The most important people in the building trade, in any other professional field and in the world, is the one situated in the very last link of the chain of command, this non-architects, very often classified as simple workforce, are capable of dream and make, in fact they are the ones physically making architecture. Architects are indeed a very important link in this chain, without the work force they become simple dreamers incapable of transporting their ideas from the oniric realm, to reality, unless they use the mechanical means, where one can build a house by pressing a button, even then they will need these workers whom are classified as the least important.
The non-architects, the legal users and the illegal ones are occupying the end product of architecture, I firmly believe that should not be allowed to let properties to be deteriorated by the lack of maintenance and use, in a way squatters are the spirit of a movement that reflects this idea of conservation and preservation of architectural work, at the same time is a symbol of anarchy or as I like to call it architecture. The rules of architecture are already written, and some people think rules are made to be broken, sometimes those rules are broken by the time and space itself, old rules possibly will have to be reshaped to work properly in a futuristic environment where meta-materials and computing power are shaping architecture.
New generations of architects are the ones in charge of taking this set of tools and knowledge to shape the new path of architecture, new rules will be made, rules that won’t last long until new discoveries come to reality, however the architectural profession’s rules must and will remain as the guide of the role of architects throughout the time.
Social status is a very complex mind game where people use inanimate objects and assign them a metaphorical value where everyone in the game agrees, the ones who don’t agree to recon this value or is not able to acquire these commodities, are relegated to the last places in the social hierarchy, homes are not just expensive toys but rather an icon of our intellectual capabilities. In the game of social status homes are used as a form of trap to their users by the corrupted powers at the top of the pyramid, people work all their lives to be able to “own” an overvalued property and that is the path that you must follow to be accepted in the society.
The non-architects, the users, the ones (un)doing or (over)doing, architecture are the rightful, at least in a moral sense, user of properties, from the human rights point of view everyone should have access to sleep nice and warm under a roof, and I’m not saying everyone must own a house, many people I know doesn’t even want to own a property because for them this means a from control and repression.
At the age of 18 I had to leave my father’s home to build my own future as he did when he was my age, part because I was not a good example to my siblings, and part because I wanted to get out of the patriarchy repression, I took the change and embraced my new reality where I had no possessions rather than my bag of clothes and my spirit, and no home to stay. How hard is this when you are used to have a place to sleep, and how hard is this if you have to live in the streets all the time, I remember the homeless and I know that it does not matter how many years they had been in the streets, I’m sure they would love to have a home to rest in the night, the society have turned their backs on them, they are not important anymore.
Once in this situation, one solution was squatting in the streets and lovely weather of Tenerife in the Canary Islands was really easy, the people I found in there, this community of anarchists warrior, artist and free thinkers, certainly not all of them but the most, were like a family to me we took the streets and owned them, we open abandoned mansions and lived in the ruins, no heating, no water, but with a big sense of freedom, where there is no boundaries you can’t draw your limits and this is very dangerous for society and humanity, not just in the political interpretation but for life itself.
Squatters may occupy marginal spaces through social circumstances or political aspirations, but it is important not to over romanticise. Squatters are not always lovely people.
Doing it, (Un)Doing it, (Over)Doing it Yourself: Rhetorics of Architectural Abuse – Jane Rendell
Occupying architecture: between the architect and the user –
Jane Rendell is really hitting the nail here, it is very important to remember the dark side of human nature, I was protected by my community of urban pirates and I became one of them, but there were a lot more in the streets and most of it is not good, greed and power desire, war and blood, drugs and murder, just like in the highest social stratum, but in a less glamorous fashion. The adequate administration of abandoned buildings is one of the reasons why I decided to become an architect, after talking to many groups of squatters in Spain and later in London, I came to realize what was the problem, nor the government nor the squatters want to know nothing about the other, the lack of communications and common interest lead to inequality and unfair management of abandoned properties.
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