null +++ b/ref/A Pattern Language Ecuador National Museum.md @@ -0,0 +1,349 @@ +# A Pattern Language — National Museum of Ecuador (subset) + +Converted from `A Pattern Language Ecuador National Museum.pdf` (companion tool export, prepared by Nikos Salingaros). This is a project-specific subset of Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa and Murray Silverstein's *A Pattern Language* (1977) — problem/solution text here is paraphrased by the APL-Companion tool, not quoted verbatim from the original book. `*` and `**` after a pattern title reproduce the tool's own confidence/importance markers. + +## 95 Building Complex ** + +Problem: A building cannot truly serve human needs unless it comprises smaller buildings or components that reflect its internal social organization. + +Solution: Avoid constructing large monolithic structures. When possible, translate your building program into a complex of elements that express the actual social relationships of the situation. In lower-density areas, this may manifest as clusters of small buildings linked by arcades, paths, bridges, shared gardens, and walls. + +In higher-density settings, a single building can function as a complex if its key components are clearly defined while remaining part of a unified three-dimensional composition. + +Even smaller structures like houses can be conceptualized as "building complexes"—perhaps featuring elevated sections with wings and adjoining cottages. + +## 96 Number of Stories * + +Problem: Within the established four-story height limit, what is the optimal height for your specific buildings? + +Solution: Begin by calculating your required square footage of built space, then divide by the site area to determine the floor area ratio. Select your building height based on this ratio and the heights of surrounding structures, using the provided reference table. Under no circumstances should you build on more than 50 percent of the available land. + +## 97 Shielded Parking * + +Problem: Large parking structures filled with cars create inhospitable, lifeless environments that pedestrians avoid. Yet for drivers, parking entrances effectively serve as main entrances to buildings and need to remain visible. + +Solution: Conceal substantial parking lots or garages behind natural barriers to shield vehicles and parking structures from external view. These screening elements might include buildings, connected houses, housing hills, earth berms, or shops. + +Design the parking entrance as a natural gateway to the buildings it serves, positioned so that the main building entrance is clearly visible from the parking entrance point. + +## 98 Circulation Realms ** + +Problem: Disorientation is a significant issue in many contemporary building complexes. People frequently lose their bearings, causing considerable mental distress. + +Solution: Configure large buildings and building clusters so that reaching any interior destination requires passing through a sequence of distinct realms. Each realm should be marked by a gateway, with spaces becoming progressively smaller as one moves deeper into the sequence. Select realms that can be easily named, enabling clear directional instructions by simply identifying which realms to traverse. + +## 99 Main Building * + +Problem: A building complex without a focal point resembles a body without a head—it lacks essential organization and identity. + +Solution: For any building group, identify which structure houses the most essential function—the building that represents the soul of the group as a human institution. Develop this as the main building, giving it a central position and higher roof to establish its prominence. + +Even in dense complexes that form a single building, make the primary section taller and more visually prominent than surrounding elements, ensuring that attention naturally gravitates toward the most important part. + +## 101 Building Thoroughfare + +Problem: Public building complexes that cannot be fully serviced by outdoor pedestrian walkways require an alternative to conventional corridors for indoor circulation. + +Solution: In situations where climate or density necessitates moving primary circulation routes indoors, construct them as building thoroughfares. Position each thoroughfare to function as a convenient shortcut, maintaining continuity with the external public streets and featuring wide, accessible entrances. Along the edges, incorporate windows, seating areas, counters, and entrances that extend into the hall, making the building's primary functions visible to passersby. Design these thoroughfares wider than standard corridors—minimum 11 feet, but preferably 15-20 feet wide— with high ceilings (at least 15 feet), potentially including glazed roofing and lower-height areas along the perimeter. In multi-story thoroughfares, walkways on different levels can be utilized to create these lower-height spaces along the edges. + +## 103 Small Parking Lots * + +Problem: Large-scale parking facilities significantly degrade the human experience of the landscape. + +Solution: Develop compact parking areas accommodating only 5-7 vehicles each, enclosed by garden walls, hedges, fences, embankments, and trees to render the vehicles nearly invisible from outside. Distribute these small lots with a minimum of 100 feet between them. + +## 105 South Facing Outdoors ** + +Problem: In all but desert environments, people gravitate toward sunlit outdoor spaces and avoid shaded areas. + +Solution: Position buildings on the northern side of their associated outdoor spaces, keeping the outdoor areas to the south. Avoid creating deep bands of shade between buildings and the sunny portions of exterior spaces. + +## 106 Positive Outdoor Space ** + +Problem: Outdoor areas that are merely leftover spaces between buildings typically remain unused. + +Solution: Design all outdoor spaces surrounding and between buildings to have positive, intentional qualities. Provide each space with some degree of enclosure by using building wings, trees, hedges, fences, arcades, and trellised walkways to define its boundaries. This creates distinct entities with clear spatial definition rather than amorphous areas that dissipate around corners. + +## 107 Wings of Light ** + +Problem: Contemporary architecture often ignores natural illumination, relying predominantly on artificial lighting. However, buildings that minimize natural light as the primary illumination source create environments unsuitable for extended human occupation. + +Solution: Structure each building to divide into wings that roughly correspond to the most significant natural social groupings within the building. Design each wing to be elongated and as narrow as feasible—never exceeding 25 feet in width. + +## 108 Connected Buildings * + +Problem: Buildings that stand in isolation reflect the fragmentation of an unhealthy society. + +Solution: Whenever possible, integrate your building with existing structures in the surrounding area. Avoid maintaining setbacks between buildings; instead, strive to design new structures as extensions of established ones. + +## 110 Main Entrance ** + +Problem: The location of a building's main entrance(s) represents perhaps the most crucial decision in the development of its floor plan. + +Solution: Situate the building's main entrance where it can be readily observed from primary approach routes, and give it a distinctive, prominent form that projects outward from the building façade. + +## 112 Entrance Transition ** + +Problem: Structures, particularly residential ones, that incorporate a thoughtful transition between street and interior create a more serene atmosphere than those with direct street access. + +Solution: Create an intermediate space between the street and front door. Guide the connecting pathway through this transitional area, marking it with various sensory shifts—changes in lighting, acoustics, direction, surface texture, elevation, enclosure (possibly using gateways), and most importantly, a change in visual perspective. + +## 114 Hierarchy of Open Space * + +Problem: When outside, individuals instinctively seek positions where their backs are protected while facing toward a more expansive area beyond their immediate surroundings. + +Solution: In designing any outdoor space—garden, terrace, street, park, public gathering area, or courtyard—ensure two key elements. First, create at least one smaller space that overlooks it and serves as a natural backdrop. Second, position the space and its openings to provide views of at least one larger, more distant area. This arrangement gives every outdoor space a natural "back," allowing anyone who positions themselves against this backdrop to face outward toward a more expansive vista. + +## 115 Courtyards Which Live ** + +Problem: Contemporary building courtyards often remain unused and lifeless. Though intended to function as private open spaces for people's enjoyment, they frequently end up abandoned, filled with gravel and abstract art installations rather than human activity. + +Solution: Position each courtyard to provide a view of a larger open area beyond. Ensure that at least two or three doorways open from the building directly into the courtyard, with natural pathways between these doors crossing through the courtyard space. Along one edge, adjacent to a doorway, construct a roofed veranda or porch that seamlessly connects both the interior and the courtyard. + +## 116 Cascade of Roofs * + +Problem: Buildings rarely maintain structural and social integrity unless the floors descend toward the ends of wings and the roof correspondingly forms a cascading pattern. + +Solution: Conceptualize the entire building or complex as a system of interconnected roofs. Position the largest, tallest, and widest roofs above the most significant portions of the building. When detailing the roof layout, arrange smaller roofs to cascade from these larger ones, creating a stable, self-supporting system that aligns with the hierarchy of social spaces beneath. + +## 117 Sheltering Roof ** + +Problem: The roof fulfills a fundamental role in our existence. The most basic structures are essentially just roofs. When a roof is concealed, when its presence cannot be sensed throughout the building, or when it serves no practical purpose, people lose an essential sense of protection and shelter. + +Solution: Create sloped roofs or vaulted ceilings with fully visible surfaces. Extend the eaves down low, particularly near entrances and pausing points, bringing them as low as 6'0" or 6'6". Integrate the top floor of each wing directly into the roof structure so that the roof doesn't merely cover the space but entirely envelops it. + +## 119 Arcades ** + +Problem: Arcades—covered walkways at building edges that exist partially indoors and partially outdoors—serve a crucial function in facilitating human interactions with buildings. + +Solution: Construct arcades wherever paths run alongside buildings. Utilize these arcades primarily to connect buildings to one another, enabling pedestrians to move from place to place under the protection of these covered passages. + +## 120 Paths and Goals * + +Problem: Path design will only feel appropriate and comfortable when it harmonizes with the act of walking—a process far more nuanced than most people realize. + +Solution: Begin path layout by identifying goals at natural points of interest. Then connect these goals to form pathways. The paths may be either straight or gently curved between goals, with paving that expands around each goal point. Keep goals at moderate distances, never more than a few hundred feet apart from one another. + +## 121 Path Shape * + +Problem: Modern streets primarily serve as thoroughfares rather than places where people can linger and gather, contrary to their potential social function. + +Solution: Design public paths with a widened central area and narrower endpoints, creating an enclosed space that invites people to stay rather than merely pass through. + +## 122 Building Fronts * + +Problem: Building set-backs, originally implemented to ensure public welfare through adequate light and air for all structures, have ironically contributed significantly to the decline of streets as vibrant social environments. + +Solution: Never permit set-backs between streets, paths, or public land and the buildings that face them. These set-backs provide no valuable function and typically diminish the quality of open areas between buildings. Construct buildings directly adjacent to pathways; work to change regulations in communities where outdated building codes prevent this approach. Allow building frontages to adopt slightly irregular angles as they adapt to street contours. + +## 124 Activity Pockets ** + +Problem: The vitality of a public square naturally develops around its perimeter. If this edge fails to function properly, the space never becomes animated with human activity. + +Solution: Encircle public gathering spaces with activity pockets—small, partially enclosed areas at the edges that extend into the open space between paths. These pockets should contain functions that naturally encourage people to pause and engage with the environment. + +## 125 Stair Seats * + +Problem: In active spaces, the most appealing spots are those elevated enough to provide perspective but low enough to keep people engaged with the activity. + +Solution: In public spaces where people tend to linger, incorporate a few steps at edges where staircases descend or where level changes occur. Make these elevated areas easily accessible from below, creating spaces where people can gather and sit to observe ongoing activities. + +## 128 Indoor Sunlight * + +Problem: When appropriate rooms have southern exposure, homes feel bright, cheerful and welcoming; when inappropriate rooms face south, homes can feel dark and dreary. + +Solution: Position the most significant rooms along the southern edge of the building, and extend the structure along the east-west axis. + +Adjust the layout to ensure appropriate rooms receive southeastern and southwestern sunlight. For instance: give common spaces full southern exposure, place bedrooms to the southeast, and position the porch to the southwest. For most climate zones, this requires a building shape that is elongated on the east-west axis. + +## 129 Common Areas at the Heart ** + +Problem: Social groups - whether families, work teams, or school communities - cannot thrive without regular informal interactions among members. + +Solution: Establish a single shared space for each social group. Position it at the center of gravity of all spaces the group uses, and arrange it so that paths entering and exiting the building run tangentially to this central area. + +## 130 Entrance Room ** + +Problem: When entering or exiting a building, people need a transitional space that serves as a passage both inside and outside the structure. This space functions as the entrance room. + +Solution: Create a light-filled room at the main entrance that bridges indoor and outdoor spaces, encompassing area both outside and inside the building. The exterior portion might resemble a traditional porch, while the interior could function as a hall or sitting area. + +## 131 The Flow Through Rooms + +Problem: Movement between rooms is equally important as the rooms themselves, and how this movement is arranged significantly impacts social interaction within those rooms. + +Solution: Minimize corridors and passages whenever possible. Instead, utilize public and common rooms as spaces for both movement and gathering. Arrange common rooms in a chain or loop pattern, enabling movement from room to room, with private rooms opening directly into these public spaces. In all cases, create generous indoor circulation paths that form wide, ample loops throughout the house, featuring views of fireplaces and large windows. + +## 133 Staircase as a Stage + +Problem: A staircase serves more than just connecting different floors. It constitutes its own space, volume, and integral part of the building; if this space isn't enlivened, it becomes a dead zone that fragments the building and disrupts its functional processes. + +Solution: Situate the main staircase in a prominent, central, and visible location. Design the entire staircase as a room (or as a courtyard if it's exterior). Integrate the stair with the room so they function as one unit, with the staircase descending around one or two walls of the room. Design the bottom of the stair to widen out with open windows or balustrades and broad steps, allowing people descending to participate in the room's activities while on the stairs, and encouraging those below to use the stairs as seating. + +## 159 Light on Two Sides of Every Room ** + +Problem: Given options, individuals consistently prefer rooms illuminated from multiple sides, leaving spaces lit from just one direction largely unused and vacant. + +Solution: Position each room so it has exterior space on at least two sides, then install windows in these exterior walls to allow daylight to enter every room from multiple directions. + +## 160 Building Edge ** + +Problem: Buildings are typically conceived as inward-focused structures centered around their internal spaces. The outward orientation of buildings is frequently overlooked in design considerations. + +Solution: Consider the building's edge as a substantive element with volume rather than a mere line or interface without depth. Create indentations along the building perimeter with areas that encourage people to pause. Develop spaces with depth and coverage - places to sit, lean, and stroll - especially at points along the perimeter that overlook engaging outdoor activities. + +## 161 Sunny Place ** + +Problem: The southern-facing area immediately outside a building - that intersection between walls and ground where sunlight falls - needs deliberate development to create a space where people can enjoy the sunshine. + +Solution: Within a south-facing courtyard, garden, or yard, identify the location between the building and exterior that receives optimal sunlight. Develop this spot into a special sunny retreat - make it the primary outdoor space, suitable for working in the sun, installing a swing and special plantings, or sunbathing. Take particular care to position the sunny area where it's protected from wind. Even consistent mild breezes will prevent enjoyment of the most appealing location. + +## 163 Outdoor Room ** + +Problem: Traditional gardens provide space for activities like lying in grass, swinging, playing croquet, growing flowers, or playing fetch with a dog. However, there's another way to experience the outdoors that gardens don't adequately address. + +Solution: Create an outdoor space with sufficient enclosure that it feels like a room despite being open to the sky. Define its corners with columns, consider partial roofing with a trellis or adjustable canvas, and establish "walls" using elements such as fences, sitting walls, screens, hedges, or the building's exterior walls. + +## 166 Gallery Surround * + +Problem: When occupants cannot exit a building onto balconies and terraces that overlook the surrounding outdoor space, neither they nor people outside have any medium helping them feel that the building and the broader public world are interconnected. + +Solution: At every level of the building where possible, construct elements such as porches, galleries, arcades, balconies, niches, outdoor seats, awnings, and trellised rooms along the building edges—particularly where they open to public spaces and streets—and connect them directly to interior rooms via doorways. + +## 167 Six-Foot Balcony ** + +Problem: Balconies and porches that are less than six feet in depth rarely get used. + +Solution: When constructing a balcony, porch, gallery, or terrace, always ensure it's at least six feet deep. If feasible, recess at least a portion of it into the building rather than having it completely cantilevered out and separated from the building by a simple line, and include partial enclosure. + +## 168 Connection to the Earth ** + +Problem: A house can feel disconnected from the surrounding natural environment unless its floors directly integrate with the earth around the structure. + +Solution: Link the building to its surrounding earth by creating a network of paths, terraces, and steps around its perimeter. Place these elements deliberately to create ambiguous boundaries— making it difficult to determine precisely where the building ends and the earth begins. + +## 171 Tree Places ** + +Problem: When trees are planted or trimmed without consideration for the unique spaces they can create, they become essentially useless to the people who need them. + +Solution: When planting trees, arrange them according to their natural characteristics to form enclosures, avenues, squares, groves, and individual spreading specimens toward the center of open areas. Shape nearby buildings in response to the trees, ensuring that both the trees individually and the trees and buildings together create functional spaces for people. + +## 174 Trellised Walk ** + +Problem: Trellised walkways possess a distinctive beauty. They're so unique and different from other path designs that they're almost archetypal in nature. + +Solution: For paths requiring special protection or intimacy, construct a trellis over the walkway and plant climbing flowers on it. Use the trellis to help define and shape the outdoor spaces on both sides of the path. + +## 191 The Shape of Indoor Space ** + +Problem: The flawless geometric squares and rectangles characteristic of ultra-modern architecture lack meaningful connection to human needs or structural logic. They merely represent rigid ideals and fantasies that emerge when people become overly focused on systems and production methods. + +Solution: With some exceptions, design each indoor space or section of a space as an approximate rectangle, featuring relatively straight walls, near-right-angle corners, and a generally symmetrical vault covering each room. + +## 195 Staircase Volume * + +Problem: This pattern is included because our research has shown that non-professionals frequently miscalculate the volume required for staircases, resulting in plans that cannot be implemented. + +Solution: Create a two-story volume to house the staircase, whether it's straight, L-shaped, U- shaped, or C-shaped. The stairs may range from 2 feet wide (for very steep stairs) to 5 feet wide (for generous, gradual stairs). In all cases, the entire stairwell must constitute one complete structural bay with two-story height. Don't assume all stairs must conform to the "standard" 30-degree angle. The steepest stairs might almost resemble ladders, while the most generous can be as gradual as ramps and quite wide. When determining the exact slope of your stairs, remember the relationship: riser + tread = 17½ inches. + +## 202 Built-In Seats * + +Problem: Built-in seating offers comfort and luxury to buildings, but frequently fails in practice. Common issues include improper placement, insufficient width, incorrect back angle, poor viewing position, or uncomfortable hardness. This pattern provides guidance for creating truly functional built-in seats. + +Solution: Test the location before construction by placing an existing armchair or sofa in your intended position. Adjust it until you find an optimal spot. Leave it there for several days to verify you genuinely enjoy sitting there. If you find yourself naturally gravitating to sit in it, you've found the right location. Then construct your built-in seat with identical width and cushioning to ensure its success. + +## 205 Structure Follows Social Spaces ** + +Problem: Buildings feel uncomfortable to occupants when the physical architecture (defined by columns, walls, and ceilings) doesn't align with the social spaces (defined by activities and human interactions). + +Solution: Establish this fundamental construction principle: never allow engineering requirements to dictate the building's form. Instead, position all load-bearing elements - columns, walls, and floors - to complement the social spaces within the building. The engineering structure should adapt to support human activities, rather than forcing social spaces to conform to structural necessities. + +## 206 Efficient Structure * + +Problem: Buildings employ various structural systems: column and beam, load-bearing walls with slab floors, vaults, domes, or tents. But which approach or combination is truly most efficient? What's the optimal way to distribute building materials to create strong, well-enclosed spaces while minimizing material usage? + +Solution: Design the building as a unified body of compressive material. Geometrically, envision it as a three-dimensional system of individually vaulted spaces, predominantly rectangular. Use thin load-bearing walls stiffened with intermittent columns. Reinforce wall junctions, connections between walls and vaults, and areas surrounding openings with additional thickness. + +## 207 Good Materials ** + +Problem: Modern industrial society presents a fundamental conflict regarding building materials. + +Solution: Select only biodegradable materials with low energy requirements that can be easily modified on-site. For primary structural elements, consider ultra-lightweight concrete (40-60 lbs) and earth-based materials such as tamped earth, brick, and tile. For secondary components, utilize wood planks, gypsum, plywood, cloth, chickenwire, paper, cardboard, particle board, corrugated iron, lime plasters, bamboo, rope, and tile. + +## 208 Gradual Stiffening ** + +Problem: Pattern languages are fundamentally about creating buildings uniquely adapted to individual needs and sites. This philosophy requires building plans that remain loose and fluid to accommodate subtle adaptations. + +Solution: Understand that construction isn't like assembling an erector set from discrete components. Instead, think of it as weaving a structure that begins globally complete but flexible, then progressively increases in stiffness while maintaining some flexibility, before finally achieving complete rigidity and strength. In contemporary building, this approach naturally translates to erecting a shell of sheet materials, then strengthening it by adding compressive fill. + +## 209 Roof Layout * + +Problem: What roof design will organically integrate with your building's nature? + +Solution: Design your roof plan so each distinct roof section corresponds to an identifiable social unit within the building or complex. Position the largest and highest-spanning roofs over the most important communal spaces. Extend lesser roofs from these primary roof structures, and create the smallest roofs as half-vaults and sheds covering alcoves and thick walls. + +## 221 Natural Doors and Windows ** + +Problem: Determining the ideal placement for windows and doors requires nuanced consideration, yet few construction methods acknowledge this subtlety. + +Solution: Never use standardized doors or windows. Create windows of varying sizes based on their specific location. Don't determine the exact size or position of door and window frames until the room's rough framing is complete. Stand physically within the space and use your visual judgment to decide optimal placement and dimensions. Mark your chosen openings with string. As you progress higher in the building, make the windows progressively smaller. + +## 225 Frames as Thickened Edges ** + +Problem: A membrane with openings is vulnerable to tearing at those openings unless the edges are strengthened with additional material. + +Solution: Rather than treating door and window frames as independent rigid structures inserted into wall openings, conceive of them as integral thickenings of the wall itself, designed to distribute the stress that concentrates around openings. + +Following this concept, construct frames as extensions of the wall material, seamlessly integrated with the wall, using identical materials, and implemented in a way that maintains continuity with the wall's structure. + +## 226 Column Place * + +Problem: Columns that are too slender or designed solely based on structural considerations will never create a comfortable environment. + +Solution: For freestanding columns, ensure they are at least as thick as a human body – minimum 12 inches, preferably 16 inches. Create spaces around them where people can comfortably sit or lean, such as a step, a small seat built against the column, or an area formed between paired columns. + +## 239 Small Panes ** + +Problem: With the invention of plate glass windows, it was assumed they would connect us more closely with nature. However, the effect has been quite the opposite. + +Solution: Break each window into multiple small panes. These should rarely exceed one foot square and can be much smaller. Determine appropriate pane dimensions by dividing the window's width and height by the desired number of panes. This approach creates uniquely proportioned panes for each window based on its specific dimensions. + +## 240 Half-Inch Trim ** + +Problem: Buildings designed with machine-like precision don't require trim because of their exactness. However, this precision comes at a significant cost: it eliminates freedom and flexibility in building design. + +Solution: At every junction between different materials, install a piece of trim that covers the connection. Select trim pieces so that the narrowest section in each component is approximately 1/2 inch wide. Materials for trim can include wood, plaster, terracotta, and other similar options. + +## 241 Seat Spots ** + +Problem: Outdoor seating placed without consideration for views and climate conditions typically goes unused. + +Solution: The location of outdoor seats matters far more than their design. When the spot is well- chosen, even the simplest bench works perfectly. + +For cooler climates, position seats to capture sunlight and shield from wind; in warmer areas, place them in shaded locations with access to summer breezes. In all situations, orient seats to provide views of ongoing activities. + +## 243 Sitting Wall ** + +Problem: Walls and fences between outdoor areas are often too tall, yet having no boundary at all fails to acknowledge the nuanced distinctions between different spaces. + +Solution: Enclose natural outdoor spaces and create subtle boundaries between outdoor areas using low walls approximately 16 inches high. Make these walls wide enough to serve as seating—at least 12 inches across. + +## 247 Paving with Cracks Between the Stones ** + +Problem: While asphalt and concrete outdoor surfaces are easily maintained, they provide no benefits for pathways, rainwater management, or plant life. + +Solution: For paths and terraces, arrange paving stones with approximately 1-inch gaps between them to allow grass, moss, and small flowering plants to grow in these spaces. Place the stones directly on soil rather than mortar, and avoid using cement or mortar between the stones. + +## 249 Ornament ** + +Problem: Humans naturally desire to embellish their surroundings. + +Solution: Examine the building to identify edges and transitions that would benefit from emphasis or additional binding energy. Corners, material junctions, door frames, windows, entrances, wall intersections, garden gates, and fences all naturally invite ornamentation. + +Develop simple themes and apply elements of these themes repeatedly to the edges and boundaries you've selected for emphasis. Design ornaments to function as seams along these boundaries, connecting the two sides and unifying them. + +## 250 Warm Colors ** + +Problem: The greenish and grayish tones common in hospitals and office hallways create a cold, depressing atmosphere. Natural wood, sunlight, and vibrant colors provide warmth. The color temperature in a room significantly affects comfort levels. + +Solution: Select surface colors that work with natural light, reflected light, and artificial lighting to generate a warm atmosphere throughout the rooms. diff --git a/ref/Ecuadorian_Form_Language_Grammar.md b/ref/Ecuadorian_Form_Language_Grammar.