The project is a pavilion for leisure, located in Parque Araucano, a public park in the city of Santiago. The pavilion aims to produce an interaction with park users through its mirrored concave and convex curves which generate a universe of multiplications and deformations of people and the surrounding environment.
The project is constructed by three mirrored aluminum bi-dimensional planes of 3.2 m. high and 25 mm. of thickness containing a landscape of gentle hills, spongy vegetation, wild flowers and moving water that has been translate from an imaginary place. The pavilion is also the support for the development of a series of cultural activities including concerts, live music or stagings, which are all open for public and free.
We have meant to build an uncertain experience, a situation of estrangement, one which we do not intend on controlling, as the possibilities of reflection and deformation provoked by the concave and convex mirrored steel bi-dimensional planes are infinite. We have multiplied the amount of reflecting and deformation situations in order to produce an interaction belonging to a world of illusions, more surreal than real. We want the visitor to be expectant of what is going to surprise them in the next place.
The materialization of this experience is achieved through two operations:
The first is the definition of a support or topography, a landscape with smooth mounds, covered in grass and spongy vegetation, colored by an infinite number of wild flowers, and that is also crossed by a small creek.
The second operation is the insertion of three mirrored aluminum bi-dimensional planes, which build a series of inside and outside spaces, eliminating the limits, disappearing, letting its reflected surroundings become the real project.
These tapes are embedded in the ground and configured and structured using an abundance of concavities and convexities which allow self-supporting and standing on the same level of 3.2 m high and 25 mm. thickness.
We wanted to change the center of the object’s proposal to the experience of the subject, their interaction and that of others, and how their surroundings or context will be reflected and deformed with them and in front of them. In the end, we do not intend on building a closed proposal, but rather articulating a universe of sensations and experiences open to many interpretations.
We could point out that a way to measure a good city is the amount of activities and free access quality spaces that offers to its inhabitants. In that sense, the activities and projects intended for leisure are a good scale for measuring these aspects. The pavilion is inserted into this logic -in the middle of a public space- offering an unconventional experience to its visitors, which interacts with the project in various ways.
The pavilion is a model to be replicated and inserted in a more heterogeneous circuit and supports for public spaces destined for leisure throughout the entire territory, whether urban or rural areas.
Dancers dressed in bright red jumpers, ballet leggings and oversized pearls promenade and gesticulate within a distorted architectural setting created by artist Pablo Bronstein for his new Tate Britain show (+ slideshow). (more…)
Milan 2016: over 14,000 images were posted to Instagram using our #milanogram2016 tag during Milan design week, and this shot by Lijo John Mathew has been named best photograph by our panel of judges. (more…)
“Libraries,” says Chiote, “Are houses of books. And newspapers. And magazines. And music. And movies. The entire world connected, where we are with ourselves and with others. They are our memories and our legacy. The reference of knowledge and leisure but also urbanity. Libraries are the house where we must always return.”
From the architect. Located across Britain and abroad, Maggie’s Centres are conceived to provide a welcoming ‘home away from home’ – a place of refuge where people affected by cancer can find emotional and practical support. Inspired by the blueprint for a new type of care set out by Maggie Keswick Jencks, they place great value upon the power of architecture to lift the spirits and help in the process of therapy. The design of the Manchester centre aims to establish a domestic atmosphere in a garden setting and, appropriately, is first glimpsed at the end of a tree-lined street, a short walk from The Christie Hospital and its leading oncology unit.
The building occupies a sunny site and is arranged over a single storey, keeping its profile low and reflecting the residential scale of the surrounding streets. The roof rises in the centre to create a mezzanine level, naturally illuminated by triangular roof lights and it is supported by lightweight timber lattice beams. The beams act as natural partitions between different internal areas, visually dissolving the architecture into the surrounding gardens. The centre combines a variety of spaces, from intimate private niches to a library, exercise rooms and places to gather and share a cup of tea. The heart of the building is the kitchen, which is centred on a large, communal table. Institutional references, such as corridors and hospital signs have been banished in favour of home-like spaces. To that end the materials palette combines warm, natural wood and tactile surfaces. Staff will be unobtrusive, yet close and accessible. Support offices are placed on a mezzanine level positioned on top of a wide central spine, with toilets and storage spaces below, maintaining natural visual connections across the building.
