Presentación y comentarios: Anna Font

Drone Series
[Castellano]
Un Drone es una nave no piloteada. Su vuelo es controlado autónomamente por una computadora, o a través de un control remoto por parte de un piloto en tierra. Hay una gran variedad de drones, distintos en su forma, tamaño, configuraciones y características. Se usan principalmente para aplicaciones militares pero son cada vez más comunes en usos civiles, de control policial, bomberos y seguridad no militar. Una de las aplicaciones civiles del Drone, de naturaleza mucho más lúdica, consiste en una pequeña nave con cuatro hélices que captura imágenes y videos de calidad hd. La imagen es transmitida y grabada directamente a un smart-phone o tableta, que a su vez controla el movimiento de la nave.

Drone Series opera en el campo del espionaje, no literalmente sino como metáfora, eso es, como un espacio donde desplegar la curiosidad intelectual y el deseo de conocer los avatares de la práctica, con la intención de infiltrarse en el día a día y las dinámicas de trabajo de algunas de las más importantes oficinas globales de arquitectura actualmente. Como el Drone, el objetivo es ver sin ser vistos, en tiempo real, desde una privilegiada y conveniente distancia, para aprender desde la experiencia que nos permite tal intrusión mediada. El proyecto consiste en participar en conversaciones activas en una interfaz virtual y compartir las experiencias y pensamientos de nuestros invitados –operando por lo demás como nuestros anfitriones–. En continuación con esta idea, la serie construye al mismo tiempo una dislocación de los sujetos y una sensación de “estar en la piel” de los actores reales –diseñadores y consultores– que operan anónimamente en oficinas de arquitectura en todo el mundo, para así poder desafiar las preconcepciones sobre las atmósferas de trabajo y el desconocimiento sobre los procesos de diseño, programas de investigación y otras iniciativas que se llevan a cabo en las oficinas de arquitectura contemporáneas.

Las conferencias están programadas al mediodía, en el espacio del Taller de Arquitectura de la Escuela de Arquitectura y Estudios Urbanos de la Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, en un formato relajado de hora-del-almuerzo, y con la intención de anticipar discusiones que se puedan presentar en los talleres de la escuela durante la tarde posterior al evento. En el curso 2013 se planean seis conferencias –una por mes–, con una estructura de 20 minutos de presentación, 20 minutos de discusión guiada y 20 minutos de preguntas abiertas de estudiantes y docentes.

[English]
A Drone is an aircraft without a human pilot on board. Its flight is controlled either autonomously by a computer, or under the remote control of a pilot on the ground. There are a wide variety of drone shapes, sizes, configurations, and characteristics. They are deployed predominantly for military applications, but also used in small but growing number of civil applications, such as policing, firefighting, and nonmilitary security. One of the civil applications of a Drone, much more ludic in its nature, consists of a small aircraft with four propellers that captures hd photographs and videos. The footage is streamed and recorded directly to a smart-phone or a tablet, which works, at the same time, as its controlling device.

Drone Series operates in the realm of “espionage”, not literally but metaphorically, that is, as a space to unfold the intellectual curiosity and desire of knowledge about the avatars of practice, with the will to “infiltrate” in the everyday life and work dynamics of some of the most important global architecture offices today. Alike a Drone, the aim is to see without being seen, in real time, from a “privileged and convenient” distance, in order to learn from the experience of a mediated intrusion. The project consists in engaging in active conversations through virtual interfaces, in order to share the experiences and thoughts of our guests –curiously otherwise operating as our hosts–. Along these lines, the series constructs both a dislocation of the subjects and a feeling of being in the skin of the real actors –designers and consultants–operating anonymously in architectural offices worldwide, challenging preconceptions about office environments and a common lack of information about design procedures, research investment programs and other initiatives taking place in contemporary architectural offices.

The events are programmed to take place at noon in the Studio Space of the School of Architecture and Urban Studies at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, under a relaxed lunch-time format, and anticipating discussions to be held in the design studios across the School during the afternoon right after. Six lectures are planned to take place during 2013 –one per month–, following a structure of 20 minute presentations, 20 minute guided discussions and 20 minute open questions with students and faculty.

Meredith Bostwick-Lorenzo Eiroa, AIA, LEED AP
Associate Director
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM)
As a thought-leader in the design of spaces for science and technology, Meredith is a Project Manager and an Academic Science Laboratory Designer at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM). Her current work is focused on a diverse palette of laboratory projects for academic research, institutional/industry partnerships, clinical laboratories, and state-of-the-art STEM instructional & simulation labs. At SOM, Meredith is a Process Manager and Strategic Planner whose strengths are in her ability to design and execute a large-scale vision while enhancing synergy and accommodating diversity within individual sciences. She works intensively with principal investigators and users to ensure their concerns are translated into functional and dynamic spaces designed to enhance creativity and collaborative research. As a "Lab Creative" her work strives to bridge both like-minded research and un-common collaboration with the aim to spark innovation and the creative process. At SOM, Meredith is the Senior Laboratory Designer for the UCONN Innovation Partnership Building where diverse research with a focus in additive materials and advanced manufacturing have informed the master planning for a 1.2 million-sf university technology park and the design for a 125,000-gsf first phase building. Meredith is an active member of the Society of College and University Planners (SCUP), and has presented at regional conferences and workshops for SCUP, Project Kaleidoscope and the Laboratory Design Conference. She has been published in R&D Magazine’s 2012 issue, “The Ups and Downs of Modern Laboratory Design” and Laboratory Design Newsletter’s April 2013 issue, “Expanding Science Research and Teaching in a Single City Block.”  Meredith is a Registered Architect in the State of New York and a LEED® Accredited Professional. Mrs. Bostwick-Lorenzo Eiroa received her B.S. with Honors in Architecture from Georgia Institute of Technology and her M.A. in Architecture from Princeton University.

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM)

Lunes 29 de abril, 13h
Taller de arquitectura, 2° piso. Edificio Alcrota
Actividad abierta para los alumnos y profesores de la carrera de arquitectura