El Rejoneo Bull Fighting On Horseback

The schedule for this course is variable. Please select this studio carefully.El Rejoneo (The bull fight): Taking a Stance on Local CulturesShould local traditions maintain their autonomy in a world of globalization or should their role be relegated to the past? The architect as designer can influence whether the actors practicing these traditions are glorified, caricatured or reinterpreted in modern terms an understood as ordinary people. The studio addresses the question through the design of a campus for the rejoneador to keep his bulls, train his team, practice his art and entertain his guests. The rejoneador is a type of torero (bull fighter). His role is to fight the bull on horseback. In the rejoneo (bull fight), the spectators see the rider, the horse and the bull as heroes. The site is located in a bucolic setting in rural Spain. Programmatic requirements include a small plaza de toros (bull ring) in which the rejoneador and his team practice, pastures, stables, a residence for the bull fighter, a small museum to house his familyB4s heirlooms and a residence for the supporting team members as well as maintenance employees. Globalization relativizes local cultures and elevates them, or relegates them, all to the same plane. We live in a society of homogeneity where radical opinions or differences are hidden under the omnipresent veil of political correctness.Are local traditions quaint, picturesque relics, are they cruel, morally-questionable rituals to be criticized, rather than savored, or have they been transformed but remain alive and well in our contemporary culture? Should they be preserved because they make us different from one another and defend our corporate identities or should they be dissolved because these corporate identities are no longer representative, relevant or simply morally wrong? It is possible for globalization to exist without cultural differences for us to share with one another? Is a global culture preferable to eliminate our tendencies towards orientalist interpretations? The architect can take a stance. He or she can do this directly through the designs proposed and even the materials and construction methods employed to realize these designs. DESIGN AGENDA The design objectives of this studio are to…- study the relationship between the architect and his or her responsibilities to his client and to his or her personal beliefs. – explore the emblematic potential of an architecture to represent a faction to the society in which it exists – investigate modern architectural materials that have been inspired by traditional architecture and propose alternative interpretations of these materials through design- reinterpret traditional building typologies and urban plans to challenge or support a social phenomenonThe studio is sponsored by the ASCER (Asociacion Espanola de Fabricantes de Azulejos y Pavimentos Ceramicos/Spanish Association of Tile and Ceramic Pavement Manufacturers) foundation. Course schedule:Wednesday, September 12thThursday, September 13thFriday, September 14thStudio Trip Wednesday, September 26th – Sunday, September 30th Monday, October 15thTuesday, October 16thWednesday, October 17th Monday, October 29thTuesday, October 30thWednesday, October 31stWednesday, November 14thThursday, November 15thTuesday, November 27thWednesday, November 28thThursday, November 29th