traveling architecture
Introduction
Transportable or dismountable architecture is the art or technique of designing and constructing buildings that are taken from one place to another, and whose permanence in a specific site lasts a limited time, although its impact may have a longer duration.
The basic characteristics of transportable architecture are based on the principles of efficiency with respect to form, light weight of materials and flexibility in their use. It exists in various fields of human activity: habitability, education, leisure, medicine and commerce. Many examples are found throughout history that express this ability, from circuses to concert halls. However, emergency architecture is a great example of the essential condition of transportable architecture.
The ephemeral nature of transportable architecture leads to a rejection of traditional construction methods since they are not the most appropriate for its construction. However, alternative structures and technologies are the solution for this type of architecture.
Origin and evolution
The first transportable ephemeral constructions are the nomadic architectures of the people dedicated to the pastoralism of the Mongol and Turkish tribes in Asia, the Bedouins and Arabs of North Africa or the Hamites in East Africa, as well as the nomadic Indian tribes of America.
History offers us numerous types of mobile shapes and structures that resemble tents, which can form temporary cities.
In the first half of the century, thanks to the discovery of new materials, new techniques and production methods appeared that facilitate the construction of transportable architectures. In this period, the universal exhibitions stand out, where great importance is given to lightness, speed of assembly and the possibility of reusing the pieces. The most characteristic example is the prefabricated and removable construction of the Paxton Crystal Palace "Crystal Palace (London)") which can be assembled easily and quickly and moved without difficulty.
In the 1960s and 1970s there was a trend that opted for a mobile and nomadic architecture, not only capable of freeing the action of the inhabitant, but also the location of the architecture. This decontextualization was characteristic in utopian projects of the time, where the recreational and exhibition took a leading role, as is the case of New Babylon by Constant, the Cité Spatiale by Yona Friedman or Plug-in by Archigram. However, many of these constructions never reached transportable condition in their constructed fragments.