2017 CONTENT IN ENGLISH 85 in the Weimar school via Walter Gropius, who wrote “The Scope of Total Architecture”, which connects with engineer Ove Arup’s highest aspiration, when emphasizing the fact that integration, coordination, and conclusion will be the basis of construction, understood as a collective phenom- enon in the new society. And I end as I began, by highlighting the collective nature of the act of building, which aside from being a specialists’ labor of synthesis, has architects and engineers sharing the same intellectual substratum in their interventions. Eduardo Torroja: “With the imagination alone one cannot construct a great building, since reason is required, in the same way that it is not possible to arrive at logic and determinism via a deductive process.” The fruitful relationship that’s existed between engineers and architects throughout modern history, and which has entailed the greatest technological and constructional revolution of all time For Lubetkin and Arup the challenge consisted in transcending the structural criterion and allying it with social considerations. And from this approach was born Arup’s faith in architecture TO STAGE! LIGHT IN ACTION For Josep Aznar, in memoriam* The theater is a profane ritual that needs only one person performing as actor, one person assisting as spectator and an empty space. This was proven, in his work, by British scene director, Peter Brook, and related in his book “The empty space”. The stage space is thus reduced to its mini- mal expression, and practically becomes an agreement between these two people. In fact, few material resources are needed to convoke the miracle of a dramatic performance, this suspension of disbelief, so essential to access wonder and fable. Chil- dren know it, just three words are needed: Once upon a time... Despite that fact, the development of the art brings, inherently, the development of its artifice, its ma- chinery, and its disciplines: scenography, dramatic arts, lighting, etc. The dedication and talent of professionals of the theater through the years, have brought increasingly sophisticated developments and effects, and because it is a collective art, promiscuous and welcoming, it accepts the intrusion of extraneous trades, arts and masteries. Thus, many of the audiovisual solutions that we now see applied to communications, publicity, media-facades, etc., were tried, for the first time on a stage or during an event. The theater, the live entertainment, is in constant contact with the Avant-guard, it is a veritable laboratory for experimenting with aesthetics and technology. It truly is a space and an opportunity for risk taking. When we gather in a classroom, which is another space conducive to risk taking and experimentation, I strive to provoke and encourage reflection in my students. What do I expect from the possibilities in this tool, this means of communication that is stage light medium? What can be expected of it? Where does stage lighting work and where does it fail? Is stage lighting a language? What is the sign of minimal expression in this language? Is there a technique, a solution suitable for every situation? Can we transfer some of this knowledge to architectural light- ing? What is the secret? And its code? Can the language of lighting be learned? Is it possible to create an entire discourse, write a full page article, teach an hour long class of just questions? I have serious doubts; not even in my most lyrical mo- ments do I venture to speak of the language of light. Lighting is not a language because it is devoid of signs but there certainly is a code in this trade, as in every applied design: a series of expressive elements that apart from providing visibility and being aesthetically pleasing, they support the dramatic pulse of a piece. A very important part of the elements of this code is built upon conven- tions, agreements between the people that attend the theater and those who make it. THE INVISIBLE RESOURCE A film montage and a stage montage, are very similar, for obvious reasons. It involves a connection of elements (sound, image, text, action, space, etc.) at the service of a narrative, a story. Harmony is perceived when the individual elements of this combination are interconnected and meet a common principle, a certain established principle. It is not a simple accumulation of events happening at different levels. The elements are interconnected, and in this way, they are sig- nificant to each other: a sound and a movement, an action and a change in lighting, and so on. The mere perception of these interactions are pleasurable to those who see them. When relationships (of complementarity, cancellation, contrast, opposition or effort) are expressed with clarity and are easily recognized, that familiar event transpires: aesthetic pleasure. We should consider these notes on harmony when us- ing colors and lights in relation to space and action, always seeking a connection that will produce beauty, and mean- ing. No matter which element we add to a composition, visual, spatial, musical, etc., it should be able to work as a new degree of freedom that imparts meaning to the whole. As an important resource of stage montage, stage lighting can become invisible if effectively integrated to the rest of the elements. In this way, its presence is not felt as an artifice, a foreign element to the whole. Like- wise, cinematographic montage is invisible in a similar way. A technique as violent as the jump from one plane to another one feels appropriate and natural to the spec- tator because it is done deliberately, following formal guidelines and observing the relationship of meaning be- tween the elements that comprise each plane. Therefore, it is not about how fast or abrupt a change of lighting is done in a scene, but about how justified and appropri- ate to what is happening it is. This is valid for the subtle and nuanced lighting, of a chamber theater, with its soft changes, and for the dynamic, blatant, glaring light of a great musical. There are times when we benefit from displaying the artifice and using it explicitly. This approach of making a resource visible, be it music, a video, a lighting scheme, or the development of an action, appears as a rupture in the code of the performance. The artifice is not hidden in an attempt to manipulate the perception or to keep pace with the emotions of the drama, on the contrary, it is presented as an independent, autonomous part of the stage game. After the fracture, the previous agreement, the same col- lusion between performers and spectators, mentioned be- fore, has to be restored. When everything is right again, it’s a nice feeling to be able to say to each other: “Alright, I trust you, where are we going now?” This method has been commonly called a fracture of “the fourth wall”, that imaginary wall that separates the public from the actors and the stage. However, how can it be made explicitly in those performances closer to hap- pening or the performance-art , where the four walls, the ground and the ceiling of the theatrical production are already broken, destroyed in pieces and floating in the air as melancholic and lovesick dust, that when illuminated reenacts the passage of time? The volatile remains are convenient because they il- luminate the theater. I cannot tolerate a performance through completely transparent air, totally invisible. The excessively clean image that results is unbearable and phony. Without truth, theater is totally dispensable and can disappear forever, and as for me, I do not need it. I can- not explain it, but I need that somewhat cloudy air to trust what is being showed; to continue to have faith in theater as an act of attending a performance, keeping silent, and collectively surrendering our attention, all that energy, to the performers on stage. Lighting is not a language because it is devoid of signs but there certainly is a code in this trade, as in every applied design Stage lighting can become invisible if effectively integrated to the rest of the elements There are times when we benefit from displaying the artifice and using it explicitly. This approach of making a resource visible, be it music, a video, a lighting scheme, or the de- velopment of an action, appears as a rupture in the code of the performance URBA Centro Botín of Santander: The tolerant building by Renzo Piano The Centro Botín is an art center designed by the Pritzker Price winner architect, Renzo Piano, in collaboration with Luis Vidal + Architects. It is situated in a privileged location in San-