Exhibition
on view January 27 – May 7, 2005
Cinco
de Mayo Party May 5, 7:30–11:00pm
Tickets
to the Party:
$15 online (www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=87272)
$20 at the door
For
more party information, call 212.683.0023 ext. 113
Introduction
The
work of twelve exciting young architecture firms from Mexico
City is the
focus of the exhibition Mexico City Dialogues: New
Architectural Practices, presented by the Center for Architecture.
On view are fourteen fresh projects, two of them still in development
and the rest completed within the past year and
a half. Also on display is contextual information—diagrams,
photographs, aerial images, texts—to suggest how the challenging
realities of Mexico City shape the work of these architects.
* * *
If
the 20th century began with the modern metropolis it certainly
ended with
the emergence of megacities. Recent voices have a renewed
interest in the way these cities inform and shape cultural and
professional attitudes, methods of work and design decisions.
In a global world,
cities are the economic engines and places where culture and
ideas flourish: the social and physical condensation that becomes
the
raw material architects operate with every day.
With
more than 18 million inhabitants and 80% of its area developed
without
the professional
intervention of architects, city planners or public agencies,
Mexico City presents an interesting condition for architects.
Its overwhelming
statistics, teeming population, insecurity, pollution and absence
of coordinated urban planning create a series of spaces and
opportunities for architects to negotiate, engage, and establish
a dialogue
with the city. This dialogue is an open relationship, different
from
a discourse relying exclusively on internal coherence and disciplinary
autonomy.
Specific
urban conditions permeate modes of working, shape architectures
and open up potential by accepting contingencies
rather
than negating or concealing them. While some of these contingencies
are shared with many cities, others remain specific: changing
demographics addressed through new typologies; legal ambiguities
overcome through
creative interpretation of a weak code; economic inconsistencies
inducing new modalities of finance; and ineffective planning
addressed through pragmatic and discreet forms of urbanism – all
forms of negotiation and strategies of engagement that align,
organize,
subvert or resist the conditions they face. – Jose
Castillo / Alejandro Hernandez
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The Architects
Aptilon
+ Nurko Arquitectos
Alejandro
Aptilon | Ricardo Nurko
Arañó +
González
Axel
Arañó |
Jose Miguel González Arpa
Armando
Oliver
Arquitectura
911sc
Saidee
Springall | Jose Manuel Castillo
Central
De Arquitectura
Moises
Ison | Jose Sanchez
Dellekamp
Arquitectos
Derek
Dellekamp
F304
Salvador
Arroyo | Alejandro Hernandez | Juan Carlos Tello
Frente
Arquitectura
Juan
Pablo Maza
Higuera
+ Sánchez
Javier
Sánchez
Rojkind
Arquitectos
Michel Rojkind Taller
De Arquitectura Mauricio Rocha
Mauricio
Rocha
Volvox
Inaki
Echeverria
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Past Events
As
part of the festival, the Center hosted the following events:
Exhibition
Opening
Thursday, January 27
Reception sponsored by Rocking Horse Cafe, Cuervo, Corona
Extra
Kick-off
Party with DJ TOROLAB from Tijuana, Mexico
Wednesday, November 17
Party co-sponsored by Storefront for Art and Architecture
An installation by the Tijuana-based arts collective Torolab opens at the Storefront
for Art and Architecture January 11, 2005
Mexico City Dialogues
Saturday, November 20
Selected architects and educators from Mexico City and
New York discussed topics including Education and Practice;
Nature of Commissioned Work; Politics, Competitions and Urban
Planning
Conversation
participants included:
Stan Allen (Princeton University)
José Castillo (arquitectura 911 sc)
José Luis Cortés (Universidad Iberoamericana and UIA)
Alejandro Hernández (F304)
Margaret Helfand (Helfand Architecture)
David Lewis (Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis)
Jonathan Marvel (Rogers Marvel Architects)
Enrique Norten (TEN Arquitectos)
Richard Plunz (Columbia University)
Mauricio Rocha (Taller de Arquitectura)
Fernando Romero (LCM)
Javier Sánchez (Higuera + Sánchez)
Corie Sharples (SHoP)
Saidee Springall (arquitectura 911 sc)
Irina Verona (Praxis and TEN Arquitectos)
Family
Day: Create a City! Building Marathon
Sunday, November 21
Fun hands-on Building Marathon workshop for kids. Organized by the New York
Foundation for Architecture with support from El Museo del Barrio.
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