Reflexivity and transformative action (Margaret Archer)

Clear speech on various interpretations of reflexivity, but artistic. Archer defines reflexivity as:

mental capacity of normal people to consider themselves in relation to the social context, and the social context in relation to themselves.

Her patient review of other sociologist's definitions is worth spending 45' listening to her coherent and beautiful structured discourse. Wikipedia gives a rather comprehensive view of reflexivity in the social sciences.

Reflexive Architecture Laboratory (RAL), Laboratorio de Arquitectura Reflexiva (LAR)

Reflexive Architecture Laboratory (RAL), a paper related to the design studios of professors Miguel Jaime and Eugenia Lopez Reus, is going to be presented at an international congress sponsored by the Spanish Universities of Vigo, Santiago de Compostela and A Coruña. The I Congress of University Teaching is going to take place from the 2^nd to the 4^th of June in the beautiful city of Vigo, and it will gather together experts from various countries that are trying to build the European Space for Higher Education.

The RAL combines the reflexive theory of architectural creative process (JAIME, 2000), the importance of context in innovation (LOPEZ REUS, 2002) and modern pedagogical techniques that improve creativity, commitment and excellence.

The RAL has been assessed by the Quality Agency of Castilla León (2005-2008), Benchmarking meetings (2008), and, which is more important for the reflexive philosophy of the RAL, has been highly appreciated by the users of the laboratory, the students, in the surveys (2005-2009). The Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca is about to publish the paper “Las sesiones ECCC en el LAR”, one of the pedagogical techniques of the RAL.

Mirar para otro lado

The newspaper of Segovia has published and article of mine (in Spanish) that relates the financial and the architectural crisis. The main idea is that the utopia did not started with Fukuyama's "end of the history" but with the oil embargo of the OPEC in 1973. There are two more articles on the subject that are specially interesting: Joe Nocera points out in The New York Times the fallacy of the rationality of markets and Ignacio Sotelo, in El Pais, explains (in Spanish too) the differences between current crisis and the 1929's crack.

Paris vaut bien une messe

I was so impressed by Niemeyer's building in Paris that I did not recommend anything but the best in december. But, I have to say that it is one of the cities that offers more if you are really interested in architecture today. Of course there is Le Corbusier, etc., and the city itself, but L'Arsenal and la Cité de l'Architecture are instruments to better understanding and enjoying the city, its architecture and modernity in general. I realized all this reading and watching an excelent article (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/magazine/14paris-t.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=paris+ouroussoff&st=nyt) and video in the New York Times about Paris plans, by Nicolai Ouroussoff (to read the article copy the address in your browser directly, otherwise it sends you to the video). At L'Arsenal there is a huge exhibition on the new plans reported in the NYT.

London book shops

Quinto of Charing Cross (photo by Pfig in Flickr)

Once Mario Vargas Llosa wrote that he loved to walk around the area of the British Library because there were the most amazing little book shops there. It is true: small spaces full of books, perfectly ordered and classified and there is always a book lover sitting in his/her desk working and delighted to talk about books.

It is true too that Charing Cross Road is as well a book's paradise. Shipley, Henry Pordes Books (ask for Gino), Any Amount of Books (they have a good blog) and, very specially, Quinto (in the picture).

Downstairs Quinto it is extraordinary, of course if you do not suffer claustrophobia. There I discovered a book written by the person with whom I was going to dinner that very night: that was one of the biggest surprises ever, because the book was 20 years old and the author a bit more than 80. Please, do not miss the pleasure of diving in the most amazing ocean of old books when you are in London. By the way, down Charing Cross is Cecil Court where there are even more old book shops specialized in any subject: music, oriental religion...