English versions of the following articles are available online

Title: Learning to learn: Review of “The University is Now on Air: Broadcasting Modern Architecture”
Author: Alfredo Thiermann. Architect, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 2012. Master of Architecture, Princeton University, Usa, 2016. Doctoral fellow, ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Through design practice and theoretical research, he explores the intersection between architecture and different media. He has taught and lectured at Harvard University, Princeton University, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Universidad San Sebastián. His written and built work has been published in various magazines and has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Santiago, among other institutions.
Abstract: During the sixties and seventies, there were speculations about the cultural changes that mass media could bring about. Nevertheless, only a handful examples exist in which they were actually implemented. This exhibition recalls one of the few that managed to do so: the Open University’s A305 course. Accurately – as the review argues – the exhibition invites us to speculate again on how to make architecture available to broader audiences.
Keywords: speculation; idea; history; critique; research.
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Title: The risk of not speculating
Author: Liam Young. Australian born architect who operates in the spaces between design, fiction and futures. He is founder of the think tank Tomorrows Thoughts Today, a group whose work explores the possibilities of fantastic, speculative and imaginary urbanisms. Young also co-runs the Unknown Fields Division, a nomadic research studio that documents emerging trends and uncover the weak signals of possible futures. He has been acclaimed in both mainstream and architectural media, including the BBC, NBC, Wired, Guardian, Time Magazine, and his work has been collected by institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum. He has taught internationally including the Architectural Association and Princeton University and now runs an M.A. in Fiction and Entertainment at SCI-Arc.
Abstract: Speculation is a tool that architects know very well. But, what other ends can it be useful for? Here, Liam Young introduces us to a world in which design may no longer be only human-centered. Thus, speculation would no longer be a tool for architects to design buildings but may rather operate as a warning for us to redefine our own tools as architects.
Keywords: speculation; landscape; critique; process; interview
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Title: NEST. Research building and guesthouse for Empa
Author: Gramazio Kohler Architects Based in Zurich, the office combines the physis of built architecture with digital logics. They conceive spatial relationships and behaviors through programming, using the potentials of the computer and of digital fabrication complementary to traditional design, construction and building methods.
Abstract: Combining material experiments and academic research, a center for the development of innovative technologies is the ideal platform for architectural speculation. Furthermore, this building shows how architecture, conceived as infrastructure, can provide the conditions that bring together industry and academia into a single space for speculation.
Keywords: speculation; building; processes; sustainability; project
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Title: The Triennale is dead, Long live the Biennale? Exhibition, mirrors, and speculation
Author: Viola Guarano. Architect, Laurea Magistrale en Arquitectura, Politecnico di Milano 2017. Master in Architecture, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile 2018. Among her subjects of interest are the critical understanding of contemporary architecture and experimental projects based on urban and landscape studies. Currently works at Openfabric (office based in Rotterdam) and is part of the Laboratorio di Costruzioni dell’Architettura team at the Politecnico di Milano./ Maite Raschillá Architect. Master in Architecture, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile 2019. Currently serves as part of the Training and Representation I Studio team and the Contemporary Architecture Debates team, both within the branch of History, Theory, and Criticism at the School of Architecture of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile./ Javier Ruiz Architect, Master of Architecture, Pontificia Universidad de Chile 2018. Author of the essay “From Utopia to the Island on the Laja” (Anales de Arquitectura 2017-2018, Ediciones ARQ , 2018). He currently works as teaching assistant with Cristóbal Amunátegui and Rodrigo Pérez de Arce at MARQ UC./ María-de-la-Paz Faúndez Architect, Master of Architecture, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile 2017. Among her topics of interest are the development of modern architecture in Chile and the relationship between gender studies and architecture. Has worked as a teaching assistant for different courses in the area of theory, history and criticism. Currently serves as instructor professor at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and research assistant in the Fondecyt project 1181290.
Abstract: The controversy surrounding the Milan Triennale of 1968 – curated by Giancarlo de Carlo – and the subsequent emergence of the Venice Biennale are analyzed following the idea of a mirror: that which reflects architecture in a precise moment. But if the Latin for mirror is speculo, what is the relationship between such mirror and the rules of speculation in architecture? The answer to that question is what structures the following text.
Keywords: speculation; idea; history; essay; triennale
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Title: Remains as a device: Formal speculations for the three French Embassies designed by Guillermo Jullian de la Fuente
Author: Igor Fracalossi. Doctor in Architecture and Urban Studies, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 2012. Architect, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 2009. He is interested in projective research, drawing and models as forms of knowledge, as well as in modern architecture. He obtained the Jury’s 1st place in the International Architecture Biennial of Argentina 2014 with the article “Si una casa en Butantã.” Has published and participated in seminars in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Spain, England, and Turkey. Currently, is a Professor at the Finis Terrae University, Chile.
