Posts tagged "travelogue-2"

Modernity: A Menace or A Promise?

March 29, 2015

Photos and Text by Nikki Boncan- Buensalido (As seen in Urban Monologues v2.0, Business Mirror)

 

What does it mean to be truly modern? How did modernity come about and how did it evolve in the past century?

My most recent adventure took me to “Fundamentals” the 2014 Architecture Biennale which is currently on display in Venice, Italy.  The exhibition, which runs from July 6 until November 23, 2014 is the 14th international architecture biennale exhibition entitled “Absorbing Modernity 1914-2014” portrays the century that has passed highlighting the influences that changed the parameters of modern architecture.  Some countries were ravaged by war, destroyed, divided, occupied leaving people traumatized yet these countries have survived and have come out stronger.  The exhibitions of the different pavilions from various participating countries show how the elements of architecture have survived and how they evolved to put up with the latest ideas and inventions of their time.    These exhibitions aim to perform an “audit” of architecture and posts questions such as: “what do we have?”, “how did we get here”, and “where do we go from here”.  According to Paolo Baretta, president of the Biennale di Venezia exhibition, the presence of the national pavilions representing 66 countries, show national identity and the country’s ability to become a protagonist in the cosmopolitan world of art and architecture.

The “Elements of Architecture” exhibit curated by well-known Architect Rem Koolhaas offers a new perspective on the elements of architecture that should form the relationship between us- our civilization and architecture. The exhibition compiles a new body of knowledge that explores the often universally mundane parts of a building and highlights its evolution.  The floor, the ceiling, the wall, the roof, toilet, windows etc. are exhibited and broken down into parts and how it was developed over the past century.  With great courage and ambition, Koolhaas mentions that he was able to review the history of modernity in the past hundred years, and offers a new perspective of those “elements” that should constitute reference points for the new architectural prototypes of the next century.  Afterall, these elements, being the simplest parts of a structure will essentially never be removed no matter how the next century architectural models evolve.

As one lands in Venice, the biennale is celebrated everywhere.  The exhibit spaces are divided into three venues and showcase not just architecture but art, dance, film, theater and a music festival as well.  The summer sun complemented the exhibit space at the Giardini Gardens as well as the Corderie dell’ Arsenale grounds where the architecture pavilions were located.  What was effective for this Biennale was that it was truly about architecture and not a tribute to the architects themselves generally making the exhibit communicate in a more universal language.  It highlighted in-depth research, discourse and discussion on modernization of architecture rather than a simple portrayal of various architects’ works which made the experience even more insightful.

Upon disembarkation from the Vaporetto, the taxi boat that takes you anywhere in Venice, we were greeted by a pylon welcoming us to the biennale and signs that led us through the grounds.  Our first pavilion was the Stirling Pavilion which houses an exhibit of the past century’s effect on various countries thereby ‘Absorbing Modernity’.  The pavilions post the question of national identity being sacrificed to modernity as the development of global architectural movements and technological processes took over the once local and vernacular architecture.  It turns out that each country has adapted and evolved from their individual experiences, be it war, new technologies available or natural destruction, etc. to create their own definition of modernity.  Images compiled from various pavilions show how each country has locally adapted to the miles stones of modernity.

Milestones of Moernity – The Stirling Pavilion houses the exhibit that shows images compiled from different countries on how the concept of modernity has affected their design thinking and their built environment

Rem Koolhaas Exhibition on his “Elements of Architecture” was also top pick on my list of exhibits.  Upon entry of the main gallery, one is greeted by a 1:1 installation of the ceiling.  The exhibit talks about how the modern ceiling has become a faux representation, whose main purpose is to conceal utilities within it, increasing in space requirements over time, effectively decreasing the served spaces below.  It was interesting to see how the utilities were initially placed on the floor early on in the century and how it has technology has allowed us to transform the way buildings and ceilings are constructed.

Rem Koolhaas' Ceiling – Rem Koolhaas shows how the modern ceiling has become a faux representation, whose main purpose is to conceal utilities within it, increasing in space requirements over time, effectively decreasing the served spaces below.

Fundamentals - The exhibition compiles a new body of knowledge that explores the often universally mundane parts of a building and highlights its evolution. The floor, the ceiling, the wall, the roof, toilet, windows, stairs, elevators, etc. are exhibited and broken down into parts and how it was developed over the past century.

Various wall cladding installations were also displayed and Koolhaas was able to show how temperature and climate change affected building systems and how they work.  It made me think of how designers are constantly looking for solutions to improve living qualities and building techniques and how sustainable materials are incorporated more often at this time.  This just goes to show that designers are now more sensitive to climate change and how information has been widely available to the vast majority.  Experimentation and new inventions help push modernity forward keeping building technologies at par with the fast evolving times because of globalization and the internet age.

