Swarming Futures 25 June – 11 August 2010
BCMF bcmfarquitetos.com MMBB mmbb.com.br TRIPTYQUE triptyque.com VAZIO S/A vazio.com.br
Swarming Futures and the Prevailing Past ‘Life…is an enormous lottery: the prizes are few, the failures innumerable. Out of the sighs of one generation are kneaded the hopes of the next. That’s life.’ (Machado de Assis) As a prevailing constructive and often positivist discipline, architecture, alongside the machine of development, tends to allocate the practice of building as a matter-of-fact, problem-solving operation (modus operandi). To configure new ways of inhabitation, to tackle current issues while delivering solutions into the future, is no doubt one of the rewarding aspects of working with the built environment. To look into the heart of the present and discover fruitful ways to contribute socially and economically is indeed part of architecture. In Brazil, economic and social considerations are often crucial for relevant architectural practice. To invest in useful, pragmatic and objective projects is often the job description of a good architect. This is especially true in a country in which the disadvantaged majority of the population live in enormous shantytowns that dominate many cities’ skylines. Consequently, the ‘who’ (the social) and the ‘how much’ (the economic) have occupied a large portion of the Brazilian architect’s aspirations, consciousness and time. This has naturally atrophied the architect’s other potential facets, namely those of cultural agency and political provocation. Brazil’s 20th century architectural history has bequeathed unique lessons on modernity. Its fast pace and ruthless visions, as well as its power of creation and destruction, were often imbued with political will. In a moment of great optimism, a new capital, Brasília, was designed and built from scratch. This was followed by large engineering projects aimed to feed the country’s other emerging cities. At the other, less progressive end of the spectrum, one finds traces of a big social and infrastructural hangover, with the displacement of minority communities and the damage to sensitive ecosystems, haunting optimistic developments and nationalistic slogans.
So where are we now, and what have we learned from our previous utopian endeavours? Brazilian architecture is now at a crossroads. Economic stability (accompanied by growing international prestige) and large infrastructural commissions have generated jobs and opportunities for both established and young, up-and-coming architects. We now seem to have in place the professional expertise to build stadia fit for a World Cup, Olympic villages and city master plans. And now, once again, it seems natural to turn our attention to what might come next: where are we going? Having browsed through our visions of yesterday’s futures, along with their ambitions, what can be envisioned by this generation? Can architects contribute not only as builders but also as visionaries and commentators of the changes ahead? How can one implement aspects of a rich and diverse culture and ecosystem in the 21st century in the Brazilian environment? Perhaps architects should not limit their aspirations to the restraining principles of survival and function that prevailed in the past, in a culture where exuberance, creativity and sublime traditions can be easily traced. From the aspiration to stimulate these latent attributes – the architect as a constructor of worlds, not only of buildings – ‘Swarming Futures’ has arisen as an opportunity to investigate how innovation in design can be generated by large patchworks of inclusive collaboration and creative exchange. Recently appointed host of large international events, most notably the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, Brazilian cities have become the object of speculation and intense scrutiny. Designers, politicians, communities, businesses, participants and visitors are all agents and stakeholders in a massive swarm of interests and possibilities that will ultimately shape the cities and lives in Brazil’s near future.
The exhibition brings together a diverse cross-section of current Brazilian architectural proposals. Selected projects include large infrastructural interventions, such as the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Park, designed by BCMF, as well as local and sensitive proposals by São Paulo practice MMBB. The inventive Brazilian-French architects Triptyque display their well-known ecological projects alongside new and exciting experiments, while Vazio S/A present their hyper-critical project The Ultimate Skyscraper, an analysis of the impact of large-scale commercial developments. As a curator – but first and foremost, as an architect – my goal was not only to assemble recent architectural schemes but also to spark a relevant discussion. Ideas without an audience are mere archeology, and a generation without ambition, at its best, can only produce empty demagogy. It seems that any generation’s greatest legacy is its ability to open new routes of exploration and experimentation to following generations. Let us take this opportunity to meditate and act upon the swarming futures offering themselves on the Brazilian horizon. The projects and architects selected to take part in this exhibition illustrate an eclectic scene – they form a picture of revisited traditions, young aspirations, innovative technology and DIY experimentation. The event aims to contribute to the discussion and execution of innovative ideas, and to stimulate the emergence of an audience that supports and participates in the construction of the future built environment in Brazil. For now it seems relevant to allow the future to prevail, and to let this generation of architects envision the years ahead – a mythology of ourselves? Ricardo de Ostos curator
BCMF Brazil is full of shocking dualities, absurd contrasts, surprising paradoxes and incomprehensible ambiguities. This is definitely part of its charm, but eventually the urban landscape can become a wild mixture and a hopeless mess. We try to acknowledge and deal with this without being too literal or rigid about it, without necessarily celebrating it (exaggerating it) or going against it (fixing it). We are very interested in the merging of transitional spaces, between inside and outside, private and public, and also in the leftover spaces, or unplanned areas, with unpredicted functions. In general, recognising the virtues and constraints of nature – accommodating the demands of constructive conditions to the uniqueness of the site – has always been an important feature of Brazilian architecture. It was no different in the historic colonial baroque cities, in the empire’s adaptation of the neo-classical style or in the modernist architecture of Lúcio Costa and his contemporaries. This sensibility to place reinforces architecture as an infrastructure that complements and participates in the landscape, trying to order and redefine it. But very often, luckily, architecture ends up being swallowed or rescued by the country’s overwhelming nature.
