The Architectural Voice by joris moonen

The Architectural Voice Barcelona, 25 July - 29 July 2012

First and Only One Edition

Price: 5000 Brain Cells

A TOOLKIT FOR ARCHITECTS AND AFICIONADOS

p 3 Opinions Letters to the Editors Paint The Town Green Changing Raval

p 5 Feature Marsella Bar Life Reflective Thinking

p 7 Culture Text / Subtext

Entertaiment

El Raval Revealed

p 11 Games Architectural Brain Games

Editorial

Production Toolkit _ “...Architects and critics alike have seen books as strategic tools in the arsenal of the discipline, capable of producing effects independent of the constraints from traditional forms of architectural production. The specific combination of publishing and building has been exploited as a critical double form of architectural practice, as strands of work that are assumed to support each other, but which in reality often reveal a provocative (and in some cases deliberate) misalignment. Rather than simply seeing books as ‘guides’ for practice – still ultimately directed toward the production of buildings, with books either instructing, analyzing, or commenting – the most prominent architects and critics have well understood the strategic differences between publishing and building, exploiting both as parallel but distinct discursive modes of operation.” “It is by definition polemical, seeming to outline a theory to be projected onto practice, either to legitimize or to inform particular forms of architectural production. Its lineage begins with the prototypical example of the manifesto in twentieth-century architecture, Le Corbusier’s Vers une Architecture (1923), and includes a series of conscious inversions and revisions to the type throughout the last century, from the ‘gentle’ manifesto – Robert Venturi’s Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture (1966) – to the ‘retroactive’ manifesto – Rem Koolhaas’s Delirious New York (1978).” Michael Kubo

The Architectural Voice

Issue 1 : June - July 2012

Editorial

Paint the Town Green Across the globe, great projects of demolition and construction are taking place in the name of greening our cities. There are numerous government incentives and initiatives which support and provide financial aid for projects which include green roofs, donate a portion of land as public space or preserve pre-existing natural landscape. In larger, less dense cities, opening up 200m2 of urban space to be converted to parks or open areas wouldn’t seem so significant, however in Raval, the historic center of Barcelona - 200m2 is a significant blow. Consider also, that by opening space, there is no place to relocate the displaced homes or shops and services. The neigh-

bourhood just became a bit more exclusive as 60 homes or so are destroyed. Why can’t there be an alternative to total demolition? Creating green spaces, open and public areas at ground level and allowing the upper stories to remain intact? Consider the possibility of selective editing, for permeability and connectivity of pre-existing open spaces like has been done in the Eixample area, opening the centres of city blocks and providing access through openings at ground level. While the space does not have the same aesthetics or ambience, it serves many of the same purposes - accessibility, community connectivity, walkability, shelter from weather elements

Letters to the Editors Re: Commercial Turnover Rates Dear Editors, I would like to say that while yes, the turnover rate in the area is high and you may never know when one of your favorite shops or restaurants will disappear, it’s also the beauty of the neighbourhood, the fact that it has the ability to revitalize itself and transform itself so rapidly. While some may mourn “their place”, the comfort of consistency and reliability is of course understandable, the transient nature of the streets means a life full of new experiences, and brings new people to the neighbourhood even if it is just to try a great cupcake, a gourmet hotdog or traditional catalan meals. I welcome the change and love that every time I walk down the street, I feel this sense of endless possibilities.

Re: Best Kebabs in Town Dear Editors, I enjoyed your rankings of Kebabs restaurants around the city, however I have to say that the the best places are by far on C/ Joaquim Costa. The popularity of them means that the meat is always hot, fresh and no soggy lettuce or tomatoes. The extra 3 minutes that it takes to walk from Rambla de Raval (your #1 location) is worth the freshness and the ability to be able to sit at a real table and eat is a real bonus as well. Don’t sacrifice quality for proximity!

(sun, wind, rain) and it offers the opportunity to look at buildings which structurally need significant improvements as is, using this as one of the tools of selection for placement of these green tunnels. This is just one idea in a sea of endless possibilities. For all the creativity and expertise that exists in Barcelona and especially the compact area of Raval, surely someone can deliver a better proposal to the City Architects and Planners who typically wipe the slate clean in favor of simply starting again. The city has a history of modeling new forms of change and city planning, time to stop living on the coat tails of past success and go back to the drawing board.

