As the Venice Takeaway exhibition draws to an end, we look at the responses and changes it has taken during its lifespan from the British Pavilion in Venice to London’s RIBA on Portland Place, and where we can expect to find the fruition of the ideas exhibited after this exhibition’s lifespan.
Read moreAs part of the program for Venice Takeaway:Ideas to Change British Architecture an experimental event entitled Paper Salon was organized in connection with Ross Anderson and Anna Gibb’s project Paper+Architecture. The project looks at the ideas surrounding Paper Architecture, a movement that came to importance in Russia in the 1980s, where a group of young Russian architects began to submit wildly imaginative proposals into forbidden competitions in response to the restrictions they faced within the parameters of Russian socialist realism. The Paper Salon aimed to bring together an enlightened gathering of like-minded creatives for a day, to explore imagined environments, exchange ideas about visionary architecture and build a dialogue through the physical act of drawing. A week or so ago I was lucky enough to be invited to the Paper Salon by assistant curator Alastair Donald. It wasn’t long before the much-anticipated day arrived and I made my way among rows of sleepy red brick shops to the Calvert 22 Foundation in east London. There was a quiet buzz of excitement as everybody took their seats, tea and croissant in hand, the speakers were introduced and the discussion began…
On the panel were many inspirational speakers including one of the original Paper Architects Yuri Avvakumov who gave a wonderful slideshow of images illustrating the quiet yet spectacular work of the Paper Architects. It is certainly apparent how passionately they must have felt about what they were doing and you can see this in the painstaking detail that has gone into each silent protest; a protest against rules that threatened to stifle their visions. Yuri spoke of their work as fantasy and an expressive means, describing it as a ‘non conformist reflection’. One of the projects of the Paper Architects he described as depicting amorphic spaces combined with historical definitions such as square and boulevard etc where the inhabitants would be given materials to build ordinary objects such as bus stops, clubs and public toilets. This aimed to raise questions as to which ordinary objects should be monumentalized and which should be allowed to die naturally. During the debate words such as as utopian, escapism, creative freedom and poetics of space were frequently used- describing things that naturally, we all crave. Interestingly the illustrations that the paper architects produced were compared to those in Chinese art and there are certainly similarities that can be drawn. Both depict fantastical and whimsical environments mingled with the architecture of nature and seem to confirm the fact, that we all crave escape.
We went on to discuss the difference between Visionary Architecture and Paper Architecture; panelist James McAdam suggested that Visionary Architecture is used to expand the limits of technology but Paper Architecture does not have to become material. Perhaps there is no such thing as real utopia; this kind of fantasy can only ever remain on paper and non-conformist architecture in its nature must remain unbuilt? But what is it that we need to confront today? Some suggested that perhaps we need to decide what and whom regulations are designed for. In this way we can begin to challenge conventional thinking and inspire a new set of ideals.
In order to be non-conformist today you have to be socially irresponsible however you could argue that in western civilization we are unsure whether to react or rebel. Within the current recession though, perhaps we will have time to talk about change in architecture and create a new set of sustainable limits. It is true that we need architecture in the UK to be more exciting and in order to do this we need to take more risks. In taking risks we do not necessarily need to build anything iconic or to propagate visionary architecture as this has failed many times in the past and can be used as superficial device to get noticed. Members of the audience agreed that an icon needs to be specific to its location in order to thrive and be accepted, perhaps in the same way that public art does. Architecture, particularly iconic buildings can sometimes seek to disassociate themselves with the everyday and the ordinary, implying some kind of higher status and setting themselves apart from mass culture.
As an artist I can only expressively agree with the importance of drawing in fueling creativity. Itsuko Hasegawa stated that one ‘must draw quickly or lose all spontaneity of image’ and I completely agree however in the word of architecture perhaps one must be more considered and there is a need to slow down make more decisions? I recall an audience member commenting that drawing slows down the mind and the hand. This is something I have to disagree with; I think drawing is a meditative act and allows you to get lost in the physicality of the materials – the difficulty is not to think. In this way you are able to see what is in your mind - things that you didn’t know were there. However I can appreciate that between art and architecture drawing plays different roles and there is a difference between design and image making. The workshop was very helpful in blurring these boundaries and allowed me to gain a new perspective on the function of drawing. Anna Gibb, who has currently taken on the challenge of completing a drawing a day for a year, commented that the process of drawing is a physical pursuit. I can whole-heartedly agree with her and it is perhaps the reason why a lot of people are afraid of drawing or take a tentative approach or opt to use computer programs. It can be an emotionally and physically exhausting activity as opposed to using computer programs where you can remain somewhat detached. Computers definitely have their place in creating architectural plans and can replicate the process of thinking but have no specificity of intention like drawings have. It feels as if less thought goes into them, they have less sense of purpose and give an impression of fake authenticity. ‘The computer is a tool but not a design instrument’ Glenn Murcutt.
