Back to the Basics
You can always rely on the team at Archinect to stir up a good discussion, and their last two features are decidedly on point. Most of the contributions in their 20 Predictions for ‘09 and the general state of the “architecture industry” described in their survey paint a pretty daunting picture for architectural practices in the coming months (maybe years). The shared opinion is that the party’s over; that we’re well past the days of big architectural commissions and splurges, at least for the meantime. Some architects are actually giving up on the idea of building itself.
Can’t say we didn’t see it coming. In our latest issue of Verb (published back in March under the now seemingly omnipresent title of Crisis) we were already looking into the uneasy extremes of contemporary urban realities unraveling around the globe. Surprisingly, the issue ends in a somewhat optimistic tone. According to us and to the people that were featured in the boogazine, there are a number of alternatives to crawl out of the slump, and yes, some of them even involve…building!
Featured in Crisis was the Chilean “do tank” Elemental, headed by Alejandro Aravena (who has been racking up the honors lately, including the Silver Lion for Promising Young Architect at the Venice Biennale and an appointment as a member of the Pritzker Prize Jury). The Verb Monograph to be released this year will expand on the experience and work of Elemental as a project-oriented undertaking that has grown and established itself as a comprehensive social housing and urban planning initiative.
The Elemental Architecture book will guide us back to the basics of the practice: focusing on issues such as the provision of shelter, dignified space and social well-being. The most significant issue here might be that, despite the current obstacles, there is a way for architecture to redefine itself through a social vocation, innovative funding and policy formulation schemes and the combination of standard building and “informal architecture” practices without having to resort to speculative or ephemeral solutions. It might be too soon to drop the brick and mortar.
More:
Verb Crisis reviews on WMMNA and ICON magazine
ELEMENTAL website
January 22nd, 2009 at 14:12
Hola! Molt ben el Blog…
I just realized you now have an ‘Actar blog’ and wanted to say it looks very promising. I will certainly have a look at it once in a while.
Maybe the party is over for builders, but as stated in one of the last issues of ICON magazine, it probably also means more space for thinking and theorizing about architecture.
Regards
Léa-Catherine Szacka, London