Building Another Vision of Spain with Santiago Cirugeda

• The Crises in the Construction industry has led many to look for other signs for sustainable housing in Spain. 
• One man is offering another vision for the 500.000 skeletal remains scattered over the land. Welcome to the Urban Recipes of Santaigo Cirugeda. 

Look beyond the sandy beaches and you will find that Spain has another dimension. As the fourth largest economy in the EU it has a diversity and vision that goes beyond the costa mentality and the construction industry - though you'd be forgiven for thinking differently.  Yet despite the end of the concrete era, the question of building is still very much alive away from the abandoned Urbs of the Mediterranean. In these other circles - amongst the La red de arquitecturas colectivas -  talk is of sustainability and an alternative future that serves the needs and ideals of the present generation. One man playing a part in constructing this new future is Santaigo Cirugeda from the deliciously titled: Recetas Urbanas.   READ MORE...

Another Narative

There is another narrative being composed in Spain. No, not that one about the best tapas bars in your city or the prettiest beaches nearest your converted farm house. Nope. This is another story.

It is a story about the construction, but not of urbanisations or tower blocks, this is a story about an alternative way of building the future. 

Rebel Architecture

At last newspapers like the Guardian (see article below) , and media services like  Al Jazeera are giving this future a voice. Take for example the series on Rebel Architects from Al Jazeera that feature our very own Santiago Cirugeda - from the Alameda area of Seville - a man who have arisen from the demise of the old order. 

Kettle On
So, put the kettle on, get the biscuits out and put your feet up for half and hour.  Watch the inspiring story of Santiago Cirugeda - an architect driven to construct, rebuild, inspire, empower, educate and above all act. The video documentary is in Spanish with English subs. 

Santiago is an open source architect that tries to respond to his environment, his neighbourhood and the needs of his city.  He aims to inform, deconstruct and empower throughout the process of construction. More than any of this, he is an architect with a simple and honest vision. He is ordinary man in a world that likes to think of itself as special. Santaigo's example gleefully breaks down such nonsense. 

Watch the video and take inpsiration from the philosophy and work of this provocative man - and before you condemn him for working illegally,  remember 2 things:

1. How many people have you known to build, buy, and reform houses illegally. (Be honest)
   
2. Seth Godin says "don't wait for permission", so if he isn't why not Santaigo? 
   

Santiago On the Setas in Seville.

"I've never been there and I never want to," he says, looking out from his own rooftop towards it, "it represents ... a performance architecture, where money seems to be so important ... Architects don't care, they want to make their works of art, their enormous piles of **** - that's all," he says.

Watch the Video Here

Find out More on Santiago:

Guardian Article on Santaigo (English) 
Recetas Urbanas (Spanish) 
Plataforma Architectura
La red de arquitecturas colectivas
Spatial Agency  

There is Another Way

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