Some questions to write about or at least consider for discussion before class tomorrow:
How is the concept of Amereida important to the Valparaiso school?
What is the Open City and why was it given that title?
How does walking and movement figure into the histroy of the Valparaiso group?
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1970: Open City: “Founded as a co-operative in Ritoque, a small coastal village to the north of Vina del Mar, it was conceived as a space of collective life and work which would bring together the disciplines cultivated by the School and was intended as an open site in the double sense that is was open to its destiny and had a vocation for hospitality.”
ReplyDeleteIt changed its status from a school to a foundation to open itself up even more; to even more people/artists/collaborators.
Walking & movement:
The Valparaiso School was deeply rooted in the concept of art and life together. Their architectural projects and "travesias" had to do with performance art, poetry, and architecture, demanding and incorporating movement as one aspect of the School's radicalist involvement with community.
- How is the concept of Amereida important to the Valparaiso school?
ReplyDeleteAmereida is a series of 3 books, and the first is argued to be the most important to the Valparaiso school. An epic poem by Godofredo Iommi; Amereida I recounts his trip in 1965 with architect Alberto Cruz and sculptor Claudio Girola. The group explored South America in search of a Latin American identity through various means, one of which was a study of maps, and star charts- an effort to subvert the conventions of map making. "thesis of our own north" (as an inversion of the map of America, juxtaposed with an image of the Southern Cross) This search led the group to investigate the counterpoint between abstract vision and organic vision, which influenced the framework of reference for the School of Architecture. Also of note in regards to the idea of Amereida and the Valparaiso School is the name of the works itself. Amereida being an allusion to the Aeneid, a "story of travel and foundation". Travel, of course being a very important influence on the group as a whole.
- What is the Open City and why was it given that title?
Beginning in 1970 and moving onwards, the design and research activities of the Valparaiso School became focused on what would come to be known as the Open City. Originally founded as a co-op, the Open City was started as a place in which life and work would collectively bring together the various disciplines of the Valparaiso School. "It was a city in a metaphorical sense and open because of the quality of its imprecise destiny" Deliberately lacking a model or foundational plan of development, the Open City became influenced by the impulses and principles of its inhabitants, dependent more on place and time rather than by rules or regulations.
- How does walking and movement figure into the history of the Valparaiso group?
Walking and movement were extremely important in the history and ideals of the Valparaiso school. The influencing ideals on the foundation of the school were written in a series of collectively pieced together text called the Amereida over a journey made in 1965. Traveling poets, performances, and investigative expeditions were seen as essential parts of the experience of being in the Valparaiso group, as these acts were seen as forging new links between art and the everyday life. With the hope that this life would then translate into new instruments of teaching or research. The importance of travel also was bred out of a sense of nomadic insistence, which brought into question the idea of place and permanence in regards to architecture. To the members of the Valparaiso group, travel and movement was a way to interweave life and work by combining the immediate reality of an adventure with the retrospective reality of the home.
The concept of Amereida is important to the Valparaiso School because it relates language (poetry) with architecture, form, and location. Amereida 1 "used maps and star charts" in a way which "subverted the conventions of mapmaking". Amereida demonstrated how the Valparaiso School could "build" their own texts, which directly relates to building structures in the sense that there should be a purpose, a direction, a means, and a process in both architecture and literature. The term Amereida is an allusion to the "Aeneid: a story of travel and foundation, an experience which assumes an epic stature". Exploring the environment was important to the Valparaiso School, the Amereidas represented this fascination with foundation and travel.
ReplyDeleteThe Valparaiso School called for a certain kind of lifestyle, "this is why they organized a a community as soon as they arrived in Valparaiso, which anticipated the later communal experience in the Open City." In other words, in order to completely embrace architecture, one must have a certain way of life that works harmoniously with their surroundings. The idea of consistency, in architecture as it relates to lifestyle, appears to have been a goal for Valparaiso School; Open City created a habitat for architects, an environment specifically for its creators (which did not necessarily require formal building structures).
1. The Valparaiso group built their own text on a collective basis, called the Amereida. Considered to be a “poem in circle” about the continent, it acknowledged its authority from the very beginning. There were three Amereidas published. The first advanced most proposals, the second was a travel log, and the third was a compilation of the travesias that were undertaken. Overall, the Amereida investigates the spatiality of the continent, opens a new and radical design dimension, and stimulates the realization of architecture.
ReplyDelete2.The Open City was a space of collective life and work that was intended to be an open site. By the 21st century, it had expanded outwards beyond its founders and owners by opening up to those who were interested in its ideas. The Open City was also considered a meeting place, a place for parties, tournaments, games and events. The space is large enough to contain multiple experiences. It was a place of custom, intimate, everyday, routine.
3.Within the Valparaiso school, there was a program of travesias, which were voyages of discovery. This was another method that would create new links between art and everyday life. For example, the Amereida I, a story of travel and foundation, was a journey over the southern part of Latin America. There were other studies of territory that dealt with the exploration of the American shores of the Pacific. Through their travels, the Valparaiso group came up with ideas of maps and star charts, which subverted the conventions of mapmaking. The Amereida travesias belonged to the founding, defining, recording, and proclamation of the vision of America, consisting of sculptured works, painting, design and architecture.