Débora Mesa Molina: Stunning buildings made from raw, imperfect materials
Débora Mesa Molina: Construcciones impresionantes hechas con materiales en crudo e imperfectos
Débora Mesa Molina makes space for experimentation in a highly regulated profession. Full bio
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with many rules,
con muchas reglas.
we're constantly gravitating
and push boundaries and innovate,
traspasar los límites e innovar,
and we overlook all the time.
todo el tiempo a nuestro alrededor.
along with my team,
con mi equipo,
in strict historic contexts,
históricos estrictos,
of Authors and Editors,
de Autores y Editores,
references to learn from,
de los que podíamos aprender.
our education as architects,
como arquitectos,
that industry made available
que la industria nos facilitó
to use in our buildings
to the nearby quarries
a las canteras más cercanas
that transforms a mountain
que transforma una montaña
that you buy from a supplier.
que puedes comprarle al proveedor.
scale of the material
con el alcance excepcional del material
blocks piling up everywhere.
que se apilan por todos lados.
of an extraction sequence:
material of great quality,
residual de gran calidad,
that this was a good idea;
de que era una buena idea
with a design process
pensar en un proceso de diseño
talladas al azar.
equipped with 3-D scanners
equipados con escáneres 3D,
for a hands-on experience.
por la experiencia práctica.
willing to share the risk with us.
quisiera correr el riesgo con nosotros.
to help us build a few prototypes
nos ayudó a construir algunos prototipos
de los detalles técnicos.
by eight-meter-high structure
por 8 metros de alto
material of the quarry,
el material amorfo de la cantera
in the city center
en el centro de la ciudad
environment of the quarry,
en el ambiente controlado de la cantera,
the whole building in time
a tiempo
means and methods.
no convencionales.
of the industrial landscape
del paisaje industrial
and the neighbors.
quite a few headaches,
algunos dolores de cabeza,
an exception in our work,
una excepción en nuestro trabajo,
a modus operandi
a informar un modus operandi
se convierte en la oportunidad
becomes this opportunity
we believe has to be urgently reimagined.
que debería ser reimaginada con urgencia.
built and inhabited.
construido y habitado.
we are using the small scale
utilizamos una escala menor
la arquitectura que resulta
the architectures
applications of pretty mundane materials
de materiales bastante mundanos
in the top row,
usado en la primera hilera,
these precast concrete beams.
de cemento precolado.
water channels --
canales hídricos.
to a precast concrete factory.
a una fábrica de cemento precolado.
especially homey or beautiful,
particularmente hogareñas o hermosas,
to build our first house.
para construir nuestra primera casa.
we could be our own clients.
nuestros propios clientes.
how we can take these huge catalogue beams
cómo llevar estas vigas gigantes
around a courtyard space ...
en el patio,
and their material quality,
y la calidad del material,
that carry the loads to the ground,
que soporta la carga en el terreno.
interior from exterior;
el interior del exterior,
un laboratorio para nosotros
standard elements in nonstandard ways.
elementos comunes de modos no tan comunes.
that the results are intriguing.
son fascinantes.
can be much more than stacking boxes
más que apilar cajas,
can be airy and transparent.
pueden ser ventiladas y transparentes.
and building this house,
y construir esta casa,
nuestras familias y amigos,
and our friends
get translated into other projects
se convierten en otros proyectos
at very standard products:
productos muy comunes:
that can be easily cut and screwed,
se pueden cortar y atornillar fácilmente,
hidden in partition walls
en las paredes de división de una casa
a very lightweight construction system
un sistema de construcción liviana
en nuestro negocio.
with our hands in our shop,
We're not professional builders
no constructores profesionales.
de que es posible.
can move it with his hands
lo pueda mover con sus manos,
if you were moving abroad ...
si te mudaras al extranjero,
beams to Brookline.
de Madrid a Brookline.
of a very nice neighborhood:
de un barrio muy lindo:
and the only thing we could afford.
y lo único que podíamos pagar.
to transform it into a swan,
transformarlo en un cisne
our just-delivered kit of parts,
recién llegados.
and the guinea pigs.
en científicos y conejillos de Indias.
los materiales más baratos
that uses some of the cheapest
that you can find in the market
puedas encontrar en el mercado
four-by-eight modulation
omnipresente del cuatro por ocho
organization of the spaces
diferente de los espacios
an economically built home
construida de forma económica
actively working with developers,
activamente con desarrolladores,
for many more homes
para muchos más hogares
is an infinite source of inspiration
es una fuente infinita de inspiración
to see beneath the surface of things.
ver debajo de la superficie de las cosas.
to the other side of the moon:
la otra cara de la moneda:
we joined Cathy and Peter Halstead
con Cathy y Peter Halstead
on a 10,000-acre working ranch.
en un rancho de 4046.8 hectáreas.
about what an art center is
lo que sabíamos sobre centros de arte
had no fit here.
no encajaba aquí.
into a constellation of fragments,
en una constelación de fragmentos,
across the vast territory
por el vasto territorio
into the wilderness of this amazing place.
en el desierto de este increíble lugar.
we are thinking through making,
a través de la creación.
and as material,
soporte y como material.
of sedimentation, erosion,
de sedimentación, erosión,
that are born from the land,
que se originen en el suelo,
of the landscape,
viscerales del paisaje,
that crosses Murphy Canyon.
the space of the mountains
al espacio de las montañas
planeada a la perfección,
and the local craft.
y las artesanías del lugar.
just those aspects that are critical,
esos aspectos críticos
embedded in the form.
que se encuentran en la forma.
is welcome and is provoked.
es bienvenida e inducida.
is still a moment of design
es todavía tiempo de diseño
come together to perform a final dance.
y mentes se juntan para el baile final.
like you would unwrap a birthday gift.
como ustedes abren un regalo.
of the earth to build a shelter,
para construir un refugio,
de los seres humanos.
at our disposal in radical ways,
a nuestro antojo de forma radical,
architectures that find the beauty latent
arquitecturas que encuentran
y en crudo que nos rodean,
things that surround us,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Débora Mesa Molina - ArchitectDébora Mesa Molina makes space for experimentation in a highly regulated profession.
Why you should listen
Débora Mesa Molina designs and builds architectures that use overlooked materials and discover the beauty of the mundane. She is the principal architect of Ensamble Studio, a cross-functional team based in Madrid and Boston that she leads with her partner Antón García-Abril. Balancing imagination with reality, art and science, their work innovates typologies, technologies and methodologies to address issues as diverse as the construction of the landscape to the prefabrication of the house. From their early works -- such as SGAE Headquarters, Hemeroscopium House or The Truffle in Spain -- to their most recent works -- including the Cyclopean House and Structures of Landscape in the US -- every project navigates the uncertain aim of advancing their field. Through their startup WoHo, they are invested in increasing the quality of architecture while making it more affordable by integrating offsite technologies.
Mesa Molina is committed to sharing ideas and cultivating synergies between professional and academic worlds through teaching, lecturing and researching. Since 2018, she has served as Ventulett Chair in Architectural Design at Georgia Tech, and previously served as research scientist at MIT where she cofounded the POPlab in 2012. Above all, she is a doer, committed to making poetic ideas happen.
Débora Mesa Molina | Speaker | TED.com