A CITY WITHIN A CITY PAVILION FOR THE SEOUL BIENNALE OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM 2021
Cover image: Illustration created by the Biennale General Direction for the 2021 edition topic presentation: Corossroads.
Project declared of Ministerial Intrest by MEC Res. 0555/20
Project created by:
MFArchitects
Matías Fagúndez Juan M. Montans 2
Index Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism .......................................................................... 04 Project timeline ....................................................................... 08 Team ........................................................................................ 10 A City Within a city: The project .............................................................................. 12 A City Within a city: The Pavilion............................................................................. 16
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Imagenes de la exhibición de la Bienal de Arquitectura y Urbanismo de Seúl de 2009, “Collective Cities”. Imagenes cortesía de la Bienal de Arquitectura y Urbanismo de Seúl 2021.
Dongdaemun Design Plaza: Lugar donde se llevará a cabo la Bienal de Arquitectura y Urbanismo de Seúl en septiembre de 2021. Imagenes cortesía de la Bienal de Arquitectura y Urbanismo de Seúl 2021.
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SEOUL BIENNALE OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM The 2021 edition of the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism (SBAU) will be the third edition of this event, which in its last edition in 2019 (“Collective Cities”) gathered projects from 54 countries and received over half a million visitors. Traditionally, the SBAU is formed by five sections, each with its own separate exhibition. This third edition will radically transform the organization of the SBAU to address as large an audience as possible, across all sectors of activity and ages. To achieve this, the SBAU 2021 will merge for the first time the Cities and Thematic exhibitions in a single main event located at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. The French architect Dominique Perrault has been appointed General Director of the 2021 SBAU. Dominique Perrault is the director of the world prestigious architecture firm named after him that designed and built an important number of buildings around the world, some of which in South Korea. Dominique Perrault has curated several biennales and exhibitions, including the curatorship of the French Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2010 (“Metropolis”).
seoulbiennale.org 5
Afiche llamado de propuestas para la BSAU 2021.
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PROJECT TIMELINE
“City–Prison” project presented at the School of Architecture of the University of Naples Federico II, Italy
“City–Prison” project presented at the School of Architecture of Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
“City–Prison” thesis (developed over 2018) presentation at the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism of the University of the Republic (Udelar), Montevideo, Uruguay 8
Development of the project “A City Within a City” based on the thesis project “City–Prison” for its presentation at the 2021 SBAU
“A City Within a City” is shortlisted for the 2021 SBAU together with other 120 proposals
Presentation of the Project for the 2021 SBAU together with other 440 proposals
“A City Within a City” is selected for the 2021 SBAU together with other 50 proposals
“A City Within a City” is declared of ministerial interest by the Ministry of Education and Culture of Uruguay
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TEAM MF Architects was founded at the beginning of 2020 by three partners: Matías Fagúndez, Isaac Khafif and Juan Mateo Montans. MF Architects deals with the different stages of medium to large scale projects all over the world. The firm’s underpinning conviction is that research and participation in a great variety of cultural activities is a very important aspect of architectural practice. Within this framework we decided to present the project “A City Within a City” to the 2021 SBAU, based on the thesis project of two of the partners of the firm. In the submission to the BSAU we worked together with the plastic artist Juan José Montans who created the watercolor illustrating the general concept of the project. We also want to mention the contribution of Architect Emilio Nisivoccia, professor and researcher at the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism, Udelar, and Architect Gustavo Vera Ocampo. Both of them devoted precious time and energy to understanding the project and suggesting relevant ideas.
