Costa Rica's Urban Solution

 Costa Rica: The Most Urbanized Country in the World

Can architecture identify a social problem and propose a solution to it?

The building for the

Costa Rican Legislative Assembly is a 2014 award winning project that intends to solve an urban problem. Not only is the structure supposed to illustrate the issue of the “vicious circle of social segregation and spatial fragmentation in the Greater Metropolitan Area of Costa Rica (GAM)’ but also propose an architectural solution. Rather than conserving the old traditional architecture of the country under continuous construction, the project builds the progressive and developed architecture of a nation.

What is unique about Costa Rica building?

Unlike other Latin American countries, Costa Rica is singled out for its ever expanding urbanization, establishing the country as the most urbanized country in the world. Today more than 64% of the population is moving to the city, beyond the so-called regional norm of 50%.

The majority of these (64%) Costa Ricans occupy less than 4% of the country in the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) of Alajuela, Cartago, Heredia, and San José. These 4 main cities incredible crowth, from a birds eye view, appears to expand outward, as random collage of people, layouts, and architecture. The continuous mobilization to and within the cities not only cause an unthinkable amount of pollution but also creates issues of security, crime, poverty, and identity. ‘Most buildings and developments are protected by an army of guards and dogs, surveillance cameras, barbed wire or electric fences. The image of Costa Rica as a peaceful, nature-loving country is belied and caricatured in its cities.’

Project issues?

The projecting building form illustrates a new form of urban expansion. According to the exemplified layout, the city can develop on multiple levels with open and closed spaces. The building appears to hover above ground, providing 'free' garden space below, which in turn permits the city to 'breath' while the population inhabits the so-called flying spaces above it. While initiative demonstrates the expansion problem, as with all massive structures, there is an actual obstacle in the building. Just as skyscrapers are required to study the invasive 'shadowing' of that is forms by the tall construction, the new proposed 'hovering' form also needs to evaluate how much shade, and therefore lack of light, it projects on its neighborhood. The absence of light on the buildings below not only then brings about environmental issues but also sets forth issues revolving around living conditions. While the project resolves several expansion issues, it creates a variety of other conditions provoked by its presence. The absence of direct sun light promotes higher levels of electric consumption, seasonal damage on vegetation and garden growth, and effects the direct mental health of individuals. 

What problems do cities face?

In the capital of San José, for example, 1.5 million people transit to the city to work during the day, leaving 50,000 residents at night. The inconceivable number demonstrates the problem. Not only does the city have to build a proper infrastructure for commutters, it also has to develop an overall identity in an ever growing city.

Details from Costa Rica Pavilion at the 14th International Architecture Exhibition (Biennale di Venezia:

Commissioner, Chief Curator: Oliver Schütte, A-01
Curator and Assistant Commissioner: Marije van Lidth of Jeude, A-01
Assistant Curators: Florence Quesada Avendaño, Ofelia Sanou Alfaro, Javier Salinas
Creative Contributors: Alvaro Rojas, Klaus Steinmetz, Carlos Araya Polonio, Lou Guthrie, Mauricio Herrera Palma, Ursula Grodzicka
Concept and Design: A-01 Global conComunicación
Model: modeLab, Marco Galofaro
Photography: Simon Photo Video, Plex Studio, Oliver Schütte / A-01
Photographic Archives: Alvaro Castro Harrigan, National Museum of Costa Rica, Junta de Andalucía, Association of Engineers and Architects, UN-HABITAT, College of Architects of Costa Rica, A Foundation, Costa Rican Social Security, University of Costa Rica-school of Architecture, National Bank of Costa Rica, Nora Gongora Arroyo, Tomás Dueñas
Aerial Photography: City of San José
Sound installation: Daniel Perlin
Soundscapes: Sergio Wiesengrund, postformal Design, Green Noise
Video Production: Robert van der Laat
IOS App Development: Güink, Carlos Aguilar and Mariana Lopez
Sponsors: Ministry of Culture and Youth, Embassy of Costa Rica in Italy, Euromobilia, Edica, Plycem, Development Mega Excetel Group Baharet, Inventa, Inter Group, CPCA, Manig Unternehmensberatung

Pavilion commissioned by the Ministry of Culture and Youth of Costa Rica.



Bibliography:
‘Ticollage City’ in Arch Daily, http://www.archdaily.com/529958/ticollage-city-costa-rica-pavilion-at-the-venice-biennale-2014/
‘Costa Rica’ in My Art Guides, http://www.myartguides.com/venice-architecture-biennale-2014/architecture-biennale/national-participations/item/2597-costa-rica
Fundamentals (catalogue). 14th International Architecture Exhibition. Biennale of Venice. (Marsilio, 2014), pp. 33, 41, 179.