DEODORO Sports Complex The Deodoro Sports Complex, constructed for the Rio 2007 Pan American Games, was designed with an awareness that a similar competition venue and programme would be applied to a future Olympic Games (Rio 2016). The cluster includes the shooting, equestrian, archery, hockey and modern pentathlon facilities, as well as permanent training areas for all major national, regional and international competitions. The Complex is now a formidable world-class legacy that has successfully triggered the renewal and further development of this important vector of the city. The project deals with the complex issues of a unique suburban context comprising a military district, a densely populated favela, a dilapidated industrial area, and a large expanse of native vegetation.
national shooting centre (public access) Deodoro Sports Complex, rio de janeiro, 2007 photo: Kakรก Ramalho
National Shooting Centre (50m range stand) Deodoro Sports Complex, rio de janeiro, 2007 photo: Kakรก Ramalho
RIO 2016: CITYSCAPE As set out by the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB), the planned facilities for the Rio 2016 Olympics are grouped into four separate areas of the city – Barra da Tijuca, Copacabana, Maracanã and Deodoro – which will be linked by an efficient public transport system. This strategy is intended to spread the direct and indirect benefits of the Games among all the inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro, through the construction of new facilities and infrastructure, as well as through improvements to the existing network. While the Copacabana cluster will consist mainly of temporary structures, the existing venues in the Maracanã and Deodoro clusters will be updated and the Barra da Tijuca cluster will house the vast majority of newly designed venues. The projects in the Barra and Deodoro clusters were designed according to the demands and strategies defined by the Rio 2016 Organising Committee and its international consultants (EKS/ JBD), in constant collaboration with the specialised team responsible for the Games Overlay and Operational Planning. ‘I would like to be an architect in Rio de Janeiro. When you make a mistake, I imagine, Nature immediately comes to your aid.’ (Álvaro Siza) In general we have tried to emphasise the exuberant landscape of Rio de Janeiro, which can be breathtaking even in suburban areas such as Deodoro. Rio has been developing and growing irregularly around a mixture of mountains, forests, beaches, lakes and swamps, and we could say that nature still predominates over architecture in the overall configuration of the city. But besides its notorious and celebrated natural beauty – and the unique and sometimes radical interaction between construction and the natural environment – the city (which was the capital of the country from 1763 to 1960) also has a long tradition of public open spaces and outdoor activities, as well as public art and monuments. Therefore, instead of an excessively iconic approach towards the architecture (in Rio the cityscape is the dominant icon), we have given priority to the integration of the new facilities and landscape within the extremely complex and diverse urban and natural conditions of the city, somehow inspired by the mythical examples of the modernist architecture of Rio de Janeiro (especially from the heroic period of the 1950s and 60s), which have always been a reference for us.
Marina da Gl贸ria (sailing) Rio 2016, proposal bid image
Olymplic park (aerial view) Rio 2016, proposal bid image
top: International broadcast centre, Media press centre bottom: Indoor training centre Rio 2016, proposal bid images
MMBB VILA ROMANA RESIDENCE The design of the Vila Romana Residence is derived from the twin imperatives of topography and usage. It is situated on a corner plot with views of the neighbourghood’s principal valley, with a drop of 10 meters from one side of the site to the other. The first question to be tackled was that of creating an artificial terrain that would allow for easy transit around the external areas and their use for day-to-day activities. The second question was that of the residence’s dual usage. The building houses not only the residence but also the working studio of the artist owner. The strategy adopted was to divide the building into two autonomous blocks. In contact with the terrain is the studio block, partly embedded in the hill and illuminated by an overhead opening. Suspended above the terrain is the block containing the residence itself, open to the views that surround it. Its internal layout is designed to facilitate integration and fluidity between separate sectors for living, sleeping, cooking and the service area. Between the two blocks, on the slab that forms the roof of the studio, a large veranda has been created, partly in shadow. Another space, uncovered, occupies the top of the slab over the residential block, increasing the total external area. The suspended block is supported on only four points, with prominent overhangs. The two solid slabs that support it are constructed from exposed prestressed concrete. A further layer of concrete conceals the steel reinforcing elements. This concrete and the window system form the façade of the building. The concrete slabs, once polished, form the floor of the interior environment, with no need for additional surfacing, and conical niches in the concrete allow for the direct installation of lighting. It is this succession of constructional features that defines the project as a whole.