 Aside from the Central Pavilion where the “Elements of Architecture” were tackled, was caught my attention was the installation of the Architectural Association (AA) Students.  They replicated a 1:1 scaled model of Le Corbusier’s ‘Maison Dom-Ino’ which dates back to 1914. The structure was first designed as a prototype for mass-produced European housing whose design as been iconic images of 20th Century Architecture. “This initial installation will remind visitors not only of modern architecture’s most foundational project, but of an architectural instinct made even more apparent today than it was at the time of its original conception; namely that architecture always operates in the space created by a contrast between architecture as already known, and what it might yet become,” said Brett Steele, AA School Director.

Le Corbusier's Dom-Ino - A 1:1 scaled model of Le Corbusier’s ‘Maison Dom-Ino’ which dates back to 1914. The structure was first designed as a prototype for mass-produced European housing whose design as been iconic images of 20th Century Architecture

The French Pavilion caught my attention because it was challenging the evolution of Modernity as a menace or a promise of a better built environment.  The French have contributed a lot to modernity in terms of architecture and engineering.  The research inside the pavilion questioned if the large scale monotonous housing structures of heavy pre-fabricated concrete panels answered the questions of economic scale or monotony in design and which of these should be taken into consideration more: Design or Utilitarian Function? On the other hand, they also showed how structures like this which were put up in 1942 are now undergoing the process of re-urbanization.

Overall, the Biennale led to me think about how modernization affects those living in this time and age.  A century ago, the concept of modernity was so different from what it is now.  An introspection of the past points out that modernity always had the intention of trying to innovate and trying to improve the way of life through technology and new ideas.  It has challenged us to think of new ways on how to evolve as each generation is an improvement of the former.

In some ways, modernization has also affected our social relationships and how we interact with one another.  Personal touches disappear as one is all too dependent on man made machines. Cultural identities in architecture are less pushed to give way to a standard way of doing things such as pre-fabrication to achieve efficiency. Family communications are now limited as social media through the internet has depreciated one’s ability to personally communicate with another. It could happen that a family lives under one roof, yet they don’t see each other for weeks physically, since they are connected to each other virtually anyway. At the same time, this same technology has allowed information dissemination and new to spread faster and more efficiently.  More people are aware of current state of affairs.

Modernity is positive except that we have to be extra sensitive to what it affects, especially our social and cultural values.  One just has to think of how to balance the menaces and the promised of this new and constantly evolving society.  So to answer the question on whether modernity is a menace or a promise. Well, I guess it can be both.

THE STORY OF THE THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE

August 21, 2012

Text and Photos by Jason Buensalido , As seen in Urban Monologues, Business Mirror Newspaper (2007)

 

“Jorn Utzon, the architect of the Sydney Opera House, has never seen his masterpiece in the flesh since he left Australia in 1966.” said our animated tour guide. As if the design of the structure wasn’t interesting enough, I found out that the history of the building’s construction was even more colourful.

I recently took a trip to Australia where I felt like I was on another architectural pilgrimage. Any architect you talk to knows what the Sydney Opera House is, so it would be a shame if I didn’t see it with my own eyes. When I did, I didn’t realize that my jaw was dropped because the sight of the magnificent structure. It moved e, causing me to just stop and gaze in awe.

The idea of having an opera house in Sydney formed in the 940s, when a world-class visiting conductor came to the city to do a performance. He was able to talk to the city officials and told them that if they wanted to be a serious metropolitan, they needed to have a place where culture can flourish; they needed an opera house.

The visiting conductor probably hit an insecure nerve among the city politicians because after he left, they organized an international competition for the design of the Sydney Opera House. It was a very prestigious and high-profile competition, as over 200 entries were submitted from all over the world.

The entry of Jorn Utzon was already thrown in the trash can. Majority of the judges said that it was too different and too bold to be the new face of Sydney. Luckily, there was one judge who came in late and saw the entry in the can. He picked it up, spread it out, and showed it to once again to the other judges – “This should be our winner PRECISELY because it is different!”. Jorn Utzon, an unknown Danish architect, won 5000 dollars and the commission of the project. He moved his entire family to Australia and set up an architectural office there to oversee the construction of his work.

Originally, the budget for the opera house was 7-millon and the timeframe for construction was 7-years. What happened was it took 14 years to build, and about 102-million, which is about 1.2 billion today.

