(Non-)Doing a Workshop on (Architectural) Rurality - scenarios for Ria de Alvor estuary landscape, in Portugal

EAAE Rurality Network Seminar 8-12 April 2013_Fribourg

Fribourg School of Architecture and Engineering

(Non-)Doing a Workshop on Rurality -

scenarios for Ria de Alvor estuary landscape, in Portugal

Nuno Martins,

Architect Ph.D ; Assistant Professor at ISMAT, Grupo U.Lusófona, Portugal

[email protected]

01 Workshops students final outcomes

Scenario Group 1 - Mehdi Belyasmine, Jean-Loup Clément, John Hanrahan, Romain Odier

IMPERMANENCE

Fig. 1 The daily and life cycles of Impermanence.

Scenario Group 2 - Elvira Constantina, Anna Di Fede, Lilla Papp, Blerina Rashiti:

THE CYCLE AS RESOURCE

Fig. 2 Growing cyclei.

02 Foreground

02.01. (Non-)doing a workshop on Rurality

First of all let’s clarify the title. A full explanation of how it was possible non-doing a workshop

instead of doing a workshop requires, in the first place, the definition of the concept of non-doing

and, after that, the description, made with precision, on how things unfolded over those four days of

working together in Fribourg School of Architecture in the first EAAE Rurality Network. This will be

done in the next paragraphs.

Second task is to explain why workshop results are presented initially instead of presented at the

end of the text, as final output of the workshop, as usual. This is not so difficult; however, it will be

done later on, when the reasons for doing so perhaps became clearer.

Giving an overview of the workshop main features, say, team composition, site of intervention,

program, schedule and meeting venue, is worth to mention: two scholars from two South-European

countries leading a group of eight students from five other different countries, comprising West,

Central and Eastern Europe and North Africa countries, four boys, four girls, from 20 to 29 years

old, with six native languages, including one student with impaired hearing focusing on a distant

rural landscape far from the workshop venue (Fribourg) and having to attend not only the afternoon

workshop activities but also several morning oral presentations. This geographical, cultural and

individual diversity, together with the intensive program, framed an initial challenge for all

participants, both workshops leaders and students.

Relating to the site of intervention suffice it to say that a cultural landscape nearby the school of

origin of the workshop leaders, in Algarve, South Portugal, was chosen. This option, mutually

agreed with the workshop organizers, certainly attempted to promote a wider intercultural dialogue,

demanding participants communication and learning skills while placing them in a neutral position,

since some of them were currently studying in the region. However, as all workshop members

would experience later, the choice of site disregarded a basic rule when it comes to dealing with the

rural: to personally know the place and work on the field with a multidisciplinary perspective, with

local communities. Actually, the morning talks, no matter if they addressed vernacular contemporary

architecture, territorial planning or rural landscape issues, systematically underlined the importance

of fieldwork, of familiarity with people and places, of interaction with local communities and

institutions, of building up an interdisciplinary and inter-sectorial dialogue, in order to better know

and explore resources, of gaining deep insights into landscapes transformation, and of balancing

top-down and bottom-up approaches. The more this connection between rural intervention and in-

situ work was emphasized by oral presenters, the more the workshop team came to understand

that picking a landscape far from the workshop venue would constitute a major problem. A greater

feeling of misunderstanding arose at the end of the first day, when Portugal workshop leaders

realized that the remaining groups had made a different choice, choosing local landscapes,

conveniently placed in the surroundings of the city of Fribourg, therefore, easy to reach and walk-

through, whilst the Portugal team had to travel by images and videos and long descriptive

narratives, inevitably tiresome, to get a sense of place ii (Norberg-Schulz, 1985,1990; Najafi et al,

2011).

Another apparently external element, a very recent visit to an important exhibition on Louis Khaan

works at the Vitra Museumiii caused a marked impact in one of the workshop leaders.

At the exhibition, both extracts from essays on Kahn’s work (Lobell, 1979) and a few key-quotes

that synthesizes the north-American architect’s discourse on the relations of nature and architecture

as well as on the spiritual dimension of buildings (Barrie&Bermudes&Geva, 2010; 4-5) were showed

trough writings on the walls. Over the workshop week, these writings, still echoing in the mind,

suggested to bridge Kahn’s thoughts with rural issuesiv and also, with the workshop creative

process. In selected strategic workshop moments these extracts and quotes were provided to

studentsv, in an attempt to infuse them, according to the situation, with some spirit of criticism,

positive enhancement or inspirational insight into the relationship between man and nature and on

the design creative process, while deepening a cross-cultural perspective (Salma, 2002).

