Plans of [inter]section

Shedding light onto the relationship between philosophy and architecture, Plans of [Inter]section seeks to understand the contemporary city through the lens of both disciplines.

Luis Arenas and Uriel Fogué (ed.), Planos de [Inter]sección: Materiales para un diálogo entre Filosofía y Arquitectura[Plans of [inter]section. Materials for a dialogue between philosophy and architecture], Editorial Lampreave, 2011. (384 pp, €20)

Can architecture work collaboratively with philosophy? It is the "modus operandi" of both disciplines equiparable? Can the operations of the contemporary city be planned from philosophical questions? Can a group of architects and philosophers work together on the same project?

The recent book Planos de [Inter]sección: Materiales para un diálogo entre Filosofía y Arquitectura [Plans of [Inter] section. Materials for a dialogue between philosophy and architecture] sheds light onto the relationship between the two disciplines. In 2004, editors Luis Arenas and Uriel Fogué started working with a group of interdisciplinary professionals, including teachers from different Spanish universities, discovering that their interests came together to establish a dialectic between philosophy and architecture. In 2006 this informal group turns officially into a research group named [Inter]section, a singular network that has been formalizing over the years, crystallising as a stable group. They promote a a series of educational initiatives, academic activities, meetings, seminars and research projects, all focused to analyze the encounter between philosophy and architecture, seeking to define the intellectual identity and guidelines of this research. The group has defined itself as "open", opening the possibility of collaboration with research groups with similar interests, regardless of their nationality.

Luis Arenas and Uriel Fogué (ed.), <em>Planos de [Inter]sección: Materiales para un diálogo entre Filosofía y Arquitectura</em>[Plans of [inter]section. Materials for a dialogue between philosophy and architecture], Editorial Lampreave, 2011 — Luis Arenas and Uriel Fogué (ed.), *Planos de [Inter]sección: Materiales para un diálogo entre Filosofía y Arquitectura*[Plans of [inter]section. Materials for a dialogue between philosophy and architecture], Editorial Lampreave, 2011

[Inter]section has to this moment published three books, all compiling research results: Ghosts of modern life. Extensions and failures of the subject in the contemporary city, edited by Luis Arenas; (de)gustaciones gratuitas de la deconstrucción, la fotografía, Mies van der Rohe y el Pabellón de Barcelona, edited by Jose Vela Castillo; and Madre Materia. Escritos de arquitectura, edited by Fernando Espuelas. The new Plans of [Inter]section gathers the contributions of several authors in collaboration, trying to synthesize what occurs in the contemporary city from the point of view of philosophy and architecture. The intention is to find common ties and differences between the disciplines, in a dialectic joint. As the editors explain, "If anything is clear from the documents that support this book, written by a number of hands, is that philosophy and architecture live in a 'neighbourhood interaction'."

Philosopher Luis Arenas and architect Uriel Fogue have been constantly involved in different faculties and several research groups, and through their critical experience, they selected a excellent group of experts on these subjects, such as prestigious architects Iñaki Ábalos and Andrés Jaque, curator Ivan López Munuera or philosopher José Luis Pardo, among many others. It is also important to highlight that the design of the cover has been in charge of the wonderful architect and designer Luis Úrculo.

The book constantly evokes a question — should we take into account the intersection between these two disciplines, or others, for that matter, in order to spark and increase innovation processes?

Wikipedia's definition of intersection states that "on maths and geometry fields, the intersection is cutting two curves, two surfaces or two solid, which is respectively a point, a line or a surface." In any case, this confluence generates a reduction from the initial items, but the most interesting part of is that it only happens if they are in touch. Therefore, this book constantly evokes a question — should we take into account the intersection between these two disciplines, or others, for that matter, in order to spark and increase innovation processes? The city is commonly studied from a merely architectural point of view: this is limiting, stopping its evolution in current times. Architecture must necessarily be debated, criticised and mixed, for example with philosophy, sociology or biology. Only under this premise can the city be thought, designed and built. Consequently, it becomes imperative to build bridges of communication between apparently autonomous disciplines, in order to test architecture's reality. Gonzalo Herrero Delicado (@GonzaloHerrero), María José Marcos (@magicarch)

Plans of [inter]section

Shedding light onto the relationship between philosophy and architecture, Plans of [Inter]section seeks to understand the contemporary city through the lens of both disciplines.

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