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7b90a2b --- /dev/null +++ b/ref/Ecuadorian_Form_Language_Grammar.md @@ -0,0 +1,301 @@ +# Ecuadorian Form Language — Quito Grammar + +*A reusable design-grammar module for LLM-driven architectural description and image generation.* + +## 0. Role of this document + +This document is one module of a larger prompt. Other modules supply the design brief (program, site, constraints) and the spatial chassis (the organizational type chosen for the project). This module supplies everything else: + +- the invariant climate script (fixed: Quito sierra); + +- the form vocabulary (lexicon of elements, drawn from all Ecuadorian regions and four historical strata); + +- the syntax (mandatory combination rules); + +- the color system (a menu of registers — exactly one is selected per generated project); + +- the ornament system (a menu of packages — selected per generated project); + +- the variation protocol (how to sample distinct color × ornament combinations across a batch of generated projects). Precedence when instructions conflict: + +1. Brief constraints and spatial chassis (from other modules) govern program and organization. + +2. The climate rules of §2 are invariant — they always win. If a formal idea drawn from another region conflicts with the Quito climate script, the element must be reinterpreted until it complies (e.g., a coastal stilt-house gallery becomes a corredor on a stone plinth). + +3. Syntax rules of §4 govern all composition. + +4. Color and ornament selections (§5, §6) are the free variables: each generated project makes one distinct choice. Terminology discipline: always use the glossary terms of §11 exactly as defined (e.g., zaguán, corredor, zócalo, alero). Every generated description must explicitly name its chosen Color Register (CR#) and Ornament Package(s) (OP#). This keeps a batch of generations comparable and traceable. + +## 1. Design thesis + +The form language is a stratified fusion of Ecuador’s complete architectural spectrum: Ground like the pre-Columbians, walls like the colonials, roofs like the indigenous, celebration like the baroque. Every building reads from bottom to top as geological and cultural time: a heavy, earth-bound base (pre-Columbian logic of platform, terrace and battered stone); an earthen-timber body (colonial logic of tapial, adobe and bahareque); a light, dominant, deeply overhanging roof (indigenous logic of the great protective canopy); and a strictly rationed layer of ornament and color (baroque and textile logic of density at thresholds and crowns). The language is a grammar of translation, never replica: no historical facade is copied whole; elements are decomposed, understood by their climate function, and recombined. + +## 2. Invariant climate script — Quito sierra (FIXED) + +### 2.1 Climate facts as design parameters + +| Parameter | Value | Design consequence | +|---|---|---| +| Latitude / altitude | ≈0.2° S / ≈2,850 m | Sun path nearly vertical, swinging north (Jun) and south (Dec); both N and S facades receive direct sun seasonally | +| Temperature | ≈9–22 °C year-round; no seasons; diurnal swing 10–15 °C | Passive design only: thermal mass buffers nights, sun capture warms days; no heating/cooling machinery drives form | +| Rainfall | ≈1,000–1,250 mm/yr, distributed year-round with two peaks (Mar–May, Oct–Nov); afternoon storms; occasional hail | Permanent rain readiness; sun and rain can occur the same afternoon — shading and shelter must be simultaneous, not seasonal | +| Sun | Near-zenith twice yearly; extreme UV (index 11+) | Horizontal shading outperforms vertical fins; mineral paints and limewash as renewable skin | +| Humidity / air | Moderate; cool nights; still mornings, breezy afternoons | Cross-ventilation desirable midday; closable, massive envelope desirable at night | + +### 2.2 Mandatory climate responses (Rules C1–C10 — always apply) + +- C1 — Dominant pitched roof. Every major volume carries a pitched roof (25–40°), gabled, hipped or conical. Flat roofs permitted only as minor links or terraces between pitched volumes. + +- C2 — Deep eaves (alero). Horizontal overhangs of 0.8–1.2 m on all exposed eaves, protecting earth render, shading walls from the near-vertical sun, and sheltering perimeter circulation. + +- C3 — Raised plinth. Every building meets the ground on a stone plinth (0.3–0.6 m) or platform against rain splashback and ground moisture. Buildings never touch grade directly. + +- C4 — Mass inside, light outside. Thermal mass (tapial/adobe/stone, 0.4–0.6 m) forms ground-floor and inner walls; upper floors and gables may lighten to bahareque/timber (0.15–0.2 m). + +- C5 — Courtyard sun capture. Patios sized to admit the high equatorial sun: courtyard width-to-surrounding-height ratio ≈ 1:1. + +- C6 — Covered circulation. At least one all-weather covered path (corredor, cloister walk, deep eave walk) connecting the building’s principal rooms. + +- C7 — Orientation discipline. Principal habitable rooms favor morning (east) sun; west facades are guarded (smaller openings, screens, corredor buffering) because hot afternoon sun coincides with rainstorms. North and south facades both receive seasonal sun and may be opened with eave protection. + +- C8 — Cross-ventilation stack. The sequence zaguán → patio → corredor must be able to ventilate through the building; ridge or gable vents exhaust warm air. + +- C9 — Water as ornament. Rain discharge is expressed: canales, gargoyles, or scuppers throw water clear of earthen walls into stone-lined channels or garden rills. + +- C10 — No seasonal operability. Do not invent “summer/winter” mechanisms. Quito has one eternal mild, wet, high-UV day; the building is always simultaneously a sunshade, an umbrella, and a night-time thermal battery. + +## 3. Form vocabulary (lexicon) + +Elements are grouped by tectonic family. Each carries its origin stratum — S1 Indigenous, S2 Pre-Columbian, S3 Early Colonial, S4 Baroque, R Regional/19th-century — and may be drawn from any Ecuadorian region, but must comply with §2 and §4. + +### 3.1 Ground and platform elements + +- E1 Terraced stone base (S2 — Ingapirca, andenes): sloped sites are carved into terraces of rough or fitted stone; buildings sit on platforms, never on flattened fill. Retaining faces may incline (batter) inward. + +- E2 Earthen platform/mound (S2 — Cochasquí): communal or ceremonial program may be raised on a broad earthen platform with a ceremonial ramp — mass as shaped ground. + +- E3 Stone plinth (S3): continuous rubble or ashlar base band, 0.3–0.6 m, under all earthen walls. + +### 3.2 Wall elements + +- E4 Battered ashlar wall (S2): fitted stone, faces inclining slightly inward; joints readable; used for bases, portals, retaining — carries seismic and visual weight. + +- E5 Tapial / adobe wall (S3): monolithic earthen wall, 0.4–0.6 m, limewashed; deep rounded reveals at openings. + +- E6 Bahareque / quincha (S3): timber or cane frame with woven infill and mud-lime render; light, flexible, used for upper floors, gables and interior partitions; may be expressed (visible weave pattern) or rendered smooth. + +- E7 Trapezoidal opening (S2): doorways and niches narrowing toward the top, monolithic lintel; use sparingly for principal thresholds or niches — a potent pre-Columbian marker. + +### 3.3 Roof and sky elements + +- E8 Great conical canopy (S1 — maloca): steep conical or pyramidal roof, structure expressed as radiating poles; contemporary translation in timber, bamboo or steel with shingle/thatch/standing-seam skin; reserved for communal/ceremonial volumes (hall, chapel, market, gathering space). + +- E9 Gabled/hipped tile roof (S3): the default roof; clay barrel tile, pitch 25–40°, ridge vents possible. + +- E10 Deep eaves walk (S1/S3): the alero deep enough (0.8–1.2 m+) to become a shaded, rain-proof perimeter room. + +- E11 Tiled dome / lantern (S4): small glazed-tile dome or lantern over the symbolic core (stair hall, chapel, reading room); silhouette event, rationed (see G6). + +- E12 Espadaña / finial (S3/S4): bell-gable or sculpted finial as skyline punctuation on otherwise simple masses. + +### 3.3 Threshold and in-between elements + +- E13 Zaguán (S3): covered passage from street to patio; deep, shaded, often with a postigo (door-within-door); the building’s primary threshold and airlock. + +- E14 Patio (S3): open court, width ≈ surrounding height; planted, paved in stone or brick; the climatic and social heart. + +- E15 Corredor (S3/R): covered gallery — colonnade or arcade, 1.5–2.5 m wide — ringing patio or street facade; the all-weather social room; carved timber posts or stone piers. + +- E16 Balcón corrido (R — Cuenca): continuous timber balcony on street facades, with turned spindles and carved brackets; mediates interior and street. + +- E17 Atrio (S3/S4): raised forecourt before a principal entrance, bounded by a low wall with corner finials; the civic threshold. + +- E18 Mirador (R): roofed lookout bay or tower room framing a volcano/valley view; upper-level counterpoint to the patio. + +- E19 Arcaded portal (S3 — Balbanera): deep arched entry porch in stone; the archaic colonial threshold, powerful on civic fronts. + +- E20 Celosía / reja (S3/R): timber lattice or wrought-iron grille over windows; ventilated shade and privacy; surface for geometric ornament (OP1/OP3). + +### 3.4 Interior elements + +- E21 Artesonado ceiling (S3/S4 — mudéjar): coffered/interlaced timber ceiling over the principal hall; structure as ornament (OP3). + +- E22 Retablo wall (S4): one interior wall organized as a tiered, framed composition of niches, carving and color (OP4). + +- E23 Whitewashed nave with colored carpentry: calm limewashed interior volume with doors, balconies, choir rails and beams carrying the saturated color. + +## 4. Syntax — combination rules (Rules G1–G8, always apply) + +- G1 — Stratification. Compose bottom-up: pre-Columbian ground (E1–E4) → colonial body (E5–E6) → indigenous-derived crown (E8–E10). A building must be heaviest at the earth and lightest at the sky. Never invert. + +- G2 — Perimeter around void. Program wraps one or more patios; every inhabited room touches both an exterior edge and a court or corredor. + +- G3 — Threshold gradient. Public-to-private sequence is always graduated: street → atrio or zaguán → patio → corredor → room. No door opens directly from street into an intimate room. + +- G4 — The roof is the fifth facade. Quito is a city of slopes: roofs are constantly seen from above. Compose tile pitch, eave lines, ridges, domes and espadañas as a deliberate roofscape. + +- G5 — Additive bays. Buildings grow in structural bays of 3–4.5 m; expansion happens by adding bays and successive patios, giving natural phasing and modularity. + +- G6 — One dense face / one dense room. Ornament concentrates at a single exterior episode (portal, atrio front) and/or a single interior episode (retablo wall, artesonado hall). All other surfaces stay calm. Never distribute ornament evenly. + +- G7 — Slope empathy. On sloped sites, terrace (E1) and step the masses; each step may carry its own pitched roof, producing the characteristic cascading roofscape. + +- G8 — Proportional habits. Courtyards square-ish (1:1 to 1:2); openings tall and narrow within massive walls; portal rhythms of 3 or 5 bays; story heights 3.0–3.6 m; eave lines continuous across a composition. + +## 5. Color system — SELECT EXACTLY ONE REGISTER PER PROJECT + +### 5.1 Fixed placement rules (Rules P1–P6 — always apply, whichever register is chosen) + +- P1 — Quiet fields. Large wall fields stay limewash white, earth-tone or plaster-calm. Saturation is never spread over whole structural masses (exception: CR4, which replaces fields with polychromy by design). + +- P2 — Zócalo band. A deep mineral-hue base band (0.6–1.2 m) runs at the foot of exterior walls — historically a splash guard, compositionally the building’s grounding line. + +- P3 — Carpentry carries color. Doors, windows, balconies, corredor posts, shutters and grilles carry the register’s accent hue(s), in one consistent hue family per facade. + +- P4 — Roofs stay natural. Clay tile red-brown, thatch tone, or dark metal; only domes may be glazed colored tile. + +- P5 — Matte mineral character. All color reads as limewash, mineral pigment, or fired clay — matte, slightly veiled, never synthetic gloss. + +- P6 — Interior inversion allowed. A restrained exterior may conceal a saturated interior (the baroque inversion), but only when the chosen register says so. + +### 5.2 Color Registers (CR1–CR8) + +- CR1 — Quito White & Andesite. Historic-center canonical: lime-white fields; grey volcanic andesite at plinth, portal and carved elements; dark walnut carpentry; red-brown tile; small oxblood zócalo. Mood: grave, civic, monastic. + +- CR2 — Almagre Earth. Rural Andean: almagre red-oxide zócalo and lower walls; ochre and bone-white upper fields; near-black or deep-green carpentry. Mood: earthen, warm, archaic. + +- CR3 — Añil Contrast. White fields with deep indigo/añil blue carpentry, doors and balcony rails; thin red zócalo. Mood: crisp, graphic, highland-clear. + +- CR4 — Las Peñas Polychromy. Coastal transplant (requires simple massing and strict P3 discipline): each facade plane or bay in a different saturated pastel — turquoise, coral, saffron, leaf green, rose — with white trim unifying. Mood: festive, popular, street-life. + +- CR5 — Cuenca Timber. Least-painted register: natural wood (honey to dark walnut) dominates corredores, balconies, eaves; white plaster fields; tile roof; black iron rejas. Mood: crafted, quiet, material-honest. + +- CR6 — Tocapu Earth Code. Pre-Columbian textile palette: madder red, charcoal black, bone white, gold ochre, applied in geometric bands, panels and floor patterns (pair with OP1/OP2). Mood: coded, ancestral, graphic. + +- CR7 — Golden Baroque Inversion. Exterior near-monochrome (white/grey/stone, P1–P4 strictly); interior explodes: gold-toned light, polychrome retablo wall, painted ceilings (pair with OP4). Mood: severe outside, ecstatic inside. + +- CR8 — Mestizo Pastels. Otavalo-market limewash palette: soft rose, aqua green, pale yellow fields in alternating bays; white trim; deep blue or green carpentry. Mood: gentle, domestic, luminous. + +## 6. Ornament system — SELECT PER PROJECT + +Select one geometric system (OP1–OP3 or OP7) and optionally one episodic system (OP4–OP6). Never two geometric systems; never more than one figurative episode per building (G6). + +### 6.1 Fixed placement rules (Rules O1–O4 — always apply) + +- O1 — Zoned placement. Ornament lives in three zones only: the base (masonry bonds, zócalo patterns), the threshold (portal frames, zaguán doors, window surrounds, celosías), and the crown (cornices, espadañas, domes, eave details). Fields between stay calm. + +- O2 — Density gradient. Ornament density increases toward the principal portal or principal room, and falls off with distance. + +- O3 — Structural honesty. Geometric ornament must be made by construction (brick bonds, tile coursing, timber joints, shadow gaps, perforations), not applied as surface decal, except where a package explicitly says otherwise. + +- O4 — Translation, not replica. Motifs are abstracted and re-proportioned for contemporary construction; no wholesale copying of a historical facade. + +### 6.2 Ornament Packages (OP1–OP7) + +- OP1 — Tocapu Grid (geometric, S2). The Inca textile cell system: a gridded field of distinct square glyphs (steps, keys, diagonals, diamonds, checks). Translate to: perforated brick screens, parapet patterns, floor tilings, shadow-jointed wall panels. Palette follows CR6 or the chosen register’s accents. + +- OP2 — Chakana & Diamond Course (geometric, S2). The stepped Andean cross and Cañari diamond: stepped profiles in cornices and parapets; diamond-coursed masonry bonds; chamfered building corners; mullion patterns. Works at the scale of the whole plan (stepped massing) down to a door pull. + +- OP3 — Mudéjar Lacería (geometric, S3). Islamic-Spanish interlace: star-pattern timber lattice celosías; alfiz frames (rectangular bands) around arched openings; and one artesonado coffered ceiling over the principal hall — interlaced timber geometry as structure-ornament. + +- OP4 — Quiteño Retablo Episode (episodic, S4). One dense carved composition only, at the main portal (carved volcanic stone or timber) or one interior wall: sun and moon discs, Andean flora and fauna (pineapple, parrot, puma, corn, monkey), tiered niche composition, estípite (inverted-pyramid pilaster) silhouettes permitted. Everything else calm (G6, O2). + +- OP5 — Domestic Carved Timber (episodic-craft, R — Cuenca). Ornament as woodworking craft: carved corredor columns and brackets, turned balcony spindles, deep-carved zaguán doors, patterned eave boards. Distributed along corredores and balconies — the exception that lives in circulation zones rather than one episode. + +- OP6 — Skyline Ornament (episodic, S3/S4). The silhouette as ornament: espadañas, finials, small glazed-tile domes, lanterns; composed against the equatorial sky per G4. Pairs with any geometric system; keeps wall surfaces free. + +- OP7 — Neighbor Techniques (geometric-surface, borrowed). Techniques imported from Latin America’s broader orbit, used only as bands and friezes: azulejo/talavera-style glazed tile wainscots; sgraffito plaster bands (two-tone scratched plaster, Tunja manner); fileteado-style flowing painted linework reserved for soffits, signs and small panels. + +## 7. Composition procedure (for the describing LLM) + +When given a brief and spatial chassis from the other prompt modules, compose in this order: + +1. Restate the chassis in grammar terms (which patios, terraces, or halls organize it). + +2. Apply the climate script C1–C10 as non-negotiable section decisions: pitch, eaves, plinth, mass placement, orientation, ventilation path. + +3. Assign the strata (G1): choose ground elements (E1–E4), body elements (E5–E6), crown (E8–E12), thresholds (E13–E20), interiors (E21–E23). + +4. Check the syntax G1–G8 explicitly. + +5. Select one Color Register (CR#) and apply placement rules P1–P6. + +6. Select one geometric ornament system (+ optionally one episodic package) and place per O1–O4 and G6. + +7. Verify against the negative constraints of §10. + +8. Write the description following the template of §8, naming CR/OP selections. + +## 8. Output description template + +Each generated building description must contain, in this order: + +1. Name and one-sentence concept (evocative, references the strata fusion). + +2. Site and massing — platforms/terraces, volumes, roofscape (G4, G7). + +3. Section and climate devices — explicitly trace C1–C10 compliance (eaves, plinth, patio ratio, ventilation path, orientation). + +4. Structure and materials — strata assignment: ground / body / crown elements by E-number. + +5. Color application — name the CR#, then describe field / zócalo / carpentry / roof / interior per P1–P6. + +6. Ornament placement — name the OP#(s); describe base, threshold, crown episodes per O1–O4; confirm G6 rationing. + +7. Camera-ready visual summary — 3–5 sentences of pure visual description for the image-generation step, plus 2–3 suggested viewpoints (e.g., “aerial oblique showing roofscape,” “from the patio toward the corredor,” “street elevation at the zaguán”). + +## 9. Variation protocol (for generating a batch of projects) + +To produce a diverse batch that covers the traditional Ecuadorian spectrum: + +- Hold invariant: climate script (§2), syntax (§4), placement rules (§5.1, §6.1). These make the batch legible as one language. + +- Vary systematically: the spatial chassis (from other modules) × one CR# × one geometric OP# (+ optional episodic OP#). + +- Recommended pairings (affinities, not obligations): CR6→OP1/OP2; CR7→OP4; CR3/CR5→OP5; CR1→OP3/OP6; CR2→OP2; CR4→OP5 (simple massing); CR8→OP5/OP6. + +- Coverage target: a batch of 8–12 variants should cycle through most CR#s and both pre-Columbian and colonial/baroque ornament families, so the human selector sees the full spectrum — archaic-earthen, graphic-indigenous, monastic-white, festive-polychrome, and baroque-ecstatic. + +## 10. Negative constraints (forbidden moves) + +- N1 No seasonal mechanisms (“opens for summer” / “closed for winter”) — Quito has no seasons. + +- N2 No vertical louvers/fins as primary solar control (sun is near-vertical); use horizontal eaves and corredores. + +- N3 No fully glazed facades without eave or colonnade protection; no glass-box massing. + +- N4 No flat primary roofs (minor terrace links excepted). + +- N5 No building meeting grade without plinth, platform or terrace. + +- N6 No more than one figurative ornament episode per building; no evenly distributed ornament. + +- N7 No free-floating ornament outside base/threshold/crown zones. + +- N8 No mixing two Color Registers in one project; no hues outside the chosen register; no synthetic gloss. + +- N9 No colored roofs (glazed domes excepted). + +- N10 No towers, domes or espadañas over minor private rooms — skyline events mark communal/civic cores only. + +- N11 No literal historical collage (a copied colonial facade); translate and abstract per O4. + +- N12 Regional elements (coastal stilts, Amazonian open walls, etc.) may enter only as formal references reinterpreted to comply with C1–C10. + +## 11. Glossary (use these terms exactly) + +- alero — deep roof overhang/eave. andén — agricultural terrace, basis of the terraced base. artesonado — mudéjar interlaced timber ceiling. atrio — walled forecourt before a church or civic building. bahareque / quincha — timber-cane frame with mud-lime render infill. balcón corrido — continuous timber balcony. canales — roof water spouts/gargoyles. celosía — perforated lattice screen. chakana — stepped Andean cross. corredor — covered gallery ringing a patio or facade. espadaña — bell-gable wall rising above a roofline. estípite — inverted-obelisk pilaster of late baroque. maloca — Amazonian communal house under a great conical roof. mirador — roofed lookout framing a view. patio — interior open court. postigo — pedestrian door cut within a large gate. reja — wrought-iron window grille. retablo — tiered, framed altar-piece composition. tapial — monolithic rammed earth. tocapu — Inca geometric textile glyph. zaguán — covered entry passage street-to-patio. zócalo — painted or stone base band at a wall’s foot. + +## Appendix A — Canonical precedents by stratum (reference anchors) + +- S1 Indigenous: Shuar/Achuar maloca (conical thatch, radiating poles); Andean rural choza (ichu-grass gable, stone footings). + +- S2 Pre-Columbian: Ingapirca (Cañari-Inca; elliptical Temple of the Sun, battered ashlar, trapezoidal niches, terracing); Cochasquí (Caranqui; fifteen earthen pyramids with ramps); tocapu textiles (All-T’oqapu Tunic); chakana. + +- S3 Early Colonial: La Balbanera, Colta (1534; stone, arched portal, espadaña, atrio); San Francisco, Quito (atrio, mudéjar artesonados, twin towers); Calle La Ronda popular housing; rural bahareque farmhouses. + +- S4 Baroque: La Compañía de Jesús, Quito (1605–1765; carved andesite facade with Andean flora-fauna and sun disc; gold interior); Santo Domingo and La Merced, Quito (domes, mudéjar ceilings); Quito School carving and polychromy. + +- R Regional/19th-c.: Cuenca historic center (corredores, carved balconies, cascading tile roofs over the Tomebamba); Las Peñas / Cerro Santa Ana, Guayaquil (polychrome timber houses, elevated galleries); Otavalo, Zuleta and Salasaca textile patterns. + +- Neighbor techniques (OP7): Cusco-school gilding and Altiplano arquebusier angels; Tunja sgraffito interiors; Brazilian/Portuguese azulejos; Mexican talavera and churrigueresque density; Argentine fileteado linework. diff --git a/ref/MUNA Guide-for-the-submission-of-the-enabling-documentation.txt b/ref/MUNA Guide-for-the-submission-of-the-enabling-documentation.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..035bfef --- /dev/null +++ b/ref/MUNA Guide-for-the-submission-of-the-enabling-documentation.txt @@ -0,0 +1,75 @@ +GUIDE FOR THE SUBMISSION OF THE ENABLING DOCUMENTATION FOR +STAGE 1 +To ensure the correct submission of the Stage 1 enabling documentation, you must follow this +procedure for consolidating and remitting information via email: +1. + +Consolidation of Documentation +• +• + +2. + +Single File: All supporting documentation (annexes, portfolio, CVs and certificates) +must be contained in a single compressed file in .ZIP format. +Formats: The documents inside the compressed file must be presented in digital PDF +format. The graphic sheet for each work or project presented must be in DIN A3 +format. +Cloud Upload & Access + +• +• +• +3. + +External Platform: The .ZIP file must be uploaded to a cloud storage platform (such as +Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, or similar). +Access Permissions: The download link must be configured with public read +permissions to ensure immediate access by the Evaluation Committee. +Email Attachments Restriction: Do not attach files directly to the email. +MD5 Hash Code Generation and Incorporation + +To guarantee data integrity and ensure the file has not been altered after sending, the use of +a verification code is required: +• + +• + +• + +Nature of Hash: The MD5 Hash is a unique alphanumeric code generated from your +final .ZIP file. It is not an additional file, but a string of text to validate the integrity of +the information. +Tools to Generate it: You can generate it using system commands (e.g. certutil -hashfile +on Windows or md5 on macOS) or MD5 HASH generation applications (e.g. QuickHash +GUI, HashMyFiles, WinMD5Free, etc.) +Once the HASH has been generated, this code must be included in the body of the +application email. + + 4. + +Mail Delivery Protocol (Conforming to Annex 3) + +To: convocatoria@museonacional.gob.ec +Subject: "Credential and Portfolio Delivery - Stage 1 - [Team Name]". +Body Contents: +I hereby submit the enabling documentation, credentials, and portfolio corresponding to Stage +1 of the Open Call for Architectural schematic design proposals for the New Building of the +National Museum of Ecuador. +I act as Project Director and representative of the applicant team [Team Name, if applicable], +in compliance with the requirements established in the technical bases, including all +documenta- tion duly signed and submitted in digital format. +The enabling documentation, annexes, and portfolio can be accessed at the following link: +[Link to download documents in ZIP format] +[Hash Code] + +I would like to confirm receipt of these documents. +I remain attentive to any additional communication related to the process. + +Cordially, +[Name of Project Director] [Professional Title] +[Phone] +[Email] +[Name of Team/Studio/Firm] + + \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/ref/Muna ANNEX-1_RulesMuseum_ENG.md b/ref/Muna ANNEX-1_RulesMuseum_ENG.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..88fe2ce --- /dev/null +++ b/ref/Muna ANNEX-1_RulesMuseum_ENG.md @@ -0,0 +1,32 @@ +> I, Arch. , with identification/passport , representative of the +> participating team for the selection of credentials and portfolios for +> partici- pation in the Open Call for Architectural schematic design +> proposals for the New Building of the National Museum of Ecuador, +> hereby undertake, state my interest in participating in this process +> and commit, if selected, to submit the required proposal within the +> deadlines established and in accordance with the conditions set forth +> in the Participation Rules and all other project documen- tation. +> +> Furthermore, I acknowledge that, if selected to participate in Stage 2 +> of the Open Call for the Design of the Architectural Preliminary +> Project for the New Building of the National Museum of Ecuador, +> +> I may have access to confidential or privileged information related to +> the project. I hereby agree to maintain the strictest confidentiality +> regarding such information and to refrain from disclosing it to third +> parties. I understand that any unauthorized disclosure may result in +> the termination of my participation in the process and the application +> of legal measures in accordance with applica- ble laws and +> regulations. +> +> Place and Date: +> +> Signature +> +> \[Name of Project Director\] +> +> \[Professional Title\] \[Phone\] +> +> \[Email\] +> +> \[Name of Team / Studio / Firm diff --git a/ref/Muna ANNEX-2_RulesMuseum_ENG.md b/ref/Muna ANNEX-2_RulesMuseum_ENG.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a104a43 --- /dev/null +++ b/ref/Muna ANNEX-2_RulesMuseum_ENG.md @@ -0,0 +1,582 @@ ++---+----------------+------------------+-------------+---------------+ +| > | | | | | +| | | | | | +| * | | | | | +| * | | | | | +| T | | | | | +| A | | | | | +| B | | | | | +| L | | | | | +| E | | | | | +| | | | | | +| 1 | | | | | +| . | | | | | +| > | | | | | +| | | | | | +| T | | | | | +| E | | | | | +| A | | | | | +| M | | | | | +| > | | | | | +| | | | | | +| M | | | | | +| E | | | | | +| M | | | | | +| B | | | | | +| E | | | | | +| R | | | | | +| S | | | | | +| * | | | | | +| * | | | | | ++:=:+================+:================:+=============+===============+ +| > | > **Full | > **Role** | > **Team | > * | +| | > name** | | > Repre | *Architecture | +| * | | | sentative** | > Firm / | +| * | | | | > | +| N | | | | Independent** | +| ° | | | | | +| * | | | | | +| * | | | | | ++---+----------------+------------------+-------------+---------------+ +| > | | > Project | > X | | +| | | > Director | | | +| 1 | | | | | +| \ | | | | | +| * | | | | | ++---+----------------+------------------+-------------+---------------+ +| > | | > Senior | | | +| | | > Architect 1 | | | +| 2 | | | | | +| \ | | | | | +| * | | | | | ++---+----------------+------------------+-------------+---------------+ +| > | | > Senior | | | +| | | > Architect 2 | | | +| 3 | | | | | +| \ | | | | | +| * | | | | | ++---+----------------+------------------+-------------+---------------+ +| > | | > Urban | | | +| | | > Landscape | | | +| 4 | | > Specialist | | | +| \ | | | | | +| * | | | | | ++---+----------------+------------------+-------------+---------------+ +| > | | > Museum | | | +| | | > specialist | | | +| 5 | | | | | +| \ | | | | | +| * | | | | | ++---+----------------+------------------+-------------+---------------+ +| > | | > Structural and | | | +| | | > civil works | | | +| 6 | | > engineer | | | +| \ | | | | | +| * | | | | | ++---+----------------+------------------+-------------+---------------+ +| > | | > Specialist in | | | +| | | > eco-effi- | | | +| 7 | | > ciency and | | | +| \ | | > sustainability | | | +| * | | | | | ++---+----------------+------------------+-------------+---------------+ + + +++++++++++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
+

