Work sample - MARIA JULIA OCAMPO

W O R K S A M P L EMARIA JULIA OCAMPO

ceramic modules with egyptian blue glaze developed at the Ekwc during february may period

portfolio. maría julia ocampo.

My work focuses on the concept of the matter. These are concrete substances that form concrete design products; the matter comprehends formal preexistences that, in terms of typology, range from degrees of density to permanence in time, shape, light, etc. Traditionally the idea of matter is that of a determined one (clay, copper, wood …). A matter determined precisely by the cycle or system of operations that can transform and re-transform it through the corresponding inverse or cyclic operations. In this sense, this concept would be applicable to all that that is able to transform or retransform itself; linking rigorously the idea of matter to the concept of form. Something is matter precisely since it is matter respect some determined forms (for ex. the marble is matter of the column or the statue).Paradoxically, the idea of form is conventionally opposed to that of matter (at least under the Aristotelian conception that contrasts these two as substantially different principles), generally we think of form as something that is not material. Playing on this tension, my work tends to conceptualize an idea of form as material determiner, challenging this dualism between form and matter.Ancient Greeks conceived the object as composed by an apparent or visible figure and a latent or invisible one, affirming the idea of form as an inner figure perceptible just by the mind. Furthermore, techné (greek term) was an idea that involved the simultaneous presence of art and technique. Ancient Greeks didn´t distinguish between this two concepts, understanding technique as the production of beauty in truth, in a sense of discovering what is hidden, what already exists (the latent) in the matter.This manner my work conceives matter, form and technique, as concrete and material dimensions of reality, understanding perception as the only way to get to it, especially through tactile experience. As an architect myself, I inevitably operate on the conception of space, however this conception is not an intellectual one but a concrete one. Having technique as a propeller, I intend to produce objects whose raison d'être lays on a material, earthly, logic, as a way to reveal beauty.

FOREWORD


Installation at the Ekwc (European Ceramic Work Center), Den Bosch, The

Netherlands. 2012.

This work is a reflection on the issue of tectonic. It also represents a thought on the concept of techné (this idea that involves the simultaneous presence of art and technique. In the sense of discovering what is hidden, what already exists in the matter). Through a versatile material, like ceramic, this work proposes is to explore the latent truth. Technique is the mean to achieve it. The result is a series of rigid pieces that conforms a flexible like system. By varying the position of the pieces, it is possible to obtain different systems.These tridimensional tiles are meant to be used as facade elements. This way they compose layers for the isolation of the building.

TECTONIC SYSTEMS

Japanese ancient culture was structured symbolically through ephemeral tectonic materials, like tied straw or rice cane strings… or, more elaborated, through pillars made out of knitted bamboo or rush. (…) In most ancient cultures, there is a primacy of the knitting as a reference to place. (Kenneth Frampton in Studies in Tectonic Culture: The Poetics of tectonics systems installation Construction in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Architecture)


Graduation thesis “Forma y materia en la arquitectura sudamericana. Estudio de casos”. Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe,

Argentina. 2009

This thesis explores the tectonic aspect of objects, in the contemporary world. The main objective was to determine and systematize the methods that comprise the tectonic form. This was thought through two procedures: the critical analysis (taking existing South American architectonic works) and the design exercise (taking a matter widely used in the region, the clay). In this sense, this work is focused on the idea of the matter as the primary architectural form. The critical analysis intends to interpret the different dimensions of the project that are related to a specific materiality and context. The design exercise explores the potential of the material to determine

space.

TECTONIC SYSTEMS


“Forma y materia”. Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa

Fe, Argentina. 2007

These two small scale projects are based in the study of architectonic materiality. 1-In this first project, tectonic expresses the way components are articulated in the whole. This system is regulated by the logic of the materials. Each one of the elements that comprise this shelter is designed to work on its own structural -physical, mechanical- inner coherence. The objective of the exercise was to design an entrance by creating and exploring the technological properties of the wood. Responding to that, the project is based on a spiral-like structure, made of laminated wood that keeps an elastic cover stretched, which, at the same time, maintains the wood spiral fixed. The concrete slab works by giving weight to the system, keeping it down to the ground. 2- This second project was thought as the macro-result of the sum of its smaller component, the paper tube. The wave-like shape is determined by the position of the tubes in the whole, while these are subjected by elastic bands. The choice of the technology responds basically to the idea of the ephemeral, a short life space where walkers an find shelter from the sun of the

arid Arizona desert.