Vila Romana Residence (main faรงade) Sรฃo Paulo, 2005
top: music centre (northeast view) bottom: music centre (general view) Campos do Jord達o, 2009/2010
MUSIC CENTRE A clearing made in the middle of the forest will, for a while, become the centre of the lives of a group of young musicians in training. The Music Centre will be built in a natural park next to the town of Campos do Jordão, which attracts many tourists during the Brazilian winter. It will be a place of study and cohabitation for the 180 young musicians who take part in the town’s annual International Winter Festival, one of the most important classical music festivals in Latin America. Its installations – accommodation, teaching and recital rooms, shared spaces, restaurant and respective support areas – will occupy the two existing levels in the area where the centre will be built, in a manner designed to preserve and emphasise close contact with the natural environment: the areas for collective use are seen as being in contact with the terrain while the areas for individual use stand out from the topography to take advantage of its broad perspectives. The sloping bank between the two levels, previously merely a result of enormous movements in the earth, is redesigned to become a key element of the scheme. In opposition to its solid surface and completing the envelopment of a space insinuated by itself, a volume replete with movements and sounds that escape from its transparent elements, forming a patio: a clearing defined by music. The ground level, which provides access and contains the administrative facilities, was designed above this volume and will thus be amplified beyond the limits of the upper level, creating, high up, shared spaces looking out onto the landscape. Finally, above the sinuous patio, falls the shadow of the rigorous form of the accommodation block, creating another limit to the design of the clearing, which, in drawing together the windows of the teaching rooms, the access walkways, stairs, circulation in the accommodation block and the slopes converted into grandstands, makes its activities a spontaneous and integrated part of the project, a place of encounter.
ANTONICO CREEK The urban project for Antonico Creek is the result of the articulation between two spheres of project research. The first operates on a redefinition of the paradigm of urban infrastructure. The second, on the construction of aspects of the popular imagination which bear upon the use of space. Technically, it seeks alternative ways of reconciling the favela with its waterways. The strategy is to separate their flows. Only the central channel is maintained at the surface, augmented by controlled flood overflows compatible with the density of the urban fabric. Heavy rainfall is directed to an overflow gallery. The creek, now recharacterised, becomes one of the principal local structures, potentialised by dynamics of usage that protect it from future invasions The design of the channel, no longer seen merely as the product of a technical artefact, leaves it open to innumerable possibilities for resignification on the part of the local population. The aim is to promote the construction of a public domain. The strategy is to associate open spaces with uses evoked by the culture of the ‘urban beach’. On a beach, spontaneous ways of negotiating the use of space make coexistence both proactive and desirable.
Antonico Creek, re-urbanisation (plan of the typical section) S達o Paulo, 2009/2010
Antonico creek, re-urbanisation (view of the main square) S達o Paulo, 2009/2010
above and next pages: Harmonia_57, 2008 Vila Madalena, São Paulo Photos: Greg Bousquet (above), Nelson Kon (next pages)
Triptyque Water for Triptyque has been the subject of a specific research. We are interested in simple architectural concepts that relate to the power of nature and alternative energy solutions that respect the environment. Harmonia_57 was our first project inpired by the proximity with tropical nature. The use of vegetation and water gave the office building a new level of sensibility by giving life to a static, concrete structure. The Médiathèque d’Osny employs the same such concepts as Harmonia_57, and benefits from all our previous experience in implementing a complex dynamic heating and cooling system.
