English versions of the following articles are available online

Title:Inclusive Information
Author: Gabriela Medrano. Architect and Master in Architecture, Universidad Andrés Bello, 2008. She has won several international architecture competitions, such as the Bío-Bío Regional Theater, in association to Smiljan Radic and Eduardo Castillo. She currently teaches at the Universidad Andrés Bello and at the Universidad San Sebastián. Since 2018, she has carried out citizen interventions. Felipe Zegers. Self-taught musician and artist. Since 2004 he has made interventions along with the creative group Colectivo Blá! He is the director and creator of the urban intervention festival Hecho en Casa Fest. He has lectured, done talks and workshops on urban art. As a musician he has worked on projects within the Chilean experimental scene and the composition of children’s music.
Abstract: Adopted by the UN towards the end of 1948, after the atrocities committed in World War II, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is perhaps the most important document ever written, and one of the texts that has been translated into more languages. By protecting the rights inherent to our human condition, this is a text that we should all know and respect. “Inclusive information” seeks precisely that: to expand access to knowledge of those minimum rights, which constitute us as humans.
Keywords: laws; urban interventions; language; human rights; portfolio
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Title:Don’t Follow the Rulles, Create Them!
Author: Arno Brandlhuber. (1964) Architect and urban planner. In 2006, he founded the collaborative practice Brandlhuber+ in Berlin. His work includes architectural and research projects, exhibitions, publications, and political interventions. His research about the idea of legislation in architecture and urban design resulted in three movies, Legislating Architecture (2016), Property Drama (2017), and Architecting After Politics (2018), produced with the artist and director Christopher Roth. Brandlhuber has been associate professor of Architecture and Design at the EtH Zurich since 2017. Together with Olaf Grawert, Nikolaus Hirsch and Christopher Roth he is curating the German Pavilion for the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2020. Felipe de Ferrari. Architect, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (2010). Co-founder of 0300TV, OnArchitecture and Plan Común Arquitectos. Co-editor of the books ARQ Docs Pier Vittorio Aureli (2014), ARQ Docs Atelier Bow-Wow (2015) and Lugares Comunes: Recoleta-Independencia (2015). Esta entrevista se realizó en Krampnitz, Alemania, el 25 de septiembre de 2015 y se grabó en video. La entrevista completa está disponible en www.onarchitecture.com. Aquí, sólo publicamos algunos extractos.
Abstract: Laws, codes and regulations usually seem to hinder architectural creativity. Yet, that’s not always the case. In more than twenty years of career, German architect Arno Brandlhuber has sought for ways in which law can be a trigger for architectural design. Through various collaborations, his practice Brandlhuber+ became one of the most forward thinking voices in the contemporary scene. This interview gives an insight into these ideas explaining how restrictions, commonly perceived as obstacles, can be at the basis of architectural strategies.
Keywords: laws; building codes; design; projects; interview
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Title:Geometric Loft
Author: Ignacio Hornillos. Architect, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 2010. Magíster en Arquitectura, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 2012. He has studied at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Sevilla (2003-2004), at the Illinois Institute of Technology of Chicago (2007 -2008), at Domus Academy in Milan (2011) and at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile as a guest researcher (2014-2016). He has taught in Chile (UDD and AIEP) and Spain (ETSAM and Instituto Europeo de Diseño). His work has been exhibited in Chicago, Madrid, Valencia, Milan, Venice and Santiago, Chile, obtaining different awards, noting a recognition by Casabella magazine (number 832), as one of the world’s most relevant architects “under 30.” He is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Architectural Projects of the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid (ETSAM) where he develops his doctoral thesis under the advice of Jesús Bermejo and Federico Soriano.
Abstract:The modern city was based on planning, which sought to anticipate changes and literally plan – through rules and ordinances – how the city would grow. Today, in the neoliberal city, growth is not planned but regulated. Opportunities, such as those used by this project, appear in the contradiction between both models, where programmatic ambiguity allows testing uses outside the norm.
