Translating Memories: Reshaping Spatial Patterns on Ephemeral Urban Dwelling

Abstract

Vernacular transformations of underused places give shape to Ephemeral Urban Dwellings (EUD). By reading the spatial patterns of use of three of these buildings, this paper demonstrates that EUD replicate the way activities and ideas of privacy are related to space in the previous and permanent homes left behind by its inhabitants. The case studies are located in central areas of Bogotá and, although ephemeral, they have stayed for years. Personal interviews and mental maps drawn by the interviewees as well as on site drawings and photography by the author are the main sources of this study. The paper recalls the processes of cultural appropriation that take place when people adjust to new cultural contexts. In the case of the dwellings studied, these processes give clues on how the ideas that shape the way people use space are translated into new places. The paper's conclusion calls for further research on EUD as an object of academic interest.