To Understand the Territory to Be Part of It

Resumo

This essay delves into the course programme of the Atelier Mayol at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio 2023–24. The atelier focused on the topic of the summer house, understanding summer as a moment where daily routine is temporary suspended and conventional domestic spaces are questioned.

The semester was an occasion to collectively discuss living and to re-think the way we approach the theme of habitation. Learning to doubt. To think the building as an ecosystem. To approach the house as part of a territory. To observe, understand and interpret the local tradition and identity of a place. To work locally. To make responsible use of local resources. To value the logic of construction. To understand that form follows climate. Learning from tradition to revert the global warming tendency.

The atelier worked in three different places located in three distinct areas of Mallorca. Banyalbufar, a terraced landscape in the north of the island. Sant Joan, a flat landscape in the centre. Es Salobrar de Campos, salt flats next to the sea. Three locations that explain Mallorca.