Keywords:laws; building; zoning; use; project
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Title:Commodore Building
Author: Irene Joselevich. Architect, Universidad de Buenos Aires (FADU-UBA, 1968). She was a tenured professor at the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism of the Universidad de Buenos Aires (1983-1989) and a researcher in the area of Urban and Architectural Heritage Cataloging of the City of Buenos Aires (1984-1995), in the same institution. She has published several books about the architectural heritage of the neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, as well as a city architecture guide. Among its awards, is worth noting the contest “New Green Areas for Puerto Madero and the Revitalization and Valorisation of the Costanera Sur.” She currently co-directs the PLANTA architecture studio with Ana Rascovsky. Ana Rascovsky. Architect, Universidad de Buenos Aires (FADU-UBA, 1996). Master, Berlage Institute Rotterdam (Holland, 2002). Master, L’Ecole d’Architecture de Versailles (France, 2001). She has been a tenured professor at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella (2014-2016) and at the Universidad de Palermo (2006-10), and has been invited to universities and institutions in Italy, Chile and Curaçao. She is currently a professor at the Universidad de Buenos Aires. She has exhibited her work at the Venice Biennale, the São Paulo Biennale, Kuala Lumpur, Cambodia and Peru. She is a founding member of Supersudaca – Think Tank of international architecture and urban planning and co-directs the architecture studio PLANTA with Irene Joselevich
Abstract: In the old planning code of Buenos Aires, the buildable area depends on a factor by which the land floor-area is multiplied. However, this figure does not consider the non-roofed exterior spaces, which opens up new design opportunities to obtain larger salable floor-areas. This building shows a way to exploit this possibility through apartments with large ‘free’ terraces.
Keywords: laws; building; opportunity; building code; project
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Title:1979, Santiago year zero. The rasante regulations, the Japanese model and the formation of the Neoliberal city
Author: Gonzalo Carrasco. Architect, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 2001. Doctor in Architecture and Urban Studies, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 2015. His research topics have focused on the links between architecture theories and the history of technology, domesticity and relations between architecture and capital. He was the curator of the Uruguay Pavilion “Panavisión: prácticas diversas, miradas comunes” at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale. He is the researcher responsible for the Fondecyt postdoctoral project “Vernáculo capitalista. Desarrollo del edificio torre en Chile (1978-2001). Transformaciones arquitectónicas de un sistema tecnológico, un modelo de ciudad y un producto de mercado.” He works as Assistant Professor at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
Abstract: Analyzing the origins and implementation of the Chilean set-back regulation, this text explores its underlying ideas of city and society – under the assumption that, during the dictatorship, this regulation became a style typical of the local implementation of the neoliberal economy. For while the shape of buildings can be determined by regulations, they can also be dictated by ideologies or theoretical models: in this case, the search for the maximum possible profitability.
Keywords:laws; rasantes; high-rise buildings; urban planning; essay
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Title:Refugee Heritage
Author: Alessandro Petti. Architecture and Social Justice, Royal Institute of Art Stockholm, Sweden.
Abstract: In architecture, heritage laws exist to protect those sites or buildings that future generations should know about. Based on the argument that this legacy should include not only good examples but also testimonies to what mistakes should be avoided, Decolonizing Architecture Art Residency proposed to UNESCO the protection of a refugee camp in Palestine.
Keywords:laws; refugee; camps; heritage; project
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Title:The Architectural Heritage Laws: Gravity, Ground and Ruin
Author: José de Nordenflycht Concha. PhD in Art History from the Universidad de Granada. Associate professor of the Department of Visual Arts at the Universidad de Playa Ancha, adjunct professor at the Escuela de Arquitectura Uc and member of the National Academy of Fine Arts of Argentina. Author of the books Patrimonio Local (2004), Post Patrimonio (2012), Patrimonial (2017) and editor of the collective volume Estudios Patrimoniales (2019)
Abstract: Heritage declaration implies a law protecting buildings from the onslaught of other laws such as those of physics or the market. In other words, what the declaration fights off is obsolescence – physical or functional – by means of a legal shield that compels to preserve a building in a particular state. Analyzing the debates around the conservation of the Casa Colorada in Santiago, this article delves into the inherent contradictions between the different laws that affect a building.