mfarchitects.design 10
juanjosemontans.com
TEAM IN CHARGE OF THE PAVILION “A CITY WITHIN A CITY” BSAU 2021 A licensed Architect graduated with an Architecture Degree from the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism, Udelar, in Montevideo, Uruguay. He collaborated in several research projects on modern architecture in Uruguay. In 2017 he completed one academic term at the University of Porto, Portugal. In addition to working in the Real Estate Construction sector as Site Manager for affordable housing and public spaces, he has worked at elite prestigious architectural firms (such as Kimelman Moraes and Kopel-Sanchez). During 2019 he made a trip around the world (Americas, Asia and Europe) where he could see first-hand numerous architectural works. A licensed Architect graduated with an Architecture Degree from the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism, Udelar, in Montevideo, Uruguay. He is professor of History III/He teaches History III/He is a lecturer in History III at that Faculty. He collaborated in several research projects on modern architecture, heritage and housing. He studied (one academic term) at the Technical University of Lisbon in 2015, thanks to a Santander scholarship. He worked in the public administration at the Uruguayan Housing, Urban Planning and Environment Ministry and in the private sector in several architectural firms in Montevideo and New York. During 2019 he made a trip around the world (Americas, Asia and Europe) where he could see first-hand numerous architectural works. He begins to study drawing and painting at 13 years of age with Esteban Garino in Montevideo, Uruguay. During his early years he participates in several plastic arts workshops such as the Círculo de Bellas Artes and Sergio Curto Atelier. After his first exhibitions and awards in Uruguay, at 20 years of age, the local Rotary Foundation of Rotary International grants him a scholarship to carry on his art studies abroad. He travels to the United States, where he attends courses by famous teachers like Joseph Hirsch and Mario Cooper at the National Academy School of Fine Arts of New York. In Woodstock, he also takes watercolor classes with the consummate artist John Pike at the John Pike Watercolor School. From 1989 to 1993 he lives between Uruguay and Spain, where he carries out numerous collective and individual exhibitions. In 2014 he participates in “Portals of Perception” exhibition in New York. His works are now exhibited permanently at the Galería Ciudadela in Montevideo and Punta del Este. In the past ten years he has been working the creation of surrealistic scenes, merging different, sometimes contradictory elements in one single scene.
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A CITY WITHIN A CITY: THE PROJECT The project submitted is located in Montevideo, capital city of Uruguay. A prison is a small city where a specific part of the society lives. It is a prototype of a city where the utopy of social control finds it ultimate realization. Thinking a prison implies thinking the city, it is a field of urban and social experimentation. This project contributes to the safe/risk crossroad (one of the five crossroads proposed by the Curator of the 2021 SBAU) and approaches the issue of risk from the perspective of society, from the implicit violence in its social and economic model. Human beings and their economic and social organization pose risks for society as a whole, and prisons are one of the instruments of control that deal continuously with the balance between risk and security. Our research derives from, and tries to answer, the following questions: How should a contemporary prison be? What links should it create with its surroundings and with other programmes? Should it be located inside or outside the city? Prisons are cities within cities, made invisible by a wall. The physical space between the city and the prison, between the inside and the outside, gives us a window of opportunity, of exploration, where an essential issue is the integration of two worlds that are cause and consequence of each other.
Proyecto PFC Ciudad - Cárcel 12
No title, watercolor 47x32, Juan José Montans, 2018
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01
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Perspectives: Prison = City
A - The main avenue
C
Urban plan: Spaces “in between”
B - The main square
Perspective: Space “in between” 01 - joint between city and prison
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B
C - Street - residential
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A CITY WITHIN A CITY: THE PAVILION The artwork seeks to create an immediate impact on visitors, inviting them to approach and discover. We propose to use a cylindrical volume, 4 meters in diameter and 2,5 meters high, which will be supported by two quarter circumference walls located in opposite sides. From the ceiling, shivs (cortes carcelarios) will be hung. These shivs are bladed weapons made by detainees from different elements found in the prison (iron bars, metal plates, springs, pieces of wood, etc.), that mark the culture of violence prevailing in prisons. The floor will be of a reflecting material, reinforcing the feeling of threat on the visitors who, when looking down, will see the weapons as directly threatening themselves. The internal part of this cylinder will be covered by a watercolor illustrating walls and a skyline. Information in text format and in QR that link to the catalog and other resources will be shown in the walls supporting the cylinder. The perimeter of the pavilion will be closed by plastic translucent light blue curtains hung from the topmost of the cylinder, covering the whole façade.
360º visualization 16
Render pavilion - interior looking to the floor
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Floor plan
Section 18
Axonometric perspective 19
MFArchitects
Matías Fagúndez Juan M. Montans