03 Background

The framing of the workshop process in a theoretical domain, adheres strictly to a focus on the

workshop. Therefore, it is important to forewarn that the point is not to survey the state of the art in

architectural education and not even, for instance, to give a broad perspective of current

architectural workshop design techniques, which are, actually, barely related to a specific workshop

on a specific body of knowledge such as Ruralityvi.

Described in a simple manner, a workshop, whatever are its contents and goals, is about solving

problems, and doing it in short time and collective-basis. Also consensual is that a workshop is

about communication, discussion and developing ideas that lead towards innovative solutions that

meet current societal needs; and ultimately, a workshop is about creativity (Inmark, 2010).

In order to hold a more in-depth theoretical discussion, capable, to a certain extent, of explaining

the workshop process (as it actually unfolded and not as it was suppose to unfold) specific

approaches to both creativity and pedagogics were selected for analysis. In the case of creativity,

the theories of flow and mindfulness emerged as suitable topics. In the case of pedagogics, it

seemed relevant to give an overvizew of active teaching methods used in high level education,

relating them with the experience carried out at the Portugal workshop.

Mindfulness also deserves to be addressed due to the evident impact that a particular exercise

proposed to the group seemed to have in the way team members interacted as well as in the

workshop final results (shown above). This exercise was so-called non doing practicevii. The

concept of non doing is defined by Jon Kabat-Zinn, in his book Guided Mindfulness Meditation, as

“a time for no action, a time when there is no agenda at all, a time for simply being, being aware,

being awake” (Kabat-Zinn; 1995; 2005).

Regarding active teaching methods, the option was justified by the challenging conditions described

above, considering, in addition, the particular characteristics of the workshop-roomviii

Do the characteristics of space influence the way work is accomplished? Architects are supposed to

say: they definitely do. Might that influence be relevant to a workshop process and final outputs?

Architects confirm: yes, place matters. Coming from a different background, the psychologist Mihaly

Csikszentmihaly, who largely studied creative thinking processe and conducted a survey addressed

to creative professionals, would likely agree with that.

In his worldwide acclaimed book Flow: The psychology of optimal experience, after exposing the

results of a long-term researchix, Mihaly clarifies the creativity process, summarizing creativity

promotional factorsx. Among Mihaly’s key findings is that creativity is mostly triggered by different

sources, depending, in a large measure, on conditions such as built environment, self-identification

with space and collective interaction. Thereby, he argues, the improvement of conditions may be

more effective than efforts to raise creative thinking (Mihaly; 1990; 1).

According to many of Mihaly’s respondents, during the act of creation arises a special feeling when

things are going well, which they described as “an almost automatic, effortless, yet highly focused

state of conscience”. This optimal experience, Mihaly called flow.(idem, 110).

Embracing Mihaly’s flow theory and it’s involvement in intrinsic motivation (Sheehan, 2012),

Portugal’s workshop team leaders pursued pedagogical strategies supposed to encourage students

to focus fully on their own conditions and range of possibilities, as members of a creative workshop

team (ibidem, 143).

Myhaly’s advances on creative process makes easier to understand that a workshop may pass

through a difficult point when conditions that promote creativity are not fulfilled. In the case of the

Portugal workshop, the students’ lack of knowledge of the place, due to distance, certainly played

an important role in the fact that things started unfolding in a different way they were supposed to

do. In a particularly critical workshop moment, when creativity was most required, a decision about

how to continue the work had to be made. In light of the final workshop results, this decision was, as

it appears now, with hindsight, almost radical.

To disregard, in a certain degree, previous considerations on planning landscape strategies and

design methods provided by workshop leaders and breakthrough, assuming a less methodological

attained workshop process but a more meaningful one. Yet, to embark in this journey towards

creativity, a singular endeavor by both students and workshop leaders was needed. The former had

to clean up design and planning strategies, presented at the beginning as perfect receipts that they

just had just to pick and apply according to their site interpretation (Productive Agricultural

Landscapes, Heritage Parks, Landscape Planning Analysis, etc) and then move to another

dimension of the problem, seeking no design proposals but rather insights into the cultural and

natural landscape for its sustainable development. The latter were asked to loosen up and

discontinue the input & output-based process, no longer controlling workshop process and

outcomes, assuming, instead of a result-oriented teaching style, a more passive role in the creative

process, acting as mere facilitators. In other words, students had to be pay deeper attention to Ria

de Alvor territory, searching for its genetic code, figuring out its breathing, looking, sounding,

touching, smelling and tasting, while workshop leaders had to pay an equivalent attention to

workshop students, supporting them in this journey into their senses.

