The fundamental aim of the present research work is to demonstrate how technology and the creation of space are inextricably interconnected, not only quite literally through a conceptual expansion of the joint as a connecting point, but also through the resonant load-bearing and space-engendering character of the surface material enveloping the space, where the structure-enclosure plays a central role in the spatial boundary as a membrane-skin.
The specific focus of this thesis is to study the point of contact between an architectural space and the ground level. An understanding of the evolution of the spatial myth from cave to hut as the volume required for human life take place allows us to analyse the development of the various positions of space relative to the ground level (in, on and above) conditioned by the spatial, constructional and structural aspects of the envelope surrounding the enclosed space through the application of the laws of physics and a tectonic-stereotomic vision.
The present work will start by analysing the importance of the development of technique in the conception of architectural space. Thus, a link will be established between technique and ideas, thoughts and the history of architectural space, structure and materials. Particular attention will be paid to structure as a fundamental technical element defining the form taken by the space and playing a fundamental role in the relationship with the enclosure or surface of friction between interior and exterior space. Additionally, the importance of structure as an essential element of architecture will be studied, given its capacity of connecting spatial form with the forces of gravity, as well as establishing the relationship between the interior space and light. Furthermore, the discovery and development of new materials applied to architecture (iron, steel and reinforced concrete) have introduced new structural possibilities, generating new conceptions of space. A major part of this study deals with the impact of lightweight elements, of ferro-vitreous technology, on the form of architectural space. We shall likewise discuss how reinforced concrete is the third hybrid tectonic element which is neither totally compressive (as is the case of bricks and stone) nor totally operational as a tensile net. Its essential spatial expression is that of the wide-span cantilever.
Moreover, the present research work attempts to provide a new insight into the stereotomic-tectonic evolution of architectural space in relation to the freeing-up of the spatial envelope according to the structural and construction techniques applied in different positions of space relative to the ground level (from earth to sky). An effort will likewise be made to make valuable contributions by way of considerations regarding structural optimisation and the spatial boundary, leading towards the idea of spatial dematerialisation and ingravity as a tour de force of architecture.
But at the same time, the present thesis does not disregard the phenomenological aspect of the human being, and strives to find answers among the subject’s perception of space in relation to the environment, multisensory experiences, and corporal movement. All of the foregoing must be underpinned by a concordance between a logical tectonic-stereotomic construction based on idea-reason and a phenomenological experience of the human being manifested as emotion.
To a certain extent what this research is proposing is a return to local principles or to regionalism, which is able to employ place-specific tools and craftsmanship (local arts and their virtues) promoting and being innovative with traditional elements which belong to a particular place, and using tectonic and stereotomic logic.
Therefore, the final aim of the present thesis shall be to search for those architectural spaces where the subject’s experience (phenomenological perception) is related to a tectonic ethic based on a balanced combination of conception (the intellectual aspect), materialness, reason and economy of means, and is at the same time capable of moving the senses.