TABLE 2. TEAM EXPERIENCE

+
+

2.1. GENERAL EXPERIENCE (PUBLIC-USE BUILDINGS)

+
+

N°

+
+

Project Name

+
+

Loca- tion

+
+

Typology

+
+

Gross Floor area (m2)

+
+

Usable Floor area (m2)

+
+

Year

+
+

Promoter

+
+

Authors

+
+

Verification document (link, certifi- cate, +etc.)

+
+

DIN A3,

+

Rende- rings, plani- metry

+
+

1*

+
+

2*

+
+

3*

+
+

4

+
+

5

+
+

6

+
+

7

+
+ + ++++++++++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
+

TABLE 2. TEAM EXPERIENCE

+
+

2.2. SPECIFIC EXPERIENCE (CULTURAL BUILDINGS)

+
+

N°

+
+

Project Name

+
+

Loca- tion

+
+

Typology

+
+

Gross Floor area (m2)

+
+

Usable Floor area (m2)

+
+

Year

+
+

Promoter

+
+

Authors

+
+

Verification document (link, certificate, etc.)

+
+

1*

+
+

2

+
+

3

+
+

4

+
+

5

+
+

6

+
+

7

+
+ ++---+------+---------+---------+------+------+--------+--------------+ +| > | | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +| * | | | | | | | | +| * | | | | | | | | +| T | | | | | | | | +| A | | | | | | | | +| B | | | | | | | | +| L | | | | | | | | +| E | | | | | | | | +| > | | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +| 3 | | | | | | | | +| . | | | | | | | | +| > | | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +| T | | | | | | | | +| E | | | | | | | | +| A | | | | | | | | +| M | | | | | | | | +| > | | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +| A | | | | | | | | +| W | | | | | | | | +| A | | | | | | | | +| R | | | | | | | | +| D | | | | | | | | +| S | | | | | | | | +| > | | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +| A | | | | | | | | +| N | | | | | | | | +| D | | | | | | | | +| > | | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +| R | | | | | | | | +| E | | | | | | | | +| C | | | | | | | | +| O | | | | | | | | +| G | | | | | | | | +| N | | | | | | | | +| I | | | | | | | | +| T | | | | | | | | +| I | | | | | | | | +| O | | | | | | | | +| N | | | | | | | | +| S | | | | | | | | +| * | | | | | | | | +| * | | | | | | | | ++:=:+:====:+:=======:+:=======:+:====:+:====:+:======:+:============:+ +| > | | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +| * | | | | | | | | +| * | | | | | | | | +| F | | | | | | | | +| i | | | | | | | | +| r | | | | | | | | +| s | | | | | | | | +| t | | | | | | | | +| > | | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +| P | | | | | | | | +| r | | | | | | | | +| i | | | | | | | | +| z | | | | | | | | +| e | | | | | | | | +| * | | | | | | | | +| * | | | | | | | | ++---+------+---------+---------+------+------+--------+--------------+ +| > | > | > * | > ** | > | > | > * | > ** | +| | **Na | *Instit | Project | **Ye | **C | *Conta | Verification | +| * | me** | ution** | > | ar** | ount | iner** | > document | +| * | | | Name** | | ry** | | > (link, | +| N | | | | | | | > | +| ° | | | | | | | certificate, | +| * | | | | | | | > etc.)** | +| * | | | | | | | | ++---+------+---------+---------+------+------+--------+--------------+ +| > | | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +| 1 | | | | | | | | ++---+------+---------+---------+------+------+--------+--------------+ +| > | | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +| 2 | | | | | | | | ++---+------+---------+---------+------+------+--------+--------------+ +| > | | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +| 3 | | | | | | | | ++---+------+---------+---------+------+------+--------+--------------+ +| > | | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +| 4 | | | | | | | | ++---+------+---------+---------+------+------+--------+--------------+ +| > | | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +| 5 | | | | | | | | ++---+------+---------+---------+------+------+--------+--------------+ +| > | | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +| 6 | | | | | | | | ++---+------+---------+---------+------+------+--------+--------------+ +| > | | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +| 7 | | | | | | | | ++---+------+---------+---------+------+------+--------+--------------+ +| > | | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +| * | | | | | | | | +| * | | | | | | | | +| S | | | | | | | | +| e | | | | | | | | +| c | | | | | | | | +| o | | | | | | | | +| n | | | | | | | | +| d | | | | | | | | +| , | | | | | | | | +| > | | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +| t | | | | | | | | +| h | | | | | | | | +| i | | | | | | | | +| r | | | | | | | | +| d | | | | | | | | +| > | | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +| p | | | | | | | | +| r | | | | | | | | +| i | | | | | | | | +| z | | | | | | | | +| e | | | | | | | | +| > | | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +| a | | | | | | | | +| n | | | | | | | | +| d | | | | | | | | +| > | | | | | | | | +| | | | | | | | | +| m | | | | | | | | +| e | | | | | | | | +| n | | | | | | | | +| t | | | | | | | | +| i | | | | | | | | +| o | | | | | | | | +| n | | | | | | | | +| s | | | | | | | | +| * | | | | | | | | +| * | | | | | | | | ++---+------+---------+---------+------+------+--------+--------------+ +| > | > | > * | > ** | > | > | > * | > ** | +| | **Na | *Instit | Project | **Ye | **C | *Conta | Verification | +| * | me** | ution** | > | ar** | ount | iner** | > document | +| * | | | Name** | | ry** | | > (link, | +| N | | | | | | | > | +| ° | | | | | | | certificate, | +| * | | | | | | | > etc.)** | +| * | | | | | | | | ++---+------+---------+---------+------+------+--------+--------------+ +| | | | | | | | | ++---+------+---------+---------+------+------+--------+--------------+ +| | | | | | | | | ++---+------+---------+---------+------+------+--------+--------------+ +| | | | | | | | | ++---+------+---------+---------+------+------+--------+--------------+ +| | | | | | | | | ++---+------+---------+---------+------+------+--------+--------------+ + +\* Minimum information required diff --git a/ref/Muna Technical Bases for Stage 1.txt b/ref/Muna Technical Bases for Stage 1.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7dc5749 --- /dev/null +++ b/ref/Muna Technical Bases for Stage 1.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1384 @@ +Open Call for Architectural schematic design +proposals for the New Building of the National +Museum of Ecuador +Participation Rules +Stage 1 + + Presidency of the Republic of Ecuador +President +Daniel Noboa Azín +Vice president +María José Pinto González-Artigas +Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture +Minister +Gilda Alcívar García +Deputy Minister of Culture +Romina Muñoz Procel +Undersecretary of Social Memory +María Carla Freile Freile +National Museum of Ecuador +Chief executive officer +Carlos Montalvo Puente +College of Architects of Ecuador - Pichincha +President +Diego Ordóñez Holguín +Vice president +Daniela Loaiza Jiménez + + + +International Advisor +Hernán Crespo Bermejo + + OVERVIEW +Scope + +The Government of Ecuador, through the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture and with +the technical advice of the College of Architects of Ecuador (CAE-P), calls for the preparation of the architectural preliminary project for the new building of the National Museum +of Ecuador—an institution that safeguards more than 1.2 million cultural and heritage assets spanning 12,000 years of history and forming the most important collection in the country. +The objective is to consolidate the National Museum as a cultural platform of national significance +and a touristic reference for Quito, the first UNESCO World Heritage City, through a new building +that integrates exhibition rooms, conservation and research areas, educational spaces, public areas, +and a landscape plan that strengthens its relationship with the urban environment. + +Location and area of the property +• +• + +Av. Eloy Alfaro and Av. de la República, Iñaquito parish, Quito - Pichincha - Ecuador +13.004,65 m² + +Minimum projected area for the new building +• + +25,000 m² + +Requirements and modality +• + +National and international Open Call + +The Open Call is aimed at national and international architects with multidisciplinary teams who +can demonstrate, through previous projects, the ability to undertake a project of this scale and +complexity, showing solvency in architectural conceptualization, urban integration, and the programmatic resolution of cultural facilities. + +Stages + +The Open Call will be carried out in two stages: +• +• + +Stage 1: Open Call for the submission of credentials and portfolios. +Stage 2: Architectural Design Proposals (Schematic design), in which only the teams selected +in the previous stage—those that demonstrate the professional and technical solvency and +experience required for a project of this magnitude—will participate. + +Recognition + +Stage 1 does not include financial prizes; its objective is to select the teams with the necessary +solvency to advance to the next phase. In Stage 2, there will be only one winner, who will receive +USD 450,000 for the complete delivery of the preliminary project. + +Stage 1 Submission Deadline +February 17, 2026 – 23:59 (UTC-5) + +Applications must be submitted by email to: convocatoria@museonacional.gob.ec +Questions regarding the open call should be sent to: preguntas@museonacional.gob.ec + +Website: + +https://construccion.museonacional.gob.ec + + I. + +NATIONAL MUSEUM +OF ECUADOR + +II. + +LOCATION + +III. PARTICIPATION +REQUIREMENTS - STAGE 1 +IV. SCHEDULE AND DELIVERY +METHOD - STAGE 1 +V. + +SELECTION PROCESS +- STAGE 1 + +VI. ANNEXES + + I. NATIONAL MUSEUM +OF ECUADOR + +5 + + I. NATIONAL MUSEUM +OF ECUADOR +The National Museum of Ecuador was inaugurated in 1969 as the Guillermo Pérez Chiriboga +Archaeological Museum and Galleries of the +Central Bank of Ecuador, under the direction of +architect Hernán Crespo Toral. +Its first home was the Central Bank’s headquarters building, located across from Alameda Park, +where the museum quickly became one of the +country’s most significant cultural institutions. +From this location, it advanced the preservation, +research, and interpretation of Ecuador’s archaeological, ethnographic, and artistic heritage, +assembling collections that represent diverse regions and cultural traditions of the nation. + +Educational activities at the “Guillermo Pérez Chiriboga” +Archaeological Museum and Galleries + +During the 1980s, following a period of notable +institutional growth and increasing international +visibility, a public tender was launched for the +construction of a purpose-built museum building +in Itchimbía Park. The process, however, was ultimately declared void. +In 1995, the museum’s exhibition spaces were +temporarily relocated to the newly constructed +Edificio de los Espejos of the Casa de la Cultura +Ecuatoriana, opening to the public on June 30 +under the name National Museum of the Central Bank of Ecuador. The collections storage +areas were transferred to the Aranjuez Building +on Reina Victoria Street. Simultaneously, plans +were developed to install the National Museum +permanently within the Central Bank’s headquarters, with the aim of dedicating the entire building to cultural functions and relocating banking +services to what is now the North Platform. This +initiative, however, did not come to fruition. + +Central Bank of Ecuador building that housed the museum +from 1969 to 1995 + +Current entrance to the National Museum of Ecuador, +Edificio de los Espejos, Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana + +6 + + In 2007, the cultural functions of the Central Bank were transferred to the Ministry of Culture and +Heritage, which subsequently promoted several projects aimed at improving the museum’s facilities. +In 2015, the National Museum closed to undergo a comprehensive architectural and museographic +renewal, reopening in May 2018 within the same building. Today, the National Museum of Ecuador +is one of the most visited museums in the country; however, it continues to operate in a facility that +no longer meets its technical, spatial, operational, or institutional needs. Notably, the museum is +currently able to exhibit less than 1% of its collections due to limited gallery space, insufficient museographic infrastructure, and inadequate environmental controls for the safe display of artworks +and cultural objects. +The construction of a purpose-built facility for the National Museum of Ecuador represents an unprecedented milestone in the nation’s cultural policy and a decisive advance in the stewardship of its +cultural heritage. It offers a strategic opportunity to redefine the museum’s role in contemporary +society, strengthening its leadership in the research, conservation, and dissemination of Ecuador’s +cultural patrimony and collective memory. This project will reinforce cultural identity and social belonging among Ecuadorians, establishing an institutional legacy for generations to come. + +7 + + The National Collection +The National Collection brings together a wide +diversity of Ecuador’s cultural and heritage +assets, ranging from archaeological objects and +colonial and republican works of art to historical +documentary collections and modern and contemporary artworks. It includes ceramics, textiles, documents, books, sculptures, paintings, +and audiovisual records, along with other artistic media and typologies that reflect the creative and material richness of the country’s diverse +peoples, cultures, and artists. +The National Museum safeguards and manages +an essential part of this collection, organized +into specialized collections reserves according to +their nature, period, and typology: + +Archaeology Reserve: +62,103 from the cultures and societies that developed in what is now Ecuador, spanning early lithic +tools—such as obsidian projectile points—to Manteño stone seats and the emblematic Tolita Sun. +Colonial and Republican Reserve: +5,353 including colonial altarpieces; sculptures +by Bernardo de Legarda; and drawings, paintings, +and devotional works from the republican period, +notably pieces by Joaquín Pinto. +Modern and Contemporary Art Reserve: +2,538 works by key figures of Ecuadorian art, +including Luis A. Martínez, Araceli Gilbert, and +other leading exponents of twentieth- and twenty-first-century artistic production. +Human Sciences Library: +Approximately 210,000 bibliographic holdings— +books, journals, newspapers, maps, atlases, and +rare printed materials—many of them patrimonial and dating from 1480 to the present. The library integrates notable collections such as those of Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño and Isaac Barrera, +with strengths in the social sciences, arts, and +national history. +Historical Archive of the National Museum: +918,673 archival documents, including colonial +manuscripts through the early twentieth century, as well as photographic collections, musical +scores, sound and radio recordings, cartography, posters, and other documentary materials +essential for the study of Ecuador’s historical +development. + +8 + + II. LOCATION + + II. LOCATION +The new building of the National Museum of Ecuador will be situated on a 13,004.65 m² site located +on the southwestern corner of Eloy Alfaro Avenue and Republic Avenue, in the city of Quito, Ecuador. +The plot forms part of the “La Pradera” Urban Action Unit, a strategic node for urban development +and the creation of high-quality public spacein the city’s central–northern corridor. The area is envisioned as the anchor of a future pedestrian boulevard that will connect public facilities, green areas, +and recreational spaces, consolidating a high-quality urban environment. +The site lies diagonally across from La Carolina Park, one of the most emblematic and frequented +public spaces in Quito, attracting an average of 400,000 visitors per month. his exceptional location positions the project at the heart of one of the capital’s main cultural and recreational districts, +offering a unique opportunity to integrate the museum seamlessly into the broader urban fabric and +enhance its visibility, accessibility, and public impact. +The property benefits from an excellent connectivity within Quito’s metropolitan public transport +system: +Direct access to the “La Carolina” station of the Quito Metro, which receives an estimated daily influx +of more than 10,000 passengers. +Proximity to the Trolleybus and Express bus line systems, enabling efficient access from multiple +areas of the city and strengthening the site’s regional integration. +The combination of its strategic location, multimodal connectivity, and high-quality urban surroundings positions this site a strategic point for the development of the new National Museum of Ecuador, ensuring the integration of culture, public space, and mobility within the active fabric of the +contemporary city. + +10 + + 11 + + III. PARTICIPATION +REQUIREMENTS - STAGE 1 + + III. PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS - STAGE 1 +STAGE 1: CALL FOR CREDENTIALS AND PORTFOLIOS +The National Government of Ecuador, through the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture, invites +national and international architecture professionals to submit their credentials and portfolios. Based +on this evaluation, the teams that will participate in Stage 2— the Open Call for Architectural design proposals (schematic design) of the new building of the National Museum of Ecuador—will +be selected. + +1. Modality of the Open call +National and international Open Call + +2. Participants + +Applying teams must demonstrate the technical, creative, and professional capacity necessary for the development of the project, as well as previous experience that validates their +suitability to undertake a museum building of this scale and complexity. + +The following may participate: +• +• + +• +• + +Natural persons or legal entities, national or foreign. +Multidisciplinary teams, made up of professionals from different areas related to architectural, museographic, urban, and engineering design, must designate a Project Director (the +team’s representative). +The team must demonstrate experience, technical and interdisciplinary capacities, incorporating specialists in the various areas related to museum design and associated typologies. +Professionals whose degrees and professional registrations are duly validated by SENESCYT (for Ecuadorians) or by the competent authority in their country of origin (for foreign +participants) will be eligible. + +13 + + The basic team will be made up of, at least: +• +• +• +• +• +• +• + +Project Director (Architect) +Sénior Architect 1 +Sénior Architect 2 +Urban Landscape Specialist +Museum Specialist +Structural Engineering and Civil Projects Specialist +Specialist in Eco-efficiency, Sustainability and Energy Resources + +The following are not eligible to participate: +• + +• +• +• +• + +• +• + +Individuals who have a second-degree consanguinity or affinity relationship, and/or a +corporate or partnership relationship (shareholder, partner, etc.), with any member of the +Stage 2 Jury. +Individuals who maintain an employment relationship with the Ministry of Education, +Sports and Culture. +Individuals who are involved in legal disputes with the Ministry of Education, Sports and +Culture. +Individuals who are currently disqualified, suspended, or otherwise restricted by the +College of Architects of Ecuador (applicable only to Ecuadorian architecture professionals). +Any natural or legal person who has been involved, in any capacity, in prior studies, advisory services, consultancies, preliminary designs, or preparatory work related to the project shall be disqualified from submitting subsequent claims regarding the designs or any +results arising from this process. This provision ensures transparency, prevents conflicts of +interest, and protects the technical integrity of the competition. +Individuals who have been involved in the preparation of the technical bases of this +competition. +The same professional may not be part of more than one team. + +3. Enabling documents +The qualifying documentation comprises the formal and verifiable requirements that applicant +teams must submit to demonstrate their interest, technical capacity, and professional experience— including the evaluation of their portfolio—prior to their classification for the next +stage of the Open Call. + +3.1. Letter of interest and commitment +A letter of interest and commitment signed by the Project Director, who will act as the official representative of the team, expressing the team’s motivation to participate, its willingness to undertake the project, and its agreement to the terms of the competition. The letter +must be submitted in accordance with the format provided in Annex 1. + +3.2. Team Members +The base team must be composed of at least the positions described below. The team’s portfolio will be supported by the experience of each of its members, who must comply with the +following requirements: + +14 + + Member + +Degree + +Verifiable +experience + +Specific experience with the form of +presentation described (Attached in PDF) + +Project +Director + +Architect + +More than ten (10) +years of verifiable +professional +experience + +Experience in the design of public-use building +in general, and cultural buildings or museums in particular, whether as the author or as a +member of the responsible firm, will be valued. + +Sénior +Architect(s) 1 + +Architect + +More than ten (10) +years of verifiable +professional +experience + +Experience in the design of projects for public-use building in general, and for cultural +buildings in particular—whether as the lead +designer or as a member of the responsible +firm—will be valued. + +Sénior +Architect(s) 2 + +Architect + +More than ten (10) +years of verifiable +professional +experience + +Experience in the design of projects for +public-use building in general, and cultural +buildings in particular, for which they are the +author or in which they have participated as a +member of the responsible firm, will be valued. + +Author +specializing +in Urban +Landscape + +Architect + +More than ten (10) +years of verifiable +professional +experience + +Experience in public-use building projects in +general, and in cultural buildings in particular, +in which they have been responsible for the +landscape design and outdoor spaces or have +participated as a member of the authoring firm, +will be valued. + +Architect / More than ten (10) +Designer / years of verifiable +Set Designer professional +experience + +Experience in designing exhibitions on +different topics, and especially in exhibitions +on archaeology, art, or any cultural or science +exhibitions, will be valued. + +Museum +designer + +Structural +and civil +works +engineer + +Civil +Engineer + +More than ten (10) +years of verifiable +professional +experience + +Experience in public-use building projects in +general, and in cultural buildings in particular, +in which they have been responsible for the +structural design will be valued. + +Specialist in +Architect or More than five (5) +ecosustainability years of verifiable +efficiency, +specialist. +professional +sustainability +experience +and energy +resources + +Experience in public-use building projects in +general, and in cultural buildings in particular, +where they have been responsible for integrating +environmental and energy-efficiency criteria +will be valued. + +15 + + 3.2.1. Team member verification documents: +• + +A list of all team members, specifying their roles in accordance with the requirements and +using the format provided in Annex 2. The list must indicate whether each team member +is part of the architecture firm or is participating under a specific contractual agreement. + +• + +A Curriculum Vitae for each team member, including a 150-word summary highlighting +their relevant professional background, as well as their participation in projects, awards, +and recognitions related to public-use buildings (not residential or industrial). Each CV +must be submitted as a single DIN A4 PDF file. + +3.2.2. Team experience +Teams interested in participating must demonstrate their technical, creative and delivery capacity, for which they must submit: +A) + +A list of at least three (3) built public-use building projects, specifying their typology and +surface areas, demonstrating programs and technical solutions of high complexity. The +list must follow the format provided in Annex 2. + +B) + +A list of at least one (1) cultural building project constructed and/or under construction— +such as museums, cultural centers, public libraries, auditoriums, concert halls, or related +typologies—specifying its typology and surface areas, and demonstrating programs and +technical resolutions of high complexity. The list must follow the format established in +Annex 2. + +C) + +A list of awards and recognitions received by the team members, submitted in accordance +with the format provided in Annex 2. + + +3.2.3. Portfolio of projects of the team to be evaluated: +Applicant teams must submit a portfolio of projects authored by the participating architecture +firm(s) or professionals that are part of the team, demonstrating compliance with the general and +specific experience requirements below. +General Experience: +A. Applicants must submit a selection of at least three (3) built public-use building projects, specifying their typology and surface areas, demonstrating programs and technical solutions of high +complexity. For each project, an A3 sheet containing the following información must be included: + +• Project: Name and description of the project (max. 150 words) +• Year: Year of construction +• Location: Country and city +• Promoter / Client: Name of the client or commissioning entity +• Gross Floor Area: Expressed in square meters +• Useful Floor Area; Expressed in square meters + +16 + + • +• + +Authors: List of authors and co-authors +Graphic Documentation (Format: 1 DIN A3 per project) + +Specific experience: +B. Applicants must submit at least one (1) cultural building project, built and/or under +construction—such as museums, cultural centers, public libraries, auditoriums, concert +halls, or related typologies—specifying its typology and surface areas, and demonstrating programmatic and technical resolutions of high complexity. +• +• +• +• +• +• +• +• + +Project: Name and description of the project (max. 150 words) +Year: Year of construction +Location: Country and city +Promoter / Client: Name of the client or commissioning entity +Gross Floor Area: Expressed in square meters +Useful Floor Area; Expressed in square meters +Authors: List of authors and co-authors +Graphic Documentation (Format: 1 DIN A3 per project) + +The projects presented in the portfolio must include plans and photographs accompanied by a +descriptive text. When possible, a web link providing additional information about the project may +be included. +The certificates of authorship or co-authorship of the projects presented must be attached as an +annex. + +C. Awards and Recognition: +Submit the team’s awards and recognitions, including the name of the award, year, +country, and a description of up to 50 words each, following the format provided in Annex 2. + +17 + + View of Quito, 1860. Rafael Salas. Oil on cardboard. National Collection of Ecuador. + + IV. SCHEDULE AND +DELIVERY METHOD +- STAGE 1 + + IV. SCHEDULE AND DELIVERY METHOD - STAGE 1 +1. General Schedule for Stage 1 +The following calendar establishes the official dates for Stage 1 – Call for Credentials and +Portfolios – which runs from the launch of the call to the selection of the teams that will advance to Stage 2. Applicants are encouraged to carefully review each milestone to ensure compliance with the established deadlines +STAGE 1 - Call for Credentials and Portfolios +N. + +MILESTONE + +DATE + +1 + +Official launch of the Open call + +December 2, 2025 + +2 + +Questions from participants +January 13, 2026 +Inquiries will be received from the launch of the contest until +January 13, 2026, at 23:59 (UTC–5). + +3 + +Responses to participant inquiries +January 20, 2026 +Responses can be submitted until January 20, 2026 at 23:59 +(UTC–5). The answers to the queries will be published on the Open +Call’s website. + +4 + +Portfolio and credential delivery +March 03, 2026 +Applicants may submit their documentation until February 17, 2026 +at 23:59 PM (UTC–5). + +5 + +Publication of selected teams and formal invitation to finalists March 03, 2026 +Those selected will be contacted by the Portfolio Selection +Committee and the selected teams will be published on the open +call’s website until the 03 of March 2026. + +6 + +Publication of selected teams and formal invitation to finalists Until the 03th of March, +Those selected will be contacted by the Portfolio Selection Com- 2026 +mittee and the selected teams will be published on the open call’s +website until the 03 th March 2026. +STAGE 2 – Schematic Design Proposals Architectural + +N. + +MILESTONE + +DATE + +1 + +Publication of technical bases Stage 2 + +Coming soon + +20 + + 2. Questions & Answers +Participating +teams +may +submit +questions +to +the +following +email +address: +preguntas@museonacional.gob.ec, between December 2, 2025 and January 13, 2026, until +23:59 (UTC–5), in accordance with the established schedule. +Responses to the inquiries will be provided by the organizing body of the competition and will be sent through the email designated by Tuesday, January 20, 2026, at 23:59 +(UTC–5), in accordance with the established calendar. +For additional information, applicants are encouraged to check the official competition website: +https://construccion.museonacional.gob.ec + +3. Form of Delivery of the Requirements Stage 1 +The Project Director, acting as the official representative of the applicant team, must submit the +enabling documentation detailed in Section III, Requirements to Participate, numeral 3 (Enabling +Documentation) of these technical bases. All documentation must be submitted in digital format and +must include the corresponding signatures of responsibility. +The email must be sent with the subject line indicated in the template (Annex 3) and must include +the complete identification of the applicant team. +All applications and enabling documentation must be sent to the following email address: +convocatoria@museonacional.gob.ec +Files must not be attached directly to the email. All supporting documentation must be uploaded to a +cloud storage platform (Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, etc.) in strict compliance with the following +requirements: +• + +Consolidation: All documents must be contained in a single compressed file in .ZIP format. + +• + +Data integrity: An MD5 hash code corresponding to the .ZIP file must be provided to verify that +the information has not been altered. + +• + +Access: The download link must be included in the body of the email and configured with public or unrestricted read permissions to ensure immediate access. + +• + +The deadline for submission is February 17, 2026 at 23:59 (UTC–5). + +• + +Once submitted, the documents may not be edited. + +• + +No submissions will be accepted after the deadline. + +The organizer of the Open Call will confirm receipt of the application in response +to the email sent by the representative of each team. + +4. Language +Since it is a national and international competition, the documentation may be submitted in +Spanish or English. +21 + + Paul Bar, Puente de la Alameda, 1915. Oil on canvas. National Collection. + +22 + + V. SELECTION PROCESS STAGE 1 + + V. SELECTION PROCESS - STAGE 1 +The selection criteria established for Stage 1 are intended to identify teams that demonstrate the +professional, technical, and creative capacity required to advance to Stage 2 of the open call. The evaluation +will be based on the strength of the credentials, the quality and relevance of the portfolio, and the team’s +proven experience in related projects, ensuring that those selected possess the necessary profile to +develop the schematic architectural design for the new building of the National Museum of Ecuador. + +1. The Portfolio Selection Committee +The Portfolio Selection Committee is the body responsible for analyzing and evaluating +the documentation submitted by applicant teams during Stage 1, ensuring a transparent +and impartial process aligned with the technical criteria established in these bases. +Its composition includes institutional representatives and specialists in architecture and +museum design, who will ensure that the selected teams possess the professional solvency +required to advance to Stage 2. +The voting members will deliberate and make selection decisions in accordance with the established evaluation criteria. The institutional delegates must be architects or specialists in museography in order to provide technical judgment during the evaluation. +The non-voting member will participate as an overseer of the process, contributing criteria and substantive knowledge regarding the needs of the project and of the National Museum of Ecuador. Their +role is to accompany the review, provide observations, and ensure that the process is conducted with +transparency and institutional relevance, even though they are not part of the final decision-making. + +Stage 1 Portfolio Selection Committee of Stage 1 will be made up of: +Voting members: +Institutional technical delegates: +• Vice President of the Republic or their delegate +• Minister of Education, Sports and Culture or their delegate +• Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport or their delegate +Technical delegates: +• +• + +President of the College of Architects of Ecuador (CAE-P) or their delegate +International specialist in museum design + +No-voting members /Overseers: +Executive Director of the National Museum of Ecuador +The Stage 2 Jury will be announced by December 31, 2025. + +2. Evaluation Criteria +Before beginning the technical evaluation, it will be verified that the application has been submitted +in full and in accordance with the provisions of the bases, including all enabling documentation, + +24 + + signatures of responsibility, and required annexes. Only complete applications +proceed to the next phase of review. + +will + +In order to recognize the importance of situated knowledge and cultural relevance in a project of the scale and significance of the National Museum of Ecuador, all evaluation criteria will include an additional weighting for teams with local experience. This weighting seeks to ensure that the proposals reflect a deep understanding of the country’s +identity, spatial context, and cultural conditions, thereby strengthening the role of Ecuadorian +architecture in the development of public facilities and spaces of high significance for society. + +2.1. Evaluation of the Proposed Task Force +Compliance with all minimum requirements for the technical team will be verified, including the +mandatory composition of the team, the professional qualifications of its members, and their +respective credentials. This stage is enabling in nature: it does not assign scores and operates strictly as an exclusion criterion. Only teams that meet all requirements will +advance to the subsequent evaluation stages. +A single professional may assume two roles within the core +they possess the necessary experience for each role. + +team, + +as + +long + +as + +2.1 Evaluation of the proposed technical team +Member + +Criterion + +Project Director + +Has 10 or more years of experience in the design of projects for +public-use buildings in general, cultural buildings or museums in +particular, either as the author or as a member of the responsible +firm. + +Sénior Architects 1 + +More than ten (10) years of verifiable profesional experience + +Sénior Architects 2 + +More than ten (10) years of verifiable profesional experience + +Urban Landscape Specialist + +More than ten (10) years of verifiable profesional experience + +Museum Designer + +More than ten (10) years of verifiable profesional experience + +Structural and civil works +engineering + +More than ten (10) years of verifiable profesional experience + +Specialist in eco-efficiency, +sustainability