In the afternoon we were split into teams and provided with enormous sheets of paper to begin imagining our own Paper Architecture. Admittedly it was a difficult task for me as it defied everything I had been taught in art school where we had no limitations and were specifically taught to defy rules and regulations; though we were set free to let our imaginations run wild we also needed to be mindful in creating a space that had a purpose. My partner and I decided to create a kind of memorial site leaving the existing footprint of the buildings but giving the space a new lease of life with a beautiful carpet of greenery and a glass walkway. Other projects included an enormous elephant to stand as the icon of south London, hot air balloon housing and upside down buildings buried in the ground lying in wait for the earth to turn over.
We all came away quite exhausted from the day but incredibly inspired. Walking down the high street the next day I couldn’t help but imagine how much more exciting our environment would be with mad animal shaped buildings and floating houses in the sky. Perhaps some ideas, though seemingly impractical, could one day become reality, for now though they remain on paper and we will have to wait and see what the future brings…
Isabel Moseley
Among the bubbling pot of ideas on display at the Venice Takeaway exhibition currently on show at the RIBA is one idea, that in my eyes is near to boiling over. This is the research project regarding CIEPs in Brazil, brought to the table by Aberrant Architecture.
On the 19th of March a debate was held at the RIBA surrounding these controversial ideas lead by a panel of inspirational speakers including Washington Fajardo (leader of the Rio World Heritage Institute), David Chambers (of Aberrant Architecture), Janie Chesterton (education director at Willmott Dixon), Mairi Johnson (design director at the Education Funding Agency) and Sunand Prasad (Penoyre & Prasad Architects). There was a mummer of excited whispering as my friend and I took our seats and more architects, design students and curious spectators piled in.
The discussion was opened with remarks from David Chambers about the connotations that standardized design can have, emphasizing words such as ‘cheap’, ‘poor architecture’, ‘uninspiring’ and ‘anti-design’. Admittedly I was a little skeptical myself about standardization imaging prison like blocks appearing all over the country with no variety or diversity of design. However I was soon to be proven wrong by the charming and passionate Washington Fajardo who spoke of the history of CIEPs and why a standardized design was used.
In the history of public education in Rio di Janeiro schools were first run by local churches until universities started to appear; coincidentally the University of Coimbra was one of the first to be opened is among the oldest still operating in Europe! In 1983, Fajardo went on to explain, Rio had gained a new democratic spirit and politicians were starting to come back to the country – this is when Oscar Neimeyer decided to put his plan into action which aimed to produce a sequence of high quality, uniform primary schools dubbed CIEPs (integrated centers of public education). These standardized builds were conceived to support and enhance education in Brazil by reducing costs and making schools accessible for all children. Through this experimental school building program there are now 508 CIEPs all over Rio di Janeiro and it is now the biggest system of buildings in Brazil.
Example of a CIEP in Rio di Janeiro.
Contrary to my preconceptions about standardized building the CIEPs offer a design that can be adapted to different sites and locations allowing for an infinite variety of shapes and sizes to fit many situations, which is perfect for the slopes and favelas of Brazil. The CIEPs also provide large open spaces and its playgrounds operate as public squares and communal spaces in areas that were previously lacking these kinds of public places. Fajardo illustrated Neimeyer’s thought process through a series of humble sketches displaying interesting and evolving ideas, going on to explain how standardization is used elsewhere in Brazil. For example in the FED system in Sao Paolo each new school is made through a competition between architects – a clever way to ensure excellent design. Also through CEUs (Continuing Education Units) each school has a different architect guaranteeing an interesting variety of buildings. Hospitals are also built to a standardized design in the SARAH Hospital Network, which is a project designed and implemented by Niemeyer’s protégé João Filgueiras Lima. The buildings are designed with wide verandas on each floor, interior gardens and family spaces. The hospitals even have their own equipment factory manufacturing robotic limbs, communication equipment for nonverbal children amongst other things.