Keywords:laws; building; heritage; conservation; essay
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Title:Outside the Law
Author: ARCADA Colectivo, Santiago, Chile
Abstract: A series of regulations and ordinances are consciously disobeyed by this intervention. Its transgressive character, however, was overcome by the events of October 18, 2019, in Chile, which even led the government to declare a state of constitutional exception, that is, a temporary suspension of the rule of law. Thus, both this project and the political context that determined it, open the same question: to what extent can a temporary intervention have permanent consequences?
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Title:Ouvidor 63 Artistic Occupation: Art and Life Beyond the Norm
Author: Paula Monroy. Architect, Universidad Mayor, Chile, 2013. Master (c) in Space, Project and Culture, Faculdade de Arquitetura, Universidade de São Paulo (FAU USP), Brazil, 2021. Specialized in Art: Criticism and Curatorship, PUC/SP, Brazil , 2017. She joined the organization of the XIX Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism of Chile (Valparaíso, 2015) and the curatorial team of the II Biennial of Arts Ouvidor 63 (São Paulo, 2018). She was the general editor of the Feria Libre de Arquitectura catalog (Santiago, 2019) and curator of São Paulo, the city invited to the XXI Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism of Chile. Monroy is a professor at the Escola da Cidade, Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo, São Paulo, Brazil. Julia de Moraes Almeida. Lawyer, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil/Universidad Pantheon-Sorbonne, France, 2016. Master (c) in Criminology, Faculdade de Direito/Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo, Universidade de São Paulo, 2021. Master, University of Lyon II, France, 2019. She is the national coordinator of the Rede Brasileira de Saberes Descoloniais, the Direito Nucleo, Cidade e Cultura and the Laboratorio de Direito Urbanístico. She is also co-author of the book Novas Perspectivas da Criminologia (Editora D’Placido, Brazil, 2019). She currently teaches at the Universidade de São Paulo, and at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas, São Paulo, Brasil.
Abstract:According to São Paulo regulations, empty or disused buildings are not fulfilling their social function and, therefore, can be occupied by homeless people. The case analyzed in this text goes even further: to the housing is added a community of artistic production. Which, in terms of the law, is precisely what puts the building again at risk, since by having more than one activity, it could be argued that it is not fulfilling its ‘social function.’
Keywords: laws; occupations; social movements; urban planning; essay
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Title:Cañada Real Galiana Socio-community Center, Madrid, España
Author: Santiago Cirugeda. Architect, Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona, España (2004). He began his professional career in the urban reality field by himself, tackling issues such as ephemeral architecture, recycling, reuse of materials, strategies for occupation and urban intervention, prostheses incorporation to constructed buildings or citizen participation. He is a founding member of Recetas Urbanas (2003). He received the Ojo Crítico, Iniciarte, Naider “Sociedad, Ciudad y Territorio” (2008) awards, as well as the International Fellowship of the RIBA, the FAD medal, the Global Award for Sustanaible Architecture (2015), the Ones Mediterrània (2016) and the Curry Stone Design Prize (2017 + 2018 to the Collective Architectures network).
Abstract: In an illegal occupation, you cannot formally build anything. Yet, any intervention by the authorities in these areas depends on the organization of the population and the availability of a place to meet. Given this paradox, this Community Center is not only removable and mobile but was also built with the help of more than 1,200 volunteers from the community. Thus, architecture not only helps to formalize illegality but also to rebuild the social fabric.