TECTONIC SYSTEMS


Studies on housing at the Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina.

2006

These projects were thought from the point of view of the functional program. In this mechanism the program was disarticulated into packages in order to be rearticulated into a new formal order. From the point of view of the object this kind of exercises represents a study of the form, bringing up the question of the actual sense of the form as an autonomous concept. In this sense, as design theory, these projects are an essay of how an architectural problem, like program, can act as a trigger for a more universal

issue: form.

Project for a house in the coast, Coronda, Argentina.

2011-2012

This project is based on the idea of assemblage. According to program and site demands, the house will appear as an object landed on a flat ground. This object is comprises two blocks. The first one, heavier and laid back on the ground, contains the “social” functions of the house. It was thought to be perceived as a basement made out of earth , a stereotomical* brick box. The second block, leaned on top of the first one, contains the “private” activities and will be perceived as a light tectonic element gravitating towards the

landscape surrounding it.

* stereotomy: the science or art of cutting solids into certain figures or sections, as arches, and the like; especially, the art of stonecutting.

L IV ING SYSTEMS


First prize “national constitution memorial park”, Santa Fe, Argentina. 2009. Mention Santiago de Compostela (Spain). 2010. Work team: archs. Gancedo, Borgarello

and Ocampo

The park reaffirms the site’s own conditions. It exploits the natural characteristics of the coastal landscape, which are defined by the rhythm of the river Paraná and its significant flora and fauna, in harmony with human intervention. In this sense, the water is the element that defines and structures the project, whose plan emerges from the terrain’s typical depressions. The architectonic proposal, then, is structured to interact directly with the

system of wetlands. This way, the lineal development of the building permits to generate an intensive relationship between natural landscape and

architecture.

LANDSCAPE AND MATTER


Contemporary dance centre in Salt Lake City. Project for the course of professor Rüegemer. University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA.

2007.

(right) Architecture gallery on the Thames. Proposal for the competition “Architectum”. London. UK. 2008. Work team: Garrido - Niklison -

Ocampo

(left) City transportation interchange in Shibuya. Proposal for the competition

“Line of site”. 2008.

THE TECTONIC OF THE PROGRAM


Honor mention national competition “Re diseñando las escuelas del país”, Buenos Aires, Argentina. 2006. Work team: Borgarello

Labuckas - Ocampo

Proposal for the national competition “biblioteca del bicentenario”, Rosario, Argentina. 2009. Work team:

Pressiani-Ocampo

Project for professor’s Navarro class at the Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe,

Argentina. 2006

THE TECTONIC OF THE PROGRAM


(right) 10 units housing building in Santa Fe, Argentina. 2009. Construction documents drawing (architecture, structure, electricity, details,

etc.) (1650 m2).

(centre) 22 units housing building in Santa Fe, Argentina. 2011. Construction documents drawing (architecture, structure, details, electricity,

etc.) (2000 m2).

(left)Palace of Justice in Santa Fe, Argentina. 2006/2011. Architect in the work team for the realization of the construction documents (22.000

m2).

WORK IN ARCHITECTURAL FIRMS


30 units housing building in Rosario, Argentina. 2011. Construction documents and

site supervision.

10 units housing building in Santa Fe, Argentina. 2007/2008. Construction documents and

site supervision.

22 units housing building in Rosario, Argentina. 2011. Construction documents and

site supervision.

Project for a country house in Santo Tomé, Argentina. 2008. Designer. Plans design, model

making and rendering.

First prize national competition “Extensión del Palacio de Justicia de Santa Fe“, Santa Fe, Argentina. 2005. Designer in the work team. Plans design and model.

WORK IN ARCHITECTURAL FIRMS

Documents

Work sample - MARIA JULIA OCAMPO