SARAH Hospital Brasilia.
The CIEPs have a strong presence and are easily identified as schools. However can standardized embed great design as standard? Can this be translated into UK architecture? Perhaps this plan was successful in Brazil because Oscar Niemeyer himself had experience of building and was aware of design in architecture. Janie Chesterton argued that in Britain we have a different set of problems to attend to and perhaps this system would not work so well with our limited space and funding options. We are not looking to reinvent the wheel she explained but just to incorporate great design and create spaces that are enjoyable for the children to work in. Sunand Prasad noted that Rio believes in itself and is willing to be a collective whereas here in Britain, we are not.
The CIEPs were of course not without their problems, as Fajardo pointed out there were problems with over heating and bad acoustics as well as issues inside the building affecting quality of education. However there is no such thing as an ideal situation and the CIEPs were the best solution in a terrible economic time.
The discussion was ended by concluding that there is nothing wrong with standardization, as long as it is not dictated and that it is possible to deliver good quality space along with good quality design.
Isabel Moseley
Beautiful doors of London…how do they compare to Venice?
It is International Women’s Day! A time to celebrate those women who inspire us to be great.
It was in the 1900’s, a turbulent time of great change and unrest, that the worlds population began rising and radical new ideas came bubbling to the surface. In 1908 fifteen thousand women took to the streets of New York demanding equal rights and better pay. It was from here that the first Womens National Day took place in America on the 28th of February 1909 and was soon followed by an international conference of women from over 17 countries who all agreed that Women’s Day should be celebrated world wide. Hence the birth of International Women’s Day.
To think of only one woman who inspires me the most is a difficult task as there are so many wonderful and influential heroines to mention for example Rosa Parkes, Josephine Baker, Beatrix Potter, Dolly Parton, Virginia Woolf, Ella Fitzgerald and Audrey Tautou…an eclectic and extensive list that could go on! However I have decided to write about someone who is little known to most, but certainly a great heroine of mine: a Swiss artist called Emma Kunz.
It was a dank and dreary day at Uni last year when in a dark corner of the library I came across a book entitled 3 X Abstraction, a modest looking hard back, a little dog eared but smelling wonderfully of old musty paper! I stared in awe at the intricate spirograph-like drawings of Kunz and felt that heart crushing sense of wholeness one feels after coming across a kindred spirit.
Emma kunz was an artist and healer who lived in Switzerland from 1892-1963. She was a recognised researcher and used her artwork to heal sick patients. From a young age she believed in the power of telepathy and prophecy and pracised using a pendulum which became the basis for her artwork. Present in her drawings is an intense energy and sense of movement which was dictated by the swing of the pendulum illustrating various energy fields that Kunz believed she could see. She did not believe in miracles however, only abilities that lie dormant in us all. In 1941 she discovered in nearby caves a healing rock called AION A which she used to help her friend Aton C.Meier when he became seriously ill with infantile paralysis. AION A comes from Greek aion meaning without limitations and the substance heals not only through its mineral composition but its bio dynamic energy. It is used by many doctors today in Switzerland and Kunz believed it to have not only physical healing powers but the ability to heal a spirit.
From 1938 Kunz began making large scale drawings on graph paper which are not only beautiful but encode a vast amount of knowledge. She would complete a drawing in a day staying up all night to finish if she had to. She describes them as follows ‘Shape and form expressed as measurement, rhythm, symbol and transformation of figure and principal’. This is certainly apparent in the resulting images where angles and lines swirl together forming a colourful and energetic mass.
Needless to say I checked that book out over and over again for the last few months I was at Uni and hope that I am lucky enough one day to visit the Emma Kunz Centre in Switzerland! Until then however I can continue gaze at her intricate artwork and be inspired by her belief (and mine) in infinite possibilities…
Isabel Moseley
Alexander Brodsky: Architect Ephemeral
The Venice Takeaway is back in town! With projects and exhibition design further developed there are some exciting changes and new ideas simmering at the RIBA.