Throughout the centre, there is a focus on natural light, greenery and garden views. The rectilinear plan is punctuated by landscaped courtyards and the entire western elevation extends into a wide veranda, which is sheltered from the rain by the deep overhang of the roof. Sliding glass doors open the building up to a garden setting created by Dan Pearson Studio. Each treatment and counselling room on the eastern façade faces its own private garden. The south end of the building, extends to embrace a greenhouse – a celebration of light and nature – which provides a garden retreat, a space for people to gather, to work with their hands and enjoy the therapeutic qualities of nature and the outdoors. It will be a space to grow flowers and other produce that can be used at the centre giving the patients a sense of purpose at a time when they may feel at their most vulnerable.
The centre, designed and engineered by Foster + Partners, also features bespoke furniture designed by Norman Foster and Mike Holland who heads out the industrial design team in the practice. These include kitchen units and table, sideboards and other shelving units.
Lord Foster, Chairman and Founder of Foster + Partners: “I have first-hand experience of the distress of a cancer diagnosis and understand how important Maggie’s Centres are as a retreat offering information, sanctuary and support. Our aim in Manchester, the city of my youth, was to create a building that is welcoming, friendly and without any of the institutional references of a hospital or health centre – a light-filled, homely space where people can gather, talk or simply reflect. That is why throughout the building there is a focus on natural light, greenery and views; with a greenhouse to provide fresh flowers, and an emphasis on the therapeutic qualities of nature and the outdoors. The timber frame, helps to connect the building with the surrounding greenery – externally, this structure will be partially planted with vines, making the architecture appear to dissolve into the gardens.”
For the 5th year, Canal180 will host the 180 Creative Camp – an 8 day Media Arts Academy, from 3rd to 10th July in Abrantes, Portugal. We aim to provide a time and place for young creators, invited artists and thinkers to learn together, exchange experiences and give birth to new collaborations and projects.
180 Creative Camp is looking for young bubbling creative spirits to come to Abrantes and take part of the daily workshops, talks and activities, embracing the city and leaving their mark through. Everyone who’s involved in disciplines such as graphic design, architecture, art, music, video, photography, illustration or installation is welcome to get a ticket and take part in this event! It’s an opportunity to contact multiple well-known artists and also with other participants. Everyone is encouraged to get creative and put some ideas in practice during the week!
This edition will inclue with many interesting names within the international creative world: Boa Mistura, the Spanish team known for their extraordinary graphical interventions at public spaces; Sean Dunne, a film director documenting the most bizarre realities around the world; photographer and cultural manager Frank Kalero, former resident at Benetton’s Fabrica in Italy, curator of photography festivals in France, Spain, India and Brasil and one of the founders of the Ojo de Pez magazine; Javier Peña Ibáñez, director of Concéntrico, festival of architecture and design, whose work is well known mainly for inviting citizens to (re)think their surrounding environments; the founder of Intern’s Magazine, Alec Dudson, a remarkable publication showcasing amazing creators and debating the creative world, with its perks and downsides; the film director Isaac Niemand, with a wide spectacular work that includes documentary, animation, commercials and music videos; illustrator and designer José Cardoso, famous for its strong characters and colorful identities.
Interaction with the city and its people is one of the main characteristics of the event. Therefore, along with remaining program, we develop “Stores Art Attack,” a challenge for artists and participants to create projects along with the traditional street shops of the city. There are also activities such as talk sessions with the artists, movies, portfolio reviews and music concerts opened to the local community.
Since 2012 people from all over the world, from Los Angeles to Copenhagen, Santiago de Chile to Berlin, have come to 180 Creative Camp showing their best. This event has been a challenge and a pleasure to make and we want to make it even better in its 5th edition!
Invited Artists Boa Mistura (ES) Sean Dunne (USA) Frank Kalero (ES) Javier Peña Ibáñez (ES) Alec Dudson (UK) Isaac Niemand (ES) José Cardoso (PT)
Events workshops talks films portfolio reviews concerts
Last May, Islamic State forces took control of Palmyra, one of the world’s most treasured UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In the proceeding months, the world looked on in shock as ISIS released a series of videos showing the destruction of the priceless ruins. Last month however, the ancient city was recaptured, marking the beginning of a difficult discussion about what the international preservation community should do next.
ArchDaily had the opportunity to interview Stefan Simon, the Inaugural Director of the Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage (IPCH) at Yale University, an organization “dedicated to advancing the field of heritage science by improving the science and practice of conservation in a sustainable manner.” Simon earned his PhD in Chemistry from the Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, and has broad experience in material deterioration diagnostics, microanalytics, climatology, and non-destructive mechanical testing. He previously served as Director of the Rathgen Research Laboratory at the National Museums in Berlin, as a member and Vice President of the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), and as leader of the Building Materials section at the Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles, in 2005, among numerous other accomplishments.
