On October 9-10 and 16-17, 2021, the School of Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin will host an international online conference on the power and duty of architectural criticism.
[tcl-gallery id = “1”]
Should architectural criticism be enlightening? Should it help in the creation of a better built environment? Is there a factual basis to it? Does it have a duty to present evidence in the evaluation of a building? Or should it take on what architects say about their designs?
In the context of a flat internet, should architectural criticism be able to define best practices? Does it wield the power over who is in and who is out?
Architectural criticism is at a crucial juncture
Architectural criticism, like all human endeavors, is at a crucial juncture. While serious architecture struggles for recognition, much so-called architectural criticism is merely a poorly paid, decorative legitimation for hyperbolic practice. Incisive architectural criticism is rare, while the definition of criticism itself has become opaque.
The conference organisation team has been seeking contributions that define the goals and methods of architectural criticism: What should be the ethical basis of architectural criticism? Can it be objective in the context of paid content? Should it outline ideal practices? July 30 is the deadline for submission of draft papers.
Conference Format
The online format of the two-day conference will allow active debate between audience and lecturers. The Keynote Lecturers are:
- Kenneth Frampton, New York City, USA
- Philippa Tumubweinee, Cape Town, South Africa
- Ruth Verde Zein, São Paulo, Brazil
- Zheng Shiling, Shanghai, China
Presentations will be concentrated to allow for ample discussion time. Besides the four keynotes, there will be a maximum of 16 short papers. The entire conference will be recorded and placed on Youtube. The conference language will be English. Registration for free audience places (max. 300) will open 2 July via icac2021contributions@gmail.com.
A new illustrated book on the work of multi-talented Gio Ponti has been published recently. It covers the Italian architect’s and designer’s complete oeuvre. Ponti’s core philosophy of modernism saw architecture as a representational object and a “self-luminous” stage for his humanistic art of living and boundless creativity. It is indeed no exaggeration to state that Ponti, who was born in 1891, shaped the appearance of modern Italy.
[tcl-gallery id = “1”]
For almost sixty years Gio Ponti, whose real name was Giovanni Ponti, designed the world with the greatest energy: Elegant skyscrapers, vases, tiles, armchairs, tables, chairs, villas, cutlery, ship interiors, wall mosaics, sculptures, drawings … One could continue this even further and yet not capture the oeuvre of Gio Ponti in its entirety: In his designs one can find all the styles of the 20th century, in some cases he even anticipated trends. He was a poet, designer, industrial architect, architect and interior designer all at the same time. Thus, his concept of art is to be understood very broadly since he always went beyond the respective categories and so created a complex creative universe with his designs, in which upon closer inspection one also recognizes a clear, unified vision.
Gio Ponti and his world of interiors, art objects, furniture, lighting fixtures, building plans, …
The German TASCHEN Verlag has now taken this as an opportunity to document the exceptional architect and his work in a massive book and the most comprehensive overview of his oeuvre to date. The book was produced in collaboration with the Gio Ponti Archive in Milan. As readers turn the pages, they are immersed in a world of interiors, art objects, furniture, lighting fixtures, building plans, hotel entrances, cruise ships, and much more. Even the book cover itself is a reference to a well-known floor covering by Ponti from one of his most famous designs, the Pirelli skyscraper in Milan.
[tcl-gallery id = “2”]
Italy at Ponti’s time: progressive, self-confident and future-oriented
The richly illustrated XXL book with about 136 projects shows Italy at Ponti’s time: progressive, self-confident and future-oriented. Like no other, Ponti, who was born in 1891, shaped the appearance of modern Italy. Berlin art director Karl Kolbitz has brought the works together in a detailed collection with illustrations of buildings, projects and plans, so that the book allows the viewer to float with ease through perhaps the most exciting times for design in the 20th century: Enthusiasm for technology and creativity come together with art and design history. It is also particularly noteworthy that each object appears in the original context in which Ponti originally created it. In this way previously unpublished materials and unposed photographs allow new dialogues between well-known masterpieces and the less famous, but no less lesser-known works, revealing new insights into his elusive life.
[tcl-gallery id = “3”]
Gio Ponti and his core philosophy of modernism
But who was Gio Ponti anyway, or rather, who or what was he not? In the booklet of the illustrated book one can find some answers to this question: In the essay by Gio Ponti’s grandson Salvatore Licitra, founder of the Gio Ponti Archive and curator of the exhibitions “Gio Ponti Archi-Designer” (Museè des Arts Decoratifs in Paris 2018) and “Gio Ponti” Loving Architecture” (MAXXI Rome 2019), as well while reading the interview with his daughter Lisa Licitra Ponti, who died in 2019 and through a detailed biographical text, written by Stefano Casciani, longtime editor-in-chief of DOMUS Magazine, readers will get a good insight into Gio Ponti’s work and person. He was a contemporary of the Bauhäusler, but unlike Walter Gropius for example, he was not a purist; the austerity of the latter’s architectural language was too boring and somewhat narrow-minded for him to see in it a new design. For him, both were important throughout his whole life: clear structure and decorative elements. He disliked the idea that only one of these should apply. His core philosophy of modernism therefore also saw architecture as a representational object and a “self-luminous” stage for his humanistic art of living and boundless creativity.