Editorial

Changing Raval It’s the classic conundrum of the chicken vs. the egg - which comes first? We can ask ourselves the same when it comes to our neighbourhoods and cities. Does the city influence the culture or does the culture influence the city? There is a longstanding tradition of attempting to modify cultural behavior through architectural mechanisms. Raval as of late is no exception, with several spaces of “urban acupuncture” since the - public or institutional projects which are strategically planned and placed with hopes of transforming the local culture and identity of the area. The late adoption of a more open immigration policy within Spain, means that the country has a great opportunity to learn from the mistakes of nations who underwent similar demographic and cultural shifts several decades ago. With British Prime Minister, David Cameron, controversially stating that “multiculturalism has failed” it is clear that the melting pot issue is not one which simply dissipates and fades in time, it is an ongoing process and practice of inclusion, consideration, tolerance and acceptance of both our own traditions and recognition through celebration of those which are different. Cameron’s concern was that the city space has become segregated and disjointed by the cultural walls being put up in resistance. Nearly every city in the Wester world has a “China Town” but what is the problem in having an area of the city with a unique or different identity than would be considered the norm? Being unique is not the issue, but with immigration comes a certain expectation to accept some of the cultures and customs of the new homeland, whether it be language, abiding by different laws, learning new skills appropriate to the job market or making different choices in the grocery store. The concern, is that by creating ethnically impermeable enclaves within the city, there is no cross cultural exchange

which is negatively affecting both the pre-existing culture and the new arriving ones and perpetuating false stereotypes and attitudes of intolerance in even the young generations. The MACBA square, along with the adjacent CCCB (Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona) represents one of the collision points within the city which promote multi-culturalism, multi-use, multigenerational, multi-programmed activity and is also a point of urban acupuncture which was initially created to foster these ideas and social attitudes. More recently, in 2012 the Filmoteca de Catalunya has opened in the lower area of Raval which is located directly where the prostitution, drugs and other illicit activities were taking place. The nature of the space has undoubtedly changed, with a new atmosphere and a new user group being introduced with a less threatening or undesirable agenda. This is a very typical move of the Ajuntament in attempts to rid certain areas of prostitution and illegal activities, simply re-appropriate and assign the space to an institutional, cultural or building of some higher authority and the unwanted action will relocate itself away from the public attention, but is it really altering the culture or just relocating it do somewhere else in the city? Raval, is historically the location of immigrant communities of the city, originally known as the Barrio Chino (Chinese District), and therefore maybe it’s possible that it is the stepping stone, an entrance point into the city for emergent cultures as they make the transition and ready themselves to step outside of their comfort level and embrace a new life in a new place.

Special Feature

Richard Meier on MACBA “We will leave it to history and the public eye to speak to our place among other museums” “The cubism of Picaso, Braque, and Greis, various constructivist influences from malevich and Rodchenko, the geometries of modern painters like Mondrian, Frank Stella, and Richard Diebenkorn, as well as Rothko’s simple proportions and subtle mastery of color have all influenced my intuitive thinking about how to make this elegant building” “The raval neighborhood had long been a dense underprivileged immigrant neighborhood an a very poor state, presumably with little sense of community among the residents. Our studies envolved in collaboration with a number of local advisers initimately familiar with nature of this new museum as part of the city’s social

AUTHORSHIP

composition invention production output generation origin source provenance derivation genesis background

infrastructure as well as with the fabric and history of this neighborhood.” “It seems to me that the best approach would be to provide different kinds of exibition or gallery spaces for the museum, rather than a repetetive system of spaces, since the artworks to be shown would have different scales at different simes- sometimes large, sometimes small, sometimes needing light, sometimes needing no light. So we developed a series of spaces that could accomodate all kinds of activities and exhibitions” “The shape and light at MACBA were inspired by the urban richeness, and character of the Gothic Quarter”

Bar Marsella A good way to start to explore the Raval is by visiting one of the most famous bars - Bar Marsella. One of Barcelona’s most historic and atmospheric nightspots. Visitors entering the bar leave their footprint. “Wifi!! Woo hoo. There’s free wifi here for all you travelers that are jonesing to play with your phones”

“It is the pleasure heart”

“Crowded but perfect! Best night EVER!!!!”