Image Sources:
‘Costa Rica’ in My Art Guides, http://www.myartguides.com/venice-architecture-biennale-2014/architecture-biennale/national-participations/item/2597-costa-rica
Photographs taken during exhibit visit.

Bahrain's 'pan-Arab project'

Architecture from the Arab World 1914-2014

The Bahrain pavilion took on the task of publishing 40,000 free copies documenting 100 architectural structures from 22 Arab countries for this year's Biennale of Venice. Rather than portraying Bahrain's singular identity, the initiative took on a larger scope by the inclusion of other neighboring nations. By joining the archives of the Arab Center for Architecture, a non-profit organization established in Beirut in 2008, resulted in the documentation for the first printing of Architecture from the Arab World 1914-2014 (a selection). The collaborative institution is a cultural source which addresses 'modern urban design, architecture, design, and planning in the Arab world' with the objective of having a publicly accessible center for students, professionals and researchers alike. The concerns of spreading Arab awareness and heritage is shared with the Bahrain project supported by the Bahrain Ministry of Culture.

The 'architecture legacy' of the Middle East is demonstrated through various examples constructed over the past century. As the initiative is a step forward in providing a printed source available to the international community, there are drawback to the selection themselves. The so-called issue derive from various sources, including scarce public records, lack of a regional interest, etc. For example, the images and documentation for various projects in Syria do not demonstrate the level of modern architecture. The published heritage does not provide a coherent identity to the country with a vast architectural patrimony. The director's residence at the Azem Palace in Damascus is in no appropriate way a symbol nor precedent for the past century of Syrian constructions. The issue is also present in other exemplified structures, lacking proper architectural drawings, descriptions, and images. The images of the Olympic Club (1938-1939) of Baghdad appears more like an electric power station, while the Al  Babenshal Hotel (2005) of Siwa appears to be an exemplar of revival movement of traditional adobe architecture.

While there are definite set-backs to the printed reference book, there are also positive and beneficial outcomes. The exhibition exports the modern identity of the Arab world to the West, providing images of shared and associated constructions. Though the aesthetic details may differ, the intention of using modern architectural theories is evident. Baghdad Stadium (1958-1980), Air Terminal and Club House (1953-1960) of Tit Meillil in Morocco, Hotel du Lac (1973) of Tunis, Intercontinental Hotel (1974-1977) of Muscat in Oman, Doha Tower (2005-2012) of Qatar, and the Al-Ribat Housing (1981) of Amman in Jordan are all appropriate references from diverse periods that appropriately document the modernization of Arab constructions through transitions of materiality, style, and dimensions.

The 'pan-Arab project' is still in the process of composing an archive of progress, taking on a regional initiative that not only demonstrates similar Western traits but also establishing a dialogue between Arab nations with the purpose of developing a Middle Eastern style coherent with the twenty-first century.

  

  

  

List of Projects:

 

Further Reading:
http://www.arab-architecture.org/news/venice-architecture-biennale-bahrain-pavilion

Bibliography:
Fundamentals (catalogue). 14th International Architecture Exhibition. Biennale of Venice. (Marsilio, 2014), pp. 33, 41, 179.
'About' in the Arab Center for Architecture. http://www.arab-architecture.org/about
'Fundamentalists and Other Modernisms: the Pavilion of the Kingdom of Bahrain at the Venice Architecture Biennale' in the Arab Center for Architecture. http://www.arab-architecture.org/news/venice-architecture-biennale-bahrain-pavilion 
'Bahrain at the 14th Architecture Biennale of Venice' in The Bahrain Pavilion. http://www.bahrainpavilion.bh/

Albania: 'potential moments of unrealised futures'

 

The 'artistic narratives' by Edi Hila and Adrian Paci at the Albanian exhibit at the Biennale of Venice illustrate monuments intended to communicate the multi-architectonic language of the countryside that, transitioning from a turbulent past, tries to assimilate the aesthetics of Western Europe. Whether the objectives of the canvases are straight forward, their compositions are interesting. Even though they are not the typical medium for architectural discourse, they do make an interesting expo in the dedicated space in the Arsenale.

For more info: http://www.labiennale.org/en/mediacenter/video/fundamentals47.html

Bibliography:

Rem Koolhaas, (director). Fundamentals. 14th International Architecture Exhibition, Catalogue, 7 June-23 Nov. 2014 (Marsilio, 2014), pp. 55,137,176.