This switch of pedagogical orientation implied for all participants a process of detachment from

previous assertions which finally enabled a new pedagogical commitment. Nevertheless, to

accomplish this change and build up this new commitment a few operative pedagogical instruments

were required. Again, mindfulness and active teaching & learning methods were the keys to

smoothing the progress of paying attention to and that of flow thinking, towards creativity happy

paradise land (as described by Mihaly; 1990; 123-124).

At this point, mindfulness practice, group dynamics and active learning exercises became useful

tools. The practice of mindfulness, has benefitted from the tendance of bringing traditional oriental

wisdom and practices to Occident. Thanks to this progressive interest, confirmed by the foundation

of research centres on mindfulness within universitiesxi, mindfulness is no longer an opaque

concept and its use in both education and creative art processes have attracted attention among

researchers in recent years (Aleen, P. 1995, Bishop at al, 2004; Constantinescu, 2012 Langer,

2006; McCown, D. & Reibel, D. & Micozzi, Marc 2010 Langer, E. & Russel, T. & Eisenkraft, N. 2008;

Rojas, 2012; Shmertz, S. 2006).

By drawing up two interrelated linkages, one between mindfulness and attention and another one

between attention and creativityxii a modus operandi for the workshop was fostered. Taking action,

mindfulness practice, group dynamic exercises and the split of the group into two sub-groups, with

gender separation was proposed. These actions seemed to raise a more favorable creative

environment thanks to the stimulation of concentration, discovering and competition, actually, three

of the most important catalysts to creativity (Mihaly, 1995).

Active teaching methods have been widely spread thanks to the works of science education

scholars (Bigges & Tang, 2001; Demirbaş & Demirkan, 2003, Salama, 2006).

However, little attention has been paid to their application in architectural education, studios or

workshops (Kowaltowski et al, 2010). Though architectural education adopted long time practical

teaching methods that might be connoted to active learning & teaching, such as field-work and also,

at a different level, the reproduction of reality with models, nevertheless, it is fair to say that

architectural scholars tend to resist innovative teaching techniques. Their preference goes to the

expositive-based teaching method or, in the support of architectural design studio, to the

mentorship-based method, which evokes the classical relation master-apprentice established in the

Beaux-Art traditionxiii (Shumaker, 2002), normally paying little attention to students learning

styles(Kvan, 2005).

In the earliest stages of the workshop, an appropriate time for recognition of student skills and

learning styles, it was considered important to facilitate interaction between members, by

encouraging them to move beyond their comfort zone (Pollack & Fusoni, 2005). Therefore, after an

opening mindfulness icebreaker, a second exercise, often utilized in team building, was proposed

(Francis & Young, 1979). This kind of exercises strengthens group, promoting self and mutual

awareness, but it also enables participants to get to know each other on a more personal level

(Francis,1979)xiv. In order to improve effectiveness in working together by confronting and

resolving problems, Day 2 finished with a dynamic cross-debate exercise: jigsaw. In a jigsaw

discussion, each participant is a member of an initial group where all members share or develop

knowledge in a specific subject area (Carrol, 1986). It is learning between peers (Wood, 1996) -

workshop leaders assist the participants in collaborative learning and problem-solving activities

rather than giving them all the answers or furnishing them explicit solutions. This exercise also

allows for leaders to emerge within small groups and progressively take the lead in the task

(Chowdhury, 2009).

The third day started with the presentation of the Facebook page of the workshop Portugal team, a

sharing tool made at disposal of all participants. By facilitating inter-media communication within the

group, Facebook proved to be so powerful that is fair to say that the moment it was incorporated to

the process stands as one of the milestone of the workshop. In spite of this evidence, currently, the

impact, the advantages and disadvantages, of social networks in teaching & learning, remain

almost unsuspected among scholars. The potential of Facebook, for example, in supporting

teaching & learning, not only in architectural education, but, in a more comprehensive way, at the

university level, although addressed in pioneers researches (Madge, 2009), is something yet to be

explored and investigated in the years to come.