Ponti loved colors such as blue, tan, and yellow, and he had a weakness for complex and iridescent surfaces as well as for the play of light and shadow on a façade. He always worked according to the principle of just not letting boredom arise in the designs.
He simply followed his “flow”
Gio Ponti is generally seen as a trailblazer of modernism, but this is not entirely accurate and only represents an attempt to put his extensive body of work into one big bracket. It seems better though to assume that Ponti did not want to create any (own) styles or models at all, but simply followed his “flow”, as one would say today. This is particularly evident in his best-known building, the Pirelli skyscraper in Milan with its streamlined basic form, the almost floating roof and the construction almost without supporting pillars. This design brought Ponti worldwide fame, and he afterwards was commissioned to design everything from museums and churches to department stores.
For Ponti, the future of architecture was closely linked to communication: He founded DOMUS, a magazine that is still renowned today, and curated STILE – all of which were opportunities for him to share his interests with a large audience.
The book “Gio Ponti” is released as an Art Edition in addition to the limited XXL edition that is also limited to 1000 copies. The book, published by TASCHEN, is available here.
The Emscher Art Trail (Emscherkunstweg) is a permanent collection of art in public spaces: 18 works of art that are accessible to everyone at any time and free of charge. Along the Emscher, a river in the Ruhr area, Germany, one will experience the unique transformation of the river, which significantly accompanies the structural change of the Ruhr region. The 19th artwork on the Emscherkunstweg in the city of Duisburg is “Neustadt” by Julius von Bismarck in collaboration with Marta Dyachenko. The city of demolished houses is a memory machine and utopia at the same time. Since the beginning of May 2021, the installation at Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord is open to all.
[tcl-gallery id = “1”]
More than two years of planning and research went into the making of “Neustadt”. Von Bismarck, who lives in Berlin, asked Dyachenko, who is an architect and artist, to collaborate with him on the project. After researching the last twenty years of the history of construction, or rather of demolition, in the Ruhr region, they selected 23 no longer existing buildings that they wanted to bring back to life in the form of sculptural models. A stretch of green in the North Duisburg Landscape Park between the Alte Emscher (an arm of the Emscher River), the Grüner Pfad (Green Path) bike path, and the A42 autobahn will now be the home of the fictional city of buildings in a scale of 1:25.
Neustadt: a cross-section of local urban architecture
“Neustadt” is about city life on the Emscher River in the entire Ruhr area. The types of buildings and intended uses were not selected according to a strict system, but rather according to aesthetic and sculptural criteria with the goal of presenting a cross-section of local urban architecture. This means that a late 19th-century historicist apartment building from the city of Essen, Germany, can be found standing next to a residential complex from a model housing development in the city of Marl from 1965. Both of these are in the same neighborhood as models of residential prefab buildings testifying to the social history of the 1970s. Another building among others: the 16-story skyscraper nicknamed the “Weiße Riese” (White Giant) in Kamo-Lintfort, has an especially turbulent history and was finally torn down after standing empty for years to create space for something new.
[tcl-gallery id = “2”]
Reference to ecological issues
“Neustadt” is a “memory machine” that evokes memories beyond our personal experience. It also provokes questions about the development of the urban realm, such as: Why were these buildings demolished? Who gets to decide whether a work of architecture is worth keeping? Economic aspects clearly play an increasingly larger role. Who hasn’t heard the recurring argument that it costs less to construct a new building than to renovate an old one? What most people do not know, however, is that the construction sector is responsible for generating 38% of global carbon dioxide emissions today. Ecological issues are important to von Bismarck and Dyachenko, such as: How can we make construction more sustainable and urban planning more sensible, long-term, and/or flexible?
City of a future that never happened
Von Bismarck and Dyachenko elaborately transformed the buildings into sculptural models using concrete and steel, creating finely detailed ornamental window fixtures, wall reliefs, and countless tiny window panes made of acrylic glass. Although much attention was given to particulars, the artists’ goal was not to create exact, faithful renditions, but to make the buildings recognizable. In their eyes, the original buildings are “visions in concrete” that have been brought back to life in the “city of a future that never happened.” In time, the vegetation will spread into this fictional city, creating a shift in scale as weeds and plants begin to loom large like trees, although several buildings still stand taller than us even when shrunk. The new city of “old buildings” is a place to linger and reflect on the development of our immediate surroundings.
[tcl-gallery id = “3”]
Permanent collection of outstanding public artworks
The Emscherkunstweg is a cooperation between Urbane Künste Ruhr (Ruhr Urban Arts), the Emschergenossenschaft (Emscher River Basin Management), and the Regionalverband Ruhr (Ruhr Regional Association) under the patronage of Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen, Minister of Culture and Science of the State of North-Rhine Westphalia. The trail with sculptures along the path was born out of a temporary exhibition series called “Emscherkunst” (Emscher Art) and has evolved parallel to the transformation of the Emscher River by the Emschergenossenschaft. The goal of the Emscher Art Trail project is to establish a permanent collection of outstanding public artworks.
For more information click here.
/
Text Credits: Emscherkunstweg, Urbane Künste Ruhr