Keywords: laws; building; management; community; Project
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Title:October Cities
Author: Ciudades de Octubre
Abstract: The city we see is the result of a series of laws, regulations, and decrees that, overlapped in time and space, make up the possibilities and impossibilities of land use and abuse. Seen this way, the fact that Santiago is an unequal city is not a natural phenomenon, but something designed through laws and decrees. Through some examples, the urban effects of this legal design are shown here.
Keywords: laws; urban planning; Instagram; uprootings; essay
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Title:Edificio Hamlet, Santiago, Chile, 2017
Author: Paralela, Santiago, Chile.
Abstract: The multiplicity of possible meanings of this construction – defined by its authors as a small building, an object, a hut, an opaque block, a monolithic object, or an inhabited wall – is sustained by a strict adherence to the laws of geometry: a sequence of six squares of 3.2 m on each side, define an elongated plan, architecturized with perforations and elements whose shapes and positions come from these very same laws.
Keywords: laws; cabin; ambiguity; composition; project
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Title:Loba House, Coliumo, Chile
Author: Pezo von Ellrichshausen
Abstract: The multiplicity of possible meanings of this construction – defined by its authors as a small building, an object, a hut, an opaque block, a monolithic object, or an inhabited wall – is sustained by a strict adherence to the laws of geometry: a sequence of six squares of 3.2 m on each side, define an elongated plan, architecturized with perforations and elements whose shapes and positions come from these very same laws.
Keywords: laws; cabin; ambiguity; composition; project
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Title:Is the Constitution a House? How is its Architecture? Constitutional Architecture
Author: Alfredo Jocelyn-Holt. Historian, PhD. in Philosophy, Oxford University, UK; B.A. in Art History, and M.A, in Humanistic Studies, Johns Hopkins University, USA. He is the author of Una historia general de Chile (three of six volumes to date) and La casa del museo: la casa Yarur Bascuñán de Vitacura y Museo de la Moda (2018). He is a Professor at the faculties of Law, Philosophy and Humanities, and Engineering, of Universidad de Chile
Abstract: On Sunday, November 10, 2019, twenty-four days after the social outbreak began in Chile – and after a meeting at the President’s house – the Prime Minister declared that “the constitution is the most important law, it is everyone’s house and It has to be ratified by the citizens so that it can be the new body, the new house that shelters us for the next few years.” The fact that the second government authority has used an architectural analogy to explain the meaning of a constitution allows us to think about the architecture of this new constitution. What are the foundations of such “everyone’s house”? How big should it be? Do we need a new house or just a remodel? In short, how is its architecture? With those questions, we open the debate of this issue of arq on Laws.
Keywords:laws; Constitution; reforms; crisis; debate
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Title:Is the Constitution a House? How is its Architecture? The deceitful constitution, its crisis and the crisis solution
Author: Fernando Atria. Bachelor of Law and Social Sciences, Universidad de Chile (1994). Doctor of Law, University of Edinburgh (1999). Author of La Mala Educación: Ideas que inspiran al movimiento estudiantil en Chile (2012), La Constitución tramposa (2013) and La Forma del Derecho (2016). He is associate professor in the Department of Law Sciences of the Faculty of Law of the University of Chile.
Abstract: On Sunday, November 10, 2019, twenty-four days after the social outbreak began in Chile – and after a meeting at the President’s house – the Prime Minister declared that “the constitution is the most important law, it is everyone’s house and It has to be ratified by the citizens so that it can be the new body, the new house that shelters us for the next few years.” The fact that the second government authority has used an architectural analogy to explain the meaning of a constitution allows us to think about the architecture of this new constitution. What are the foundations of such “everyone’s house”? How big should it be? Do we need a new house or just a remodel? In short, how is its architecture? With those questions, we open the debate of this issue of arq on Laws.