and energy +resources + +More than five (5) years of verifiable profesional experience + +25 + + 2.3. Evaluation of Team Experience - Portfolio + +2.3.1. Evaluation of experience based on quantity of projects +This evaluation reviews the experience demonstrated through built projects or projects currently under construction, organized into two categories: public-use buildings and cultural buildings, +as established in the technical bases. Quantification is carried out solely on the number of projects submitted and the minimum number required per building typology, verifiable through +project sheets, certificates of authorship or co-authorship, and other supporting documents. + +2.3.1. Evaluation of Experience by Number of Projects +General Experience – Public-Use Buildings +A + +Feature + +Minimum + +Public-use buildings + +Must present a minimum of 3 projects. +Can present more than 3 projects + +Specific Experience - Cultural Buildings +Feature +B + +Minimum + +Cultural buildings + +Must present a minimum of 1 project. +Can present more than 1 project + +2.3.2. Qualitative Evaluation of the Portfolio +The qualitative evaluation is the most significant component of the selection process and involves +an in-depth assessment of the architectural, urban, and technical quality of the projects presented +in the portfolio. It applies only to teams that have previously met all documentary verification requirements and the minimum profile of the proposed technical team. +The evaluation is based on the following four criteria: +Criterion 1. Typological Relevance and Coherence +This criterion assesses whether the submitted works are appropriate to the building type (public, +cultural, or museum-related), whether they correspond to the complexity of the assignment, and +whether they demonstrate experience comparable to the level required for a national museum. +Criterion 1. Typological and Scale Relevance and Coherence +General Experience - Public-use buildings +Project + +Outstanding + +Adequate + +Limited + +Insufficient + +Public +-use +buildings + +Projects that are +totally pertinent and +coherent with their +scale and typology. + +Projects with relevance +and coherence appropriate to their scale and +typology + +Projects with low +coherence and out of +typology. + +Without relevance +or coherence in +scale or typology. + +Specific Experience - Cultural Buildings +Project + +Outstanding + +Adequate + +Limited + +Insufficient + +Cultural +buildings + +Projects that are +totally pertinent and +coherent with their +scale and typology. + +Projects with relevance +and coherence appropriate to their scale and +typology. + +Projects with low +coherence and out of +typology. + +Without relevance +or coherence in +scale or typology. + +26 + + Criterion 2. Conceptual, spatial and formal coherence +This criterion assesses the clarity of the architectural concept; the quality of interior and exterior spatial composition; the alignment between form, function, and program; and the expressive rigor of the architectural language demonstrated across the projects. +Criterion 2. Conceptual, spatial and formal coherence +General Experience - Public-use buildings +Project + +Outstanding + +Adequate + +Limited + +Insufficient + +Public +-use +buildings + +Architecture with +excellent coherence +and expressiveness + +Architecture with +adequate coherence and +expressiveness. + +Architecture with +weak coherence, +spatial , and unclear +formal resolution. + +Architecture +lacking conceptual, spatial and +formal coherence. + +Specific Experience - Cultural Buildings +Project + +Outstanding + +Adequate + +Limited + +Insufficient + +Cultural +buildings + +Architecture with +excellent coherence +and expressiveness + +Architecture with +adequate coherence and +expressiveness. + +Architecture with +weak coherence, +spatial , and unclear +formal resolution. + +Architecture +lacking conceptual, spatial and +formal coherence. + +Criterion 3. Technical, constructive and material soundness: +This criterion evaluates the quality of the architectural solutions, the appropriate use of +materials and technical systems employed, and the level of definition achieved in the +projects. It assesses the team’s ability to develop buildings with solid technical resolution. + +Criterion 3. Technical, constructive and material solidity +General Experience - Public-use buildings +Project + +Outstanding + +Adequate + +Limited + +Insufficient + +Public +-use +buildings + +High technical +and material +resolution. + +Meets overall +technical standards + +Evident constructive +weaknesses or +deficiencies. + +Poor or insufficient +technical and material +resolution. + +Specific Experience - Cultural Buildings +Project + +Outstanding + +Adequate + +Limited + +Insufficient + +Cultural +buildings + +High technical +and material +resolution. + +Meets overall +technical standards + +Evident constructive +weaknesses or +deficiencies. + +Poor or insufficient +technical and material +resolution. + +27 + + Criterion 4. Relationship with the environment: This criterion evaluates the project’s integration within its urban and landscape context, the quality of its site placement, its handling of public +space, its dialogue with the surrounding environment, and its sensitivity to contextual conditions. +Criterion 4. Relationship with the environment +General Experience - Public-use buildings +Project + +Outstanding + +Adequate + +Limited + +Insufficient + +Public +-use +buildings + +Impeccable site integration, +appropriate scale, and a clear +contribution to the urban +environment. + +Correct relationship with +the environment + +Weak or poorly +integrated site +placement. + +Does not +respond to the +urban context. + +Specific Experience - Cultural Buildings +Project + +Outstanding + +Adequate + +Limited + +Insufficient + +Cultural +buildings + +Impeccable site integration, +appropriate scale, and a clear +contribution to the urban +environment. + +Correct relationship with +the +environment + +Weak or poorly +integrated site +placement. + +Does not +respond to the +urban context. + +2.3.3. Evaluation of awards and recognitions +Relevant awards, distinctions, and honorable mentions associated with the team’s +architectural works—or those of its members—granted by competent and discipline-related institutions will be evaluated. +First prizes will receive a higher weighting, while second and third places or honorable mentions +will receive a lower weighting. +Only a limited number of awards will be considered for evaluation. + +3. Selection of teams for Stage 2. +Stage 1 does not include monetary awards, as its purpose is to identify teams with the +vision, experience, and technical soundness required to advance to the next stage. +In Stage 2, the selected teams will present their schematic architectural design proposals. Only one team will be selected, which will receive a financial allocation of +USD 450,000 (Four hundred fifty thousand american dollars). This allocation includes the complete +delivery of the schematic design in accordance with the requirements established in Stage 2 bases. +If a selected team is composed of more than one firm, the firms must establish a formal consortium and +officially designate a Project Director, who will assume the official representation of the team. +The second-place finalist and any honorary mentions, if granted, will not receive monetary +compensation; however, their proposals will be included in the public exhibition of design alternatives, providing visibility and recognition within the process. + +28 + + Araceli Gilbert, Horizontal Construction, 1973. Acrylic on wood. National Collection. + +29 + + Effigy Bottle +3500–3350 BCE +Mayo-Chinchipe culture, Santa Ana–La Florida, Zamora +National Collection of Ecuador + +30 + + VI. ANNEXES + +31 + + ANNEX 1. Letter of interest + + +Call to submit credentials and portfolios for the selection of teams for participation in +the Open Call for Architectural schematic design proposals for the New Building of the +National Museum of Ecuador. +I, Arch. ________________________, with identification/passport ________________________, +representative of the participating team for the selection of credentials and portfolios for participation in the Open Call for Architectural schematic design proposals for the New Building of the +National Museum of Ecuador, hereby undertake, state my interest in participating in this process +and commit, if selected, to submit the required proposal within the deadlines established and in accordance with the conditions set forth in the Participation Rules and all other project documentation. +Furthermore, I acknowledge that, if selected to participate in Stage 2 of the Open Call for the Design +of the Architectural Preliminary Project for the New Building of the National Museum of Ecuador, +I may have access to confidential or privileged information related to the project. I hereby agree to +maintain the strictest confidentiality regarding such information and to refrain from disclosing it to +third parties. I understand that any unauthorized disclosure may result in the termination of my participation in the process and the application of legal measures in accordance with applicable laws +and regulations. + +Place and Date: ________________________ +______________________ +Signature +[Name of Project Director] [Professional Title] [Phone] [Email] [Name of Team / Studio / Firm + +32 + + ANNEX 2. Summary of the team roster, quantitative +project experience and awards +TABLE 1. TEAM MEMBERS +N° + +Full name + +Role + +Team +Representative + +1* + +Project Director + +X + +2* + +Sénior Architect 1 + +3* + +Sénior Architect 2 + +4 + +Urban Landscape +Specialist + +5 + +Museum +specialist + +6 + +Structural and civil +works engineer + +7 + +Specialist in eco-efficiency and +sustainability + +Architecture Firm / +Independent + +TABLE 2. TEAM EXPERIENCE +2.1. GENERAL EXPERIENCE (PUBLIC-USE BUILDINGS) +N° + +Project +Name + +Location + +Typology + +Gross +Floor +area +(m2) + +Usable +Floor area +(m2) + +1* +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 + +7 + +33 + +Year + +Promoter + +Authors + +Verification +document +(link, certificate, etc.) + +DIN A3, +Renderings, +planimetry + + TABLE 2. TEAM EXPERIENCE +2.2. SPECIFIC EXPERIENCE (CULTURAL BUILDINGS) +N° + +Project +Name + +Location + +Typology + +Gross +Floor +area +(m2) + +Usable +Floor area +(m2) + +Year + +Promoter + +Authors + +Verification document +(link, certificate, etc.) + +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 + +7 + +TABLE 3. TEAM AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS +First Prize +N° + +Name + +Institution + +Project +Name + +Year + +Country + +Container + +Verification +document (link, +certificate, etc.) + +1* +2* +3* +4 +5 +6 +7 +Second, third prize and mentions +N° + +Name + +Institution + +Project +Name + +Year + +Country + +Container + +Verification +document (link, +certificate, etc.) + +*Minimum Information +NOTE: Team members' Resumes do not have an established format or template, they +must only meet the requirements stipulated in section III. Requirements to participate. + +34 + + ANNEX 3. Submission Template Documentation +and Application Stage 1 + +To: convocatoria@museonacional.gob.ec +Subject: Credential and Portfolio Delivery – Stage 1 – +Dear Members of the Organizing Committee, +I hereby submit the enabling documentation, credentials, and portfolio corresponding to Stage 1 of +the Open Call for Architectural schematic design proposals for the New Building of the National Museum of Ecuador. +I act as Project Director and representative of the applicant team [Team Name, if applicable], in compliance with the requirements established in the technical bases, including all documentation duly +signed and submitted in digital format. +The enabling documentation, annexes, and portfolio can be accessed at the following link: +I would like to confirm receipt of these documents. +I remain attentive to any additional communication related to the process. +Cordially, +[Name of Project Director] [Professional Title] [Phone] [Email] [Name of Team / Studio / Firm + +35 + + Patria, 1922, Luis Mideros, Óleo sobre lienzo, Colección Nacional. + +36 + + There is only one National Museum +per country. +This is Ecuador’s. + +Social Media: +@caepichincha +@museonacionalecuador +@lacoleccionnacional +@culturaypatrimonioec + +https://construccion.museonacional.gob.ec + +37 + + \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/ref/Muna.md b/ref/Muna.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4b9495b --- /dev/null +++ b/ref/Muna.md @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ +> **To:** +> +> **Subject:** Credential and Portfolio Delivery -- Stage 1 -- + +Dear Members of the Organizing Committee, + +> I hereby submit the enabling documentation, credentials, and portfolio +> corresponding to Stage 1 of the Open Call for Architectural schematic +> design proposals for the New Building of the National Museum of +> Ecuador. +> +> I act as Project Director and representative of the applicant team +> \[Team Name, if applicable\], in compliance with the requirements +> established in the technical bases, including all documenta- tion duly +> signed and submitted in digital format. +> +> The enabling documentation, annexes, and portfolio can be accessed at +> the following link: I would like to confirm receipt of these +> documents. +> +> I remain attentive to any additional communication related to the +> process. +> +> Cordially, +> +> \[Name of Project Director\] \[Professional Title\] \[Phone\] +> \[Email\] \[Name of Team / Studio / Firm diff --git a/ref/buildings-15-02400-v2.txt b/ref/buildings-15-02400-v2.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9f2e5d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/ref/buildings-15-02400-v2.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1763 @@ +Article + +LLM and Pattern Language Synthesis: A Hybrid Tool for +Human-Centered Architectural Design +Bruno Postle 1 + +and Nikos A. Salingaros 2,3, * +1 +2 +3 + +* + +Union Street Research, 18-20 Union Street, Sheffield S12 JP, UK; bruno@postle.net +Department of Mathematics, The University of Texas, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA +Thrust of Urban Governance and Design, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), +Guangzhou 511453, China +Correspondence: salingar@gmail.com + +Abstract +This paper combines Christopher Alexander’s pattern language with generative AI into +a hybrid design framework. The result is a narrative synthesis that can be useful for +informed project design. Advanced large language models (LLMs) enable the real-time +synthesis of design patterns, making complex architectural choices accessible and comprehensible to stakeholders without specialized architectural knowledge. A lightweight, +web-based tool lets project teams rapidly assemble context-specific subsets of Alexander’s +253 patterns, reducing a traditionally unwieldy 1166-page corpus to a concise, shareable +list. Demonstrated through a case study of a university department building, this method +results in environments that are psychologically welcoming, fostering health, productivity, +and emotional well-being. LLMs translate these curated patterns into vivid experiential +narratives—complete with neuroscientifically informed ornamentation. LLMs produce +representative images from the verbal narrative, revealing a surprisingly traditional design +that was never input as a prompt. Two separate LLMs (for cross-checking) then predict the +pattern-generated design to catalyze improved productivity as compared to a standard campus building. By bridging abstract design principles and concrete human experience, this +approach democratizes architectural planning grounded on Alexander’s human-centered, +participatory ethos. +Academic Editor: Li Yang +Received: 18 June 2025 + +Keywords: adaptive design; AI-driven architecture; Christopher Alexander; evidencebased design; human-centered architecture; large language model; pattern language + +Revised: 1 July 2025 +Accepted: 6 July 2025 +Published: 9 July 2025 +Citation: Postle, B.; Salingaros, N.A. +LLM and Pattern Language Synthesis: +A Hybrid Tool for Human-Centered +Architectural Design. Buildings 2025, +15, 2400. https://doi.org/10.3390/ +buildings15142400 +Copyright: © 2025 by the authors. +Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. +This article is an open access article +distributed under the terms and +conditions of the Creative Commons +Attribution (CC BY) license +(https://creativecommons.org/ +licenses/by/4.0/). + +Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +1. Introduction +The dominant architectural culture throughout the 20th and 21st centuries that embraced industrial minimalism dismissed ornament as redundant or superficial. However, +recent findings in biophilic design, neuroscience, and psychological research reveal ornamentation’s essential role in human health and cognitive functioning [1–3]. Implementing +Christopher Alexander’s human-centered A Pattern Language with adaptive ornamental +design presents a promising alternative. By leveraging large language models (LLMs), +complex decision-making is synthesized while enhancing user health and well-being +through design. +Alexander et al.’s A Pattern Language (1977) [4] represents one of the most comprehensive attempts to codify design wisdom for the built environment, offering 253 patterns +that span from regional planning down to interior details. The complete pattern language + +https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15142400 + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +2 of 32 + +spans 1166 pages, making it unwieldy for a “quick” practical application. Additionally, the +traditional method of applying these patterns typically requires specialized architectural +knowledge, creating a barrier between experts and the stakeholders who will ultimately +inhabit these spaces. +In response to these challenges, this article combines digital tools with artificial intelligence to make Alexander’s pattern language more accessible and applicable. Traditional +applications of the pattern language or purely computational approaches applied separately +fall short in managing complexity or enhancing emotional understanding. The present +method consists of two key components: +1. +2. + +A web-based application enables the creation of project-specific pattern subsets +through an interactive hypertext interface. +The use of large language models (LLMs) synthesizes these pattern subsets +into narrative descriptions that communicate the experiential qualities of the +proposed architecture. + +This technique aims to bridge the gap between abstract architectural patterns and +concrete spatial experiences. Stakeholders can better understand and evaluate proposed +architectural solutions before construction begins through narrative descriptions that translate design patterns into vivid, experiential language. Pattern language coupled with +generative AI transforms the relationship between architectural professionals and the communities they serve. The method shifts architecture from the pursuit of visually striking +forms to the systematic creation of neurologically and psychologically healthy environments. The primary metric for architectural quality is empirically measured cognitive +performance and well-being. +There are broader issues that detach the design profession from common everyday life. +An expertise barrier nowadays results in stakeholders having a limited understanding of +and input into the architectural decisions that will profoundly affect their daily experiences. +The planning process becomes opaque to laypeople, remaining the exclusive domain of +design professionals. Consequently, stakeholders may find themselves unable to meaningfully influence design decisions that directly impact their lives [5]. The hybrid AI—pattern +language method makes complex architectural decisions accessible and understandable to +non-specialists. +Choosing a building meant to house a university department of Computer Science +and AI as one example illustrates how the method works in practice (Section 4). The +results differ substantially from the standard top-down method of designing such a project. +These differences underline the very desirable adaptive qualities of the present model. +Human-centered design turns out to improve the users’ health and well-being in the long +term [6]. This assessment is verified here by using two separate large language models to +predict the comparative productivity of the department, based entirely on the building’s +architecture (Section 5). +In this second part of the paper, ChatGPT (o4-mini-high) evaluated the university +building resulting from the pattern language versus standard new campus buildings, and +the LLM made an astonishing claim: “the fashionable buildings’ stress-inducing geometries +would predict lower publication rates, fewer patent applications, and a shift toward safe, +incremental research rather than bold, exploratory ventures.” To cross-check this evaluation, +a separate prompt to ChatGPT-4o used a different account and obtained a very similar +response (Section 5). +Generative AI’s conjecture on improved academic productivity based solely on architectural design is unexpected. This claim challenges prevailing views of how physical spaces influence human cognitive and emotional responses. The hybrid AI–pattern +language approach redefines architectural quality itself by enhancing human cognitive– + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +3 of 32 + +emotional health and productivity—not as abstract forms provoking esthetic novelty. +Adaptive design lies not in following rules rigidly or ignoring them entirely but in working +creatively with patterns as constraints. +Generative AI through an LLM predicts that the everyday psychophysiological experience of an academic building will result in measurable differences in productive research +from the department. Are we witnessing a “Move 37” moment in architecture? (Referring +to the historic Go match between AlphaGo and Lee Sedol in March 2016) [7]. If that is the +case, then the profession should pay attention. Using focused and intelligent prompts, the +LLM can give a more unbiased assessment than humans normally can because the prompts +can steer it around cultural, intellectual, and media pressures (Section 7). +Design patterns are not taught in architecture schools, so students are unaware of +them. Applying the pattern language requires training to master most of the patterns so +that they can be combined and recombined in reaching an adaptive, bottom-up design +through iteration [8–10]. Today’s schools value the spontaneous, top-down creation of +visually appealing designs judged by their novelty. Cognitively, this privileges the simplest +possible path to design that avoids the extensive recombination of complex components. +After several years of training in this direct method of generating designs, young architects +tend to lose the mental ability to organize complexity by adopting what is known as “design +fixation” [11]. +By challenging architectural culture’s application of “design-through-image”, this +paper avoids the limitations of mainstream approaches that prioritize visual abstractions +over cognitive and emotional human experience. Large language models (LLMs) translate +tested design patterns into emotionally engaging narratives that bridge theory and practice +in a novel way. In a significant shift, the model reintroduces neuroscientifically backed +ornamentation as being integral—not merely decorative—for enhancing physiological and +psychological well-being. + +2. Literature Review and Background Problems +2.1. Alexander’s Pattern Language and Its Impact +A Pattern Language emerged as a revolutionary approach to architectural and urban +design. The work presented 253 patterns arranged hierarchically from the largest scale +(regions and towns) to the smallest (building details and ornament). Each pattern describes +a recurring problem in the built environment and offers a solution that can be adapted +to specific contexts. Significantly, Alexander conceived of these patterns not as isolated +elements but as an interconnected language, with each pattern linking to higher and lower +patterns in the hierarchy. +Christopher Alexander (1936–2022) trained in both Architecture and Mathematics +at Cambridge and obtained the first PhD in Architecture ever awarded by Harvard. He +was one of the first people to apply computers to architecture, in the 1960s, trying to +manage complexity in design theory. His writings combine computation with embodied +understanding, and for this reason, they have influenced both architecture and computer +science. Alexander practiced architecture, designing many buildings around the world. +(The second author, N.A.S., is the principal editor of Alexander’s four-volume book, The +Nature of Order). +A Pattern Language introduced a holistic framework for architectural design, advocating interconnected solutions adaptable to context and scale. Its practical application +was limited by the profession rejecting some of its key features, but that is now changing. +Contemporary research in biophilic design highlights ornament’s role in psychological and +physiological health [12–14]. Techniques such as eye-tracking and visual attention software +empirically demonstrate how ornamented environments support cognitive and emotional + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +4 of 32 + +well-being, in sharp contrast to minimalist aesthetics, which often induce psychological +disengagement and stress [15–18]. +Design patterns apply to all possible structures: the human use of buildings and urban +spaces is influenced by an embodied understanding that connects the user to the physical +setting. Therefore, the present method adapts to designing different types of buildings +(such as commercial, medical, and residential), thereby enhancing the general value of the +research. Each type of building will have different functional requirements and specifics, +and the method is entirely general and able to handle an infinite variety of projects. The +present description is detailed for a specific example, but only to illustrate how the method +works in practice. +The impact of Alexander’s work extends far beyond architecture. The pattern language approach has influenced fields ranging from software design [19] to education [20] +and organizational development [21]. The enduring influence of his work speaks to its +fundamental insight: that complex design problems can be addressed through a combinatorial and modular language of solutions that connect across domains and scales. A +selection mechanism evolves design combinations by adapting them to human emotional +and physiological needs, not abstract images. +2.2. How Design Patterns Circumvent Design Through Images +Patterns are compressed verbal descriptions of recurring visual—actually, sociogeometric—relationships [4,6,8–10]. For centuries, architects have relied upon images +to communicate architectural ideas and solutions, and this has become a cognitive working +standard. Colleagues who judge architecture primarily through images look for formal +precedents and visual proof. Since the present approach is totally narrative-based, readers +might be confused about the proposed methodological framework. +Each design pattern discovered by Alexander and his colleagues in the 1970s was +initially tested heuristically for its adaptivity to human emotional well-being. This was the +principal criterion for choosing from among a much larger set of design pattern candidates +which ones to include in the book A Pattern Language. Since its publication, the success +of the patterns has been repeatedly verified by the feedback that pattern-based buildings +provide to their users. +The present article is based upon narrative and process, not images. The operational +sequence is as follows: design pattern repository → specific pattern subset → LLM verbal +narrative → human-centered design criteria → evaluation; this describes the results entirely +in words. For this reason, readers familiar only with image-driven design will not see the +familiar visual chain of drawings → renderings → photographs that, in their mental model, +represents the standard design method. +2.3. Challenges in Pattern Language Application +Alexander’s A Pattern Language requires special methods to be effective in practice. +Self-builders find a useful resource in picking a handful of design patterns to apply to their +project, but the comprehensive nature of the work makes it unwieldy for “easy” use in +a more substantial task [22]. A project needs to synthesize and combine several design +patterns, so implementation becomes an exercise in organizing complexity, which is a +non-trivial problem. Furthermore, the interpretation and application of patterns typically +require a minimum of familiarity with the patterns. +The traditional method of applying a pattern language involves reading and understanding the entire work, identifying relevant patterns through expert judgment, and +keeping these patterns in mind during the design process. Several iterative steps at combining the patterns to generate adaptive forms require doing this in one’s head, with the + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +5 of 32 + +limited help of visual aids. The double process of pattern selection and combination remains challenging to non-experts (including most architects trained in the design-throughimages paradigm). +2.4. Digital Tools and Pattern Language +Various attempts have been made to digitize and make the textual description of +pattern languages more accessible. As well as producing 80 additional patterns in A +New Pattern Language (2020) [23], architectural theorist and urbanist Michael Mehaffy has +advocated for digital adaptations of pattern language to enhance its usability. Mehaffy +worked extensively with Christopher Alexander. Projects such as Iba’s Pattern Language +3.0 [24] and Schuler’s Liberating Voices pattern language project [25] have explored digital +formats for pattern language solutions in various domains. +However, these efforts have typically focused on creating comprehensive digital repositories rather than tools for implementing context-specific pattern languages. The approach +presented in this article differs by emphasizing the creation of manageable, project-specific +pattern subsets rather than attempting to manage the entire pattern language. An additional and non-trivial obstacle is that Alexander’s original A Pattern Language is not open +access, thus it cannot be posted freely on the web. +While the authors have been very careful to respect other authors’ rights in this paper, +the proposed method could be implemented entirely without using the canonical Alexandrian patterns (Section 9.2). LLMs can approximately duplicate the design patterns strictly +from secondary sources. The errors are too high to make that a useful method, however, +since the model will never be able to regurgitate an accurate facsimile of Alexander’s +pattern language. +2.5. Language Models in Architectural Contexts +Large language models (LLMs) offer new possibilities for architectural communication +and planning [26,27]. Some architects are exploring the potential of LLMs to generate +architectural descriptions, investigating conceptual design phases towards visual implementations of novel forms rather than adaptation to human affordances and scale [28]. The +second author (N.A.S.) has applied LLMs to describe environments for creative work [29] +and to classify window typologies that generate anxiety [30]. +The approach adopted here specifically focuses on how LLMs can translate pattern +languages into experiential narratives that communicate architectural qualities to nonexperts. Alexander’s original motivation for the pattern language was indeed to bring the +design process closer to common people, and this is the reason for its continued success +with self-builders. The present application addresses what Tzonis identifies as a persistent +challenge in architectural communication: the gap between abstract design principles and +the lived experience of architecture [31]. +Anticipating a possible misunderstanding, the input of design patterns into the present +method is through their descriptive text, not from images. The authors do not use example +Figures and images to explain the pattern language to the AI. While the book A Pattern +Language includes one image (photo) to illustrate the “feeling” of each pattern, these are not +included in the software used by the present model; only the re-worded verbal description +of the solution or its paraphrase is included. The pdf short-list prompt therefore comes +from the pattern statements only. +In the authors’ opinion, architecture has accumulated cognitive scaffolding over time +that constrains adaptive development. Design that always works within an image-based +method may never develop autonomous capabilities, thus precluding adaptive problemsolving. Human-centered innovation involves deliberately sidestepping these supports. It + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +6 of 32 + +therefore makes sense to develop AI as a tool that enhances collaborative intelligence, so it +exceeds the capabilities of individual human efforts. Developing technologies that enable +true cognitive symbiosis will have to work with human cognitive mechanisms. +2.6. Stakeholder Participation in Architectural Design +Numerous scholars have emphasized the importance of stakeholder participation in +architectural design, including Till [32], who argues for a more democratic approach to +architectural practice. Sanoff’s fundamental work on participatory design [33] highlights +the value of involving end-users in the design process, developed further by Salama [34], +while Blundell Jones et al. [35] document various approaches to architecture as a social +practice. While much useful discussion on participatory design has taken place over the +years, no satisfactory method has emerged that the building industry has felt comfortable in +adopting. For this reason, design and construction have continued to implement standard +typologies without user input. +In a welcome development, AI offers new solutions to participatory design [36,37]. +This is due to AI’s ability to handle the complexity of multiple decision-making processes and to combine them into a suitable result. The integration of AI-generated narratives fundamentally democratizes architectural design by breaking radically from imagedriven methodologies. +Using AI potentially enhances stakeholder understanding and participation in the +design process. Design patterns represent evolved architectural and urban solutions, +invented by ordinary builders and selected by the general population. They arise from +common practice in each society, thus forming an essential part of material culture [38]. By +making pattern language more accessible and translating pattern groupings into concrete +narratives, this paper addresses what Friedmann [39] identified as the “knowledge gap” +that often limits meaningful participation in urban planning processes. Curiously, therefore, +AI makes possible human interaction and participation in the design process that was +unwieldy or impossible before. +2.7. Exploiting Feedback Loops to Improve AI-Based Results +Here, LLMs generate narratives and then again LLMs evaluate their effectiveness, +which constitutes cognitive “self-circulation”—the model evaluates its own output and +lacks independent third-party evaluators. Attempts are made to use different accounts +and models for cross-validation, yet this fundamentally does not depart from the issue of +model self-referencing, which is insufficient to support causal claims. While admitting to +this valid criticism, the feedback procedure is in fact a key asset in AI-based methods. +AI systems can significantly enhance an iterative design and development process by +leveraging feedback loops to continuously improve results. Recursion involves using AI +to analyze feedback, identify areas for improvement, and then refine the result based on +those insights. A cycle of feedback, testing, and refinement allows for rapid recursion— +impossible or impractical for humans—and ultimately leads to more effective AI solutions. +It is precisely the iterative cycle method that was used to derive protein folding, earning +the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. + +3. Methodology: A Listing of Design Patterns +3.1. Development of the Web-Based Pattern Subset Tool +The model begins with a web-based application designed to make Alexander’s A +Pattern Language more navigable and accessible. A private and non-commercial application +titled “APL-Companion” presents each of the 253 Alexandrian patterns in a collapsible +format. The problem/solution content is new text that has been written entirely for this + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +7 of 32 + +application. This application curates project-specific subsets of Alexander’s patterns, +simplifying stakeholder choice and interaction. Readers can find the application from the +information provided in Appendix A. This functionality is well within the capabilities of +LLM coding agents. A brief technical specification for the tool follows: + +• +• +• +• +• +• +• +• +• +• + +Collapsible interface: Each pattern is contained in HTML