The conversation that focused on cultural preservation in the wake of conflict, and specifically, how to proceed in Palmyra now that the Syrian site has been wrenched back from the control of the Islamic State. The tragic case of Palmyra guided a conversation that sought out specificity on the options and considerations that must be taken in the wake of trauma.
Vladimir Gintoff:What historical precedents are there for destroying and rebuilding a site of conflict such as this?
Stefan Simon: There have been many, which come to mind, Warsaw, Dresden, the old bridge (Stari Most) in Mostar, destroyed during the Bosnian war and rebuilt (a lighthouse project, finished while many mosques, churches and monasteries are still laying in rubble until today in Bosnia!). Unfortunately, mankind has an extensive record in destruction and rebuilding. Also after other types of disaster, for example Sungnyemun, National Treasure No.1, the great south gate of the wall city of old Seoul from the Joseon Dynasty, that was destroyed in a fire on February 10th, 2008, and subsequently rebuilt, and also, in a very impressive way, the world heritage sites (Shrine of Alpha Moya in Timbuktu, etc.). Not forgetting the ongoing discussion on the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan.
VG:The restoration of architecture can often be a tenuous discipline, balancing a desire to preserve history against the irrevocability of change. Are you in favor of using only original materials in restorations or a hybrid of old and new that revives formal characteristics but acknowledges past conflicts and traumas?
SS: You use a very good word, “balance.” The idea of using only “original” materials sounds convincing, but in most cases is simply not workable, and it can also be debatable what “original” materials actually means in the context of historic preservation: does it refer just to the materials, or to the building techniques and so on?
The idea to acknowledge past conflict without romanticizing is also a quite recent one. We have to realize that conservation ethics develop not in a linear way, but rather in waves. We have seen aesthetic, puristic, scientific, historic and other waves, also strongly depending on the cultural context.
In cultures based more on wood than on stone as a fundamental construction material, like in Japan or parts of China, the concept of the original is different than in the Western hemisphere. We have to be aware of this. In general, I think it is not a bad idea to listen first to those who are the closest stakeholders. Here, that’s our colleagues in Syria who are actually defending cultural heritage on the ground, they are true monuments men, and more than a dozen of them have paid with their lives. Then, look at the charters, and of course mobilize international support. We are in here on a long haul, that should be clear.
VG:Great works of architecture are demolished all the time, usually to accommodate the neoliberal free market economy. Why is it that the harm of ancient sites strikes so much stronger of a cord?
SS: An excellent question. The biggest threat to cultural heritage still is agricultural and urban development, not disaster. Not that these losses go unnoticed in the professional community.
As for the world heritage sites in Africa and the Middle East, the striking of the cord seems to work in both ways, for those who commit these horrible war crimes of destruction, whether in Syria, Mali, Nigeria, or elsewhere, and those who helplessly watch from a more global perspective. Actually, I think we cannot discuss Palmyra without thinking about Aleppo, Homs and the other cities, where the people of Syria are suffering over these long years of conflict. It seems to me very important to make the discussion on conservation and reconstruction a place for civic engagement, show that it is relevant for everybody. If we were to concentrate only on the case of Palmyra, I think we would fail on a critical step, and lose at a critical point, the sustainability.
SS: I think this will be a long process. Honestly, if in 2, 3 years, there is a concrete plan how to move things forward in Palmyra, that would be a huge success for the Syrians and the international conservation community. It will also require huge international support, for sure, but then it can have an important role of reconciliation for the people. I am not sure about the concept of adding architectural meaning. The New Museum in Berlin for example, it certainly is a great example of how to respect and deal with traces of historic change in a modern museum setting – but it is not a standard, it is also just a product of its specific time, and by no means the best or the ultimate approach to dealing with such situations forever.
VG:If you were to advocate for a complete restoration of the site, do you think there should also be elements that acknowledge the city’s occupation by ISIS?
SS: There is no way, not even theoretical, I think, which can erase the traces which the ISIS occupation left on the site of Palmyra. These have been so massive, and there are also other damages caused by other conflict parties. And not forgetting the looting which is ongoing on an industrial scale in Syria and other countries, not only in ISIS controlled regions. When we talk about restoration, and whatever you may refer to as complete, I want to hear the voices of our Syrian colleagues first, the voices of ICOMOS, in which almost 10,000 international professionals of conservation are united, UNESCO, ICCROM and others. I think this can provide quite a consensual platform to identify the priorities.
