Beijing time at 09:00am on August 15th (Sunday), Mexico’s minimalist master Miguel Angel Aragones shared his outstanding design work through Indochina. This open class took "Writing Poems with Light and Space" as the theme, and introduced us in detail the design details of the project and so on. At the same time, we also invited Gezi, a senior Mexican translator, to let everyone understand the content of the course more clearly. At the end of the course, Mr. Aragones also answered the questions of the students in great detail and expressed his gratitude to everyone!

Miguel Angel Aragones is a self-taught architect. He was born in Mexico in 1962. Having created rich and original architectural work over the past 20 years, the self-taught architect has won numerous awards during his career. He founded his own firm, Taller Aragones, in 1982. In his design philosophy, architects must engender emotion and soul into buildings. While living in harmony with the environment, it arouses people's sensory experience.

Yinjispace：Does a design like the Bird's Nest have water in it?

Aragones：When it rains, it does, because I want to create the feeling of being surrounded by nature. When you enter the nest, it is like entering a Mexican rain forest, hoping that the space will change with the natural climate.

Yinjispace：Will the branches break down over time or become less resilient?

Aragones：The raw material of this branch is from Mexico, and it is quite hardy. The only thing that changes is the color. Because the branches were green when they were first brought to the site, now they are turning brown over time. But from what I know about the species. In terms of support, there is no problem for at least 15-20 years.

Yinjispace：For your bird's Nest hotel project, how long did your design cycle take? How to achieve the best design completion in the limited time?

Aragones：The project, which took just two years to build, has 240 hotel rooms. 30 public dwellings and 24 private dwellings. The project was built on a small island in Mexico, and conditions were not good at that time. Many materials could not be transported, including fewer construction workers. But in the process of designing this project, IT gave me the idea to do prefabricated houses. The prefabricated house was designed by transporting it to the island and then installed locally.

Yinjispace：Is the nest branch specially treated, supported by a metal structure inside?

Aragones：Yes, the nest is supported by a metal structure. At the top of this nest is the metal structure visible. People usually know about the combination of reinforced concrete, but in my more than 40 years of work, I found that the combination of tree and steel is no less strong than the reinforcement of concrete. Tree branches are the feedback given to us by nature, and in the process of using it, we will find that it is actually very strong.

Yinjispace：How do all the neon colors appear?

Aragones：The building itself is a palette because most of the walls of my buildings are white. Depending on the nature of the weather and light changes, the color of the refraction will change.

Yinjispace：Are applications like neon lights that express different emotions relevant to the local Mexican culture?

Aragones：In the explained project, you can see the neon effect of red and blue, each color expressing a different mood. Red, for example, is intense and hot, while blue is the opposite.

Yinjispace：When it comes to light effects like James Turrell's, how do you get light to be so even in a house? How does the light achieve concealment? Will the color light conflict with the daily use of residents?

Aragones：That's a good question, and I'm still figuring out how to hide the lighting. In terms of achieving light hiding and controlling light intensity, it is not possible to achieve 100% in a minimalist space. Light can be revealed through the design of openings in the interior space, but the intensity of light changes with the natural weather, there is no way to control. When I arrived at the site, I could still see the LED lights embedded in the wall, and I was looking for a way to hide the lights.

Yinjispace：How much does this prefabricated house cost to build?

Aragones：Two 8x8 modules plus interior furniture and accessories are generally between $10-25W. The prefabricated house introduced today costs about 27W dollars.

Yinjispace：How do we balance design between artistry and practicality? Such a minimalist space, want to know the air conditioning, fresh air, temperature, humidity, how to control and install these?

Aragones：First of all, I would like to thank Mexico for giving me a good environment to realize the artistic quality of architecture. In my work, I don't really have much air conditioning. Where I am, the temperature has been maintained at about 7~28 degrees, and the temperature difference between day and night is not very big. In summer, the problem of heat can be solved by opening Windows and ventilation. In winter, the floor heating is generally used, and air conditioning is not necessary. But if it is to be installed, it will generally be placed at the top of the space, without destroying the overall design effect.

Yinjispace：Open pool, how to solve the problem of mosquitoes?

Aragones：Because instead of using tap water, I'm using seawater directly into the pool. Seawater is salty and does not attract mosquitoes. There is no need to worry about mosquito bites.

Yinjispace：What led you to use geometric opening shapes to express your design? Why are there so many openings? What is your creative expression?

Aragones：The building itself is a square box, and on this basis, to open a square window or door, for me, aesthetic feeling is not enough. An "L" shaped opening will be designed in the corner to add aesthetic beauty to the design. To create a "sculpture" and "art" mentality to make the entire interior space more interesting.

Yinjispace：What is the inspiration of your work? Who is your favorite design master? How did they inspire you?

Aragones：Luis Barragan and Ricardo Legorreta were big influences on me. Their work inspired me a lot, giving me inspiration for geometric openings and light. In addition, there was a well-known architect in Mexico who gave me the idea to do prefabricated houses.

Yinjispace：Seeing that your works are basically completely open, how to solve the privacy and security of the internal and external environment?

Aragones：The secrecy is not solved by openings. Openings in the interior and exterior are generally designed for ventilation and for the presentation of light. To solve the problem of secrecy I would create privacy by curtains for openings, or by using vegetation outside the building to create distance. You can see that I set up a large pool, there are a lot of people worried about safety issues, but this pool is very shallow, not a big safety risk. I would also warn others to stay away from the pool.

Yinjispace：Do you have any projects landing in Asia? How do you combine the local regional culture to design in different cultural backgrounds?

Aragones：Unfortunately, there are no projects in Asia yet. Most of my work is here in Mexico, the only one abroad is in Los Angeles in the United States, and I will soon have a new project in Madrid. For me, Asia is a very distant place. However, it will be a great challenge if I have the opportunity to combine my design with the local Chinese culture, and I really hope to have such an opportunity to make such a combination.