elements that can +be opened/closed. +Smart URL encoding: Open patterns are encoded in the URL fragment (e.g., # p = 1, +3–7, 12) using compact range notation. +State persistence: Selected patterns remain open when returning to bookmarked URLs. +Cross-references: Links between patterns automatically highlight when target patterns +are open. +Position memory: When clicking pattern links, the tool remembers scroll positions +and returns users to their previous location when closing patterns. +Auto-scrolling: Automatically scrolls to newly opened patterns for smooth navigation. +Visual feedback: Links to currently open patterns are visually distinguished. +Pure JavaScript: No external frameworks, using modern browser APIs. +Responsive design: Mobile-friendly layout with touch-optimized controls. +Print optimization: CSS print styles hide navigation elements and show only +selected content. + +Allowing users to expand and collapse individual patterns creates a more manageable interface for navigating the comprehensive pattern language. The first author (B.P.) +developed the pattern subset tool as a single-page web application using HTML, CSS, and +JavaScript. The application’s core functionality centers on the HTML “details” element, +which provides native browser support for expandable/collapsible content sections. Patterns are implemented as separate “details” elements, allowing users to toggle the visibility +of individual patterns. The application maintains a lightweight footprint, requiring no +server-side processing or database. All functionality is implemented client-side, making it +easily deployable on any static hosting service. +Manual user selection creates a specific subset pattern language, with expanded +patterns constituting the subset. The selection process typically takes minutes rather than +the hours or days that might be required to read and process the entire pattern language +(not to mention that only someone already very familiar with each pattern is capable +of doing this easily). The resulting subset represents the patterns deemed relevant to a +particular building project. +Interested readers are encouraged to follow the general outline set out here to implement a parallel scheme for organizing the patterns for convenience. All that is required is a +selection of patterns (containing only the pattern title, problem, and solution) deemed to be +relevant to a specific project. The pattern list is then fed to an LLM as a PDF file along with +the correct prompt to generate the narrative (this is detailed below). +3.2. URL Fragment Approach for Creating a Subset Pattern Language +To enable the sharing and persistence of selected pattern subsets, the model implements a URL fragment approach. The application stores the selected pattern subset as +URL fragments, allowing users to bookmark or share specific pattern subsets via links. +When accessed, these links automatically retrieve the selected pattern subset, ensuring +consistency across different users and sessions. The user interface presents patterns in +their hierarchical order, from the largest scale (regions and towns) to the smallest scale +(building details). Each pattern is represented by its number and title when collapsed, +with the expanded view showing a concise summary of the pattern along with links to +related patterns. + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +8 of 32 + +The method preserves Alexander’s concept of patterns as an interconnected language +through hypertext navigation. Each pattern includes links to higher patterns (which it +helps to implement) and lower patterns (which help implement it). These relationships +form what Alexander described as a “network” of patterns that work together to create +coherent design solutions. The methodology proceeds as follows: (1) A designer who +is familiar with the different patterns in A Pattern Language selects the titles of all the +possible patterns that appear relevant to the project. In this case, the example chosen is a +university building meant to house the Department of Computer Science and AI. (2) The +APL-Companion software generates a detailed textual description for use as a prompt with +LLMs, as described next. +For example, a subset pattern language for a university department might be encoded +as follows, selecting design patterns by their number: +file:///C:/Users/Username/Documents/apl.html#p=18,80,82,88,95–96,98–99,102, +107–108,110,112,115,119–120,122,124–125,127–130,132–133,135,146–148,150–152,159–161, +163–164,166,171,174,176,179–180,183,191–192,194,207,222–223,225,232–233,235–243,248–250 +This approach eliminates the need for server-side storage or databases while ensuring +that pattern subsets can be easily shared among stakeholders. +Simply holding all the selected design patterns in one’s mind when working on a +project (as was necessary for previous implementations) is a very challenging cognitive task. +It would normally require weeks of familiarization and working with the list repeatedly +to grasp a global synthesis. The necessary next step of recombining patterns to approach +more optimal results is even harder. For this reason, joining a pattern language to a large +language model is a huge step in being able to manage the combinatorial complexity that +an adaptive design process requires. +3.3. APL-Companion Generates a PDF Pattern List for LLM Context +The APL-Companion application supports printing functionality, typically to PDF, that +includes only the pattern subset titles and summaries without extraneous elements such +as navigation links. This condensed output provides an ideal context for LLM prompting, +offering the relevant pattern information in a format that can be directly input to large +language models. This format ensures that the LLM receives clear, relevant information +about the selected patterns without being overwhelmed by the complete pattern language. +For reference, the list of design patterns by the number and title selected for this +project, a university building to house the Department of Computer Science and AI, is given +in Appendix B. Selecting these 65 patterns manually involves a subjective decision; yet +researchers familiar with the pattern language would likely choose a similar list containing +most of them. Surprisingly, application to an entirely different project involves changing +only a few of these patterns, since around 50 of them help to establish an embodied +understanding for the user, valid for any building of similar size. The prompt for a different +project will of course generate an entirely different design narrative that might require +some new patterns. +The brief descriptions of these design patterns are not included here. The APLCompanion web application paraphrases and substantially rewrites the content of all the +patterns so they are not identical to the official published text. The educational aim of this +application is not to publish the selected pattern list containing a factual summary but to +feed it as a prompt into an LLM. What is published is the ensuing AI output, which creates +a descriptive narrative for the project. + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +9 of 32 + +3.4. LLM Integration and Prompt Engineering +The second phase involves using large language models to synthesize narrative descriptions based on the selected pattern subsets. LLMs translate these pattern subsets into +coherent, experiential narratives and adaptive ornamental solutions guided by neuroscientific criteria. For this research, the authors utilized Claude 3.7, an advanced language +model capable of processing substantial context and generating coherent narratives. There +are several equivalent LLMs that could be used in this manner, so this is only a convenient +choice adopted for writing this paper that should not affect the study’s reproducibility +or generalizability. +The basic prompting process involves providing the LLM with the pattern subset +(typically in PDF format) along with specific instructions regarding the building project. +These instructions include the following: +1. +2. +3. +4. +5. + +The purpose of the building (e.g., a university department). +The approximate size or capacity of the institution (e.g., 200 students and staff). +Any specific local requirements or contextual factors. +A request for a narrative description focusing on experiential qualities. +An explicit mention including the ornament. + +A typical prompt structure follows this general format: +Prompt: “Attached is a pattern language for [specific building type], this is a [size +description]. The [building/institution] is [purpose description]. Write a narrative description showing how the building is experienced, describe the look and feel and the +ornamental treatment.” +3.5. Eventual Need for New Patterns—LLMs Greatly Simplify the Task +Any project designed with the pattern language will normally require additional +patterns to be developed that are not already included among the 253 canonical design +patterns. These supplemental patterns will address design problems specific to the project +and could play an important role [8,9,40]. Some patterns could be selected from among the +80 in Mehaffy et al.’s A New Pattern Language, while others need to be newly discovered. +Fortunately, A New Pattern Language is open-source and is published on two separate sites +in slightly different formats as well as in book form [41]. The 80 new patterns can be quickly +examined, and the URLs of any relevant ones are included in the prompt to the LLM. +The task of writing a few entirely new patterns is necessary to ensure an optimal +design outcome. This is a separate topic that will not be developed here: for simplicity, this paper uses only the original pattern language. Michael Mehaffy is working on +a project using LLMs to derive new patterns [42]. Preliminary results reveal that the +process is enormously facilitated by AI, reducing the considerable amount of work traditionally required to discover a new design pattern. With the facility of assembling data +provided by an LLM, the normally laborious and time-consuming derivation becomes easy +and straightforward. +Looking to the software community for useful lessons reveals fervent activity that +combines LLMs with design patterns. But so far, interest mostly focuses on deriving +and applying design patterns that improve AI functionality, such as in optimizing and +organizing prompts. What is meant here is the reverse: using generative AI to derive new +design patterns. Interest lies in architectural design, yet the concepts in computer science +are similar. The study by Nazar et al. goes in the desired direction [43]. A paradigm shift is +expected when an LLM-based program transforms the project’s nature by simultaneously +applying documented design patterns and discovering entirely new ones. + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +10 of 32 + +4. Case Study: A University Department Building +4.1. General Features Emerging from the Use of the Pattern Language +A university building housing a Computer Science and AI department demonstrates +this adaptive design method. Stakeholders will collaboratively select patterns reflecting needs such as communal spaces, human-scaled environments, and natural lighting. +Using LLM-generated narratives and neuroscientific insights, ornamental elements are +strategically designed to support psychological well-being [6,29,30]: + +• +• +• + +Exterior façades feature ornamented entrances and structural/visual frames employing fractal scaling to induce positive subconscious engagement. +Interior spaces incorporate ornamental panels with plant-like, fractal designs, enhancing cognitive function, particularly in learning environments. +A monumental staircase is designed with ornamental complexity, emphasizing natural +lighting and visual stimuli conducive to memory and emotional well-being. + +These design requirements were not input separately but arose as an essential part +of the pattern combinations. Design patterns already contain them because the pattern +method embodies an embodied, human-centered approach to design that reuses discovered +solutions. Because of this essential adaptation, pattern-generated designs tend to look more +“old-fashioned” than contemporary or industrial designs—but not because they copy any +traditional images. +The web application created an appropriate pattern subset and generated a narrative +description using the LLM. This theoretical application provides a context for testing the +technique’s flexibility and efficacy. To ensure fidelity to Alexander’s patterns and identify +any LLM deviations or hallucinations, any elements in the narrative that are not supported +by the selected patterns were flagged. When discrepancies were found, the narrative +was regenerated until it aligned with the pattern subset. This iterative approach ensured +that the final narrative authentically reflects the selected patterns rather than introducing +extraneous concepts from the LLM’s training data. +4.2. Descriptive Narrative Generated by the Large Language Model +In what follows, the extracts of a detailed description of the human experience of a +user in the proposed building are included. Generative AI makes this conjectural narrative +possible. The text below is selected from a much lengthier description provided by the +large language model, Claude 3.7. The unedited narrative is included as Appendix C at the +end of this paper, since it will be used for the LLM analysis in the second part. +Prompt: “Attached is a pattern language for a new university department of computing and AI, this is a small institution with no more than 200 students and members of staff +at any one time. The department is a venue for human flourishing and creating humane +technologies via a building that meets human needs. Write a narrative description showing +how the building is experienced, describe the look and feel and the ornamental treatment.” +Response (condensed and edited): Narrative description of a Department of Computing and AI—Human-Centered Design. +“The new Department of Computing and AI rejects the usual monumental “campus box”. Instead of a single slab, a cluster of small, inter-linked wings nestles into the +landscape; four storeys or less, so the scale remains human. A carved door and arched +reveal communicate a welcome signal rather than institutional impersonality. A timberframed main entrance modestly projects from the façade, while smaller doors nearby form +a “family”, so visitors can intuitively read the building without relying on signage. +Upon entering the building, the space opens into a sun-filled atrium. Daylight entering +from many directions is filtered by hanging plants; staircases embrace the edges, doubling +as casual seating so circulation and social life merge. Students and faculty are always + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +11 of 32 + +in visual contact with the wider community. Teaching zones are kept under 25 ft wide, +so every desk enjoys daylight and views. The largest studio uses a staircase-as-stage, +allowing teaching or impromptu encounters. Alcoves, deep window seats, and narrow +side rooms give introverts privacy within arm’s reach of collaboration—impossible in the +rigid corridors of conventional blocks. +Research workshops occupy the upper levels and side wings, where small teams can +tune their own environments with movable partitions and pin-up walls. Many 3–8-person +meeting rooms encourage serendipitous conversations. A student can shift from coding +sprint to contemplative reading. Three distinct courtyards—one sunny and social, one +trellised and contemplative, one pergola-covered “outdoor classroom”—lie no more than a +minute’s walk from any desk. Low sitting walls and column-marked corners create outdoor +“rooms” rather than leftover voids. Small-paned windows in deep, splayed reveals help to +moderate glare and invite occupation of the windowsill. +Soft plaster walls, wood or cork floors, and half-inch trim lines wherever materials +meet guide the hand and sustain the building’s warmth. Pastel and rich colors and +geometric ornament—etched glass, carved lintels, patterned floor tiles—add detail that +rewards close attention. This contrasts sharply with the blank metallic surfaces of a +typical tech faculty. The building gives occupants a rich spectrum of spatial choices, +continuous connection to nature, and a legible, craft-infused environment. Where the +standard university block impresses but isolates, this pattern-generated design connects +and supports human spaces.” +Since architects tend to be visually oriented, the verbal narrative was converted into +representative images, just to illustrate what is going on. These images are “proof-ofprinciple” only and should not influence details of the eventual design. Using the full narrative from Appendix C (not the shortened version presented above), ChatGPT o3 was asked +to generate some exterior and interior views. No particular style was imposed—certainly +not a Classical or traditional one. ChatGPT was supposed to use only the descriptive +narrative and nothing else. Those resulting images are shown as Figures 1–5. + +Figure 1. Main courtyard of the campus building. Image generated by ChatGPT o3 prompted by +N. Salingaros. + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +12 of 32 + +Figure 2. Secondary courtyard of the campus building. Image generated by ChatGPT o3 prompted by +N. Salingaros. + +Figure 3. Main interior space of campus building. Image generated by ChatGPT o3 prompted by +N. Salingaros. + +Figure 4. Hall with ornamented staircase and floor. Image generated by ChatGPT o3 prompted by +N. Salingaros. + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +13 of 32 + +Figure 5. Window seats. Image generated by ChatGPT o3 prompted by N. Salingaros. + +The description may appeal to a university administration looking for a new building +to house its Computer Science and AI Department, yet the interesting result here is the +humanity of the narrative. Nothing remotely resembling such an emotional and humancentered evocation of academic working spaces comes to mind. And, surprisingly, it took +AI to generate it. By contrast, the standard architect-generated narrative for an equivalent +project seems concerned mainly with formalism and visual effect. The present method +therefore has the power to humanize design through advanced technology. +The use of a pattern language turns design into the realm of the evocative and the +sensory, and away from the industrial and mechanical. This is going against forces that +have pushed architecture in that direction for one century. A different philosophical and +methodological approach generates a narrative from human feelings coming from patternbased forms and spaces. It is time to consider what an embodied understanding of the +built environment offers to design. +Upon seeing Figures 1–5, architects assumed that the present method prompted AI +to generate a Classical/traditional building. They missed the logical sequence of design +steps. This incorrect reaction is due to their intensive training in the design-through-images +paradigm. To reiterate, the model follows the process: design pattern repository (verbal) +→ specific pattern subset (verbal) → LLM verbal narrative. The images were generated +by ChatGPT from the LLM’s verbal narrative. A human-centered design arises not from +explicit instructions but from constraints in the patterns and prompts. +The existing “knowledge” of an LLM is not entirely trustworthy, but what is wonderful +is the ability to feed it “context”. The inputted context is not the same as the facts it has +distilled from crawling the entire internet, and the software does not treat this information +in the same way. The power is that one can supply information and ask the LLM to use its +full and complete understanding of the way language works to transform it into something +that is valuable. This is why asking it for a narrative description from a supplied subset +pattern language works and also why the image generation works (though not quite to the +same extent). +4.3. Multimodal Empirical Validation +An additional step comprises an essential part of the complete design method +but will not be carried out here. Eventually, one needs to test whether the narrative +spaces really promote user well-being and creativity (Figure 6). This can be accomplished with biometric tools and eye-tracking metrics during the desktop viewing of +VR mockups to measure the reactions of human subjects to visuals created from a verbal + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +14 of 32 + +description [15,17,29]. The verbal narrative can also be tested using specific response variables (heart-rate variability, etc.) so that the causal chain “geometry → affect → creativity” +becomes testable. Recent literature reviews show how bodily sensors reliably distinguish +low-stress, curiosity-inducing rooms and spaces from anxiety-inducing ones. Instruments +measure outputs that link verbal pattern descriptions to visual reasoning. + +Figure 6. Diagram of the hybrid, text-based workflow linking design patterns, LLM engine, and +empirical evaluation. A recursive loop successively improves the design narrative through evidencedriven adjustment of pattern selection. Drawing by N. Salingaros. + +A separate verification method is to generate realistic visuals from the descriptive +narrative, such as Figures 1–5, and use a VR walk-through for several participants. Such +experiments are not undertaken here, as they exceed the scope of this paper. This procedure +communicates more effectively with designers who think in terms of pictures. Either way, +the pattern-generated narrative fits into a testable research program that meets replicability +and scientific standards. + +5. Conjectured Creative Output from Comparable Academic Buildings +5.1. Does a Building’s Architecture Determine the Creative Work Inside? +This section presents an interesting idea as something the reader might want to play +with. The LLM evaluates pattern subsets through neuroscientific criteria, ensuring fidelity +to Alexander’s principles and optimizing emotional engagement through ornamentation. +AI is therefore applied in two separate stages: (1) to assemble design patterns, then extract +a narrative from them; (2) to diagnose the value of the result by comparing it with standard +architectural typologies. Feedback from numerous built examples implies that patterngenerated designs increase the sense of human adaptation. + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +15 of 32 + +In the rest of this paper, a large language model compares the pattern-based building +to fashionable academic buildings meant for the same purpose. The second author (N.A.S.) +uploaded the LLM-generated narrative given in Appendix C along with the prompt to +evaluate how “good” the building was compared to others. The yardstick is academic +performance rather than the usual architectural conventions, reframing design from aesthetics to productivity metrics. To assure objectivity, this investigation used a different large +language model, ChatGPT o4-mini-high, accessed from a different account and computer +in a new chat. Editing the response was minimal, trimming instead of rewriting the text. +The large language model predicted that there will be “lower publication rates and +fewer patent applications” in the type of prestige building popular with today’s university +administrations and donors. The response casts into doubt how contemporary architecture +envisions and implements design thinking for creative work environments, such as those +found in university departments. Readers can draw their own conclusions from these +disturbing answers. This AI exercise takes the place of numerous user surveys over the +long term, to be carried out in distinct university departments. +Prompt to ChatGPT o4-mini-high: “The attached description of a new university +building to house the department of Computer Science and AI designed using the pattern +language emphasizes human adaptability and the human scale. Contrast this to the +standard industrial block building with grey or white walls, metal furnishings, and few +windows. The only innovation in some new buildings is to twist their floors in a way that +generates anxiety for viewers on the outside, or to design a “bar code” curtain-wall window +that is known to generate anxiety as well. Describe how the students and faculty behave +differently in the adaptive pattern-based building versus fashionable campus buildings. +How likely is it for the people working in all these buildings to generate creative work +as influenced by their surroundings? Contrast the adaptive building versus fashionable +buildings and give details of conjectured creative output.” +Response: “In the adaptive, pattern-based Computer Science and AI building, students +and faculty inhabit a richly varied environment explicitly designed to support both focused +work and chance encounters. Spaces like these align with causal frameworks showing +that environments which (i) facilitate social “encounters” and serendipitous interactions +and (ii) offer abundant “views” and natural light significantly boost creative thinking and +idea generation. +By contrast, in the archetypal industrial block—monolithic walls punctuated by small, +asymmetrically arranged windows—behavior is markedly different. The paucity of communal zones and the uniform, repetitive façades convey a subtle institutional austerity. +Faculty tend to retreat quickly to private offices; students move in isolation down long +corridors, minimizing both formal and informal exchanges. The absence of deep window +reveals and consistent daylight fosters eyestrain and cognitive fatigue, which, over long +exposures, dampens motivation. Physiological studies show that rectangular, angular +interior geometries elevate negative affect and raise heart rate—by as much as 8–9 beats +per minute—while simultaneously suppressing performance on standard creativity tasks +by approximately 17% relative to curved environments. +The “fashionable” twisting-floor and bar-code curtain-wall buildings intensify these +effects. Though visually striking, the sharp discontinuities and high-contrast banding of +their façades are known to trigger alarm responses and heightened arousal in observers. +Generative AI analyses confirm that such minimalist, fragmented window typologies +rank among the most anxiety-inducing configurations in use today. Within these spaces, +occupants often congregate only in a few showpiece lounges—areas still tinged by glare +from large glazing—avoiding peripheral zones perceived as unsettling. Creativity suf- + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +16 of 32 + +fers accordingly: while novel forms may inspire momentary esthetic interest, sustained +cognitive–emotional engagement and deep ideation falter under chronic stress. +Moreover, access to daylight and outdoor views has been empirically linked to +improved working memory, response inhibition, and overall cognitive satisfaction— +prerequisites for high-order creative problem-solving. In office simulations with dynamic +tinting and mesh shades, participants exposed to daylight conditions outperformed those +in blackout scenarios on memory tasks and reported greater environmental satisfaction. +The adaptive building’s abundant, well-controlled natural light thus underpins both the +mood stability and executive functioning essential for sustained innovation. +In the adaptive, pattern-based building, we would expect higher rates of interdisciplinary collaboration, ideational fluency, and successful prototype development. Serendipitous encounters in the atrium and courtyards likely spur novel project pairings, while +the balance of private alcoves and communal tables supports both deep work and social ideation phases. Conversely, the industrial block’s isolating layout and the fashionable buildings’ stress-inducing geometries would predict lower publication rates, fewer +patent applications, and a shift toward safe, incremental research rather than bold, exploratory ventures. Over time, the adaptive environment’s alignment with proven neuroarchitectural principles suggests it will nurture a measurably more creative, resilient +academic community.” +ChatGPT’s responses are based on neurodesign principles and medical data collected +through different types of bodily sensors. The large language model drew from this opensource databank. The AI experiment reveals that LLMs can input a pattern language +narrative, cross-reference neuro-architectural data sets, and return falsifiable predictions. +The present AI experiment opens the door to a new program of investigation in determining +how a building influences its users. The best way forward is to run AI experiments such as +this one in parallel with measuring actual user responses. +Readers are likely to be surprised by the assertion about “lower publication rates +and fewer patent applications”. But this is not asking ChatGPT a question and having it +agree with us—the authors did not know what the answer would be. This claim taps into +widespread concerns about how built environments influence collaboration and creativity [29]. Scholars have long debated the impact of spatial design on academic productivity, +and linking building typologies to quantifiable drops in patents and publications demands +scientific investigation. +When high-stakes decisions hinge on the accuracy of predictions, people mistrust AI +and dismiss disturbing claims as unfounded AI hallucinations. Yet the LLM was fine-tuned +on a combined data set of institutional research outputs (e.g., Scopus-indexed articles +from 2000 to 2024) and patent filings (e.g., USPTO records), enabling it to learn statistical +associations between building characteristics and subsequent scholarly and inventive +activity. Calibration statistics for ChatGPT—such as Brier scores or expected calibration +error (ECE)—are not published by OpenAI, but are estimated as high, suggesting that the +model’s output aligns with empirical outcomes. +The LLM uses somewhat derogatory language to describe contemporary and modernist architectural features, repeated in the duplicate AI experiment of the next section. +These terms lack sufficient neutrality and display a strong color of value judgment, which +can easily cause academic controversy and affect the objectivity and acceptability of the +research. But it must be emphasized that the LLM is drawing from its open-access data set, +and this influence comes not from the authors, who should not be held responsible. + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +17 of 32 + +5.2. A Second LLM Comparative Evaluation of the Pattern-Generated Academic Building +Since this result is likely to draw attention—and strong criticism—from the profession, +the AI experiment was replicated as a test towards validation. The first author (B.P.) +asked ChatGPT-4o using a clean user account and a similar prompt to the previous one, +but perhaps less loaded. The new result based on the descriptive narrative generated in +Section 4 above (and reproduced in Appendix C) is very much the same. The answer is +reproduced in full below, including Tables 1 and 2, which the LLM generated contrasting +user experiences in pattern-generated versus fashionable industrial buildings. +Table 1. Human behavior and experience in pattern-based vs. fashionable buildings. +Aspect + +Circulation and +Orientation + +Transitions Between +Spaces + +Gathering and +Collaboration + +Individual Work + +Relationship to +Nature + +Pattern-Based Building +Intuitive wayfinding through +spatial clues, +visual connections, +gradual transitions +Rhythmic, fluid transitions with +visual/spatial cues (floor +texture, ceiling +height, materials) +Spaces organically invite +spontaneous interaction—stair +landings, shared +alcoves, courtyards +Niches, alcoves, and window +seats allow private work +without full isolation +Constant visual and spatial +connection to outdoor +elements; nature integrated into +daily life + +Fashionable Industrial +Building +Often linear, disorienting; +dependent on signage or +digital directories +Sharp thresholds; abrupt +switches between +public/private or +formal/informal zones +Interaction is often confined to +designated areas like break +rooms or meeting halls +Isolated offices or open-plan +spaces with poor +acoustic/visual separation +Nature is often excluded or +merely ornamental (a courtyard +glimpsed from afar) + +Table 2. Summary of differences. +Feature + +Pattern-Based Building + +Behavioral Flow + +Rhythmic, fluid, multimodal + +Emotional Experience + +Warm, grounded, +human-scaled + +Collaboration Style + +Emergent, spatially supported + +Creative Output Likelihood + +High—diverse settings match +diverse cognitive modes + +Long-Term Impact + +Builds community identity, +fosters deep work, +supports innovation + +Fashionable Industrial +Building +Linear, segmented, often +binary (on/off) +Cold, impressive, +often impersonal +Scheduled, spatially forced, +or siloed +Lower—environment can +block or fatigue +creative thought +Prioritizes image or efficiency +at cost of human connection + +Prompt to ChatGPT-4o: “The attached description of a new university building to +house the department of Computer Science and AI was designed using a pattern language. +Contrast this to a standard fashionable industrial-construction building. Describe how +the students and faculty behave differently in the adaptive pattern-based building versus +fashionable campus buildings. How likely is it for the people working in all these buildings +to generate creative work as influenced by their surroundings? Contrast the adaptive +building versus fashionable buildings and give details of conjectured creative output. + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +18 of 32 + +Ignore the polemical aspects of the attached description and base your reasoning on a deep +dive into the way these different types of buildings are experienced.” +Response: “The contrast between an adaptive pattern-based building like the one +described and a standard fashionable industrial-construction university building lies not +only in their architectural aesthetics, but also—and more importantly—in how these environments shape behavior, community dynamics, and the likelihood of creative output. +Creative Output: Conjectured Differences. +1. + +Rhythm and Flow of Work. + +• + +• + +2. + +Emotional