Arquetipos de una identidad urbanacafés y bares montevideanos - (1900 a 1960)

Laburpena

“Archetypes of an Urban Identity” proposes to investigate on a set of works belonging to the architectural programs COFFEEHOUSE / BAR / COFFEE HOUSE AND BAR / STORE AND BAR / STORE AND BAR + HOUSING, regarding their essence and the overlaps with the circumstances that surround them. It is about works that have not been registered by the nation's architectural history, works that have not been performed by architects, and do not possess academic legitimization. The hypothesis: the presence of the Coffeehouses and Bars in the European urban culture moved to Montevideo as the expression of a correlation detecting constant elements in the constitutive guidelines and in formal and sensitive categories. Those invariants –at once tangible and intangible- induce the recognition of the archetypical elements which make up the essence and image of the architectural program, in close connection with a certain model of the city. Strategically located in corners, and widely extended throughout the urban scheme, coffeehouses and bars constituted cultural and social poles which put a stamp on urban identity. The cultural changes produced in the last two decades – reflected on habits of consumption – manifest themselves in the replacement of the traditional coffeehouse and bar with new commercial forms – especially malls or shopping centres – that establish a different urban identity. The method based itself in the tool chosen for the cases of study: the drawing as a way of thinking architecture and, through it, being able to explore the feasibility of rendering “visible the invisible”. In parallel, a discursive reflection was developed through the study of variables, namely the program, urban insertion, typology, authors, the state of the arts and industry, city codes, architectural language, fixed and mobile equipment and foreign influences. The conclusions appear on different levels: The role that coffeehouses and bars played within the city, acting as engines due to their productive nature, within the set of rules of an urbanism not planned by specialists, is a topic of discussion. They acted as social condensers, a product of the collective work of anonymous hands, which became the doors of the city at the boundaries of public realm, giving scale to the chosen spaces – par excellence – for urban encounters. The type was always implicit in the production: each new coffeehouse and bar imitated one previously known, its constitutive rules were transmitted by tradition. They all had – and still have – the same archetypical elements: the bar or counter (the most outstanding element due to functional reasons and for the client to recognize an image of the place). But in turn, the word “counter” in Spanish designates something “that shows”, exposing something to sight, like a showcase indicating something to be seen. This concept extends to the mirror, an element that defines in itself a building typology, allowing “seeing and being seen” and also representing the archetype of the coffeehouse. Similarly, large windows open to the street and both interior and exterior tables are taken out on the sidewalks. The presence of the latter in public space is the greatest evidence of that desire to be exhibited. Nevertheless, in other cases, the protection of intimacy was privileged by an also archetypical boisserie, the domestic Vienna chairs and a low level of illumination, all of them favoring introversion. An integral design and environmental unity were constant searches, mainly in order to obtain maximum usage of the space and achieving a simple efficiency. These requirements – based on underlying principles of ergonomics - ruled the architectural composition in all of its scales, giving place to the standardization of great part of the components. Its anonymous authors took the architectural style loosely, looking out of the corner of their eye to what was happening in culture-producing countries, but taking relative notice. Epilogue: In the present, the role as public and social attractors inherent to the coffeehouses and bars has been lost; the city is not longer articulated by them. Inexorably, Montevideo follows in the footsteps of all the world capitals- and Megastructures (“Shopping Centers”, “Malls”, “Hypermarkets”) have entered into scene, growing and multiplying, "sucking" every competitor located within their area of influence. They are the consequences of “Junkspace” – a term coined by Rem Koolhaas-, as the sequels of modernization, imposing conceptual changes in architecture through the application of a unique model, one which is repeatable, globalizing, and determining that all cities look alike in the end.