Within the metabolic strand of Socioplastics, Never Alone – Lemon Protocols and MUDAS – From Leaf to Scent emerge as a disciplined diptych of Ephemeral Relational Infrastructure, in which organic matter functions as somatic capacitor and decay constitutes the work’s operative phase.

In Never Alone * Lemon Protocols, lemons—charged through intimate gesture—bruise, acidify, and permeate space; scent displaces form as architecture, generating a shared atmospheric field where proximity becomes unavoidable. Conversely, MUDAS * From Leaf to Scent * Installations of Oxidation in Mexico ^ Ritual mobilises banana and maize leaves as oxidising membranes whose chromatic shift from chlorophyll green to metallic ochre enacts Socioplastic Ecdysis, a shedding that renders time visible and breathable. Developmentally, both series refuse preservation: lemons collapse into aromatic residue; leaves blacken into humid exhalation. Yet this refusal is strategic, anticipating the postdigital concern with semantic erosion by demonstrating that controlled decomposition—Proteolytic Transmutation—can paradoxically harden relational bonds. The case synthesis clarifies their complementarity: Lemon Protocols condense affect into a concentrated citrus horizon, ritualising Mediterranean bitterness-sweetness; MUDAS disperses across Mexican geographies, embedding oxidation within itinerant domestic and communal sites. Together they articulate a sovereign pedagogy of impermanence wherein scent supersedes spectacle and witnessing replaces possession. In conclusion, this metabolic diptych affirms that structured decay is not entropy but calibrated continuity: by surrendering material stability, both works secure Epistemic Persistence through shared breath, temporal witnessing, and ritualised transformation.

Lloveras, A. (2026) ‘Never Alone * Lemon Protocols’, 14 January. Available at: https://antolloveras.blogspot.com/2026/01/never-alone-lemon-protocols.html
Lloveras, A. (2026) ‘MUDAS * From Leaf to Scent * Installations of Oxidation in Mexico ^ Ritual’, 17 January. Available at: https://antolloveras.blogspot.com/2026/01/mudas-from-leaf-to-scent-installations.html

Minimal Impact and Maximum Presence in the Uyuni Salt Flats

In one of the world’s most extraordinary and extreme landscapes, the Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia, the Explora Refuges designed by Max Núñez Arquitectos embody a strategy of architectural suspension that engages with the environment through minimal intrusion and deliberate restraint, elevated on metallic stilts that avoid direct contact with the saline crust and prevent long-term damage to the fragile ecosystem, these dark, elongated volumes assert a delicate presence over the endless white expanse, forming a tension between geometry and nature, the design responds rigorously to solar radiation, high altitudes, and saline corrosion, using dark metal cladding and passive ventilation systems to modulate interior comfort, a particularly striking instance of this approach is the linear configuration of the shelters, which maximizes panoramic views while shielding occupants from prevailing winds, this lightweight tectonic language, more akin to infrastructural design than traditional architecture, reflects a conceptual shift toward reversible occupation, in which architecture becomes temporary, respectful, and aware of its environmental footprint, elevated like vessels above a sea of salt, the buildings capture light through discreet openings and cast elongated shadows that emphasize their ephemeral condition, the curved overhangs of the roofs are not ornamental but serve as thermal buffers that mitigate direct sun exposure and reduce internal heat gain, ultimately, the Explora Refuges redefine the act of inhabiting the Altiplano as one of contemplation rather than conquest, a form of ethical construction where every element—material, structure, and orientation—is attuned to ecological sensitivity and visual harmony, resisting spectacle in favor of subtle integration.