Naturally, the people of Sydney reacted during the course of construction. They started complaining that their tax money was being spent unnecessarily to build an opera house that they didn’t need in the first place. “We’re laid back people. We’re a country who loves the outback! We don’t need no opera house !”, I can almost imagine them say back in the 50s. The officials, since they wouldn’t take he blame themselves, they blamed the architect, Jorn Utzon. They tried to take him out of the picture and cut him out from the team to the point that he wasn’t being paid his salary anymore. Finally, in 1966, Jorn packed his bags and went back to Denmark with his family, giving up the fight for his masterpiece.

When he did, an Australian architect was asked to take his place. The Australians didn’t know anything about designing opera houses, so they were sent around the world for three years to study the design of different opera houses. They finished the  opera house on October 20, 1973 and was opened by no less than Queen Elizabeth herself.

The design of the building is very interesting as well. When Jorn Utzon was conceptualizing for the competition, nothing was coming into his mind. Luckily one morning, he was simply peeling an orange when he realized that the forms of his design could actually be derived from his breakfast! He then cut different triangular shapes from the orange’s sphere and put it together to come up with the final design of the opera house, calling it his ‘spherical solution’. Maybe architects should eat while designing too. You’ll never where you might get inspiration from.

The design of the Sydney Opera House was derived from triangular sections of a sphere. The architect was eating an orange one morning when he suddenly thought of a ‘spherical solution’.

The Sydney Opera house is consisted of three sail-like structures sitting on a podium. The smallest structure is a restaurant, and then the two are performance halls. The sails have a very modern sculptural quality and it makes you wonder how they were able to put together a structure as complicated as that way before computers. The sails are made of pre-cast panels held together by tension rods throughout the hollow portions of the structure. They say that the opera house has more steel than the Sydney Harbour Bridge nearby. The structure was actually put together like LEGO, the famous toy product which incidentally is from Denmark as well.

One would think that the exterior of the performance halls were purely white. But upon closer inspection, I found out that it is finished with tiles with 3 shades – off-white, cream, and beige. This makes sense because if it were too white, the structure would be too glaring. The tiles are triple glazed, which made the opera house one of the first self cleaning buildings in the world. The dirt from its surfaces simply creeps down to the drains whenever it rains. Meant to look like giant fish scales, Utzon got his inspiration form Moroccan buildings which are usually clad with tiles.

The surfaces of the opera house are clad with tiles of 3 shades – off-white, cream, and beige. The tiles are triple glazed, which made the opera house one of the first self cleaning buildings in the world. Meant to look like giant fish scales, Utzon got his inspiration form Moroccan buildings which are usually clad with tiles.

The first among the two performance halls is fondly called the black theatre because of its interiors, and is the smaller one between the two. It is an opera and a ballet theatre, with a backstage that can be lowered two levels down. That is where the sets are changed, since the space on the stage level is too small. In reality, there are a lot of flaws in the black theatre, and that is why it is due for a renovation soon, with a budget of 500 million.

Then we proceeded to the bigger performance hall. I thought that I had my share of awe that day, but I was further moved by the design of the interiors of the second hall. It had a soaring ceiling with a shape that seems to spring from the ground, changing and morphing into different configurations as it goes up. Unlike the other theatre, this one doesn’t have a proscenium. There are seats even at the back of the stage. There is no need for microphones during performances at this theatre because the combination of hardwood and softwood used for the interiors bounce all the sound coming from the stage back to the audience. The organ is equally impressive. It is the biggest mechanical organ in the world. It has about 140 pipes, took 10 years to build, 2 years to tune, and cost about 3 million dollars.

The three sail-like structures sit on a podium. Utzon got his inspiration form a typical Mayan temple, where you climb up a long set of stairs to get transported into a different world. In the same manner, going up the stairs of the podium was meant to symbolize your transportation to a world of art and culture, leaving the stresses of urban life behind. The heaviness of the podium also complements the lightness of the sails. This is where all the service spaces such as the practice stages and studios are housed.

The interiors of the big performance hall had a soaring ceiling with a shape that seems to spring from the ground, changing and morphing into different configurations as it goes up. The author fulfilling one of his architectural pilgrimages

I guess every high-profile structure has its own story. The Eiffel tower and the triangular entrance the Louvre was loathed by Parisians. The Statue of Liberty was rejected by the Americans when it first arrived. The Guggenheim Museums, both in New York and Bilbao, received endless negative criticisms. Now, all these structures are weaved seamlessly into their respective cities. They now stand as the foremost symbol for the people that once rejected them, just like the Sydney Opera House.