The City That Never Was: Learning from the Spanish Housing Bubble
Conditions outside of Madrid. (Jennifer E. Cooper)
Described as “crime scene photos,” stark images of Spain’s housing bubble landscapes depict a grim reality. But instead of a somber discourse on the evils of political corruption and real estate speculation, the Architectural League’s symposium this past Friday, The City That Never Was, looked forward and, as Iñaki Abalos aptly asked, wondered if we, “can turn shit into gold.”
Building on their research and design studios at the University of Pennsylvania, Chris Marcinkoski and Javier Arpa, the moderators, explored the future of urbanism through the lens of Spain’s economic crisis and its resulting desolate urban form. Framing the historical context of boom and bust cycles, they reveal that the Spanish situation is only unique in scale and intensity. It exists as part of a larger commodification of urbanism all over the world resulting in similar conditions in an ever simplified placeless urbanism.
Video> Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia Awash in Psychedelic Light
Gaudi’s Segrada Familia awash in psychedelic light. (Courtesy Moment Factory)
Residents of Barcelona had the opportunity to see Antoni Gaudi’s 120-year-old La Sagrada Familia in a new light recently as Montreal-based media studio and light artists Moment Factory projection mapped a multimedia display over the cathedral’s facade. While Gaudi’s signature stone carvings portraying dripping stone, fanciful plant forms, and intricate religious displays in their normally sand-colored hue are usually enough to dazzle the viewers eye, the gaudy splash provided one psychedelic experience.
Video> Chef Preps Sustainable Culinary Campus
Rendering of the whimsical elBulliFoundation campus
Our friends at The Feast bring us news that molecular gastronomy guru Ferran Adria plans to build a campus for his elBulliFoundation that’s reminiscent of a Dr. Seuss fantasy. Adria aims for this complex to be ultra sustainable, with a goal of zero emissions.
Wondering what you might expect to find inside these whimsical, Wonka-esque structures? So were we. We hear that the current plan calls for an archive and brainstorming space (yes, brainstorming). Even more exciting, there will be “coral-like ceramic caverns” for the foundation’s chef-scholars to work in.
With a kitchen this crazy, we can’t wait to see what culinary creations are sure to follow.
Watch a fantastic video of the culinary campus after the jump.
A European Version of AN?
Just when things were looking bleak for print, here comes new bi-monthly European publication Panorama, which has already been billed by one blogger as Europe’s answer to the Architect’s Newspaper. The printed (yes, PRINTED!) glossy broadsheet is published by the makers of Future Arquitecturas, a magazine on international competitions. A one year subscription will cost £15.00 in Europe and £17.00 in the rest of the world. We found its Facebook page here. No response yet from the pub, but it appears Panorama began last year, and is published in both English and Spanish. According to the RIBA bookshop, the January issue included an interview with Spanish architect Carlos Ferrater as well as stories on the new Dallas Theater Center, on plans for the new home of the National Archives of France, and Andalusia’s tallest building, The Towers of Hercules. We’re so proud of our little printed sibling.
Advertise on The Architect's Newspaper.
Archives
Categories
Architecture
Design
East Coast
Midwest
National
Planning
Shft+Alt+Del
Sustainability
Transportation
West Coast