Workshop type top eleven differences:

Doing Workshop or full mind workshop Non-Doing workshop or mindfull workshop

Result-oriented Process focused

Conventionally graphic expressed Multimedia communicated

Rigid outcomes Flexible outcomes

Physically attained Immaterially attained

Time&Space-based goals Time’s cycle concept aimed

Ortodox site analysis committed Pay attention with senses engaged

Design absorbed Conceptually adjusted

Academically unfold Flow thinking unfold

Technically stressed attached Full awareness regarded

Analogical communicated-based Social network connected

Expositive mentorship-methods Apprenticeship between peers

04 Final remarks – final explanations

The results simultaneously preceded and proceeded the workshop event; although they didn’t

attend a specific design proposition, they embrace any physical scenarios that might be considered,

assuming an abstract, fairly enough open and flexible, but critical approach. This results stands as

underneath thoughts thereby, so the ideas embedded within them are not attached to Cartesian

notions of time and space - they are rooted in the ground of the conceptual, the immaterial; they

don't impose either building rules nor zoning codes or any kind of doing this, follow that or comply

with, whatsoever. They rather underline non-doing and no rules or methods to follow; they highlight

pay attention to (heritage, tradition, people, and local resources) and be aware of (cycle of life,

nature, human senses and territory character) and give a framework to depart from (a land, an

ocean, a tide and life’s day time cycle, a seed and a lifetime cycle). Hence, from an institutional

point of view, a workshop took place, yet, from an educational & disciplinary perspective, a

workshop was not made; or, it was made a workshop that never existed in the first place since it ran

in a mostly different way from the way it was originally conceived to run. Paradoxically, but, at the

same time, coherent with these conclusions, none of workshop goals were achieved, yet, all of

them were overcome; no methods were followed, nevertheless all methods were subverted; no

physical proposal was delivered, despite that, all of the possible solutions were virtually

accomplished since no one was felt as missing. Summarizing, what was not done become as much

relevant as what was effectively consummate. Cycle of Resources and Impermanence, the

response of workshop students to a question that, ultimately, they were not really asked, rather, a

response to what they considered as their first priority, whereas architectural proposals might talk

about nothing, these territorial structural working concepts, touched it all. Non-doing empowers

doing, empty potentiates full, breathing space raises creation and cycles embody sustainability. That

is it.

Each morning, the conference oral presentations evidenced rural territory changes across multiple

spectrums, mostly a resultof changes occurred in increasingly urban informational and consumerist

societies. Nevertheless, these changes, made visible in the rural through transformations in the

cultural landscape, in social and economic systems, in demographic statics and in ways of living,

seem to be transitions (Swilling & Annecke, 2012). Transitionary or not architects, as depositary of

millenary knowledge of design, planning and building, seem to have an important role in shaping

the next stage of development, especially if they learn to work with nature, instead of trying to tame

it, and understand rural landscapes and the Rural, capitalizing on changes, new and old features

and available resources, instead of disregarding, underestimating or neglecting them (Stevens,

2009).

In the light of these transitions, students outcomes reflects a deep comprehension that no

transformation can be draw up for the outside world if not initiated inside ourselves and if not

attached, in full awarenessxv, to culture, to both built and natural environments and ultimately, in a

broad sense, to life.

05 Workshop contents, goals and methods

An research by project exercise carried out with students of the Master of Architecture of ISMATxvi,

namely in the courses of Urban Ecology and Urbanistics, was the starting point of a investigation

that addresses landscapes transformations from a prospective point of view.

The final output of the workshop should go around the creation of a heritage and agricultural park.

As good practice references some examples of consolidated agricultural parks were indicated, such

as Parco Sud-Milano and Parque Agrario del Baix LLobregat. In this context, a concept of

productive rural landscapes, developed by one of workshop leaders, was mentioned and so was, in

the Portuguese framework, the awarded and internationally recognized Mondego River Heritage

Park Project, in which one the workshop leaders has been working as project manager, in close

collaboration with a multidisciplinary team and local green developers, for the last five years,

despite not being materialized in the field, also provided significant references to be taking in

account.

This was the departing point. The rest of the workshop story is already told.

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Acknowledgements

The presence at the EAAE Rurality Network first meeting was made possible by the support of the

organizers. Author, as an invited workshop leader, is in great debt to Fribourg, Switzerland,

especially to chairman professor Pieter Versteegh for his encouragement to participation,

permanent intellectual enthusiasm, availability and gentleness over that grateful workshop week,

both scientifically and humanly speaking.

i� Title added by the author of the chapter

iiReferring to the concept fo sense of place, Norberg-Schulz states that “to dwell implies the establishment of a meaningful

relationship between man and a given environment (Norberg-Schulz, 1985:13).

iiiThe exhibition ‘Louis Kahn — The Power of Architecture’, presented by the Vitra Design Museum.

iv“Louis Kahn elementary research on the foundations for a renewal of Architecture was rooted in his conviction that the

concepts of nature and design are fundamentally intertwined. If Biophysics understands the microscopic building blocks of life are based on geometry, why can't architecture do the same?”

