Raw Exhibition: Now Open

Paulo Mendes da Rocha’s model in context with the gallery space

 

Raw – New Brazilian Architecture exhibition has opened its doors last Saturday 21 June to great public accolade.  Some 200 people came to see the exhibition and meet some of the participating architects and speakers, many whom came from Brazil especially for the event. 

The exhibition was officially opened with a speech by Jaime Lerner, one of the world’s most innovative architects and urban planners.  Lerner reflected on the ‘Raw’ condition, saying he prefers things to be “raw” rather than “well-done”. Those who know his work can interpret this as an allusion to the fact that much of architecture and urban planning loose their initial “freshness”, artistic impetus and simplicity giving way to overtly complicated designs. Having been three times mayor of Curitiba and twice governor of the state of Parana, Lerner is a practical man, used to the restraints and challenges of planning and building in a country such as Brazil. He remains, however, forever an optimist:  One of his famous quotes affirming ‘ The city is not a problem, the city is a solution’.

 

The following speech was by the curator Ricardo de Ostos, who initiated his speech with a quote from Bertrand Russell:   “Everything is vague to a degree you do not realize till you have tried to make it precise.”  De Ostos continued to reflect upon the question of the ‘Raw’ concept having derived from the main theme of the London Festival of Architecture ‘Fresh’, instigating the question of what makes architecture ‘raw’ and ‘fresh’, and how the participants have dealt with those questions with the projects presented at the exhibition.

He then introduced the participating architects present: Franklin Lee and Anne Save de Beaurecueil from SUBdV; Fernando Maculan from Galapagos; Joao Domingos de Azevedo from Metro Arquitetura; Nannette Jackowski from NaJa&deOstos; Juliano Dubeux from Juliano Dubeux Arquitetos Associados and Igor de Vetyemy from Igor de Vetyemy Arquitetura Interiores e Design; and also guest journalist Gian Luca Amadei from Blueprint magazine.

 

 

Galeria 32 at opening night

 

Finally closing the speeches was the Brazilian Ambassador to London, Carlos Augusto R. Santos-Neves, who made a very relevant speech on the question of ‘Raw’ and Brazilian culture within and without Brazil quoting Claude Levi – Strauss’ Mithologiques’ ‘The Raw and the Cooked’.  Appropriately drawing a parallel between the work of the French anthropologist’s concept of “the raw” versus “the cooked” in association with the dichotomy between the natural world and the world of human culture. 

 

Naturally according to Levi-Strauss the raw / cooked axis is characteristic of all human culture, with elements falling along the “raw” side of the axis being those of natural origin, and those on the “cooked” side emerging from “cultural” origin, meaning those originating from human creation.[i]

From this perspective could architecture ever be considered “raw”, or does it automatically fall under the category of “the cooked”?

Amongst architects there seems to be an emerging need to re-evaluate the preexisting values attributed to the profession in order to achieve new solutions, and increasingly the possible answers seem to point towards a cross-over of disciplines, technologies and basic materials, which might change the way “the cooked” (or that created by man), comes into existence through innovative understanding of what “the raw” (or that which comes form nature), can offer which lay un-speculated.

 

Lerner himself says he prefers it “raw rather then well done”, and the exhibition at Galeria 32 certainly seeks to explore the subject through the speculation of various architects from various regions of Brazil, utilizing varying means of expression.  More than anything the exhibition is a platform for concepts and discussion to emerge and evolve in the thinking person’s mind.

 

 

The exhibition is open until 18 July 2008, from 11am till 6pm Monday to Friday.

Gallery 32
32 Green Street
London W1K 7AT
Marble Arch tube
+44(0)20 7399 9280

---

• [i] Mythologiques I-IV (trans. John Weightman and Doreen Weightman)
  • Le Cru et le cuit, 1964, The Raw and the Cooked, 1969

 

Tonight 21 June: Raw exhibition opening event

The participating architects have all arrived from Brazil:  Our guest of honour Jaime Lerner;  the young talent from Rio Igor de Vetyemy presenting his controversial project City of Sex;  the boys from Recife Metro Arquitetura and Juliano Dubeux (whose scale model of their Nox nighclub in Recife includes sound and light and scale DJs);  London based SUBdV Franklin Lee and Anne Save de Beaurecueil presenting their impressive 3D models produced with the aid of a rapid prototype machine;  the curator Ricardo de Ostos presenting his practice NaJa & deOstos and their Hanging Cemetery project; amongst the others.

Also the winners of the Student Competition from UFMG (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais) arrived in London for the first time ever: they were flow in courtesy of TAM and the Brazilian Embassy.  It is their first time in Europe, and they are very excited about being here and taking part in the event.

We are finally there, and the official opening event for Raw: New Brazilian Architecture is taking place tonight at Galeria 32. 

 The event will be oficially opened by a speech from the Ambassador CARLOS AUGUSTO R. SANTOS-NEVES, followed by a speech by Jaime Lerner, and finally by the curator Ricardo de Ostos.

Tomorrow Sunday 22 june all the participants come together at the Brazilian Embassy to present their projects and take part in discussions, which will encompass the concept of the exhibition RAW, and the role of Brazilian architects in presenting and producing fresh ideas and approaches towards architecture, the urban fabric and the environment. 

Unfortunatelly this event is fully booked, however if you would like to see more details about the exhibition and the debates, these will be posted here tomorrow and onwards on a regular basis.

Angelita Alves, architect and contributor.