VG:Do you think this process in Palmyra will be mired by the same bureaucracy that has plagued the Buddhas of Bamiyan since their destruction in 2001? There the ethics over original or new materials questions the site’s status as a UNESCO World Heritage site, and certain proposals to resurrect only one of the figures – a gesture of coming to terms with past violence – violates the unbreakable bond of the two buddhas (Shamana and Salsal).
SS: Of course I expect more heated debates about the “good” approach. We are already witnessing these, around the recent demonstration on Trafalgar Square in London. This may be more interesting in terms of process than of product. We cannot just simply 3D scan and reprint history.
I remember that shortly after the devastating earthquake in Bam in December 2003, with many fatalities in the city, an impressive majority of the inhabitants were expressing their wish to prioritize conserving and rebuilding the Arg-é Bam and the city (which later in 2004 became World Heritage). This might have come as a surprise if you saw the people living in tents, without water and basic supplies, but it provided impressive evidence for what cultural heritage really means for the people.
VG:Who do you see as being responsible for the restoration work? And would you expect it to begin in the immediate future? In other words, I’m curious if think that these efforts can get underway while the region remains in a state of turmoil?
SS: The Syrian DGAM has been and is working on various protection and conservation projects over the past years, in very difficult circumstances, as we all can imagine. The international community is expected to support and accompany these processes, and we have to be generous, creative and innovative in our support!
In accordance with international charters, it will be on the Syrian colleagues to take the lead. Let me remind you what happened in Timbuktu: The reconstruction efforts were a matter of human dignity and respect for identity, above all. The UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova said recently in a lecture at Yale, how touched she was, how important this reconstruction was to her personally, and I can totally understand her. Cultural heritage is at the root of the human identity! Of course we can give professional advice, of course we should try to resist political pressures from whatever side, but we need to realize that also the global world heritage only has a chance to be preserved in a sustainable manner when the local stakeholders are fully engaged and embracing the agreed-upon solution.
A Kickstarter campaign has launched to bring a crazy golf course designed by architects and designers including Tom Dixon, Paul Smith and the late Zaha Hadid to Trafalgar Square in London (+ slideshow). (more…)
From the architect. The rural community of Totihue (Sixth Region, Chile) was using an old silo as a Chapel since 1972. After the earthquake in Chile on February 27th 2010, the silo resulted unusable, so it had to be closed because of danger of collapse.
The silo construction is a recurring image in the Chilean countryside, so this particular silo has an important symbolic meaning for the community of Totihue. Therefore, this project, made in collaboration with the Fundación AIS Chile and the community of Totihue, rescued and supplemented the old structure with a new gabled volume, in the manner of a barn. The new volumen welcomes the new chapel, and the renewed silo operates as a funeral parlour, community center and other complementary activities to the chapel. The silo, with a base diameter of 10.50 meters and 10.50 meters in height, determines the extent of the new chapel, whose plant is a square of 10.50 meters each side, which houses the assembly, and its double golden abatement plant houses the court on one side and the presbytery, on the other. The height of the new chapel is 7 meters, allowing the silo to be the main element of the set. Another of the formal references was Rafaelito´s drawing, a boy from Totihue, as a result of a call from the parish priest inviting all the community children to dream about the new chapel.
The silo, apart from being repaired structurally, was coated on its outer with Hunter Douglas white metal plates Quadrolines 30×15, keeping the color and image of the patrimonial silo, while the new chapel has been coated with the same metal plate, but dark gray, seeking not to compete with pre-existing structure. Thus the autonomy of each volume is achieved using a single material, which is a constant work of our architectural workshop. The interior of the chapel was covered in pine 3/4 x 5 inches, which was donated by neighbors from Totihue.
Natural lighting of the silo was worked by twelve lower openings, that allow keeping the solemn condition of the space respecting overall verticality and height inside the silo; while in the chapel a large window over the altar was privileged, in order to illuminate the latter and see the silo as a background. The assembly is indirectly illuminated by fourteen windows halfway up. The outer court is protected from the sun generating shade by perforated metal plates installed in such a way to achieve a secure and ventilated space. The perforated plate has also been used in the belfry, which is a free volume of the set, with 7 meters, the same height as the chapel.