Abstract: Architectural speculation tends to render its outcome as uncertain. By making a rigorous design method visible, this article shows that, despite being the result of a play of masses and not the consequence of a preconceived decision, the courtyards could be the desired result.
Keywords: speculation; building; design; process; research
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Title: Architecture as currency
Author: Riccardo M. Villa Master in Architecture, Polytechnic University of Milan. PhD candidate, Technische Universität Wien, Austria. His interests revolve around architecture in its production, under a spectrum that spans from aesthetics and semiotics to biopolitics. Since 2009 he is a member and part of the editorial board of GIZMO, a Milan-based architectural research collective, and a platform for publications, events and exhibitions. His latest work, Backstage: l’architettura come lavoro concreto (Hoepli, 2016) deals with the state of the practice and the conditions of labor in contemporary architecture. Since September 2017 is assistant researcher at the Department for Architectural Theory and Philosophy of Technics at TU Wien.
Abstract: When it comes to uncertainty about the future, architectural competitions and the real estate market are the spaces of speculation par excellence. Departing from this idea, the following article shows how competitions – by developing and recycling architectural forms – favor the accumulation of capital within the office, since without a final destination projects are increasingly resembling money.
Keywords: speculation; critique; design; essay; competition
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Title: Building over Plaza de Armas Subway Station: a New Urban Hall
Author: Alejandro Beals Architect, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 2001. MPhil in Architecture from the Royal College of Art (RCA), London (2013), where he researched about blurriness and ambiguity in architecture, under the supervision of professor Nigel Coates. In 2012 he founds Beals Lyon Arquitectos together with Loreto Lyon. He currently teaches studio at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile./ Loreto Lyon Architect, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 2005. MSc in Environmental Design and Engineering from the Bartlett, University College London (UCL), 2011. In 2012 she founds Beals Lyon Arquitectos together with Alejandro Beals. She currently teaches studio both at the Pontificia Universidad Católica and the Universidad San Sebastián in Chile.
Abstract: One of the most obvious and widespread forms of financial speculation is the multiplication of urban land: building as much as possible in order to maximize profitability. Hence, when that does not happen, it is remarkable. Especially in this case, where the subway company Metro de Santiago not only decided to build just enough to complete the city without saturating it, but also opted for architectural speculation as a way of giving something back to public space.
Keywords: speculation; building; heritage; mobility; project
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Title: Residential Speculation. Architectural experiments and real estate in the formation of postwar American suburbs
Author: Daniel Díez Martínez Architect, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 2010. Doctor in Architecture, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 2016. Awarded the Extraordinary Doctorate Prize by the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid for his thesis “Ads & Arts & Architecture. Advertising in Arts & Architecture magazine in the construction of Southern California architectures image”. Professor at the Department of Architectural Composition of the School of Architecture of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (ETSAM-UPM), at the Design Center of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (CSDMM-UPM) and at the School of Architecture of the Universidad Europea de Valencia (UEV). Fellow at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles. Regular editor at The New York Times Style Magazine.
Abstract: Housing is at the crossroads between architectural and real estate speculation. However, such an encounter is not always virtuous. By analyzing the housing production in the United States during the postwar period, this article shows how the power of real estate developers, and their strong lobbying within state agencies, ended up strangling architectural speculation.
Keywords: speculation; critique; design; essay; competition
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Title: 110 Rooms
Author:MAIO is an architectural office based in Barcelona and New York that works on spatial systems that permit theoretical positions materialize. The practice has developed a wide range of projects, from housing blocks or urban planning to furniture or exhibition design. Its members combine professional activities with academic, research and editorial ones. MAIO has lectured at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Barbican Center, GSAPP-Columbia University, RIBA, UC Berkeley, Yale School of Architecture, and Piet Zwart Institute among other places. It’s work has been published in magazines such as Domus, AIT, Volume, Blueprint, A10 and Detail. Lately MAIO has participated at Venice Biennial 2016 in the Spanish Pavillion (awarded with the golden Lion), at Chicago Architecture Biennial (2015 & 2017) and co-curated a Weekend Special at the Venice Biennial 2014 together with SPACE CAVIAR and DPR-Barcelona.
Abstract: Rather than a building with 22 apartments, this project was conceived as a set of 110 rooms. That entirely changes the coordinates from which high-rise urban housing is formulated. Such initial theoretical speculation pushes architectural speculation (transforming those rooms into apartments and a building) and the economic one as well: convincing a real estate client that typological homogeneity can be good business as it allows flexibility of use.
Keywords: speculation; building; heritage; process; project
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Title: Multigenerational Building Giesserei
Author: Galli Rudolf Architekten. Andreas Galli, Architect, HTL Burgdorf, ETH BSA SIA, Zürich 1989. Yvonne Rudolf, Architect, ETH BSA Zürich 1989. In 1998 founded the Zurich-based firm Galli Rudolf Architekten. Have built a range of projects in housing, mixed-use developments, and schools and has garnered acclaim for its innovation in integrating and preserving historic buildings in the midst of large rebuilding or redevelopment projects. Their work has been published in several architectural magazines and in Sabine von Fischer (ed.), Galli Rudolf Architekten 1998-2014 (Park Books, 2014).