 

Jaime Lerner – Guest of Honour

The organisers of Raw – New Brazilian Architecture are delighted to have as its guest of honour Jaime Lerner. One of the world’s most innovative and renowned architects and urban planners, Lerner was three times mayor of Curitiba, twice Governor of the State of Parana, he is a United Nations consultant for urban issues, and is one of the founders of Instituto Jaime Lerner, a centre created to disseminate urban management strategies.
Lerner will be heading one of the discussion tables this coming Sunday 22 June at Galeria 32, Brazilian Embassy.

Jaime Lerner
 
Lerner graduated in Architecture and Urban Planning from the School of Architecture of the Federal University of Parana in 1964. Responsible for the creation and structuring of the Institute of Urban Planning and Research of Curitiba (IPPUC) in 1965, he participated in the preparation of the Master Plan for Curitiba that resulted in the physical, economic and cultural transformation of the city. He was Mayor of Curitiba for three terms: 1971/75, 1979/83 and 1989/92. During his first term as mayor of Curitiba, Lerner consolidated the urban transformation and implemented the Integrated Mass Transport System, worldwide acknowledged for its efficiency, quality and low cost. In the two subsequent terms, in addition to the cutting-edge urban planning actions, Lerner intensified an encompassing program that resulted in social advances, ranking Curitiba among the capitals with the highest quality of life in the world. Elected Governor of Parana State in 1994 and re-elected in 1998, Lerner promoted the greatest economic and social transformation in its history. Supported by a successful investment attraction policy, Parana consolidated its position as the new industrial hub in the country, receiving US$ 20 billion in investments between 1995 and 2001. Emulating the successful experience of Curitiba, during his time in office Jaime Lerner tackled transport, land use, education, health, sanitation, recreation and industrialization as a whole. The developed policies resulted in Parana receiving the Child and Peace Award from the UNICEF for the “From the Street to School”, “Protecting Life” and “Teacher’s University” programs.

Curitiba masterplan

When not in public office, Jaime Lerner was intensely engaged in architecture and urban planning work. In the 60’s he and his team achieved two important awards in architecture contests: 1st  place in the National Contest for the Headquarters of the Federal Police, in Brasília – 1968, and 2nd  place in the Eurokursaal International Contest in San Sebastian, Spain – 1966. He was a member of the group of young architects who represented Brazil at the Paris Biennial Exhibition in 1969. In 1989 he was awarded the Silver Medal at the International City Design Competition promoted by the School of Architecture and Urban Planning of the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, USA. Lerner developed plans for several Brazilian cities, among which: Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Recife, Salvador, Aracaju, Natal, Goiânia, Campo, Grande and Niterói. He has also worked in Caracas (Venezuela), San Juan (Puerto Rico), Shangai (China), Havana (Cuba), Seoul (South Korea); and he is a United Nations consultant for urban issues. In addition to having presided the Brazilian Institute of Architects – IAB – Parana Chapter, he also received several state and national awards from that Institute for urban planning and architecture works. In the field of education, he is an Urban and Regional Planning professor at the Architecture and Urban Planning School at the Federal University of Parana and he was a guest professor at the University of Berkeley, California.
He is also one of the founders of Instituto Jaime Lerner, a centre created to disseminate urban management strategies. In July 2002, Lerner was elected president of International Union of Architects, for a three-year term. His main project at UIA is the program Celebration of Cities, which invites all nations and cultures of the planet to propose solutions for their cities. Since April 2003, Jaime Lerner presides the then created Jaime Lerner Associated Architects, with office in Curitiba. The company has an extensive staff of consultants and collaborators in several areas of knowledge, based on experience gained from Curitiba and other cities of Brazil and abroad.

 

Opera de Arame or ‘Wire Opera House’, Curitiba

Thinking outside the box:
As Mayor, Lerner employed unorthodox solutions to Curitiba’s geographic challenges. Like many cities, Curitiba is bordered by floodplain. While wealthier cities in the United States such as New Orleans and Sacramento, have chosen to build expensive, and expensive-to-maintain levee systems to build on floodplain. In contrast, Curitiba purchased the floodplain and made parks. The city now ranks among the world leaders in per-capita park area.
Curitiba had the problem of its status as a third-world city, unable to afford the tractors and petroleum to mow these parks. The innovative response was “municipal sheep” who keep the parks’ vegetation under control and whose wool funds children’s programs.
When Lerner became mayor, Curitiba had some poor neighborhoods impossible to service by municipal waste removal. The “streets” were too narrow. Rather than abandon these people, or raze these slums, Lerner began a program that traded bags of groceries and transit passes for bags of trash. The slums got much cleaner.
Similarly Curitiba has a nearby bay that was a dumping ground, and would be extremely costly to clean up. Lerner began a program that paid fishermen for any garbage they retrieved (by the pound). This way, they can fish even when it’s not the season for fish to be running and can supplement their income. The savings to Curitiba is in the millions.

 

One of the iconic ‘Speedy Bus’ platforms

 Prizes:
1990: United Nations Environmental Award, awarded by the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP)
1990: Annual Prize of the International Institute for Energy Conservation (IIEC)
1991: Scroll of Honor, United Nations Human Settlements Program, 1991
1991: Tree of Learning, IUCN, 1991
1996: Child and Peace Award, UNICEF
1997: Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture, University of Virginia
2000: Prince Claus Award, the Netherlands (2000)
2001: Pioneer 2001, International Council for Caring Communities (ICCC-USA)
2001: 2001 World Technology Award for Transportation, National Museum of Science and Industry, UK

 
For more information go to Jaime Lerner Institute website:
http://www.jaimelerner.com