Geotechnical Study as Architectural Psychoanalysis: David García-Manzanares Vázquez de Agredos

In a reflective essay published on the Spanish architecture blog Veredes, David García-Manzanares Vázquez de Agredos explores the geotechnical study as a form of architectural psychoanalysis. The text draws parallels between the exhaustive interrogation of soil before construction and the human tendency to ignore our own emotional depths while demanding complete transparency from the ground. The author references Italo Calvino's 'Invisible Cities' (1984, Minotauro, Barcelona) and the Apollo 17 mission, where astronaut Harrison Schmitt collected lunar samples in December 1972, to illustrate the quest for stability and hidden knowledge. The essay argues that despite advanced testing methods—such as Shelby tubes, helical augers, compaction curves, and granulometric analyses—the soil remains ambiguous, and architecture ultimately rests on faith in the unknown. The piece is a philosophical meditation on the limits of quantification in construction, emphasizing that the geotechnical study is the first design gesture, preceding any sketch or plan.