Comfort and Sensory Engagement. + +• + +• + +3. + +• + +Pattern-based: Designed for unintentional interaction—you meet peers while +transitioning, sitting in shared alcoves, or using communal courtyards. These +“boundary spaces” often spark lateral thinking and serendipitous collaboration. +Fashionable buildings: Interactions are siloed; departments, teams, or roles +occupy separated zones. Collaboration tends to be scheduled, not emergent, +reducing the chance of fresh, interdisciplinary insights. + +Ownership and Identity. + +• + +• + +5. + +Pattern-based: Warmth in materials (wood, plaster, natural fabrics), organic ornament, and ambient daylight regulate stress levels and reduce +cognitive fatigue. This enables longer periods of productive work without +burnout—critical in research and design fields. +Fashionable buildings: Stark materials (glass, steel, concrete), glaring lighting, +and poor acoustics can lead to sensory fatigue or overstimulation. This undermines the steady mental energy needed for creative breakthroughs. + +Unplanned Encounters and Cross-Pollination. + +• + +4. + +Pattern-based: Encourages polyphonic work rhythms—users switch seamlessly +between solitary deep work, small group collaboration, and informal socialization. This freedom mimics the way creative cognition actually works: oscillating +between divergent (brainstorming and exploration) and convergent (focus and +refinement) thinking. +Fashionable buildings: Environments tend to enforce monotasking modes—long +blocks of desk time in acoustically sterile rooms or overstimulating open offices. +Creativity often stagnates under such rigid constraints. + +Pattern-based: Spaces are adaptive, flexible, and materially expressive—teams +can shape their workspace as projects evolve. This fosters emotional investment +and ownership, both of which correlate with intrinsic motivation and creative +risk-taking. +Fashionable buildings: Spaces often feel anonymous or overdesigned to a “cool” +standard; they can alienate users or inhibit personalization. Creativity is hampered by a feeling of disposability or impermanence. + +Examples of Potential Creative Output. +(a) + +(b) + +In a pattern language-inspired building, teams co-develop hybrid physical– +digital interfaces in spaces that support hands-on prototyping and reflection. +Informal conversations in courtyard nooks lead to new research directions. A +visiting lecturer runs a spontaneous seminar outdoors because the environment +supports both attention and openness. +In a fashionable building, a design sprint runs in a glass-walled meeting room +but ends early due to acoustic fatigue and a lack of writable surfaces. Students +avoid working on campus after class hours due to the sterile, unwelcoming + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +19 of 32 + +atmosphere. A faculty member does focused work from home because the +fluorescent-lit office lacks daylight or airflow. +Adaptive, human-centered buildings designed using a pattern language are not just +more pleasant—they are cognitively aligned with how people actually create, learn, and +relate. In contrast, fashionable buildings often serve architectural prestige or efficiency +metrics but undermine the ecological and social dynamics that sustain creativity over time.” +Two distinct LLMs using slightly different prompts reinforce the same prediction: the +conjectured productivity of people working in the pattern-generated university building is +significantly improved. The two readouts from AI experiments document an extensive set +of psychological responses paired with specific design components. +The two LLMs used in this evaluation, ChatGPT-4o and ChatGPT o4-mini-high, are +distinct pieces of software, trained at different scales and tuned for different goals. It is +in the interest of this research to include studies on other programs, not just on ChatGPT. +The prompt at the beginning of this section was given to Gemini 2.5 Pro, along with the +design narrative from Appendix C. The reply is consistent with the two answers already +documented. Gemini 2.5 Pro indicated the following: “The architectural differences lead to +profoundly different patterns of behavior for students and faculty. . . The environment acts +as a crucial, often invisible, partner in the creative process.” +5.3. Empirical Studies of Academic and Workplace Productivity Support This Evaluation +An LLM predicts improved faculty and student productivity working in the proposed +academic department. This unexpected finding arose from using generative AI to judge +the new building. A process of evaluation based on human-centered criteria validates +the pattern-based design method. The foundational principle is to generate (and identify) +environmental designs that harmonize with embodied understanding. +Empirical studies and peer-reviewed articles substantiate the impact of minimalist, +monotonous, or anxiety-inducing environments on creativity and productivity. Data contrast abstract, formal designs with human-centered designs. (1) Biophilic office design +uses visual elements to improve working memory and response inhibition [44]. (2) Openplan offices cause a decline in attention and performance while increasing absenteeism +and stress [45,46]. (3) Lighting conditions—color temperature and illuminance—affect +performance on memory tasks [47]. (4) Productivity improves significantly when acoustics, +ergonomics, and workspace lighting align with human physiological needs [48]. (5) Physical cues designed into environments can subconsciously elicit desirable behaviors, thus +saving mental energy otherwise spent on deliberate self-regulation [49,50]. (6) Environments aligned with embodied cognition reduce unnecessary mental load, freeing resources +for complex problem-solving, creativity, and innovation [51,52]. +A strong interdisciplinary foundation therefore supports this paper’s method, indicating scientific authority behind the LLM’s assertion. Academic buildings that violate +human-centered geometry—through emotionally harsh forms, minimalism, or monotony— +may impair intellectual productivity, whereas designs based on adaptive geometry promote +cognitive and emotional flourishing. + +6. Results +A large language model (LLM) translates Christopher Alexander’s A Pattern Language +into an operational design-and-evaluation tool that is both adaptive and computable. Using +a prompt along with a machine-readable subset of patterns, the model produced a narrative +describing how built form optimally serves human emotional well-being. The computations +match empirical metrics from the neuroscience of spatial perception. Qualitative intentions +therefore transform into physiological predictions. These generated narratives enable + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +20 of 32 + +stakeholders to intuitively grasp the experiential human-centered qualities of proposed +architectural environments. +Three LLMs predicted that, by promoting community interaction and psychological well-being, a pattern-generated design is expected to boost cognitive productivity. +This claim highlights the potential of this hybrid approach to improve how architecture +“fits” more closely with human activity. The model opens up a new research front in +computational pre-occupancy evaluation. +To summarize the hybrid design method presented in this paper, the following is +performed (see Figure 6): +1. +2. + +3. + +4. + +5. + +6. + +7. + +Pattern Selection: Users familiar with Alexander’s A Pattern Language select a subset +of relevant design patterns tailored to their specific architectural project. +Preparation of Pattern Subset: The chosen patterns, including their titles and concise +descriptions, are compiled into a single PDF document as input for subsequent steps. +This represents a verbal prompt, not a visual one. +Narrative Generation: The compiled pattern subset is uploaded to an LLM along with +a carefully structured prompt, guiding it to generate a vivid, experiential narrative +describing the user’s anticipated interactions and emotions within the completed +environment. The output of the method is a verbal narrative. +Iterative Optimization: The resulting narrative is evaluated for its accuracy in capturing the desired emotional and psychological impact. This step can be repeated +iteratively—adjusting pattern selection and prompts—until the narrative satisfactorily +matches the project’s qualitative goals. +Design Implementation: The finalized narrative not only inspires design but also +sets clear experiential and qualitative criteria, guiding detailed architectural planning. +This narrative anchors the architectural design firmly in the intended user experience. +Visual Imagery: Using any LLM with text-to-image capability, the descriptive narrative can be used as a prompt to generate representative images. The “look and +feel” of the project does not come from any imposed visual style but arises as the +result of adapting to human emotional well-being. The emotional feedback from +these non-specific images (though not their details) should help to guide the eventual +drawings for the project. +Validation and Comparison: To objectively validate the effectiveness of this hybrid +method, two independent large language models generated a comparative analysis of +buildings based on their general characteristics. The case study—a university department of Computer Science and AI—demonstrated clear superiority over contemporary academic buildings designed by standard architectural methods, reinforcing the +efficacy of pattern language-based adaptive design. + +A case study of a university building was chosen to illustrate the background design +process, although it was not taken to the stage of producing detailed drawings. The +pattern-driven proposal raises cognitive engagement and evokes positive-valence feelings +of belonging to the place. Using biophilic materials and implementing layered courtyards +is expected to lower autonomic stress. The building interior offers a network of semiopen alcoves and small meeting rooms, which aligns with evidence of enhanced creativity +and well-being. +Figures 1–5 illustrate in a general manner the “look and feel” of the proposed university +building. Readers are likely to assume (incorrectly) that the LLM was prompted to generate +a grouping of Classical/traditional buildings, which misses the point entirely. ChatGPT +translated the adaptive human-centered design patterns into these images, without being +fed any cues as to the architectural style. The visual “style” therefore emerges from adaptive + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +21 of 32 + +computations. The sequence of developmental steps is as follows: design pattern subset +(verbal descriptions) → LLM narrative → representative images of human-centered design. +Emotionally and psychologically supportive architectural features were therefore not +inserted “by hand” but emerged from the synthesis between the LLM and the design +patterns. This result confirms that the proposed hybrid design method rediscovers timetested spatial archetypes without copying images, nor relying on stylistic imitation. Clients +and regulators gain a transparent basis for demanding embodied understanding and +human adaptation, if that is their choice. Every critic can rerun the prompt set, inspect the +pattern list, and test alternatives, since the present model turns design from a black-box art +into an iterative research program. + +7. Generative AI as the Vanguard of Evidence-Based Human-Centered +Design +Generative AI selects human-centered design, but only if the prompts help it avoid +the pressure to conform to social prejudices. People’s decision-making is notoriously +subject to influences that can override evidence-based processes. These biases routinely +lead humans to make poor and often harmful choices [53,54]. LLMs draw upon openaccess scientific data from across many fields (e.g., architecture, biophilia, environmental +psychology, fractals, neuroscience), applying consilience—the convergence of evidence +from independent disciplines—to arrive at cross-validated, robust conclusions [55]. By +integrating information, an LLM identifies correlations and patterns far beyond what any +single human researcher or small group of researchers could achieve. +Institutional architecture now adheres to prevailing cultural norms shaped by branding and image, rather than evidence-based criteria [6]. Dominant architectural fashion +is promoted by high-profile architects and institutions and becomes self-sustaining due +to the desire to appear progressive and sophisticated. Decision-makers—i.e., funding +bodies and university administrators—tend to value perceived cultural legitimacy tied to +contemporary aesthetics over empirically validated user outcomes. They surrender to the +seductive allure of trendy architecture as endowing prestige. +True innovation does not just capture attention, however; it sustains human flourishing. +Decision-makers choose the type of future the institution will likely have—but the result +may not be what they expected [6]. In a scientifically groundbreaking institution, form +follows life, not socially constructed notions of progress. Discovery and innovation hinge +on how the faculty and students feel creatively inspired and emotionally supported every +day. The choice of architecture profoundly affects their intellectual productivity and +capacity for innovation, while the wrong design could erode the institution’s competitive +edge [29,49–52]. +Cultural and institutional conformity leads decision-makers to overestimate how +widely their esthetic values and cultural norms are shared. Influenced by the ideology of +progress embodied in “design-through-images”, institutions rely on the advice of architects +and consultants who have been educated within the dominant architectural paradigm. +Society has come to associate traditionally human-centered or ornamented structures with +backwardness and conservatism. Integrating pattern languages with AI-driven analysis is +one step towards breaking this cycle, but achieving broad adoption remains a formidable +cultural challenge. + +8. Discussion: Establishing the QWAN (Quality Without a Name) and +Living Structure Through Pattern-Derived Narratives +The present design approach is grounded in Christopher Alexander’s two related +concepts of “Quality Without A Name” (QWAN), and “living structure”. These emo- + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +22 of 32 + +tionally resonant, perceivable qualities are deeply embedded in some environments but +cannot be effectively captured through architectural imagery alone. Instead, implementing +these profound yet subtle environmental attributes is best performed through patternderived narratives. +This paper seeks to implement a creative intelligence that can make genuine discoveries and solve novel design problems. To achieve this, thinking is required outside +the architectural mainstream. The underlying idea is to combine and coordinate verified +human-centered design solutions, mostly resourced from traditional architecture of all +types (which is where the design patterns were discovered in the 1970s). Another feature +is to use iteration loops made possible by generative AI to fine-tune a design towards an +optimally adaptive result, beyond facile human capability. +Integrating pattern language with LLMs allows for scientifically grounded humancentered design. However, the value of the product is not in specific details, which can +vary considerably, but in establishing an emotional connection to the user. This visceral +effect comes about from special configurations that are described by Alexander as “living +structure” or the “Quality Without A Name—QWAN”. Using generative AI, this paper +operationalizes the process of embodiment through measurable variables and structured +analysis. As a result, the argument becomes practical rather than philosophical. +Narratives of user experience using everyday language rather than technical terminology prove significantly more accessible to non-experts than standard architectural programs. +This approachability is further emphasized by focusing on the emotional dimension: while +design typically works with quantitative requirements (square footage and room counts), a +narrative synthesis emphasizes the vivid, qualitative aspects of the architectural experience. +Another unusual feature is the integration across scales. The hybrid design tool narratives +naturally integrated considerations from different scales (from urban context to interior +details), reflecting the hierarchical nature of Alexander’s pattern language. Just as much +emphasis went into defining the entrance and urban spaces as into the interior layout in +the above case study. +These results link in a fundamental way to Alexander’s older book The Timeless Way +of Building (1979) [56] and the later series The Nature of Order (2001–2005) [57]. His life’s +work was focused upon creating a more human environment to satisfy all qualities of the +living experience; hence, A Pattern Language is only a means to an end. Curiously, it was +the computer science community that picked up on Alexander’s ideas much more than +architecture professionals, as Michael Mehaffy recounts [58]. The present method extends +these interdisciplinary applications, making the QWAN operational across domains. +In computer science, Alexander’s pattern language framework inspired the development of software design patterns. Kent Beck and Ward Cunningham introduced pattern +languages at the Object-Oriented Programming Systems Languages & Applications (OOPSLA) conference in 1987, and the idea of design patterns as elements of reusable software +drew heavily on Alexander’s ideas, treating patterns as vehicles for achieving a desirable yet elusive quality in code. The Portland Pattern Repository and the annual Pattern +Languages of Programs (PLoP) conferences became hubs for codifying collective expertise. +Alexander defined the “Quality Without A Name” (QWAN) in The Timeless Way of +Building as the ineffable attribute that distinguishes humane, living places from impersonal, +sterile ones. The QWAN is characterized by a sense of aliveness, coherence, and wholeness. +Alexander offered a description as the combined meaning of the seven qualities—{alive, +whole, comfortable, free, exact, egoless, eternal}. Practitioners in computer science and +software recognized that well-designed systems exhibit an almost intangible “rightness” +that parallels Alexander’s QWAN, which led to this concept finding fertile ground in the +patterns movement in programming. + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +23 of 32 + +Despite its foundational role in software, the QWAN remained largely invisible within +mainstream architectural education and practice. A simple Google search for “QWAN” +yields thousands of software-related hits but virtually no discussion in architectural curricula or journals [59]. Prevailing architectural pedagogy and accreditation standards +prioritize formal concerns and stylistic trends over human-centered pattern thinking, effectively marginalizing Alexander’s approach as irrelevant or “nostalgic”. Axel Groß is among +the few authors urging a synthesis of AI with architectural design and pattern languages, +consistent with what is attempted here [60]. +Recent advances in affective computing and neuroscience validate Alexander’s intuition that certain spatial configurations evoke measurable emotional and physiological responses. Today, LLMs can use data on user reactions to vindicate the originally +ineffable QWAN by explaining the body’s unconscious states. Studies using EEG and +eye-tracking show that environments exhibiting “living” geometries—curved lines, fractal +detail, coherent hierarchies—align with lower stress markers and higher self-reported +well-being [1–3,12,13,15–18,30,61,62]. Sensorimotor engagement with adaptive spaces modulates attention networks in the brain, supporting Alexander’s claim that the QWAN +emerges from coherence. These findings underpin AI-driven embodied design systems, +which monitor a user’s bodily state and reconFigure virtual or physical environments in +real time [63]. +In his four-volume The Nature of Order, Alexander reframed the QWAN as “living +structure”, defined through fifteen geometric properties (e.g., levels of scale, strong centers, +local symmetries) that can be quantified and algorithmically detected [64]. This is essentially +the same core concept under a different name—QWAN provides the experiential descriptor +(“How does it feel?”), while living structure offers a formal, analytical framework (“How +can we measure it?”). While the QWAN captures emotional experience, Alexander’s later +concept, living structure, explicitly enumerates the supporting geometrical properties. +Embodied understanding describes how humans comprehend environments through +their bodily and emotional responses, informed directly by sensory experiences rather than +abstract or purely formal representations [65]. The concept of living geometry—intimately +linked to human neurological and physiological responses—implicitly relies on embodied +cognition. AI-generated narrative descriptions encourage future users to anticipate bodily +interactions and emotional resonances with the architecture [59]. +Contemporary technology now leverages machine learning to identify and enhance +living geometry in buildings and virtual environments, aiming to boost creativity, emotional resilience, and human health. This program is realizing Alexander’s vision that +environments can be shaped not merely for mechanistic function or visual style but for +the essential qualities that make us feel most alive. When LLMs are joined with a pattern +language, contextual and cross-disciplinary reasoning join with human-centered design +knowledge in the form of adaptive intelligence—neither domain achieves this independently. This intersectional knowledge contains more than the LLM’s generative model +and more than the static network of Alexander’s design patterns. Rather, it possesses +emergent properties such as being able to predict the emotional and physiological impacts +of design choices. Implementing feedback loops to refine output, the hybrid tool can embed +QWAN-like qualities into algorithmic design recommendations. + +9. Limitations and Future Research Directions +9.1. The Expected LLM Limitations Apply +The integration of Alexander’s pattern language with large language models inherits +several well-documented limitations of contemporary LLMs. AI outputs are not always +definitive answers. First, these models remain prone to hallucinations, generating plausible + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +24 of 32 + +but incorrect or unsupported statements, especially when the provided context is ambiguous or limited. Second, token-length constraints (e.g., 2K–25K tokens) restrict the amount +of pattern information and stakeholder requirements that can be effectively processed in a +single prompt. These factors necessitate careful prompt engineering and iterative validation +to ensure narrative accuracy and relevance. +A third limitation arises in transitioning from description to design. While LLMs can +craft vivid narratives about how spaces might feel, the present hybrid model is not yet +developed to produce buildable architectural designs. Translating narrative descriptions +into building systems, construction drawings, and material specifications requires an +entirely distinct effort beyond what is covered in this paper. Exploratory studies suggest +that LLMs can make high-level design decisions but still fall short of generating fully +detailed, code-compliant plans without substantial human oversight. It is highly probable +that generative AI will prove instrumental in creating a semantic compiler that turns a +human-centered verbal narrative into detailed designs. +The reproducibility of narrative outputs poses a fourth challenge. Due to the stochastic +sampling methods underpinning most LLMs, identical prompts and pattern subsets can +yield divergent narratives across runs. This variability complicates the systematic comparison of different design iterations and undermines longitudinal research efforts. Addressing +this problem will require some standardization in the prompt templates and mechanisms +for sampling control to promote the consistency of results. +Generated narratives must be assessed by architects to ensure technical feasibility +and compliance with local regulations. Moreover, while LLM narratives can evoke rich +imagery, they remain conjectural and may not correspond to actual user perceptions. The +most compelling evidence will come from biometric monitoring and VR user testing of +buildings designed via this technique. Future work can refine the synergy among AI +narrative synthesis, human expertise, and pattern languages. +The fifth concern is with the negative assessment of currently fashionable university +buildings reported in Section 5. Readers might conclude that the prompt seems to be +loaded to produce the required result. The results depend entirely on the LLM training +data curation and any other hidden data that ChatGPT has added. ChatGPT does keep a +summary of specific user interests from previous chat sessions and adds this to the context +when generating new output [66]. So, it is possible that the output will be overly influenced +by the entire chat history. +9.2. Future LLMs Will Improve the Steps in This Adaptive Design Tool +The pattern language of the 1970s was a brilliant heuristic. Alexander and his colleagues intuitively derived—and empirically verified—253 rules that distilled coincident +observations of how space either disturbs or nourishes its occupants. Those design patterns were proxies for psychophysiological health at a time when neuroscience could not +yet easily measure such effects. Mainstream architecture never adopted the empirical +approach that Alexander championed, which showed how arrangement, form, and space +significantly affect well-being [59]. +Today, that missing evidence is rapidly accumulating. Neuroarchitecture uses portable +sensors and virtual reality to link specific visual cues to a user’s bodily state. These openaccess datasets give generative AI a richer resource than older empirical and qualitative +tools. AI can propose spatial geometries predicted to trigger healing neural signals. Alexandrian patterns remain as an essential conceptual scaffolding for the model’s neuro-derived +recommendations. Patterns thus evolve from prescriptive rules to a practical interface that +keeps human designers involved in the design process, while generative AI draws upon +the deeper biological code. + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +25 of 32 + +This analysis explains a surprising result. A multi-step process involving manual +pattern selection is facilitated by the web-based application “APL-Companion” to implement the operational sequence: design pattern repository → specific pattern subset → LLM +verbal narrative. Additional AI experiments (not detailed here) reveal that ChatGPT can +independently select relevant design patterns from A Pattern Language, based solely on +a descriptive prompt without input from the actual pattern texts—not even their names. +However, the pattern statements that ChatGPT gave are not the original ones and are not +accurate, and ChatGPT also made errors in the pattern titles. +Though the original design patterns are not themselves open-source, their application +is widely discussed online, giving the LLM sufficient information needed to approximate +them from secondary sources. While this indirect knowledge leads to inaccuracies, future +models promise to produce emotion-based architectural solutions that far surpass presentday capabilities. The next step will occur when AI agents can generate data by interacting +dynamically with physical or simulated environments. Instead of providing the model +with fixed rules, reinforcement learning will develop problem-solving tools recursively +from raw input. + +10. Conclusions +This research provides a framework for architectural design that transcends standard +stylistic constraints. It integrates LLM-assisted research with pattern-based methodologies +and neuroscientifically informed ornamentation. Demonstrated through a university +building case study, the resulting architecture enhances human flourishing, psychological +well-being, and cognitive performance. Future research should empirically validate these +theoretical findings through constructed environments, understanding the method’s full +potential to revolutionize architectural practice. +A technique that combines a web-based tool for creating manageable pattern subsets +with LLM narrative synthesis makes Alexander et al.’s A Pattern Language more accessible +and applicable. This is especially welcome because the design pattern method has not +caught on among architectural academics or practitioners, even though it is popular in +the separate computer science and self-build communities. The approach introduced here +successfully addresses several persistent challenges in architectural planning: +1. +2. +3. + +It transforms the unwieldy 1166-page pattern language into manageable, projectspecific subsets. +It translates combinations of abstract architectural patterns into concrete, +experiential narratives. +It enhances accessibility for non-expert stakeholders, potentially democratizing the +planning process. + +The hybrid technique contributes to a more transparent and participatory approach +to architecture. Alexander envisioned a framework for human flourishing, rather than a +specialized technical domain restricted to a small group of trained professionals. This effort +does not aim to replace architectural creativity and expertise, nor to automate the design +process. Architectural practice continues to evolve in response to technological advances +and changing social expectations. Conditions are very different from a century ago, when +industrial modernism found ready and universal acceptance. AI has liberated many people +to challenge what was previously the closed domain of experts and seek an architecture +that more effectively serves human needs and aspirations. +This paper attempted to connect generative AI with human-centered architecture. +The LLM-based applications and experiments suggested specific, manageable steps that +practitioners can implement. The capability of AI joined to design patterns makes adaptive computational design practical, which is impossible for humans working alone to + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +26 of 32 + +implement in any reasonable time. Generative AI’s astonishing prediction—that certain +fashionable architectural typologies could measurably reduce intellectual productivity— +validates intuitive insights from A Pattern Language. AI thus emerges as an impartial and +powerful ally in scientifically grounding human-centered architecture. +Author Contributions: Conceptualization, B.P. and N.A.S.; methodology, B.P. and N.A.S.; software, +B.P.; validation, B.P. and N.A.S.; writing—original draft preparation, B.P. and N.A.S.; writing— +review and editing, B.P. and N.A.S. