Articles published by: Nickname

(E)migration of the new and the aesthetics tuned to the spirit of the age
Modernist architecture spread in the United States following World War II, between 1950-1965, when the recently emigrated masters picked up again their drawing board and made their ideas known in the architectural schools. This process of finding a new territory for the avant-garde will focus on the “monumentalization” of industrial technology.

Adriana Mereuta: UNICREDIT PAVILION Contemporary Art and Culture Centre, Bucharest
Photo: Ioana Nitu

In a capital in which art spaces tend to raise at the level of a rather undeveloped town, any new such insertion turns into an event. But UNICREDIT PAVILION is an event even beyond this sad context. And that because, first of all, it is not about a new gallery, but an independent contemporary art and culture centre – an operation of a new and strong identity (including an architectural one). The centre is the third stage of a programme initiated by Razvan Ion and Eugen Radescu, starting with the PAVILION Magazine and going on with the Bucharest Biennale. The founders of the centre took on the social and political element of art and wished the pavilion be a place meant for research and production and not a merely passive exhibition of local works. That is why the pavilion is not simply located somewhere in the town but it actually tries to be a place adequate for reflection, possibly action too, on the city and the society.

There is a certain “syndrome of the island” which cannot be avoided in this place. Even though we are not an island, we are rather far from the main cultural access routes, the key architectural events, the sources of inspiration and the production hubs of current modernity. In Romania, the contemporary product architecture and design are still too weakly linked by the European modernity, either because of a poor education, or perhaps economic issues or various tastes and a confused understanding of what urbanity, the beauty and the pleasure to live stand for.

Subject to brutal or useless gestures, the public space for the Romanians becomes worthless, confusing, ridiculous. The image of the places that represent us or where we meet, where we should have the chance to create community, must be improved. The quality of the urban space is a fundamental component of our life’s quality. We comment and criticize these operations because the non-public space resulting from indifference creates non-citizens, inhabitants of the non-urbanity.

Something small has appeared opposite the marvellous mass of Granada cathedral -perhaps the most beautiful of all those in Andalusia- as if it were a David opposing a Goliath. Besides challenging it on equal terms, its architecture is based on total respect and admiration for the historic structure.

Kentish Town Health Centre (KTHC) is a new health building in central London, housing a large GP practice and a wide range of health facilities.
The project champion, Dr. Roy Macgregor, initiated an RIBA competition for the building won by AHMM. Dr Macgregor’s vision was to create a wonderful building where not only medicine but health and art came together for the community. Ideas of transparency and connectivity were embraced by the architects and the whole team worked collaboratively to create a building that expresses a new, holistic approach and sets a new standard for modern health care provision.

Recently, MNAC (NMCA-National Museum of Contemporary Art) and the Royal Netherlands Embassy organised a debate about the public space; Justin Baroncea presented the case of public spaces in Barcelona at zeppelin; I talked about this under the Revival of the Fittest conferences organised by Hydrasociety. Briefly, there are many actions dedicated to this topic; some of them not only by our team, in which we talk increasingly often about what and how it should be done and I had the feeling that this is for everybody something quite obvious. Despite that, I realise there are confusions for specialists as well, be they architects or great urban planners. Since the value of the public space and how this should be designed, created, developed is not clear within our own profession either. Perhaps that many of the things to come up in these pages are or will be signed by architects, artists or designers.

Every spring, once the last patches of dirty snow are gone, the meteorological-natural alibi for all difficulties with which the brave fighters in urban pentathlon must cope with every day – walking on the pavement, avoiding ditches and 4X4 cars parked or driving on the road freely, passing by the building sites… Well, you are familiar with them all, aren’t you?

I have never been to Leipzig yet, while listening to some music at home, a rather trivial detail took me into an imaginary trip to Katharinenstrasse and then to Santa Cruz, as it follows.

Along with the real estate boom of the 2006–2008, there entered the Romanian industrial design market building “industry”- related materials, furniture, systems and subassemblies. The quality of design products increased with the demand requirements generated by the explosion of the offer prices.