The book Opuestos inciertos (Uncertain Opposites) by Juhani Pallasmaa has been published by Fundación Arquia within its collection la cimbra. The book brings together 10+1 essays on the mediating role between opposites or contradictions of the discipline of architecture. I have created the book’s concept, gathered the texts and edited and translated them, in addition to writing the introductory text entitled ‘Mediar sin opuestos’ (Mediating Without Opposites). The book can be found at the FQ publisher’s website.
In his inaugural lecture as a member of the Academy of Finland on October 3, 1955, Alvar Aalto explained that “almost every formal assignment involves dozens, often hundreds, sometimes thousands of conflicting elements that can be forced into functional harmony only by an act of will. This harmony cannot be achieved by any other means than art”. Drawing on this quote by Aalto, Juhani Pallasmaa explores in this book the mediating role of architecture and its capacity to reconcile diverse poles, disciplines, and realms of knowledge. Using memory as a tool, architecture and its contradictions as a motif, and expanded time as a context, the author argues that the discipline’s fundamental task is “to place us in the world, to provide a sense of home and belonging, and to create a comforting continuum of culture, time and existence”.