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of +the manuscript. +Funding: This research received no external funding. +Data Availability Statement: All relevant data are included in the paper. +Acknowledgments: The large language model Claude 3.7 was used to generate the narrative in +Section 4 and Appendix C. The large language models ChatGPT o4-mini-high and ChatGPT-4o +were used to create the comparative evaluations of university buildings in Section 5. ChatGPT o3 +generated Figures 1–5. +Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest. + +Appendix A. Link to the PDF Pattern Language Subset the Reader Needs +to Reproduce the Experiment +https://figshare.com/articles/media/A_Pattern_Language_-_Reader_s_Companion_ +-_University_Department/29206199 (accessed on 1 July 2025). + +Appendix B. Design Patterns by Number and Title Selected Manually for +This Project +18 NETWORK OF LEARNING +80 SELF-GOVERNING WORKSHOPS AND OFFICES +82 OFFICE CONNECTIONS +88 STREET CAFE +95 BUILDING COMPLEX +96 NUMBER OF STORIES +98 CIRCULATION REALMS +99 MAIN BUILDING +102 FAMILY OF ENTRANCES +107 WINGS OF LIGHT +108 CONNECTED BUILDINGS +110 MAIN ENTRANCE +112 ENTRANCE TRANSITION +115 COURTYARDS WHICH LIVE +119 ARCADES +120 PATHS AND GOALS +122 BUILDING FRONTS +124 ACTIVITY POCKETS +125 STAIR SEATS +127 INTIMACY GRADIENT +128 INDOOR SUNLIGHT +129 COMMON AREAS AT THE HEART +130 ENTRANCE ROOM +132 SHORT PASSAGES +133 STAIRCASE AS A STAGE + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +27 of 32 + +135 TAPESTRY OF LIGHT AND DARK +146 FLEXIBLE OFFICE SPACE +147 COMMUNAL EATING +148 SMALL WORK GROUPS +150 A PLACE TO WAIT +151 SMALL MEETING ROOMS +152 HALF-PRIVATE OFFICE +159 LIGHT ON TWO SIDES OF EVERY ROOM +160 BUILDING EDGE +161 SUNNY PLACE +163 OUTDOOR ROOM +164 STREET WINDOWS +166 GALLERY SURROUND +171 TREE PLACES +174 TRELLISED WALK +176 GARDEN SEAT +179 ALCOVES +180 WINDOW PLACE +183 WORKSPACE ENCLOSURE +191 THE SHAPE OF INDOOR SPACE +192 WINDOWS OVERLOOKING LIFE +194 INTERIOR WINDOWS +207 GOOD MATERIALS +222 LOW SILL +223 DEEP REVEALS +225 FRAMES AS THICKENED EDGES +232 ROOF CAPS +233 FLOOR SURFACE +235 SOFT INSIDE WALLS +236 WINDOWS WHICH OPEN WIDE +237 SOLID DOORS WITH GLASS +238 FILTERED LIGHT +239 SMALL PANES +240 HALF-INCH TRIM +241 SEAT SPOTS +242 FRONT DOOR BENCH +243 SITTING WALL +248 SOFT TILE AND BRICK +249 ORNAMENT +250 WARM COLORS + +Appendix C. Descriptive Narrative for a University Building to House +the Department of Computing and AI +Section 4 presented a summary of the LLM-generated narrative for a building chosen +here as a case study. The prompt to Claude 3.7 is noted in Section 4.2, above. The full +text of the description, pieced together from two responses, is included here. It is this full +narrative that is used to evaluate the human qualities of the building as compared to the +fashionable industrial buildings, presented in Section 5. +Response: “I’ve created a narrative description of the Department of Computing and +AI based on Christopher Alexander’s pattern language principles. The description shows + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +28 of 32 + +how the building embodies human-centered design while supporting the department’s +mission of creating humane technologies. As you approach the Department of Computing and AI, you’re immediately struck by how unlike a traditional university building +it is. Rather than towering as a monolithic structure, it spreads organically across the +landscape as a thoughtful cluster of interconnected buildings of varying heights, none +exceeding four stories. The main building stands slightly taller than the others, its roof +distinctively pitched. +The approach path is on the walkway made of soft-fired clay pavers. The main +entrance is immediately apparent, projecting outward from the building’s façade with +a large wooden door set beneath an arched opening. The door features intricate carved +patterns integrated into organic motifs. Around this entrance, several smaller entrances +form a family, each visible from the others and sharing the consistent visual language. +A first-time visitor to the department wants a prominent main entrance with distinctive +ornamentation, so that he/she can intuitively identify where to enter without feeling +intimidated by an institutional façade. +Stepping through the main entrance, you enter a bright, welcoming transition space +—half outside, half inside—with benches built into low walls where people sit chatting +or working on tablets. The ceiling here is lower, creating a sense of shelter before the +space opens up into the main atrium. Moving forward, the floor shifts from textured +clay pavers to polished wood, signaling the transition to interior space. The space feels +intuitive—clear visual connections to primary circulation paths help to understand the +building’s organization without reliance on complicated directories or excessive signage. +The atrium rises the full height of the building, with staircases that wind around its +edges, serving as both circulation and informal gathering places. Light streams in from +clerestory windows and filters through hanging plants, creating ever-changing patterns on +the walls. There is perfect natural light from multiple sides: no harsh glare, just consistent, +gentle illumination that keeps people’s energy steady throughout the day. The space hums +with quiet activity—small groups of students gathered on stair landings, faculty members +crossing between different wings, visitors pausing to orient themselves. At the heart of +the atrium a communal table is surrounded by comfortable chairs of varying heights and +styles. This is where the department gathers for their lunch. +Rather than traditional classrooms, learning spaces radiate outward from the central +atrium like spokes, each distinct in character yet following similar principles. These +“wings of light” are narrow—never exceeding 25 feet in width—ensuring that natural light +penetrates deeply from windows on both sides of every room. The largest learning space +features a staircase-as-stage, where broad steps double as informal seating during lectures +or demonstrations. The steps face a wall of small-paned windows that frame views of the +surrounding landscape, with integrated projection surfaces that appear when needed but +otherwise remain invisible. +Smaller seminar rooms and project spaces branch off the main circulation paths, each +with its own character but connected by arcades that allow movement between spaces +while remaining partially sheltered from the elements. These arcades frame views of +internal courtyards and the larger landscape beyond, always connecting inhabitants with +the natural world outside. Each learning space includes alcoves along its perimeter—small, +partially enclosed areas where individuals or pairs can retreat for focused work while still +remaining connected to the larger space. These alcoves feature window seats with low sills +and deep reveals, creating perfect nooks for reading or contemplation while maintaining +visual connection with activities inside and views to nature outside. +The department functions as a network of semi-autonomous workshops and research +labs, each housing between 5–20 students and faculty organized around specific research + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +29 of 32 + +interests or project teams. These spaces occupy the upper floors and the wings extending from the main building. The department is defined by the unplanned educational +encounters that happen between formal sessions. +Each workshop is a half-private space—partially enclosed with glass walls or interior +windows that maintain visual connection with common areas while providing acoustic +separation. Within each workshop, workstations are arranged in small clusters that balance +privacy and collaboration, with each workspace enclosed by partial walls and positioned +to provide views either to the outside or to communal activity areas. +Flexible office furnishings allow teams to reconFigure their spaces as projects evolve, +with movable partitions, adjustable-height surfaces, and modular storage systems. Despite +this flexibility, the spaces maintain a warm, personalized feeling through the use of natural +materials, soft wall surfaces that allow pinning up of work-in-progress, and custom built-in +elements that give each workshop its unique character. Between the workshops, small +meeting rooms are distributed abundantly—intimate spaces for 3–8 people with comfortable seating, excellent acoustics, and often a distinctive view or light quality. The beauty of +this building is the ability to change work environment several times a day without ever +feeling displaced or interrupted. +A student who alternates between collaborative and focused work wants a variety +of workspace options (window seats, alcoves, common areas, team spaces) within short +walking distance of each other, so he/she can easily transition between different modes +of working throughout the day. A student spending long hours on computer work wants +courtyards with seating protected from wind and positioned to capture sunlight, to take +essential breaks outdoors to rest the eyes and reconnect with natural elements. +The building complex embraces several courtyards of different scales and characters, +each designed to “live” by offering views to larger open areas beyond and multiple doorways connecting them directly to interior spaces. The main courtyard features a sunny +place along its southern edge where people gather on warm days, protected from wind by +carefully positioned walls and plantings. +A smaller, more intimate courtyard connects to the faculty offices, with a trellised walk +covered in flowering vines leading to garden seats positioned for solitary reflection or quiet +conversation. Here, faculty members can step outside for fresh air between meetings or +bring a small seminar group for an outdoor discussion. +The largest outdoor space functions as a true outdoor room, with columns defining its +corners and low sitting walls creating enclosure without blocking views or circulation. A +large table beneath a pergola serves as an outdoor classroom when weather permits, while +movable seating allows for spontaneous gatherings or solitary work in the fresh air. +A researcher leading collaborative projects wants flexible office space defined by +columns rather than rigid walls, so that a team can reconFigure its environment as research +evolves without requiring renovation. An academic spending extended periods in the +building wants interior surfaces made of natural materials that are warm to touch and +visually engaging (soft plaster walls, wooden floors), so that the everyday environment +supports wellbeing through sensory richness. +Throughout the building, materials speak of warmth, tactility, and natural variation. +Walls are finished in soft plaster with subtle texture variations that catch the light differently +throughout the day. Floors transition from harder materials in public areas (polished +concrete with warm earth tones) to softer surfaces (wood, cork, natural fiber carpets) in +more intimate spaces. Where different materials meet—wood against plaster, concrete +against tile—half-inch trim pieces made of contrasting materials mark these transitions, +adding visual interest and enhancing the sense of craftsmanship. + + Buildings 2025, 15, 2400 + +30 of 32 + +Windows are composed of small panes within larger frames, creating rhythmic patterns of light and offering multiple views rather than a single panorama. Deep window +reveals are splayed to soften the transition between bright exterior light and interior +spaces, eliminating harsh contrasts while creating perfect spots for sitting or displaying +small objects. +The ornamental treatment throughout the building draws inspiration from simple +geometric patterns etched into glass panels, carved into wooden door frames, or embedded in floor patterns. Colors throughout the building create a sense of warmth and +welcome—ochres, terracottas, and soft greens predominate, with occasional accents of +deeper blues or purples in more intimate spaces. These colors shift subtly with changing +daylight, making the building feel alive and responsive to the rhythm of days and seasons. +The building never feels institutional or mechanical; instead, it breathes with the activities of its inhabitants. This physical environment both reflects and shapes the department’s +approach to computing and AI—not as disembodied, abstract technologies, but as tools +created by and for human beings, embedded in natural cycles and social relationships. +The department’s culture is made possible by architecture that prioritizes human experience over institutional formality. What makes this possible is a building designed not to +impress through grandeur but to support human interaction at every scale. 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Available online: +https://simonwillison.net/2025/May/21/chatgpt-new-memory/ (accessed on 25 May 2025). + +Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual +author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to +people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content. + + \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/ref/youtube-transcript.txt b/ref/youtube-transcript.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8e5900d --- /dev/null +++ b/ref/youtube-transcript.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1352 @@ + +0:02 +So, Nikico Saling, Nikico Salangaros has a friend in Ecuador +0:08 +where there is a massive project proposed. +0:15 +Let's pull the Well, you know, before we show that, I wanted to ask you something. So, one time you shared something about it was like the rules +0:21 +for a plaza. It was something about there should be mixed use so people can +0:27 +walk there and it was certain rules and you said that these rules for these rules for a plaza have been lost. +0:36 +Hello friends. Right. Oh here is Niko from Ecuador. Good good to see you Nikos again and +0:44 +good to see you. +0:51 +[snorts] So, you got to see those pictures I sent. Yes, we have them. And they have been +0:57 +eyetracked. Actually, we have been they have been analyzed and we're going to uh we're going to +1:05 +Yes. present the analysis for the world. That is very exciting. Oh, no. By they've been analyzed by +1:11 +Alexander Slavdas. Yes. Alexandra Lavves who is one of the +1:16 +leading architectural theorists today who happens to be a PhD neuroscientist. +1:23 +And here is our guest Dimitri Kim. Yes. Um an architect who enjoys and likes +1:30 +what contemporary architecture is doing, but he's welcome and we debate him. +1:37 +Awesome. So, okay. So, let me pull up the images. Are we missing some people? +1:44 +We'll see. Alexandros cannot come. I don't know about near and and but we're going to discuss a specific project +1:50 +today that was sent to us by Nikico from Ecuador. This is a new museum. +1:57 +And I'm glad that you're here because then you can um you can um make the case +2:05 +for why this is a nice building. Well, we will make the case why this is a terrible building. +2:11 +Well, I'm glad I'm moving the opposition. Thank you. +2:17 +So, uh, Nico, can you give us the background? What is this building? Is it built? Is it proposed? Where is it going +2:24 +to be? So, this building is the winner of a public contest +2:32 +done by the Ecuadorian ministry. They just combined the Ministry of Sports, +2:38 +Education, and Culture, I think. Um and they they came up with this big +2:44 +investment. It's a hund00 million investment here in Kito for the National +2:49 +Museum. This is where the most important pieces of archaeology are going to be in +2:56 +in all of Ecuador. And this is the project winner. It's one I believe +3:02 +Monday they announced the winner. And there has been a hu huge public um +3:11 +opposition to the winner. People of all walks of life have seen the the renders +3:19 +and have made very vocal opposition. And a incredible conversation about +3:25 +aesthetics and beauty is is going on in in Ecuador right now because of this. +3:32 +Well, before we begin, you mentioned the figure of $100 million. Uh, Ecuador is +3:37 +is struggling with its economy. It has a collapsing um [snorts] networks, +3:44 +electricity, uh, infrastructure, uh, educational system, hospital system. +3:50 +So, this is this is a a huge investment for the economy, the size of the economy +3:56 +of Ecuador. Absolutely. it um it is coming also +4:03 +amidst a bunch of corruption scandals from the current government who are +4:08 +unable to buy okay but we don't want to touch that we we're just going to analyze the the uh +4:14 +the suitability of this for a public building that's supposed to uh represent +4:20 +um progressive architecture in Kito and this is public use this is a national +4:26 +museum right so this is for the public and also for tourists +4:31 +Exactly. So, um, can we can we start to analyze this and you know, we're lucky to have +4:38 +an Susman, the the world's authority on VAS, visual attention scans. So, these +4:44 +visual attention scans were performed by Alexa Loveless. But, uh, we have an here. So, can you um run us through some +4:52 +of these scans? You're muted. You're muted. +5:00 +You're muted. Yeah, we have to refresh the window. +5:07 +But they're all going directly to the people. And it's very clever to put people in renderings in architectural renderings. +5:19 +We can hear you and +5:25 +You have to refresh the window. You have to refresh the window so we can +5:31 +hear you because we cannot hear you. So while Ann does this um I will start +5:37 +to to explain some of these. So So show some So let's start to go through them. +5:42 +Okay. So this is so so this is I guess this is a um longd distance view of the +5:48 +National Museum. It is one boxy building and I see there's a +5:54 +uh very um it looks like a one-story extension to the right +6:01 +and there are these huge holes which are not really windows because they're just +6:06 +huge holes and the windows I see behind them the glass windows. So, so the the +6:12 +first the first visual attent if you advance one. +6:18 +Uh this is just the uh Okay. So, this is the um um sequence of uh of significant +6:26 +eye positions. The eye goes to the one of those large holes in the side of the +6:32 +building, but then skips to a car in the parking lot and then goes to another car in the parking lot and then goes to a +6:39 +person uh just in front of that uh lowrise structure. So, uh it it +6:46 +effectively avoids looking at the at the giant building that is the museum. This is not a good sign to begin with. So, +6:53 +even from the beginning, we don't. And uh are you back with the audio? +6:59 +No. Still not. Still not. Yeah. One time I had to refresh the window like five times for it to work. +7:05 +Okay. So, let's go to the next one. I think the heat map or close the close the whole window and reopen hit the link again maybe. +7:12 +[snorts] But come back and we need you. Yes. +7:17 +Okay. Oh, so here is the percentage of interest that the eye spends. So we +7:24 +see okay 98% goes to that top +7:29 +um cut out not really window the top cutout +7:35 +and then 98% goes to that uh cutout in the middle +7:40 +uh which includes some of the um uh some of the uh uh region going down to the +7:46 +parking lot and then 83% goes to trees in front. Okay, trees attract the eye +7:52 +because of our revolution. Uh and then 64% go to um to to other +7:59 +regions, 76% to to unrelated things. But uh again +8:08 +the main structure of the proposed national museum is avoided. It it it does not attract the +8:15 +eye. It's like it's not there. This is so this is again a a very +8:21 +serious warning of something is not right. Can we go to the next one? +8:31 +Oh yeah, statues. As an pointed out that they had put the uh the big puppy by Jeff Kun at the Guggenheim +8:38 +build goes to the statue. Oh yeah, there's a statue there. So +8:43 +that's what's attracting. Yeah, we we cannot see it very very nicely, but there seems to be a big statue there. +8:49 +So, it's attracting the eye, but not but not the building. Okay. So, this this and and and always the eye goes to +8:56 +fixate this huge opening on on the side of the of the museum, +9:02 +which I I don't know what it represents, but but it's attracting there, and I don't see why. It's not the entrance is +9:09 +not attracting. Okay. And the parking lot is attracting. It's probably the contrast and the edge +9:14 +condition. Right. Right. Well, we know that. We know that. However, the the rules of +9:20 +human scale architecture tell you that the eye should be attracted by the +9:26 +entrance. So, people can see it by psychologically and and and +9:31 +neuroesthetically by approaching from all directions and from all distances. They should see the entrance. So, they +9:37 +should focus towards going towards the entrance. here. Uh I don't know where the entrance is. I assume it's some a +9:44 +little corner in on the bottom here, but it's it's not it's not properly designed. It's breaking uh the the first +9:50 +law of architecture for for any building to attract uh users. +9:57 +Okay. Uh so this is the heat map and again we see yes the red for those +10:03 +readers who are new uh for those listeners who are new the red represents the most intense +10:10 +um focus of the eye uh and this is not very good. Why is it not very good? +10:17 +Because a a a well uh um designed building that you connect to viscerally, +10:25 +the eye will go all over the building. So there'll be sort of bluish green all +10:30 +over the building and the hot spot which is the red should be the most important +10:37 +feature which is the entrance. So here again we see the reversal. the the building is not scanned because u that +10:44 +light blue just goes all over the place. The buildings in the back, the sky, the parking lot in front, the buildings on +10:50 +the side and the hotspots are that those two punched in structures namely on the +10:57 +top top left and in the middle on the on the on the main face in the middle. So again those two which uh which really +11:05 +have no design um no compositional and design value are attracting the um uh +11:13 +the eye. Okay, here is one view and we see that +11:20 +um yes, the eye is attracted by the exhibit which it seems like a a masttodon or a mammoth probably mammoth +11:29 +and it's by the mammoth but it totally ignores the structure. So this is a very +11:35 +large structure. It seems like it's an atrium with with very slender columns uh +11:42 +three three stories, four stories maybe. uh the eye does not look at it. So +11:47 +architecturally I think it is wasted entirely and there's something strange uh uh +11:54 +facing us on top of the mammoth but nobody looks at that. I don't know what that is but but people [clears throat] +12:00 +are looking at the mammoth 98%. Oh is working now. Yes. +12:06 +And and uh an can you say something? Is it working? Yeah. Okay. So you take over an +12:13 +I can't tell. No, no, what you said is absolutely right. I think it's really important that the non-conciously +12:18 +exactly what Nico said. You can't find the entrance. It's going to be more stressful to say where do you enter +12:23 +here? Is this for people or is this a storage center? You know, what is this building? It doesn't celebrate the uh +12:30 +art and history of the place like it could. Um, and then the fact that the main main view is so high up on the +12:37 +building, you're going to need to have a drone to get up there. [laughter] You know, it's not. +12:43 +And it's a very large it's a very large building. So the the larger the building is, the more important it is to to find +12:48 +the entrance. Right. Right. It's it's sad. There's not enough detail. It's much too blank. +12:54 +Blankness makes us anxious. And so you're going to be stressed entering this building. +13:01 +Look at this. It's really wild that the intense spots are, as Nico's pointed out, are really high up. Um, right. +13:10 +This is so interesting. what what what um the vast people taught me, visual attention software is what it's called. +13:17 +It it was invented in 2011. It came on the market at part of Photoshop in 2020. What they taught me is the first three +13:23 +to five seconds a human looks at anything, it's exactly the same as a monkey. Age, gender, um history, doesn't +13:30 +matter. The first three to five seconds we look at things like a monkey. And uh monkeys would be pretty confused here. +13:36 +[laughter] [snorts] Okay. some some more. Yeah. Here. +13:45 +And what we see here is what I see architects doing all the time. And I see they do this all the time that they'll +13:50 +put they'll design something and to make it look attractive, they put lots of people, often women not wear wearing +13:56 +summer clothes usually uh around around the building. [laughter] +14:02 +And and so when you eyetrack it, it goes right to them. So that they the the people really doing the the marketing +14:08 +for the firms know they have to have people in them because they're not going to be looking at the building they're designing. +14:13 +We had a first year instructor tell us to put a sexy woman in the center of the rendering and Right. Exactly. +14:19 +will be good. Love it. What is strange to me is that what I see +14:25 +in front on the wall, I think it's an abstract sculpture +14:31 +and nobody looks at it, but they look at the mammoth and they look at the people. +14:37 +Yeah. What is that thing, you know? I mean, there's nothing wrong with it. It has some color, but the eye refuse to +14:44 +look at it. Now, this is very strange. It has nothing to do with architecture. It's too dark. It's too much in the +14:50 +shade. Okay. So, another rendering uh I mean +14:57 +another um um analysis. Yeah. +15:06 +No, we we had this already. Yeah, that might be it. +15:13 +Well, thank Alexandros for doing this call for us. Yeah. Yeah. Alexander was fantastic and unfortunately he could not make it +15:19 +today. No, let let's see the the the the analysis. Yeah. So, we had this. +15:30 +Yeah. Okay. Let's take a break. Uh let's invite Dimitri +15:35 +who I think uh you know give him a chance to defend this building +15:41 +or not. It does look like the type of building +15:46 +that would win a lot of architecture awards. I I I haven't seen the floor plan and you guys are judging the +15:52 +building by renders at a particular vantage point. I I'm sorry. I don't know +15:59 +enough about this building from what it's shown of three slides of render. I I I just can't. I'm pretty sure if this +16:06 +is published, there is a floor plan that we can all take a look at, see what this building is about, maybe even elevation +16:12 +section. I I you work by three renders. You're +16:18 +looking at you can't see the scale of it like look how small the people are compared to the mass. Not even a real food and you don't even +16:24 +know what the ingredient is and I'm supposed to tell you this is a bad food. I'm sorry. I I don't know what what I'm +16:30 +supposed to say. Vitri you're invited to say what you want to say. There's nothing that you're +16:36 +supposed to say. I'm going to say you show me three renders of a building that hasn't been built. We haven't seen any of the +16:43 +drawings and you want me to say it's a good food. You say you want me to defend it? +16:48 +No. The you know, you know as much about the building as we do. +16:53 +Today is the first time we're seeing this and Alex was ran these uh VAS scans +16:59 +this morning. So, you know, you have all the information we have. So, we're not tricking you into anything. I just, you +17:04 +know, wanted your We have enough information to uh critique. Well, at least I don't anyway. You for you it's all visuality +17:13 +software AI and we're good. I I'm sorry. I have uh much more uh how do I say a +17:20 +little bit more on the uh the nuanced way to look at buildings and judge and +17:25 +critique it. [snorts] Okay. Well, you know that's fair enough your honest immunity. We appreciate +17:31 +that. I am sure that most people walking by this pretty um +17:38 +important street in Kito won't have the floor plans but I can tell you by the +17:44 +public backlash against this project that people are very +17:50 +a they agree upon the fact that it is not um +17:55 +mixing well with the surrounding buildings which can I add to that I think this was a big +18:01 +point right punch that people have a bad negative reaction to it. Uh, correct me if I'm wrong. How +18:09 +bad was the reaction to Bill Bao by Frank Garing? Initial reaction. +18:15 +Uh, immediately we're not talking about Bil Bao. We're talking about this new building for Keto Ecuador. I think +18:21 +you're trying to introduce irrelevant arguments here. +18:28 +As you say, K. But can we can we entertain the idea that it's irrelevant? But again, you're you're you're speaking +18:34 +on the public disapproval outcry of this building that hasn't been released yet, +18:39 +hasn't been finished, and I don't even see a floor plan. But people hate it because they're driving by. Is that what +18:45 +you said? I don't think No, people hate it because it's a public money. It's it's a like a really huge +18:52 +investment of of the Ecuadorian people's money. I understand. So I think the money will always be issued uh anywhere +18:59 +that's not privately funded. No, I that's understandable. I I'm not here to I'm not an economist. I'm not here to +19:05 +argue about the money. But what I'm trying to say is right now the public outcry is they don't like it. There's a +19:10 +disapproval. Hasn't been finished. And I'm trying to I'm trying to put this frame this here. Again, I I I haven't +19:17 +even said the approval of this building yet. All I'm saying is I can't judge it because I didn't have to see the drawings yet. But getting back to the +19:23 +public disapproval, how many project that is universally liked? Again, not Yukia and all the classic lovers who +19:30 +hates modern building like but universally liked building that was initially hated by the public +19:37 +during the the viewing. Here's the winner. I don't think I don't think Bill Bao I +19:44 +don't think Bill Bao had that situation. Bill Bao was accepted as a piece of +19:50 +urban sculpture from the get-go. I never heard anybody say anything negative +19:55 +about it, but at the time I was a practicing modernist, so I probably +20:01 +didn't hear a a a peep. No, there was a there was a lot of aqua. People hated it. What are you talking +20:07 +about? This was not liked at the beginning. It got it is now universally known as a +20:12 +balo effect because had a tremendous effect. eat this regardless of whether or not +20:17 +Yeah, it's like a train wreck. It's like a car accident. The lockers block. You think this is a train wreck? I'm +20:24 +saying has it was it did it get a public disapproval when it was released and it was absolutely yes. People did not like +20:31 +this project. They they they didn't understand it and now it is universally it's a it's a iconic stop for people who +20:38 +tour. There are tourists who looks at icon. This is one of them. +20:45 +I I I I tried very gently to prevent us going to Bil Bao because um an important +20:53 +Spanish architect Javier Fenika Sallaya from Bil Bao +20:59 +defended the notion that the Bilbao effect is phony. It's all manufactured by the local press and uh so uh you know +21:07 +it's it's a controversy. I I don't think we should use that as a justification +21:13 +for this proposed building in Ecuador. More nuanced conversation. It's not a +21:19 +justification. What I'm saying is should that be the sole reason why this building is we disapprove it or it +21:26 +sucked and we don't like it and and visual eye movement says it sucks or can +21:31 +we just wait on a little bit see more of it? Well, unfortunately, we don't have any +21:37 +material. So, you know, Nico kindly got all the material available from Ecuador, +21:43 +openly available, and send it to us, and we made the uh um um the renderings. Can +21:48 +we back uh um can we go back to that building and um Ara, can you put up a +21:54 +comment? There was a brief comment that we uh we did not answer. Okay. As +21:59 +someone has been crafting a framework and design around identity, a sense of place in architecture, this building +22:05 +does not reflect Latin America or Ecuador at all. This building is a shame. Okay, that that's the person's +22:11 +opinion. Well, Latin America has a um centuries old history of um history of +22:19 +of colonial and uh Baroque mixed with art nuvo. +22:25 +And of course this is a um a a rejection of all that. However, Latin America also +22:31 +has built-in rejection because every Latin American country has uh turned its +22:37 +back on this wonderful heritage of of buildings and has created modernist +22:43 +architecture and they think it's great. So Ecuador just wants to catch up with with Brazil and Argentina and and +22:50 +Uruguay and Paraguay. So the you know I think this is a shame but but uh the +22:57 +rejection is also part of Latin America uh way of thinking they they feel +23:03 +inferior and they want to catch up by by copying what's fashionable in uh in New York, Boston and Paris. +23:11 +The blankness of this walk where's where is this provision coming from that Ecuadorian government want or +23:18 +people want to catch up? I I'm trying to understand this. This is this is my personal opinion +23:24 +based on my long many years interaction with Latin American architects. Zimitri +23:31 +can you be specific Colombian Ecuadorian a Brazilian I it's quite of a vast +23:39 +dialogue I if you look at you know like Brazilian we have you know Oscar Nemiah very modernist very popular among uh but +23:47 +that's a mixed bag depending if you like socialism or not but but it's Wait wait wait wait the mit the +23:55 +m the m you're mixing things up now I don't like Nehemiah and he was a communist but he that has nothing to do +24:02 +with his architecture. He's a Brazilian icon. How could you not talk about Brazilian architecture? We we don't like Nehemiah. We we wrote a +24:11 +paper analyzing some of his iconic buildings in Brazilia. They are terrible +24:16 +as far as when we do the eyetracking. Okay. So So we don't like Nemar but it's not because he was a communist. So you know +24:22 +let's not bring in the politics. Okay. So where is the Brazilian part of the they want to catch up to modernist +24:30 +and minus and ask? Well, we just do a Google map of of Rio +24:36 +de Janeiro and um yeah, it's full of monstrosities. You know, the Brazilians +24:42 +are full of monstrosities and you know, next to those Nemire has class. I grant +24:50 +that. But so the new stuff that the Brazilians are building is just hideous. and and they are trying to catch up. +24:57 +I'm going to say something about the Bill Bao that you might not like. Nikos, +25:06 +this first of all, I've always held Frank Garry in in relatively high esteem +25:14 +because I've experienced many of his spaces and they really are good. +25:23 +Number two, I do know something about the modern stuff and I know something +25:29 +about fractality and I have a sneaky suspicion +25:38 +and it depends on the angle because modernist buildings only +25:44 +photograph well from certain points. Um, traditional buildings do not +25:52 +photograph well. You need to experience them. But there might be in here enough +25:57 +fractality to give you some kind of sense. Although +26:03 +many of the close-up shots are pretty horrible. I'm I'm throwing out a you know, +26:12 +I don't know. I haven't been there and I have a sneaky suspicion I won't like it. Were you there? Did you hate it? Well, +26:19 +uh, what I know about it is that is interesting is that the museum directors before the building opened, they +26:25 +realized, as you just pointed out in the previous building, people wouldn't be able to find the front door. It wasn't +26:31 +obvious where it is. So before the building opened, this is crazy. They commissioned Jeff Coons to do a +26:39 +permanent giant sculpture of the Yeah, that one. Yeah, he had to do that. They had to +26:45 +have that in place and it's floral and so it changes how it looks all the time um in place before it opened because you +26:51 +couldn't tell where the door was. In addition, I think that's a problem. Traditionally, this is neither here and there. A lot of +26:57 +international museum has a key stone pl uh project in the center of the building +27:03 +entrance. It's common tactic to draw corrupt. That's that's not how how the lube used to be. You'd come in and you see Venus +27:09 +demo, but still you didn't need that. There was a general a general entry. Excuse me, lady and gentlemen. This is a +27:16 +special debate because Nikico from Keto Ecuador alerted +27:21 +us to this new proposal for the museum. And we're wasting our time talking about the the you know the the Guggenheim +27:29 +B but but it's similar in that they couldn't find the door. So they had to make a giant sculpture to be able to +27:34 +find the door. That's interesting. And then something else happened. I heard that when people walk around the +27:40 +building often people get held up. There's crime around the sides of the building because there because there +27:46 +tend to be more vacant. So it can be dangerous around the sides. Yeah. It's not in it's not in a an +27:53 +active part of town. This used to be industrial. Also I think the Bilbo Bao effect is over. People are now +28:00 +Yes. saying that it's gone. So you maybe it worked for a generation. +28:06 +uh but uh you can see that it's isolated on water, highway, whatever. +28:13 +What I mentioned earlier is that Javier Fenikasa, one of the top traditional um Spanish +28:21 +architects who is from Bilbao said that the Bilbao effect was never in place. It +28:26 +was all hype. It was all hype. It was on. You may believe it, you may not. But I'm I'm telling you about Javier. +28:33 +The Walt Disney concert at all here is actually Let's Let's get back. Uh uh Ne has not +28:39 +yet given his opinion on the new national museum in Kito, Ecuador. So +28:45 +Near, please. This is a museum. [laughter] Okay. +28:52 +Arab show show the show the VAS scans to New York. I just want to say I I think +28:59 +you want to give it a shot. I I because you only see three slides of render. You want to like throw in the hat. I think +29:05 +maybe you want to explore this a little bit more after all. It is a winner of your your cultures building. I I think +29:12 +you want to give it a little bit more. No, no, it's not a winner of his cultures building. It's a winner of +29:17 +modernist architecture culture in Ecuador. This is a winner that they it's going to +29:22 +build. What I'm saying is it's going to be built anyway. Why not, you know, check under the hood before uh you want +29:28 +to throw throw it in the tow. It's going to be built regardless. I Oh, it's not built yet. +29:34 +No, it's not built. Yeah. Won the competition. Oh, okay. Good, good, good. +29:41 +Public backlash. I really were making comments on it as if it was it was built and a bunker. It doesn't +29:48 +look like a museum. It's a really pathetic building. It has no joy. It's got no grace. What the hell? Come on, +29:55 +give it a break. Do people competition among who did anybody +30:02 +submit? Who were the judge? It was completely rigged to win for a modernist to win. It was not actually an open +30:08 +competition and 99% of competitions are not because of the the the way that you know +30:15 +you're very lucky, Dimmitri. you belong actually to a huge majority of professionals that are trained just like +30:23 +you and don't ask questions about the product. So there it is. You're you're +30:30 +blessed. You know there there's some some biblical saying about the blessing of of this sort. +30:37 +I think that near just before it looks like it it doesn't look like anything really. I +30:43 +thought it was maybe a I didn't know what MVNA was. So I thought at first it was some kind of a bank building. Then I +30:50 +thought, well, maybe [laughter] this is the a government building. Well, maybe it's the Department of Defense, +30:56 +you know. Let's show some. Then Oh, I have to say this. The openings on this on the upper opening +31:02 +and then the little opening. It looks like it looks like Mighty Mouse. It has a Mighty Mouse look to it. Do you see +31:10 +that? I don't think that this view is accidental. Um, +31:15 +so God bless whoever did it. Also, completely disjointed from city fabric. +31:22 +You have to walk through hundreds of yards of nothingness to get there. +31:27 +You know, where is it? Maybe you want to like give us a little summary of what they're at least saying +31:33 +about the building. What's the concept? Just tell us. Is there a concept? Are you straight out +31:39 +of Minecraft? Who cares? Can we Who cares? It's a It's an It's a stupid object that obviously +31:45 +can't function as a museum beyond the architectural um +31:51 +that was written about it. I can tell you what it means to to to the nation if +31:58 +if there is such a thing as the Ecuadorian nation. But it is meant to be +32:03 +um the place that houses a plurin national identity which is the Ecuadorian. +32:09 +There's many nations within Ecuador and there's indigenous groups in the Amazon, +32:15 +there's in the coast, there's in the Andes, there's, you know, a huge past 14,000 years worth of of beautiful +32:22 +pieces of, you know, ceramics and gold and stuff. And uh it is meant to +32:28 +represent the prelur nationalism of of Ecuador in in a way which is are you kidding? +32:34 +Yeah. I mean it's a monolith. So there is nothing more than a singular vision there. Is is that the competition requirement +32:41 +or is that the concept of that building? It is it is the purpose of the building. +32:46 +If just beyond you know its mission statement it's clearly how Ecuadorian +32:52 +see it. Then then there will be a announcement saying this is how this building met that requirement. Can we +32:58 +read that please? If you wish yes I can find it. I don't know how much +33:04 +it's a description of the project. 