Harmonia_57 Harmonia_57 is a building that, like a living organism, breathes, sweats and changes over time, recovering and modifying. The intention was to make the moss grow, covering all the external walls and giving a unique aspect to the construction, bringing to life the different phases of the façade’s evolution which is under the influence of dynamic events, both natural and created, such as rain, vegetal growth, pumping and irrigation. This project privileges the water system through low-tech elements –its tubes, plumbing tanks and sprinklers – which are the entablature of the building, thus offering different border elements, some of which form its guard rails. Water is the main feature in this project: rain and soil water are drained, treated and reused, creating a complex ecosystem. The core of Harmonia_57 is exposed on its façade. The irrigation pipelines that serve the whole building, along with the pumps and the water treatment system, embrace the outer walls like veins and arteries of a body, as if the construction had been designed inside out. This contrasts with the building’s rather clean, minimalistic inside. The two large blocks, both covered in vegetation, are interconnected by a metallic bridge with concrete terraces, glass windows and railings. In order to create a dialogue between the street and the building, the terraces are spread on each floor, creating an analytical visual game between the two volumes. The front block is completely suspended, floating on pilotis, while the back block is solidly on the ground, complemented by a bird-shaped volume which sits on top of it. This project, organised around a plot, functions as a neutral and primitive basis, pierced with spaced out pores that contain different types of plants. The façade’s aesthetics, evolving and heterogeneous, will in time assume different forms and colours. Contrasting with the rough vegetation enveloping the exterior, the internal spaces of the building have smooth and monochromatic surfaces, lined with decks and patios, interrupted by protruding concrete lips that frame the skyline of Vila Madalena.
Médiathèque d’Osny (model) Osny, France, 2010
Médiathèque d’Osny
(with Bidard & Raissi Architects)
Médiathèque d’Osny (Osny, France) is not a simple, static structure, but the expression of the dynamic heating and cooling system that irrigates and brings the building to life. The project’s innovative concept is the choice of a tempered and recycled water system used on the roof, falling in water curtains into the pond covering all the building. This, depending on the seasons, heats or cools the building. This solution is based on very low tech building processes demanding a very low investment, both in construction and maintenance. The proposal, due to its potential geo thermal use, will cover a huge part of the heating and cooling needs. The water reservoir, the central figure of the fluid circuit, becomes an iconic sign emerging from the media library. The thin water curtains, bordering the roof line, are vertically structured by steel frames and fall into special receivers designed to avoid any nuisance or discomfort linked to water splashes or sound impacts. This technical concept emphasizes the space fluidity and allows future evolutions of the layout, such as media type changes and programmatic evolutions. The generous soil implantation permits discreet and smooth evolutions of the upper levels in harmony with the surrounding building scale. The building is designed as a continuation of the public space, seeking maximal transparency, opened to all and easily accessible.
VAZIO S/A The Ultimate Skyscraper At once a fiction and a documentary about a skyscraper that grows indefinitely and eventually eliminates São Paulo, The Ultimate Skyscraper (O Condomínio Absoluto, 2009, Editora C/Arte, Belo Horizonte) departs from an analysis of ‘Maharishi SP Tower’ – the Dravidian-style would-be tallest building in the world proposed by The Beatles ‘ex-guru’ Yogi Maharishi for São Paulo in 1999 – to then distort and pervert the facts. According to the fantastic tale, the Tower would be 85 times taller than the tallest building in the world. In the first book (the illustrated fantastic tale), author Carlos Teixeira criticises Brazilian contemporary architecture in an ironic way and describes how the building would end up swallowing the whole city, embracing its main works of architecture such as Copan, Hotel Unique, Mosteiro de São Bento, Oca, and MASP; transforming São Paulo into a single, vertical gated community. The second book presents pictures of 70 blocks that would be knocked down if the tower was built in downtown São Paulo. It also reproduces countless articles published in the Brazilian press, about the subject and presents the chronology of the building, starting on May 12, 1999, at the time of the launch of Maharishi SP Tower in São Paulo’s main newspapers. The book has drawings by Portuguese illustrator Vasco Mourão, and text, research and original sketches by Carlos Teixeira.
Opposite and next pages: The Ultimate Skyscraper, 2009 illustrations: Vasco Mourão
top: Buritis Neighbourhood, 2009 photo: Louise Ganz left: Topographical Amnesias II, 2009 photo: Eduardo Eckenfels
Topographical Amnesias II
(with Louise Ganz)
The buildings in a mountainous, middle-class district of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, were built on hilly terrains without any consideration of topography. This inconsiderate architecture generated the so-called concrete palafittes under the buildings; creating an eerie, suburban cityscape where the palafittes are as tall as, or sometimes even taller than, the buildings they support. These buildings are divided by two completly unconnected spaces: below, a labyrinth of concrete pillars; above, middle-class flats. They have a single structure built on a single plot, however generating two possibilities of occupations radically separated, and mirrored by the pilotis. Topographical Amnesias II was an intervention commissioned by ‘Armatrux’, a street theatre company, in order to trigger new uses for these monumental voids. The event was an architectural intervention which transformed a previously under-utilised space with airs of a rubbish dump. Architecture, landscaping and environmental reclaiming are intermingled and worked as an urban set for the theatre play. It was marked by a stage/audience made of suspended gardens, wooden platforms, ladders, ramps and a large bio-degradable blanket that covered the backdrop of the palafittes. The sequence of contiguous pillars was penetrated by walkways threading between two buildings and winding up four floors above the access level, which was a vacant plot behind the palafittes.