The Global 'Modernism' of the Past 100 Years: Venice's 14th Architecture Biennale

Fundamentals: Absorbing Modernity 1914-2014

The biannual international exhibition on architecture held in Venice, Italy, this year is curated by Rem Koolhas who set the specific argument Absorbing Modernity 1914-2014 which contributed to the overall theme Fundamentals for the participating countries from all over the globe. The exhibitions exemplify each country's ability to be 'a protagonist in the cosmopolitan world of art and architecture'. (1) Each pavilion demonstrates a participation in the history and 'progress' of a modern society critiqued through diverse mediums, from projected films, to analytical texts, to representative models; with the intention of evidencing research that documents 'where we are now' and perhaps implicates 'where we are going'. Even though not all the artistic displays proposed positive results from the application of 'modernization' over the years; the pavilions did manage to speak a unified language of architecture by exhibiting complimentary styles, an international identity combined with exclusive traditions: similar but different.

Curator

Rem Koolhas is famous for his architectural projects, built with Elia and Zoe Zenghelis and Madelon Vriesendorp through AMO, and his analytical texts that range from retail design to urban commissions. His unique combination expresses a so-called 'intellectual architecture'. Koolhas does not only build but explores building. Students, professionals, researchers and the inspired have read, examined or viewed his works. 

The selection of Koolhas for the 14th Biennale was not surprising. One of his main terms of agreement was contingent on the application of the overall theme of Absorbing Modernity 1914-2014 by the participating countries. The focus on 'architecture not architects' was as an integral aspect of the narrative of modernization over the past 100 years. 'Together, they present a portrait of terrifying, in which almost every country was destroyed, divided, occupied, drained, and traumatized, yet sustained...' (2)

Among the well known AMO structures include: CCTV Headquarters, Beijing (2012), Wyly Theatre, Dallas (2009), Seoul National University Museum of Art (2006), Prada Epicenter, New York (2001), and Villa d’allava, Paris (1991). 

Koolhas' publications include: Al Manakh I and II, Archis (2007 and 2010), Great Leap Forward (2002), and Harvard Guide to Shopping (2001). 

There are then, of course, the well known exhibitions taken place in diverse cities on different continents: 

(Im)pure, (In)formal, (Un)built, L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris (2011), Dubai Next, Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein (2008) and Cities on the Move, Hayward Gallery, London (1999).

MondItalia

Analysing Political Set Backs of a Nation Identified through Art & Architecture that 

The Monditalia is a major part of the Arsenale exhibition area of the Biennale that reflects the theme Absorbing Modernity 1914-2014 due to how the 'current state of Italy' represents the global situation of 'political transformation'. In the main halls, the history, architecture, politics, religion, technology, economics, industry, media, etc of Italy, from north Africa to the Alps, investigate and illustrate through diverse media the 'complex reality'. The critique of the nation revolves around a balancing of contemporary chaos due to political obstacles and disagreements with the possibility of reaching Italy's full potential of 'modernity'. 82 Italian movies and 41 architectural studies set the ground work for the discourse on how political ideologies transform and impede on the progress of a nation in evolving forward its industry and economy.

Overview

Over the next few weeks, CritIt will provide 'glimpses' into the pavilions and exhibitions of the 14th Biennale Architecture in order to shed light on a selection of 66 participating countries' representation of modern heritage and the issues of development associated with progress.

Pavilions:

Please follow updates on links to the listed pavilions
Albania
Bahrain
Costa Rica
United States
Croatia
Indonesia
Iran
Ireland
Italy
Kosovo
Kuwait
Latvia
Macedonia
Malaysia
Morocco
Portugal
Turkey
Austria
Belgium
France
Greece
Korea
Serbia
Spain
Venezia

footnotes

1. Baratta, Paolo. 'Forward' in Fundamentals catalogue. 14th International Architecture Exhibition: La Biennale of Venice (Marsilio, 2014) p. 14
2. Koolhas, Rem. 'Director: Rem Koolhas' in Fundamentals Catalogue. 14th International Architecture Exhibition: La Biennale of Venice (Marsilio, 2014), p. 17

bibliography (in chronological order)

1. Fundamentals Catalogue. 14th International Architecture Exhibition: La Biennale of Venice (Marsilio, 2014)

2. 'Direction: Rem Koolhas' in The Biennale di Venezia, 2014. http://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/director/

Matisse: A New Medium

   

'Much of the beauty that arises in art comes from the struggle an artist wages with his limited medium' Henri Matisse

          At a certain point in every artist's career there is a shift in the material and style of the his or her productions for a variety of reasons from experiences, motivations,... In the case of Henri Matisse (31 Dec. 1869- 3 Nov. 1954), considered to be 'a giant of modern art' (1), health complications altered his medium and approach to his artistic expression. The Cut Out series provided Matisse with 'une seconde vie' in his extraordinary burst of creativity. Bound in a wheel chair in his late sixties, the artist replaced his brush with scissors, forever changing Western perception of 'painting'. Matisse's experimental canvases of paper cutouts and collages offered the art goers a new aesthetic.