Keywords: laws; Constitution; reforms; crisis; debate
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Editorial. The Architecture of Laws

Modern civilization, Franco “Bifo” Berardi argues, can be understood as a colonization of reality through laws. His assertion not only included the law itself – whose rules attempted to define a norm to regulate social activity and ‘normalize’ it – but also the scientific laws that, according to this Italian philosopher, sought to “reduce the becoming of physical matter to the repetition of a model” ^{(Berardi, 2018:40)} and thus overcome natural chaos through reason and measure (which share the word ratio in Latin).

Architecture was also part of that civilizing process. The recovery of the ‘orders’ in the Renaissance and the subsequent search for types, laws and even standards for the built form were nothing else than strategies to ‘normalize’ the production of buildings. During the last century, however, such normalizing aspiration, of which architecture was part of, was questioned from very different flanks. From one extreme, the attachment to reason was criticized by currents of thought that pointed out to the interests served by standardization and normalization. From the other, a global, and at the same time atomized, market began to achieve dynamism due to a differentiated and customized offer. Finally, the vindicating politics of identity also questioned this normalizing leviathan incapable to understand the nuances that make up the heterogeneity of the social fabric.

Unfolding and understanding the diversity of critiques towards the norm can be useful to locate the attitudes with which contemporary architecture face laws. On the one hand, opposing the iconic, spectacle-architecture typical of neoliberalism, a rigorously contained architecture appears – one that finds in geometry and composition laws an aesthetic key that allows it to recover a certain territory of certainties. Another trend tries to explore, in the legal loopholes, the opportunities for an architecture that overcomes the empire of externally imposed norms and standards. At the same time, and in a more cultural than practical manner, cutting-edge research on the history of architecture has focused on revealing the interests and contradictions implicit in the laws it is subject.

All those possibilities conform this issue of ARQ. In the portfolio, Medrano and Zegers present inclusive ways to disseminate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The interview to Brandlhuber+ presents a number of strategies to use the law as a creative trigger. Hornillos takes advantage of a legal loophole to make unforeseen uses possible. Planta Studio shows us a way to take advantage of the regulations to benefit the project quality. Carrasco analyzes the ideological assumptions behind the rasantes regulations in Chile in the early eighties. DAAR proposes to use heritage laws to protect a refugee camp in Palestine. De Nordenflycht observes the inherent contradictions between the different laws that affect a heritage building. Arcada explores an intervention outside the law. Monroy and de Moraes analyze a legal conflict between the state and a community of artists. Recetas Urbanas shows us the contribution that architecture can make in situations of illegality. Ciudades de Octubre details the laws and decrees that determined social segregation in Santiago. Paralela offers an alternative so that profitability does not go to the detriment of the city. Pezo von Ellrichshausen proposes an architecture that generates – and ascribes to – its own laws. Finally, in the debate, we analyze two views regarding the analogy between the house and the constitution, based on the current discussion in Chile.

Because if the law is the framework that allows a civilized and egalitarian coexistence – in theory, we should be equals before the law – the constitution is the architecture housing that equality. Such architecture can be restrictive or liberating; rigid or flexible; it can promote community or individuality; it can be solidary or subsidiary; authoritarian or civilizing. The exact proportion of all these characteristics is what determines the qualities of social life and the development opportunities of a country’s inhabitants. By defining possibilities and impossibilities, and by being the law that governs all the other laws and institutional agreements of a country, the constitution is, after all, the space in which society can move.

In fact, albeit for different reasons, the last two issues of ARQ have been produced under a state of emergency2. This temporary suspension of legal order shows that there is no space for exceptional moments in the constitution, to the point that it must suspend itself to maintain order. Hence, the importance of the process of constitutional change that will reopen in the spring (when winter passes and hopefully the pandemic with it): for the first time in Chilean history, we will have the opportunity to discuss a new constitution in a democratic and representative way. It is an occasion where our capacity for civic dialogue will be put to a test that, hopefully, we will know how to pass. Only then can we show how civilized we are.

Notes
BERARDI, Franco, Breathing: Chaos and Poetry (South Pasadena, CA: Semiotexte, 2018).