BCMF Established in 1995 by partners Bruno Campos, Marcelo Fontes and Silvio Todeschi, BCMF Arquitetos has been involved in a broad range of projects. Their practice is highly diversified in terms of scale and typology, ranging from interior design and commercial and residential buildings to large-scale projects, such as the Deodoro Sports Complex, designed for the Rio 2007 Pan American Games as well as twenty venues and facilities for the Rio 2016 Olympic candidature. MMBB Created in 1991 by Fernando de Mello Franco, Marta Moreira and Milton Braga, the practice has established itself through its international collaborative projects in the development of public and institutional designs. Keen to maintain a critical and analytical stance, MMBB has also extended its activities to the cultural and academic sphere by organising or participating in cultural events, exhibitions and biennials, as well as by engaging in academic activities through teaching and research. TRIPTYQUE Established in São Paulo (2000) and Paris (2008), Triptyque is a French-Brazilian practice run by Greg Bousquet, Carolina Bueno, Guillaume Sibaud and Olivier Raffaelli. Known for innovative projects such as the Harmonia_57 building (São Paulo), the Médiathèque d’Osny and a skyscraper in Issy Les Moulineaux (France) and their participation in various Biennales, such as Venice (2008 and 2010), Hong Kong (2009) and São Paulo (2009 – 1st Prize for Constructed Buildings). VAZIO S/A Founded in 2001 by Carlos Teixeira, the practice seeks an active role in which the city and its problems are stimuli for new projects: actions in urban voids, architectural interventions in mining areas, and landscape design in vacant plots – a vision in which informality and a lack of planning are seen as pointers towards new solutions and opportunities. RICARDO DE OSTOS Director of NaJa & deOstos, a London-based studio developed as a platform for experimental architectural design, Ostos is Unit Master at the AA School of Architecture in London, director of the AA Madrid Summer School and guest professor at École Spéciale d’Architecture, Paris. He is a co-author of the books The Hanging Cemetery of Baghdad (Springer, Vienna and New York) and Ambiguous Spaces (Pamphlet Architecture 29, Princeton Architectural Press). www.naja-deostos.com
Acknowledgements The curator would like to thank: Laura Barbi (Embassy of Brazil), BCMF, Carol Burwood (ABC Imaging), Nick Compton (Wallpaper*), Emma Emerson (RIBA), Eleonor Fawcett (Design for London), João Guarantani (Embassy of Brazil), Sarah Ichioka (Architecture Foundation), Catherine Ince (Barbican Centre), Nannette Jackowski (Naja deOstos), Samantha Lee (Naja deOstos), Zhen Li (AREA China), MMBB, Carlos Pachá (Embassy of Brazil), Sophie Perry (British Council), Elias Redstone (Architecture Foundation), Vicky Richardson (British Council), Ellie Stathaki (Wallpaper*), Abraham Thomas (V&A), Triptyque, Vazio S/A and João Henrique Wilbert.
Ministry of External Relations
Credits
Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim Minister of External Relations
exhibition management & catalogue design Laura Barbi
Antônio de Aguiar Patriota Secretary General of External Relations
revision João Guarantani and Michael Marsden
Ruy Nunes Pinto Nogueira Undersecretary General for Cooperation and Trade Promotion
printed by Aldgate Press, London Catalogue circulation: 1,500 copies
Eliana Zugaib Director of the Cultural Department Mariana Lima Moscardo de Souza Head of the Division for Cultural Promotion
© texts: the authors and the Embassy of Brazil in London © images: the architects
Embassy of Brazil in London Carlos Augusto R. Santos-Neves Ambassador Carlos Pachá Head of the Cultural Section
Opened in 2001, Gallery 32 is an exhibition space maintained by the Embassy of Brazil in London. Hosting a varied programme of exhibitions, screenings and talks, Gallery 32’s main aim is to promote Brazilian culture in all its vibrancy, with a focus on modern and contemporary art, architecture and design.
gallery 32 32 Green Street | London | W1K 7AT +44(0)20 7399 9282 | www.gallery32.org.uk Tuesday to Friday, 11am-6pm | Saturday, 11am-5pm
Published by the Embassy of Brazil in London for the exhibition Swarming Futures 25 June – 11 August 2010
gallery 32
Vazio S/A, The Ultimate Skyscraper, 2009 illustration: Vasco Mour達o