Abstract: Although high-density housing is one of the favorite grounds for economic speculation, it does not happen very often that it translates into architectural experimentation. The following project is one of those few exceptions. Instead of standardizing potential inhabitants, this building aims for acknowledging diversity: its 43 apartment types range between two and nine rooms and, furthermore, some consider a ‘wildcard’ room that allows their inhabitants to sublet it to third parties.
Keywords: speculation; building; design; process; project
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Title: Speculation, land rent, and the neoliberal city. Or why free market is not enough
Author: Felipe Encinas. Architect, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (2002); MSc. in Renewable Energy and Architecture, Nottingham University, UK (2004); and Doctor in Architecture and Urbanism, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium (2012). Director of Research and Graduates programs at FADEU UC. Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture UC and the Master in Construction Administration (UC and Chilean Construction Chamber). Research Associate of the CEDEUS and Coordinator of the Vista Observatory at the Interdisciplinary Center for Productivity and Sustainable Construction./ Ricardo Truffello. Geographer, Master in Geography and Geomatics, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Doctoral Candidate in Complex Systems Engineering, UAI. Currently, is director of the Observatorio de Ciudades, researcher at CEDEUS, alternate director of VistaLab and professor at FADEU UC. In the field of teaching, has served as a professor in the GIS area, in undergraduate courses at the School of Geography UC and at the School of Design of the UAI./ Rodrigo Hidalgo. Professor and Researcher at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Doctor in Human Geography, University of Barcelona. In 2014 was awarded the National Geography Award granted by the Chilean Society of Geographical Sciences. Head of Doctorate Program in Geography Uc, Director of Revista de Geografía Norte Grande and Editor of the book series Geolibros. He runs the Urban Laboratory and collaborates in several research projects in Chile and Latin America.
Abstract: If financial speculation is the possible future profit of an action performed in the present, then the risks justify the profit margin. However, this research shows that, when it comes to urban land, the future profit depends on the plot’s location and not on what is built on it. Thus, as the location is not interchangeable, the purchase of urban land involves virtually no risks. Rather than speculation, it is actually a guaranteed business.
Keywords: speculation; city; development; process; research
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Title: One Central Park
Author: Jean Nouvel. École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1972. Founding member of the Mars 1976 movement and co-founder of the Labor Union of French Architects. Designer of the Arab World Institute (Paris, 1987), the Cartier Foundation (Paris, 1994), the Agbar Tower (Barcelona, 2005), the extension of the Queen Sofia Arts Center (Madrid, 2005), the 40 Mercer luxury residences (New York, 2008), the Philharmonie de Paris (Paris, 2015), the Louvre Abu Dhabi (2017). In 1989, The Arab World Institute in Paris was awarded the Aga-Khan Prize. In 2000, Jean Nouvel received the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale and in 2001, he received the Gold Medal of the RIBA, the Praemium Imperiale of Japan’s Fine Arts Association and the Borromini Prize for the Culture and Conference Center in Lucerne. He was appointed Doctor Honoris Causa of the Royal College of Art in London in 2002 and he was the recipient of the Pritzker Prize in 2008.s, 2014).
Abstract: As part of a masterplan to renovate the Central Park area in Sydney, this building not only speculates with the obvious ground-multiplication scheme but also with the revitalizing possibilities of mixed uses, the maximizing of natural light and the extension of the adjacent park through its green façades. Economic speculation thus manages to push the boundaries of the architectural one.
Keywords: speculation; building; landscape; sustainability; project
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Title: Are We Facing a Real Estate Bubble in Santiago? A real Estate in Santiago? Indicators and practices
Author: Javier Ruiz-Tagle. Assistant professor at the Instituto de Estudios Urbanos y Territoriales (IEUT) and associate researcher at the Centro de Desarrollo Urbano Sustentable (Center for Sustainable Urban Development) (CEDEUS), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. PhD in Urban Planning and Policies, University of Illinois at Chicago (2014).
Abstract: The strong demand for urban housing in Santiago has resulted in a recent increase in high-rise buildings. Such densification has mainly affected the districts surrounding central areas of the city. However, paradoxically, the increase in supply has not kept the price of the units from continuing to rise. In the light of such phenomenon, in arq we ask, how can such an increase in price be explained? Does it come from speculation?
Keywords: speculation; city; development; planning; debate
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Title: Are We Facing a Real Estate Bubble in Santiago? Housing prices: a call to action
Author: Javier Hurtado Cicarrelli. Industrial Engineer, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Master of Science in Engineering, Stanford University, California. Research Manager at the Chilean Construction Chamber since 2006 and member of the Advisory Board at the Instituto Libertad y Desarrollo.
Abstract:The strong demand for urban housing in Santiago has resulted in a recent increase in high-rise buildings. Such densification has mainly affected the districts surrounding central areas of the city. However, paradoxically, the increase in supply has not kept the price of the units from continuing to rise. In the light of such phenomenon, in arq we ask, how can such an increase in price be explained? Does it come from speculation?
Keywords: speculation; city; development; planning; debate
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Editorial. Freedom: practice versus space