 

Ephemeral Architecture * Lightweight Structures for Temporary Social Use

Temporary architectural structures, particularly those designed for ephemeral installations or seasonal functions, embody a synthesis of mobility, modularity and material efficiency, offering spatial solutions that prioritize ease of assembly and disassembly while maintaining structural integrity and aesthetic coherence; this design approach reflects an increasing awareness toward sustainability and circularity in architecture, especially in contexts that demand rapid construction or periodic occupation such as festivals, disaster relief zones or temporary exhibitions, where permanence becomes secondary to adaptability; in the case illustrated, the pavilion presents a light timber frame combined with a tensile membrane roof, allowing natural light to diffuse softly into the interior and creating a comfortable, shaded environment suitable for collective use; benches and platforms are configured with a logic of repetition and reversibility, reinforcing the project’s modular logic and reducing waste during both production and eventual dismantling; a specific example of this approach can be found in Shigeru Ban’s Paper Log Houses or the Emergency Architecture and Human Rights (EAHR) initiatives, where similar structures are designed for quick deployment with local materials and labor; the case study in question, though less focused on crisis response, demonstrates how simple joinery, untreated timber and sand flooring can define a highly effective and culturally adaptable spatial intervention that aligns with minimal environmental impact while fostering temporality as a design value, thus challenging traditional notions of architecture’s association with permanence and prompting reconsideration of how built space can be flexible, reversible and ecologically sensitive. 

 

MUDAS * From Leaf to Scent * Installations of Oxidation in Mexico ^ Ritual * SOCIOPLASTICS

Between 2013 and 2016, the MUDAS series unfolded across Mexico City, Oaxaca, and the Pacific coast as a dispersed experiment in ephemeral materiality and sensorial rupture. Rather than fixed artworks, these installations operated as oxidative gestures, each composed of a single fresh leaf—banana, tamal, maize—pinned to a wall and left to decay in situ. The process was slow, olfactory, and public: within 48 to 72 hours, green gave way to ochre, moisture seeped into the surface, and an intense, humid aroma filled the air. Viewers didn’t just look—they inhaled, waited, documented, posed. Some touched. Others watched it curl. 

Soft urbanism * Material agency and temporal interventions

 

Soft architecture, en el contexto del urbanismo contemporáneo, constituye una aproximación flexible, adaptativa y relacional al diseño de espacios urbanos, que se distancia de la rigidez monumental y la eficiencia mecanicista de la planificación moderna al priorizar intervenciones efímeras, sensibles y orientadas al cuerpo humano, que promueven tanto la resiliencia ambiental como la conectividad social; esta arquitectura incorpora materiales que respiran, se pliegan, inflan o degradan de manera orgánica, desplegándose en formas móviles, membranas porosas o cilindros presurizados que activan lo cotidiano, generando disrupciones tácticas en paisajes urbanos excesivamente homogeneizados, donde la fricción es borrada en favor de la circulación constante y la transparencia normativa, como ejemplifica el proyecto Red Line, en el que formas blandas interrumpen el flujo en espacios residuales o privatizados, exigiendo una negociación corporal y una revalorización del lugar desde una lógica de agencia material; estas operaciones se sitúan dentro del paradigma del soft urbanism, donde capas de datos, infraestructuras digitales y dinámicas comunicativas se superponen sobre la urbe física para convertirla en una zona híbrida, mutable y distribuida, articulando así propuestas como las soft cities o slow cities, que desaceleran los ritmos urbanos mediante estructuras tejidas, elementos operables y dispositivos que responden a las necesidades del usuario, promoviendo experiencias a escala humana basadas en la interacción y el descanso; bajo este enfoque, la arquitectura blanda se entrelaza con estéticas relacionales y teorías de la materia vibrante, disolviendo fronteras disciplinares para formular una crítica a la modernidad abstracta, favoreciendo en cambio metodologías procesuales, contextuales y especulativas que se despliegan como gestos iterativos en marcos como la Socioplástica, donde cada intervención aborda de forma localizada la precariedad ecológica y los desplazamientos sociales, operando desde la microescala hasta archivos digitales, lo cual permite imaginar ciudades densas pero diversas, sostenibles, atractivas y profundamente conectadas.
(Anderson, 2021; Bekaert & García, 2019; Grosz, 2001; Lyster, 2020; Wigley, 2011)