          In this period, Matisse was not restricted to wall art. 'Among his first adventures...was a cheerful book called Jazz, which Matisse prepared during the war but which was only published in 1947.' (2) Even though only 100 copies were printed, the abstract figures and forms and provisional compositions encouraged the new technique. The artist composed a book filled with creative playful compositions during a time when no 'serious' artist would take on such improvisations of the sort seriously. Matisse's exhibits a creative process through the application of freehand cut shapes secured an undeniable recognition for the style which has withstood time and the exhibition 'Cut Outs' at London's Tate Modern (17 April- 7 September 2014) exemplifies the artist's popularity in the au courant art scene.

          With the help of Lydia Delectorshaya, Matisse arranged the colored forms. The process, which appears relatively easy and straight forward, was laborious. It took Matisse and Lydia two years to produce twenty works. Arranging, pinning, reorganizing and re-attaching was a repeated process that continued until the the moment the shapes were, artistically satisfactory, glued on a fixed surface. The process usually took place in Matisse's studio, as his walls became full of his artwork and floors full of his sculptures. 'By the end of the 1940s, Matisse was using cut-outs for various decorative projects, including wall hangings, scarf patterns, tapestries, rugs, and the designs for the Dominican chapel at Vence.' (3) In fact, the stain glass window cut-out studies for the final glass structure installed in the chapel proved the extent of the technique.

'I don't paint things. I only paint the difference between things'- Henri Matisse

          Walking through the Tate exhibition, an overwhelming feeling of 'I can do that' is sensed in the crowd. It just seems to be a childish approach to art that makes the audience feel as if he or she can reproduce a Matisse. After all, the medium is an odd compositional material to be showing at a museum such as the Tate. After a quarter of an hour, a different mode fills the atmosphere as viewers walk into the Jazz room filled with compositions hung on the museum walls. Not only is the creativity of the technique appreciated, but also the difficulty of forming them. Imagine a subject, and then fabricate how to pre-prepare it by cutting out forms, not stencils, and arranging them stylistically on a blank white canvas. Devise different colors and forms that make up an entire composition, not a monotone singular subject. The difficulty then becomes apparent and an appreciation for Matisse grows. Walking through the exhibition, from room to room, not only do subject change, but so do the surfaces. Initiating from small compositions individually hung to books to sculptures to large scale layouts to the final design for the stained glass window for the Vence chapel.

'Cutting into color reminds me of the sculptor's direct carving'- Henri Matisse

          The so-called 'convenient' application of gouache colored paper demonstrates Matisse's unwillingness to let his physical disability to be an obstacle but a means, a purpose, to find a new form of artistic expression. His fame and practice provided the opportunity for the artist to break the norms and experiment art with freedom, unconstrained fun with scissors, papers, and colors.

artwork source:http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/henri-matisse-cut-outs
http://www.henri-matisse.net/cut_outs.html
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/apr/20/henri-matisse-the-cut-outs-tate-modern-review-laura-cumming
http://itwasagainstherbetterjudgment.blogspot.it/2014/05/i-love-my-life-in-london.html
http://tamarto.com/2014/07/11/exhibit-to-see-matisse-cut-outs/
http://oxfordstudent.com/2014/04/
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/When-scissors-replaced-brushes-30231793.html

footnotes:
1. 'Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs' in The Tate Museum. (London: Tate Organization, 2014) http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/henri-matisse-cut-outs [Date Accessed 20 July 2014]
2. 'Paper Cut Outs' in Henri Matisse (Succession H. Matisse, 2011) http://www.henri-matisse.net/cut_outs.html [Date Accessed 20 July 2014]
3. Ibid 

bibliography:
1. 'Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs' in The Tate Museum. (London: Tate Organization, 2014) http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/henri-matisse-cut-outs [Date Accessed 20 July 2014]
2. Millard, Charles. 'The Matisse Cut-Outs' in The Hudson Review, Vol. 31. No. 2 (Summer, 1978), pp. 320-327
3. 'Paper Cut Outs' in Henri Matisse (Succession H. Matisse, 2011) http://www.henri-matisse.net/cut_outs.html
4. Steinerg, Jane. 'Matisse and the Boundary Between Art and Decoration' (winter 2009)