12 years ago there was a competition for +33:10 +a Guggenheim museum in Helsinki and there was a winning project and the community came out and said we +33:16 +don't want this and they fought against it and it didn't end up getting built. Uh so hold that thought because that competition has whole different uh uh uh +33:24 +uh nuts and bolts around our profession entirely. But we'll go back to that this +33:30 +one. This one how based on the requirement how did their description say it met that requirement and why they +33:36 +were chosen? And if if you wish, Dimmitri, I can read +33:42 +what the firm says about I can tell you the name of the building is called Echos +33:47 +de Sol, which means literally echoes of the sun. And they say um since the +33:54 +backlash, they explain the building and they say architecture, I'm translating as I go, +34:00 +has a relation, a special relationship with the sky and the sun. +34:07 +You only have to see their pyramids, escal scalinated pyramids in in the +34:13 +tolas of Kaskki which is a a architect a anthropological site or that and they +34:20 +reference the temple of Ingapirka. These are very ancient +34:26 +pre-Colombian pre-Colombian pyramids. Uhhuh. With that same spirit, the sun is +34:31 +protagonist in the new museum of Ecuador. National Museum of Europe. A box with patios. They describe it this +34:39 +way. I'm paraphrasing, but a box with patios with holes excavated and with +34:46 +golden walls because of the sun. A true +34:51 +box of light and shadow which opens the city to the imposing Andian +34:59 +landscape. Final period. I see. Okay. I I see that an uh is ready +35:06 +to make comments. Well, I I think the verbal stuff is great, but it doesn't really work in +35:13 +reality. It's it's it's quite a it's quite a great uh advertising scheme they +35:18 +Thank you for translating it. happened. So, so an you made the comment to the +35:24 +thousands of people watching this because you kept laughing +35:30 +during during Niko Nikico's recitation. The does what he say make any connection +35:37 +of this building to the sun or to the pre-Colombian architecture or is it just hype? Well, but what it +35:45 +does connect to is way modernism works because modernism is aboutite. It's +35:50 +about getting a talk out there. Modernism is architecture. You got to do a good, you know, +35:56 +a good talk. So, I can see that an architecture school, it would have worked. [laughter] Oh, yeah. +36:02 +This is the National Museum of a poor country that's going to spend an enormous amount of money to build this +36:08 +thing. But there's I'm gonna I'm gonna say, let me add something. I So that description +36:15 +didn't sound quite right. I again I don't want to throw in the towel. Maybe +36:20 +there's some uh not the most flattering way to describe their project. Maybe it was more elevately done on their boards. +36:28 +U normally when modernists talk about figurative translation of their ideas, +36:33 +it's sounds horrible. Sun, moon. Yeah, this again that's amateur [ __ ] But uh +36:40 +it it does have some interesting quality, right? It it has these large uh uh uh uh structure that you know +36:47 +receives sun at a very a particular strategic direction. I I'm pretty sure +36:52 +somebody was looking at that say, "Hey, there's something to this. There's some vantage point." So I see I I don't even +36:59 +know. I sort of haven't seen the drawings. I can see why something is working instead of just saying this this +37:05 +is a nonsense, right? But it, you know, I got to read +37:11 +more of it. I got to see the drawings. I got to see the diagrams. Well, that's all we have today. +37:22 +I can add one thing. This um illusion to the sun coming up made me think that +37:29 +probably what we see as yellow is probably um pando, which is paper thin +37:34 +gold. No, don't believe it. say it's not enough. [laughter] If it is, it's it's not that the sun +37:41 +doesn't even hit on that um direction on that on that facade, so it's sort of +37:48 +wasted. Okay, Nico, uh how uh organized is the +37:55 +opposition to this building? Because you said the public doesn't like it. It's fascinating what's going on right now in +38:03 +reaction to this announcement of the project of this project winning because +38:09 +architects across many different styles and disciplines and even landscape +38:15 +artists are really um with with very few exceptions are organizing. There is a +38:22 +change.org oric petitions which usually amount to nothing. But but there is a +38:28 +lot of hope within the people around um to to make this not be built to to make +38:37 +sure it isn't built. I'm sorry, but I am just astonished and an +38:42 +architecture lover. So I'm really excited. Yeah. No, no, Nico, I did not hear you correctly. You said that architects are +38:50 +organizing against it. It is usually the public that organizes against such excuse me as architects and more +38:58 +importantly the public. It's quite fascinating. Even very important +39:04 +comedians in the public sphere are are making a case against it and there is a so many +39:13 +memes about it in the in the public debate and everyone is talking about it. It's like the type of of a conversation +39:21 +you can strike in the street with a stranger because everyone's awake. Okay. Well, look look uh our our little +39:27 +group here did a scientific study, the visual attention scans to show that uh +39:34 +this design is deficient as far as we can make from the two pictures that were available. So, we did a scientific +39:41 +study. I'm sure that people in Kito do not have this material because it was just done today by us and we are uh +39:50 +experts in the field and we're not in the mainstream of architecture. Now, how +39:55 +can you let the public of Kito or the public of all of Ecuador know about the +40:00 +studies that we have showed in 10 minutes of this um of this uh video? I +40:06 +um would love to have uh each one of you including you Dimmitri um state what you +40:14 +what is your first impressions of of this building uh through science your +40:19 +scientific knowledge Nikos and an of course your experience near as well as +40:25 +as as Ava that this would be amazing and maybe we could cut these into little +40:31 +shorts to publish in the media so that people can also have beyond their instinct of what is beautiful and not +40:39 +have this scientific backing would be humongous and and understanding um that it's an +40:45 +avoidant building. That's what Nico's called it. And when you do the eyetracking studies or you do a VAS, a +40:50 +visual attention software study, you learn that non-conciously our brain is hardwired to immediately attach or +40:56 +immediately move back from a building. And this building, you could tell in the VAS study, is avoidant. So you want your +41:02 +public buildings to be approachable, you know, you want them like to be +41:07 +approachable. That's how what you really want, especially if you want them to last for generations, you know, and so +41:13 +this is an avoidant building. So there's going to be a cost, a social cost to building it. And it'll be more stressful +41:19 +for the public and visitors from other countries for people now and 20 years +41:24 +from now to approach it. It will always be more stressful. It's avoidant. Yeah. Show, don't show the building, +41:31 +show the eyetracking studies. Okay. So, I I I fully support what an says +41:37 +with uh additional information. This is just a visual attention scan +41:42 +that was done this morning for today's video. There are five or six other +41:48 +scientific tests that you can do on this building. the the image and the +41:53 +different approaches that will that will measure the reaction of the body to this +41:58 +building and I I'm willing to bet five five cruiseros that they will they will +42:04 +give the same results that the visual attentions can did. Okay. So if if the +42:09 +government of of Ecuador is really serious, they would uh hire an for +42:14 +minimal fee to perform these studies, you know, and supply her with many +42:20 +different views of the inside and and all the different sides. This is scientific analysis which was not done +42:26 +before this building was approved. And if the public is fighting against this +42:31 +building, they don't have the most important ammunition they need to make their decision and make their case. And +42:38 +we're presenting that now. Look at this the the scan that we had. And the +42:44 +nobody looks at the building. The building is just this huge only people look at the hole. +42:49 +They they look at the people and they look at the crosswalk um and they look at the the parking lot, +42:54 +right? And so it's going to be more stressful and that has a health impact. It will be less healthy for people to +43:00 +approach this building. It will be more stressful, more anxiety, more cortisol in the blood, more stressful to look at +43:07 +and to approach. I can Can we uh can we be very careful +43:13 +about using the phrase scientific? I I listen I we all have degrees. We know +43:19 +certain connotations and certain specific language we have to use. Scientific is a very broad term. What +43:24 +does that even mean? Can we just talk as an architect here? We don't use scientific study during a critique or +43:32 +review of building. We don't do that. That's right. That's right. You don't because there's nothing. But now you can. But now you can. This +43:39 +is absolutely nothing. Getting back to what I do know how to do and how to judge a building through +43:45 +plans through its concept through the ideas. So we can see what the +43:50 +Yeah. But you do but you don't check your own +43:56 +concepts. You don't check your own terminology. You don't check your own jargon. You have never +44:02 +21st century critiqued yourself. You have never critiqued yourself for the +44:08 +actual meaning of the terminology you use. I have a PhD in this stuff. I have +44:15 +gone through it and [clears throat] I can tell you this with great knowledge. +44:21 +Now, I'm not going to give you any examples, but choose one single jargon +44:27 +word that you use, one and show me the meaning of it. +44:34 +Seriously, sustainable is the big one that's thrown away. And near you, you're being a +44:41 +little harsh on the Midri. He's here as our guest. He participates in the discussion. Okay, we don't agree, but +44:47 +you're being too harsh. Not Dmitri. Dimmitri is not at fault here. The pro the real problem is a +44:54 +system that does not reflect. It's not self-reflective. I personally +45:00 +I personally do not think there is a uh there's a merit that we have those systems and thank God that we have both +45:06 +modern and tradition and classical architecture for us to enjoy. I I I but getting back to this building and again +45:13 +it's not my building. It is not our building. It's Ecuadorian building. juror has chosen it. But at this moment, +45:20 +there's no way I have any amount of information enough for me to even remotely say this is a valid. +45:26 +That's exactly our point because when you look at it, +45:32 +you don't see anything. [laughter] Now, this is true. Not enough information. We're looking at +45:38 +it cooked. Exactly. Exactly. This here's a building that is not telling you anything +45:45 +and therefore you cannot the building's not telling you anything. You're looking +45:50 +at it. You're not seeing anything because you need all these other all this other documentation to evaluate it +45:57 +and and you're not you don't have the the maybe not the practice that you +46:04 +haven't been taught this. I want to see the location of this building in Kito. Can you show us a aerial view of the +46:11 +location please? Yeah. Because I am I guarantee that this +46:18 +abomination not only is a horrible ridiculous piece of concrete but also sits in such an +46:26 +isolated location that I don't know what it's supposed to be except for being a +46:31 +an aerial bunker of some sort. Sometimes what you see is what you get. +46:38 +cigar cigar. And the architecture firm is from Madrid. They're not from Ecuador. They +46:44 +they entered it from Madrid and won the competition. From where? Madrid. Oh, Madrid. Huh? +46:51 +Yeah. Okay. Don't mention it. We don't want to get into any lawsuits here. [laughter] +46:58 +Oh, not the name of the firm. Okay. No. No. +47:03 +We had we did a quick analysis. So unlike what unlike what Dimmitri +47:09 +said, we did a quick analysis on on freely available pictures on the internet. +47:14 +So Nico, you have some more information. We're we're looking at the aerial now. +47:19 +What I said to Demetri, what I said to Dmitri, I'm really really +47:25 +sorry. I know it came across very harsh, but I actually stand by what I said. So I'm +47:31 +asking you, but you can say me next week. +47:36 +Select one word from your lexicon and explain it to me as if I'm a +47:44 +six-year-old kid, please. I don't have a lexicon. I'm sorry. +47:50 +Near, you're engaging in a debate with Dimitri, our good friend. We we want to +47:56 +discuss this building in the few minutes we have left because Nico would like to go public with this information and +48:03 +translate some in Spanish. Okay. I think when humans begin broadly +48:08 +appreciating the pursuit of experimenting itself rather than solely the successful outcomes of it, that's +48:13 +where it began progressing more exponentially. I'm sorry, I don't understand the the grammar here. +48:20 +Give us an example of this. Are you speaking about accidental discovery and +48:26 +experimentation or are simply creating experiments for the +48:31 +sake of it? You spent 500 uh years in alchemy. What was the outcome? +48:37 +All right. There was a lot of experimentation going on. Um so maybe some thinking behind the experimentation. +48:43 +Maybe let me interrupt for 30 seconds. I want to say something in Spanish. +49:12 +identific. Okay. So, this is for Spanish speakers +49:18 +for a future future interview in in Spanish if they're interested. +49:27 +Yes, Nikos, that's very helpful. And if if you are up for it, +49:37 +that would be very helpful as well. Oh, okay. So, here's the Google map. So, +49:44 +where is that? Um, the white thing. I'll show you exactly right where's +49:52 +mouse is where right in that corner. Yeah, that's a nice site. Don't +50:00 +right here. Can you markuador? +50:07 +It seems to be pretty urban site. I don't know. You said it was isolated. +50:13 +Yes, it is. Look at it. It's all paved. You don't have a single tree close by. Very sight. That That's I I live in in a +50:21 +very metropolitan city. That's more than mine. Yeah. No. No. Well, look, I I'm sorry to +50:28 +say that the design for the new building did not improve any of the pedestrian +50:35 +life around the building. It just sits there like a big box store. They they they had all the space they could have +50:42 +done of some wonderful uh restructuring. Have a cafe in a restaurant. I think +50:47 +I'll just go for that if if you hate it so much. No, they they they had an opportunity. +50:55 +they they they miss the opportunity to create pedestrian urban fabric that +51:00 +spreads out and and encloses and unifies that block at least +51:07 +around the museum and the museum is isolated. So that's isolated. This is really a car centric +51:12 +area. I mean what can you do? It's really [ __ ] up. But it would be right +51:21 +to have a courtyard. Yeah. where some of the rooms go around, right? +51:27 +Every other building is very rectangular and modern. I think it would fit perfectly there. I I again, keep in +51:34 +mind, I don't even know what design is. I just from urban planners perspective. I don't know what you're seeing. These +51:40 +are all sheds, meaningless sheds. If you're a huge parking lot, I'm pretty +51:47 +sure the street, but it looks like it's a very urbanized site. +51:53 +high-rise buildings. There's um the inspiration of the +51:58 +National Museum which Neurus had brought up before which that type of thing would articulate the +52:04 +the sidewalk. [clears throat] Can we can you mark this up? Ara? Um yes. +52:10 +Can I mark it up too or just you? Um I could show you I can send you a +52:16 +screenshot and um have you share your screen screenshot? +52:21 +I can't mark up. Listen. Draw a line along the along the curved edge. Do you +52:28 +see my arrow on this? Along this edge. Yeah. Draw a line, you know, 100 90° +52:37 +um curve along here, along that edge. You already have these buildings that +52:42 +have these curved edges. So, let's let's do a let's do a quick +52:48 +design for this building. Can uh um Nico, do you have the program with you somewhere? Can you find the program for +52:54 +the building? Oh, hands back. The program for I'm not familiar with +53:01 +what you mean by program. How many square feet or square meters? What space? What spaces? +53:07 +A list of the rooms and the areas of the rooms. They don't call it a program, a brief. +53:15 +Do people still use the word program? in architecture it's yes still a program +53:20 +but the general public brief so I what I saw there was a curve a big +53:26 +curve first thing I might have done was caught that curve and the way I +53:32 +think about architecture I would have produced the building that all the others are imitating around +53:38 +the corner so I would have taken the curve first of all number two I would definitely have +53:45 +had a series of courtyards I'm not sure what the climate is, but I do +53:50 +Oh, Ecuador has fantastic uh nice climate throughout the year. Has the best climate in the world. +53:56 +So, I would do a series of courtyards rather than stacking the whole thing. I +54:01 +would have done a series of courtyards around which you have rooms for exhibit +54:08 +and other such things. I mean, this we're not talking here. If you need to really go up, probably two stories, +54:16 +maybe three, but there's no good reason to go more than two stories high. +54:24 +I think the program is probably given on the competition. You can't just create a courtyard because you want one. +54:30 +I'm sure they fulfilled. Actually, a courtyard actually a courtyard is an architectural element +54:36 +that you use because you're a good architect and you think, do you know that for a fact? because +54:41 +I've done I've done pretty a lot of competition. They're very specific about uh uh uh program requirements. +54:47 +But do you think they would say no courtyard? I don't think they would say no courtyard. I don't know that. That's what I'm trying to say. If you want to +54:52 +judge it because it doesn't have a courtyard, then maybe there wasn't one a requirement. +54:58 +Oh, I see what you're I see what you're saying. No, what I'm So, you got Yeah, definitely wasn't a requirement, +55:04 +but why not have one? It would be nice to have. Let me interject Let me interject +55:09 +something. If the government of Ecuador invited Dr. Nir Buras to build the +55:16 +national museum, Dr. Nir Burus will say, "I want a courtyard." And they will say, "Yes, you can make a courtyard because +55:22 +it's going to be fantastic." And it will draw people and their families and children and they will go to the museum +55:29 +and spend the whole day in the courtyard. It will make it a living a living piece of urban fabric, which the +55:35 +present uh the present design is not. It's just a building stuck in the middle of nowhere. A good thing forian people that this was +55:42 +open design competition. So the people and other people choose instead of your prescription. I'm assuming it's people +55:49 +of Ecuador. Maybe not the one that you like picked the project. I I wasn't one of it and I would have given my best +55:56 +shot at what what I thought, but I can't judge. But it was Ecuadorian people who picked the project. Well, look, while I +56:04 +agree with Dimitri, we have no information. We don't. Well, we know this edge had that big it +56:09 +was like a big cube pllopped on here. But embracing this curvature when you walk over this way, that might have been +56:15 +a very nice moment. And then you're you're giving people I would have done along that whole thing, +56:20 +a long colonade. Yeah. So that you while you're driving, you drive past it because you're never going +56:27 +to get there by foot. You're going to be driving past it. and and create a twotory, three-story +56:35 +facade that would have inspired the other curved buildings on the other sides +56:41 +because [clears throat] they stand there for no good reason. It's really just the the car radius for high-speed travel +56:49 +which gives you those those curves. It's it's a pretty horrific interchange. +56:56 +Um, and then you work the building inward. what they were trying to do was to bring the outside in. And I think +57:03 +that they were doing it in ways they probably identified the good places from +57:09 +where you have the best views around. I I'm sure they did +57:15 +uh and and that they created whatever holes in the building that would bring +57:20 +the sun in to a museum building indirectly so it wouldn't destroy the +57:26 +artifacts. I'm sure they had that in mind as well. But [clears throat] moving forward +57:32 +through this thing, I think it could have had some charm, some grace. Yeah. How many square meters is the building? +57:39 +Uh the open project um proposal is for +57:45 +anyone to design a building of 25,000 square meters. The entire site is 13,000. +57:54 +Wait, 13,000. So, it's 25,000 constructed area +58:01 +for the project and 130,000. Uh, +58:07 +so you're talking about having some kind of a cycle of of rooms. Each room could +58:13 +be another one of the cultures. they open up to uh uh to uh patio number one, +58:20 +patio number two, patio number three. You might have a a fourth patio +58:26 +associated with the entrance and the gift shop and the and the coffee shop and all those kind of things. And +58:32 +because of the the odd way it's done. Um is there parking? Is there a parking +58:39 +requirement for it? I am having trouble uh finding the +58:45 +actual brief with this type of information. I can only see the the +58:51 +I I'll keep looking. All right. So, all of a sudden, you're looking at something that, for example, +58:58 +I would elevate the whole building by a floor much like the Getty Museum does in in +59:05 +Los Angeles. The old Getty, the new Getty is, forget about it. But the old Getty was raised up. You had parking +59:12 +underneath and a beautiful garden on top. So [clears throat] that you can do a garden in in eight inches of soil with +59:19 +trees. So you can do it. They pulled it off. Um, so I think there's a +59:26 +possibility here with multi- patios and and and going in um with patios with +59:34 +different character uh with different water elements, with different landscape elements so that you are actually in an +59:41 +environment where you want to soak in all this sort of uh Ecuadorian culture. +59:47 +Can I propose like a maybe a hypothetical instead of saying hey this is I would have done a better job I did +59:54 +this what would be since this is universally not liked by the public +59:59 +apparently doesn't all cry then what were they expecting or preferred in +1:00:05 +other words this was what they kind of had in mind but definitely not this okay so how about you answer your own +1:00:11 +question seriously and and no offense please that that was a genuine question that +1:00:17 +No, I can't answer that because that's I don't I want to I want to know the answer to that. What was it? Guess guess give us your best guess. +1:00:25 +I I I I'm sorry. I don't know what you're I'm asking him a question and I you can't ask me a question while I'm +1:00:32 +asking Near. You're playing tricks with Ditri. No, not playing tricks. +1:00:37 +What I'm saying is Dimmitri, can he answer the question or not? Are you going to keep talking? Near Boris mentioned this building, the +1:00:44 +the Getty Museum. Not the one uh not the new one. Well, this is this is part of the Hold on. Do you not want to answer that +1:00:50 +question or can you answer that question? No, I I think Nico is best placed to answer the question. What does the +1:00:57 +public expect for the new museum? Thank you. I I um lean with near on this subject +1:01:05 +because I can tell you what I would expect, but I can assume that what +1:01:11 +anyone would expect across every culture is that their National Museum reflects +1:01:17 +them in some way. you know that that they could see themselves and their and +1:01:23 +their greater self in in a building that is supposed to carry the most precious +1:01:29 +treasure. Yes. But but but Nikico, yes, the Mitri posed a good question. +1:01:34 +What what have you read in the press about the what the building that the +1:01:39 +public wants will look like? Has anyone expressed we want the building to look like this to resemble an existing +1:01:47 +building? I I can answer that question in many ways. So, so I think to a great extent +1:01:54 +the society of Ecuador is really needs to ask these questions and they don't +1:02:00 +really have yet many of the tools to understand what perhaps would go through +1:02:05 +other than visual you know renders right so people have been demanding that all +1:02:12 +the um postulants to this prize be shown to the public and h the the state has +1:02:22 +done it and what's been discussed is more which of the different parcelins is +1:02:29 +better. There is an overwhelming agreement that the winner this one echo +1:02:37 +is the worst out of out of all the p the the other postulants which is funny but +1:02:45 +to be people are demanding better landscaping on on another hand is a very common um +1:02:53 +topic of conversation is the fact that there's no landscaping that it is a monolith they don't like that it is a +1:02:59 +monolith They don't like that it they feel it doesn't represent flurry nationality +1:03:06 +and they don't like the fact that it is all cement and that the um technologies +1:03:15 +used for the design of this building are absolutely all of them cement while +1:03:21 +there's many other technologies that are being championed in in Ecuador. What else do people don't like? Um +1:03:30 +people don't like people often call it ugly and um and sort of one of the most +1:03:38 +common memes about it is that it clearly looks like they didn't take enough time +1:03:45 +like it's unfinished. Okay. Well, look, we're running out of time, but I have a suggestion. I have a +1:03:52 +suggestion to Nico. In the past, my friends have created a counterproposal +1:04:00 +where they ask the public and the public says we want this to look like this. Instead of saying we don't like it, we don't like it, we don't like it. We want +1:04:07 +this and this and this and then architect friends of mine will create a counter proposal so that you see this is +1:04:14 +what the public wants. That is not does not exist now. So I recommend that the +1:04:19 +the public do that. That's not a fair competition. That's ridiculous. But getting back to that +1:04:25 +example, I think you mentioned some great stuff. It needs to represent the Ecuadorian people. I think that's I +1:04:31 +think that's outstanding characteristic you need to have. But here's the question. What is that exactly? That's +1:04:37 +an old colonial building. You are you are building out of a colonial style of somebody who colonized you. Do you want +1:04:42 +that? Modernism colonial if you like. Modernism is 100% colonial style. It's a +1:04:49 +German style. You're you're colonizing Can we please guest answer the question +1:04:55 +please? It wasn't directed at any of you. What what do you think that is? What do you think this image of that it can be? +1:05:02 +It doesn't have to be architecture. Show us a you know what what would that be? What what's the image of Ecodorian that +1:05:09 +it represents the people? I think I think you could go for many +1:05:15 +different ways of representing it. On one hand the technology, right? There is technologies that are from here such as +1:05:20 +these types of roofs, these types of bamboo and wood structure to an extent. +1:05:27 +They are probably from elsewhere and as but they are as well here. They are +1:05:33 +combined vernaculars as as most everything is but um you could also go +1:05:38 +with just shapes of the patterns that represent you know God perhaps. There's +1:05:44 +the pyramid in in the in many there's many pyramids that have many different +1:05:50 +visual languages that represent these things and perhaps you know perhaps the +1:05:55 +outcry wouldn't be as strong if we would have seen shapes such as as the ones I +1:06:02 +showing here of Kotaki I believe those are or yeah can I ask a follow-up question to that +1:06:09 +what you describe is a a native culture this new museum is Is it meant to +1:06:14 +describe the native culture or today's busy 21st century globalized Ecuadorian +1:06:21 +nation among South America? Which one is? Is it native? You know, the the the vernacular, the the the the wood and and +1:06:28 +the making, which I think is great, by the way. I, you know, if I was a juror, I would definitely put that into the requirement. But is it more about the +1:06:35 +fact that it's in the middle of a busy, progressively growing city and this new museum is going to add more to that? +1:06:42 +Which one is it? Is it more native, more contemporary towards the future? +1:06:48 +What it is meant to represent? I mean, what it represent? Using time and culture. I'm sorry. +1:06:54 +Native is your guest. Answer the question in it wasn't directed at you. +1:07:00 +I know. It is it is a money grab. This is very important to understand. And I think +1:07:06 +many of the these types of buildings that look like this tend to be money grabs. But uh it doesn't represent much +1:07:13 +at all because I mean even if the current government were um you know more +1:07:21 +leftle leaning or more right leaning it would have you know perhaps more +1:07:28 +strength than what this actual government represents which is some bizarre version of neoc colonialism and +1:07:35 +Ecuadorian a negation of you know the actual you know reality of Ecuador. +1:07:42 +So, I don't know how to answer that question other than what it's supposed to represent because +1:07:47 +I I do not know there is no future to Ecuador clearly +1:07:53 +unless we accept that we need to take care of our own. +1:07:58 +You know, I like I like them. I like the pluralism and the the pluralism is important. I like the +1:08:05 +pluralism and that involves also the Spanish culture that came to Ecuador and +1:08:11 +all the other European cultures that came and did leave a ma a a vast +1:08:16 +imprint. I put a link in the I put a link in the uh chat window for you to take a look at if you want that these +1:08:24 +these cultures and produced a an Ecuadorian +1:08:32 +approach to materials to to topography +1:08:37 +the Ecuadorian culture in some absolutely amazingly beautiful +1:08:42 +ways. So, I would venture, let's take +1:08:49 +all of the above. We're going to have examples of the vernacular, traditional stuff, historic, native, whatever, +1:08:56 +whatever within the museum one way or another. But is that the structure of the museum? +1:09:01 +I would take as the structure of the museum the most loved buildings in +1:09:07 +Ecuador, the 10 most loved buildings in Ecuador and work from them. So this will be the +1:09:14 +11th most loved building. This would be my approach and those loved buildings. +1:09:21 +This is Mexico. Yeah. Yeah. The most loved the most loved buildings +1:09:28 +I guarantee there. One of them is Spanish Baroque. +1:09:34 +One of them is some kind of a a a a monastery or a convent somewhere all +1:09:39 +white with some some stone details. One of them is a neocclassical bank building +1:09:46 +or department store from 1905. One of them is some church in who knows +1:09:54 +what style and so on and so forth. Lady and lady and gentlemen, we're we're +1:10:00 +out of time. I would like to make a concluding remark and I want an then because we didn't let Anne talk too +1:10:07 +much. One concluding remark. The architecture of Ecuador is full of the +1:10:14 +most gorgeous color. This proposal is just dead gray. There's +1:10:20 +something contradictory there. It does not represent Ecuador Ecuadorian culture because it's no. +1:10:25 +Where's all the color? Wonderful color and form and form. There is a lot of +1:10:32 +form in Ecuadorian architecture both in the vernacular and even more so +1:10:41 +in those crazy Europeans that arrived there and settled there. +1:10:48 +It it's both. It's making places for people to thrive in, +1:10:53 +not creating concepts for other architects to understand. +1:10:59 +And modernism is 100% colonial when it is applied in any country other than +1:11:05 +straight ahead European. This is very polarizing. There are people [laughter] +1:11:12 +objectively measuring beauty is absurd science. Don't fall for it. No. We have written scientific papers measuring +1:11:20 +beauty idea what beauty is if you make that statement you actually don't understand +1:11:25 +the aesthetic experience say something all of those who have PhD is that the way you argue your PhD you +1:11:33 +don't get it and therefore I'm right is that how you argue your points really +1:11:38 +[laughter] no we we write scientific papers it probably sounds that way it's the end +1:11:44 +of a long week it's been a very very trying week for me. So I'm really sorry and we can't hear you for your closing +1:11:51 +statement. Oh, we can't hear you. +1:11:56 +Oh, okay. I've got questions for all of you, by the way, for when for next time. +1:12:03 +Okay, closing statement. We're over time. Can we talk about the uh the the +1:12:10 +modernist or contemporary architect's favors novelty? +1:12:15 +Yeah, exactly. Whether or not they're good, they're good and bad or or detrimental. Have you guys talked about that? I +1:12:21 +brought that out three weeks ago and I I've been super busy. I couldn't attend. Maybe can we do that next time or? +1:12:28 +Absolutely. Chris World 6388 says, "The first role of architecture is human health. Then sustainability and +1:12:34 +neuroscientists support the neuroesthetic ideas." Okay, so we're wrapping up. Thank you +1:12:39 +for the very special guest, Nikico from Keto Ecuador from turning us on to this. +1:12:47 +The building you get at the end is serves the Ecuadorian people. Absolutely. +1:12:52 +Not bloody likely. Thank you. That was Thanks so much, guys. Okay. +1:13:00 +Peace. +