vFor their implications on the workshop leading pedagogical strategy, is to record these quotes. They were the following:

- “The wish, in the fairy tale, is the beginning of science”- delivered in the critical starting point of their creative

process -“The crocodile must want to be a crocodile for reasons of the crocodile.”- provided during the landscape analysis

phase. - “We need nature but nature doesn't need us.”- showed during brainstorming, discussion on the role of nature in

the development of the territory. - “The sun never knew how great it was until it hit the side of a building.”- shared during the definition of the

relevance of architecture in the landscape process of revitalization and renewing - “In the pre-form-in the beginning, in the first form- lies more power than in anything that follows.”, exhibited when

students start to sketch out a few initial conceptual ideas for their movies. - “When the work is completed the beginnings must be felt.”, presented during the final set up of scripts and story

boards. - “A city is a place where a small boy, as he walks through it, may see something that tell him what he wants to do his whole life.”, offered in a ironic way, during morning debates as a comment to a final image of an oral presentation showing a rural landscape with couple kids seen from the back, in the foreground, standing still at a distance from a small village and looking into its environment at a great length. - Also used, “Leap, and the net will appear”, by John Burroughs, and renowned American Naturalist and Essayist from late 19

th century and early 20

th century, was displayed in a moment of hesitation during the creative process.

viNote: a thematic workshop never attended or leaded before neither by students nor by teachers.

viiTo a certain point, this exercise of meditation attempt to detached students from following rules and schedules and valued

their personal sensations and awareness of thoughts, also serving as training for paying attention; paying attention in a deep and consciences way, first to their inner space, before pay attention to outer space (in that particular case, the landscape of Ria de Alvor). A training that stimulates mind activity, and, therefore, might be very energizer, saying nothing about spiritual growing.

viiiA room with approximately 30 square meters, with just a big square table and with no windows and that was said to be

the official workshop meeting room for video projections. Rather than see it as a constraint, the conditions of working room suggested alternative pedagogical strategies to take possible advantages of such an enclosure space Actually that’s what architects in their daily practice do- overcome restrictive circumstances and, upon their knowledge and skills, and based in available resources, define objectives and create, always create, no matter propitious or adverse places where they have to build are. So, at that point, workshop participants had embodied their selves the same sensation of adapting, focusing, aiming and overcoming

ixMihaly lead a collective research project based on a survey addressed to 91 creative experienced professional of different

area

xMihaly’s respondents consistently mentioned to nine main elements to describe an enjoyable creative experience:

(1) There are clear goals every step of the way (2) There is immediate feedback to ones action (3) There is a balance between challenge and skills (4) Action and awareness are merged. (5) Distractions are eluded from consciousness (6) There is no worry of failure (7) Self-consciousness disappear (8) The sense of time become distorted (9) The activity becomes autotelic (Mihaly; 1990;111-113)

xiAs for example, the very active Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at the Bangkor University,

http://www.bangor.ac.uk/mindfulness/ and the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center at the prestigious

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), http://marc.ucla.edu/default.cfm

xiiDespite of these links and their connections the potential of mindfulness mediation techniques within creativity activities,

mindfulness is a tool yet to be explored in architectural studios or workshops. This workshop report is a story about creative process, about how to establish it and about how to accelerate it and is a report that synthesizes key issues on creativity teaching regarding the practical aspects of typical mindfullness concepts such as emptiness, non doing, awareness, and paying attention to. The transferring of these lessons to workshop on rurality lead to fewer constraints to creative thinking, and, by expanding possibilities, provided a more suitable environment for architectural creation within the group activity.

xiii “The teaching of architecture has traditionally been operating on the model of apprenticeship. To a certain extent

this still continues, inevitably, as architecture is a profession as much as a discursive discipline. Since the Renaissance this practice of apprenticeship has been combined with the dissemination of theoretical treatises. On this basis a formal education was first institutionalized in France with the founding of the Academie de l'architecture in 1671.” (Patrik Schumacher, 2002, From Education to Research, Arch+ , Magazine for Architecture and Urbanism, #163, available at

http://www.patrikschumacher.com/Texts/EntwurfEngl.htm, consulted in 14.08.2013

xivStudents responded in a positive way to this exercise and, at the end, gave a positive feedback, just commenting that

the exercise might be applied a little bit earlier, perhaps in the very first stage of the workshop.

xvChoiceless awareness (Krishnamurti, 1999), mindful awareness (Kabat-Zinn, 1995)

xviISMAT is located in the historical centre of the city of Portimão and it is a universitary school integrated in the Lusofona

University group, the biggest private university group in Portugal.