Originated in the Latin, the verb “to speculate” means “to look (at)” from the lookout post.² At the same time “speculator” means “explorer” or “spy.” If both the spy and the explorer are someone who moves ahead and latter communicates what he/she has seen to those who are further back, to speculate would be something like “to see in advance,” not for personal profit but so that the community could make better decisions. However, the speculator is not an oracle. Rather, it is someone who observes what is happening and determines the probable scenarios that could turn out. In other words, speculation is an observation that, thanks to a baggage of accumulated knowledge that allows for a serious reading of the possibilities, seeks to anticipate what might happen.

We architects are used to it. Design, eventually, means anticipating a future possibility based on knowledge that makes that alternative credible without the need of being real. For architecture, whether a project is built or not is irrelevant. Architects are constantly showing possibilities. Without even realizing it, we live by speculation.

But we are not the only ones. When understood as an assumption about the future, speculation presupposes an uncertain prospect. Thus, if the architectural variant shows the opportunities of this uncertain future, financial speculation bets on this uncertainty and profits from it, either by taking advantage from fear that things will not turn out (through securities or insurance), or from the need for immediate liquidity (through debt buying or factoring).

When both forms of speculation concur in the city, the result is not necessarily a virtuous one. Those who own the land speculate with the revenues of its multiplication, while architects cease speculating with possibilities and, usually, prefers to ‘play safe.’ Thus, this strange tacit formula in which financial and architectural speculation are inversely proportional emerges.

This issue of ARQ introduces examples that resist this axiom while still speculating on the possibilities and contradictions of architecture. Living in a world in a state of permanent crisis, Liam Young reminds us that the risk is precisely not speculating at all. Gramazio Kohler Architects shows an infrastructure to test real-scale architectural speculations. Guarano, Raschillá, Ruiz, and Faúndez speculate on how the failure of the 1968 Milan Triennale enabled the emergence of the Venice Biennale. Igor Fracalossi presents a design method that makes space for an uncertain outcome. Riccardo Villa states that the work that seems wasted when losing a competition can be transformed into a form of capital that any office can accumulate. The building for Santiago’s subway by Beals Lyon shows how to take advantage of urban land without having to speculate with it. Daniel Díez argues that real estate developers’ lobby can strangle architectural speculation. MAIO succeeds in making architectural speculation an agent of change for how real estate buildings are thought. Galli Rudolf Architekten presents a residential building where the diversity of potential inhabitants allows speculating with an unusual amount of different apartments. Encinas, Aguirre, Truffello and Hidalgo examine the notion of ‘risk’ that supposedly justifies real estate speculation. Ateliers Jean Nouvel develops a building in which financial speculation presses on architectural speculation. Finally, faced with the issue of a possible real estate bubble in Chile, the debate offers two positions that, from different angles, are still speculations.

These examples were not easy to find, since architectural speculation seems to have fewer and fewer followers. It does not come as a surprise to see architects questioning its legitimacy while remaining silent in the face of financial speculation. Thus, as the planet seems to be going straight towards the cliff, the only speculation they would accept is the one that leads us precisely in that direction, as they forget that today, gambling with profits placed on the future is more utopian than any idea that architects may have.

Unlike what its pejorative connotation indicates – to make a conjecture without any evidence – speculation supposes running a risk and, therefore, must be based on a credible scenario. Perhaps that is the reason why it is acceptable to speculate with the extinction of the human race, while to pose that humanity may change its customs in order to avoid such extinction is considered idealistic or naive. We have reached the point where the first scenario seems much more credible that the latter.

But if the architecture that we value is the one that dares to take risks, when did we stop speculating about possible futures and settled for operating here and now? Isn’t it now, in the face of a real extinction threat, that speculating with different prospects once again becomes crucial? Architecture is one of the few fields that allows ‘observing from above’ in order to speculate with a world based on different coordinates. Hopefully, this arq issue will be a boost in that direction. As Liam Young points out, the only risk is not speculating at all.

Notes
² From the Latin speculatus or speculari, which means “to spy out” or “to examine.” Speculate. (verb). In Merriam-Webster’s dictionary. © 2019 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Accessed July 11, 2019.