“cheap beer !!”

“I agree it’s best after midnight but if you want a table or a seat you should arrive before because it gets very crowded indeed”

“Excelente concierto de chino and big bet”

“Amazing, people from all over the world!!!”

The Architectural Voice

Issue 1 : June - July 2012

MACBA and the Plaça dels Angels have become the heart of the Raval neighborhood with a life and energy beyond anything we could have imagined. MACBA’s form and configuration were imagined primarily as a flexible response to the scale and light requirements of contemporary art. The museum’s collection covers three periods in the history of modern art: the first covers the firties to the sixties; the second spans the sixties and seventies; the third period is contemporary. The MACBA is an exploration of new ways of interaction between the art and the architecture of the museum

Special Feature

Reflective Thinking

1987

creation of the MACBA foundation

1987-1995

Design by Richard Meier

1995

Opening of the museum

1988-1994

Director Daniel Giralt-Miracle

1995-1998

Director Miguel Molins

1998-2007

Director J. Borja-Villel

2008-now

Director Bartomeu Mari

—

Museum-making is Richard Meier’s midnight boxing ring[...] He keeps the hand and the eye trained John Hejduk —

Bar Marsella is said to be Barcelona’s very first bar. The space feels like being transported into turn-of-the-century Paris, complete with Absynthe, the fairy elixir. Patrons include a mix of local bohemians and brave tourists that drink after drink become part to the Marsella’s 200 year-old history The Bar Marsella has been the choice for writers such as Heminguay and Wilde, as well as many artists, including Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec The bar comes to life after midnight, and only gets better as the hours pass. It is no wonder Woody Allen chose to shoot a scene from Vicky Cristina Barcelona here.

1820

Opening of the bar

1840

Vincent van Gogh

1860

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

1880

Pablo Picasso

1900

Ernest Hemingway

1920

Hagar Wilde

1940 1960 1980 2000

Woody Allen 5

Culture

Text / Subtext Criticism Toolkit “cut up” - homage to the dada movement and William Burroughs. __ Any text can be transformed into a critique by the simple acts of cutting, erasing and replacing certain words. We applied the tool kit using William boroughs’ cut up technique which was originally invented by the Dadaists. We find the technique useful for writing but also as a tool in architecture. Sources : (Maruja Torres - Un calor tan cercano ) (Sergio Villa Sanjuan & Sergi Doria - Walks through literary barcelona) (eyewitness travel. top 10 barcelona) (Ayuntamiento de Barcelona - Arquitectura Contemporanea 1979-2012)(Quaderns #261 2011)

To make a dadaïst poem —Tristan Tzara, 1920 Take a newspaper.

Shake gently.

Take some scissors.

Next take out each cutting one after the other.

Choose from this paper an article of the length you want to make your poem.

Copy conscientiously in the order in which they lef the bag.

Cut out the article.

The poem will resemble you.

Next carefully cut out each of the words that makes up this article and put them all in a bag.

And there you are- an infinitely original author of charming sensibility, even though unappreciated by the vulgar herd.

The Architectural Voice

Issue 1 : June - July 2012

Entertainement

EL RAVAL REVEALED THREE PART SERIES STARRING OTOOO, HERNANDO AND TAL

CHANNEL 1

50th International Architecture Safety in Design Award Architect: Studio (^~*) Project: Art Basel 2012 (Locked fire exit door)

Broadcasting Tookit _ Initial the voice, communicating and announcing, publishing and releasing information to an audience. The mode of outward expression and methods of communication and dissemination of an idea or concept.

The Architectural Voice

Issue 1 : June - July 2012

Entertainment

El Raval Revealed

El Raval community garden

sonar party baby !

Channel 5: TV Schedule Friday 29th June Time

Program

18:30

Speed Architecture