Hernán Marchant Universidad de Chile Cecilia Mouat Universidad Finis Terrae, Chile 123
they provoke as a group, and through their closeness or contrast.
Because of this, the first and most basic thing is to be conscious of this valuable
resource: the power the architect has to "provoke" with his work, and how the deep
reflection on this fact can become the first tool that it is necessary to handle with
conscience. For the benefit of this essay, we will call this “THE HOW” in the develop-
ment of the architectural project.
The second concept to analyze is the election of the idea that wants to shown in
the project. We will call it “THE WHAT”.
It is very different to speak about a topic versus a case. A topic is shaped by as
many cases as we want to discover. For example, if the topic is “scale”, we will find
hundreds of cases to portray this concept. It is fundamental that in the first decision
to face “THE WHAT”, we are capable of distinguishing, and then deciding, if we are
heading towards the development of a case or of a topic.
This "apparently" simple decision, determines the form in which video, as a tool
of spatial recording, can be used by the student. If we think of using video to register
cases, like for example the study of educational enclosures for preschoolers, the focus
will have to be on the recording examples, tackling elements such as the context, the
form in which the program is distributed, the play ground spaces, etc.
The study of the case centres on certain works that include programs similar to
those of the study. If the recording centres on a topic, for example the scale, the
program of the chosen space will no longer matter, since what is captured on video
will try to look for the spatial experiences that give value to this topic.
We understand the use of a video camera in the study of architecture through
two principal channels:
The first has to do with the use of an instrument that allows us to systematize
the observation of study phenomena, incorporating the variable of time. In contrast
with a photograph, which is only capable of capturing a motionless instant, video
allows observation for a certain period of time. The possibility of registering this
material allows infinite approaches in addition to registering sounds, movements,
intensities of activity, lighting, climatic changes, context, etc. Relying on these
images for a study permits “rewinding the tape” as many times as needed, and the
in-depth study of objects that are being observed, be it the analysis of cases or of
topics. We do not believe that video replaces the sketch or the photograph, but it
does complement it.
Thinking about architecture imposes thought in images and in audio. It is not
possible to think without their invading us. This is what we call “the imaginary”
that everyone brings with them; they are the choices that our eyes have made dur-
ing our life.
The other way of using video in the studio is related to the recording and study of
spatial experiences. It is then that the student can connect with the bankruptcy that
we detect today in the way of projecting. Including records of trips, using the camera
as a second eye and an ear that captures sounds associated with spatial experiences,
allows us to approach the conscience of the effect that a certain proportion, height,
colour, or material provokes. It is also interesting in these types of exercises to give
the student freedom in the sense that he can freely choose those places that impress
him. The conscious or unconscious election of certain spaces, those that somehow