When my fellow colleagues and I walked into the private view of Venice Takeaway, it could only be described as surreal but nice as if greeting an old friend we had grown so familiar with in the magical watery land of Venice last year. Having spent so much time with the show I feel a slight melancholy pang to see that it is not the very same as I remember it. However the changes are wonderful and I can’t stay sad for long as flux is inevitable especially where architecture is concerned. Nevertheless one thing has certainly not changed and that is my undying love for the Paper Architects and Alexander Brodsky.
The foundation of Brodsky’s work is strangely not built objects but imaginary projects, artworks and installations. A classically trained architect Brodsky didn’t design his first building until two decades after he graduated. He was a key member of the Paper Architects which was a group of recent architecture graduates who decided to rebel against the restrictions put in place by soviet Russia and began to enter ideas into forbidden competitions. In this way Brodsky could find freedom in his imagination and escape from standardized communist constructions through his wild and whimsical etchings depicting ideas about constructivism and postmoderism. It is easy to see that Piranesi’s drawings of ruins have influenced Brodsky and he often favours similar shapes such as rotundas and porticoes. He worked closely with Ilya Utkin to imagine these distorted landscapes and Paper Architects rose to fame in the West after winning many prestigious awards.
Brodsky’s style is deliciously ephemeral and his structures are often build from fragile or fleeting materials. For example in 2003 Brodsky designed a pavilion on the Klyazma Reservoir which was to be constructed from ice cubes held by to a wooden structure and metal frame. When the building was lit it glowed softly and in the Spring the ice cubes melted and became part of the lake. In architecture, says Alexander Brodsky, “you want on the one hand to build something that lasts for ever. But then you can have the problem of building something that disturbs you for the rest of your life. It’s not good enough, but it stays.” Is it not refreshing to hear that even Architects make mistakes and constantly question the importance of longevity? Even now Brodsky maintains a relatively small practice mainly designing private houses and interiors.
In the past he has used materials such as old window frames, plastic bags and glass to create intriguing and unusual objects. In 1996 Brodsky created an installation in Canal Street Subway station in New York, at the request of the Public Art Fund, by filling the space with 5000 gallons of water complete with life size gondolas and cut out passengers in effect creating a temporary Venetian lagoon. Then 3 years later he constructed a 16 meter high skeleton house filled with powdered fragments of the city. Other works include Coma, which commented on the dangers of opulence and consisted of a model city drowning in crude oil. He also produced some work for the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2006 that pointed to the inevitable moment Venice sinks into the sea. He admits to struggling with the cross over from art to architecture, describing the feeling of a burden that took a mental and physical toll on him. You can sense this underlying wariness in his early works. For example 95 Degrees, a restaurant in Moscow where Brodsky meticulously planned every material and element of the building down to the slightly awkward wooden stilts that hold the building up, which are angled at 95 degrees.
As a fellow artist, I find myself sympathizing with his wariness however, as it is a daunting and difficult task to bring something wildly imaginative and free to life, to be represented as something real and solid. Brodsky achieves this wonderfully of course and I bask in awe at his exquisite etching, A Glass Tower imaging myself stepping out of the RIBA into his drawing and walking along the curved path into the monochrome city.
Isabel Moseley
In response to the British Take Away Pavilion Public Works question,
‘What do you think an architect does?’,
these are some recent non compliant specimens;
Compliant specimens can be found on flicker following our link.
translation: ‘mom what fun!’
Read more
In response to the British Take Away Pavilion Public Works question,
‘What do you think an architect does?’,
these are some recent non compliant specimens;
Compliant specimens can be found on flicker following our link.
In response to the British Take Away Pavilion Public Works question,
‘What do you think an architect does?’,
these are some recent non compliant specimens;
Compliant specimens can be found on flicker following our link.
It feels bizarre that this time next week I will be back in Liverpool sat in a stuffy office at university, not deciding which route of narrows streets to navigate through to avoid the dawdling tourists that seem to swarm together like locusts through the busy streets of Venice and finding my way back to the place I have called home for the last few weeks. During my time in this picturesque city, I have explored the pavilions within the Giardini, the main exhibition in the Central Pavilion and the Biennale Library.
Read more
