David Haber TUM Final paper 22 July 2013

Architectural representation and Spectacle

INTRODUCTION

Mechanical reproduction of art changes the reaction of the masses toward art. The reactionary attitude toward a Picasso painting changes into the progressive reaction toward a Chaplin movie. The progressive reaction is characterized by the direct, intimate fusion of visual and emotional enjoyment with the orientation of the expert. Such fusion is of great social significance. The greater the decrease in the social significance of an art form, the sharper the distinction between criticism and enjoyment by the public.
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Many of the predictions that Walter Benjamin DID in he!s essay The work of art in its age of mechanical reproduction have proven to be true, not only in the realm of photography and film. The adaptability of the different form of arts resulted in a revolution not only in the creation of art, but also in its perception. Architecture is not the exception.

The image has imposed itself as the most powerful mean of communication, and in the last 100 years it has been pushed even more by marketing. Today, the speed of production of images that are able survive in a constantly changing and demanding terrain has marked - and harmed- the production of architecture.

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For Benjamin architecture has always represented the prototype of a work of art the reception of which is consummated by a collectivity in a state of distraction 2. This has changed already, and this happened because of the need of architecture to adapt itself in order to survive. This turned out harmful, because in its intention to survive, the parameters which rule architectural design changed, from some kind of independent or autonomous discipline -until some degree- to adopt the means of communicational tools, thus misleading the general perception of architecture, which after some decades in turned out to result in architectures materialization of the Spectacle.

Architecture has always been linked to certain authorities, which allows some kind of independence and at the same time, provides the design principles which will guide the production: The same way that religion and new technologies set the ground for Gothic architecture to emerge, Socialism first, and free market later, provided the Modern Movement the canvas to build its authority. Today, the authorities that back up architecture are mainly two (with some important exceptions of course); real estate and marketing.

Most of the production of buildings today can be linked to one of these categories. The real estate industry and financial speculation demand the construction of a given amount of buildings; in simple words, architecture relies on its capacity to generate value. The limitations that this implies, can be seen in the result of housing production; what once could have been the agenda of a government or institution (such as the post war housing projects) today

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represent nothing more than the possible assets for a given construction company. Of course the limitations that this set for architectural design are enormous, opposite to the great possibilities that marketing architecture provides. Particularly in the sphere of representation.

Surprise, admiration or suspense; this and many others might be effects with some kind of value for the image industry. The speed with which this emotions take on the spectator have to coincide with the life expectancy of this images, this means they have to be automatic.

Just as the cover of a product in the supermarket; if it!s not attractive enough, its useless for marketing, or at least it will make harder to sell it. Architectural design has become in the same way a tool for this mean; this has many implications, which are not all bad. Many of the most significant works of architecture of the last years have been done in this context, they provide the most accessible scenario where costs is not the most important element, but at the same way establish their conditions; it has to sell. The requirements are Image and Spectacle.

The consequences of working on this rules are various, but the distance between the spectator/user and the work of architecture its proportional to the construction of a canonical image; when architecture magazines provided with spectacular images of a given building eliminate the possibility for the user to identify in a personal way with the work, in other words, it eliminates its Aura.

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We can see certain tendencies in the architecture of the last years that can be related to this phenomenon, for example, the cult for the personality of the architect, in other word, the Starchitects.

The film responds to the shriveling of the aura with an artificial build-up of the personality outside the studio. The cult of the movie star, fostered by the money of the film industry, not the unique aura of the person but the spell of personality, the phony spell of a commodity.
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The same happens when architecture becomes part of the Spectacle. If an image of architecture its repeated everywhere, if this image is provided with a non of this world feeling, a spotlight is created which has to be filled: the architectural genius.

Through the introduction of architecture in the realm of images and not in the physical world, the need for the author, the legitimation of authorship becomes inevitable. Architecture its not signed mostly - but the images are.

This means that architecture becomes an object with a direct line between the author and the result, which we all know it!s a debatable idea.

The identification with an architects work even though any building has been visited is a common thing today; but something that is not always considered is that this connection established between the work of architecture and the

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spectator is not made by the architecture, or even the author, but by a third mediator which if not anonymous, easily forgotten; the publisher . This third mediator has an immense power on the perception of architecture, and therefore in the production and more importantly, in the learning of architecture.

If an individual shows a particular interest in architecture, the point to start it will be with the publications, and not with architecture itself; even though architecture is consummated by a collectivity in a state of distraction, when it comes to a particular interest such as architectural students, immediately the state of distraction is broken and ironically the interest aims to a non-physical related world -which is where architecture takes place- and resides in the ever changing world of images and representation, which I think, and ill try to prove, its deceptive.

The role that institutions and authorities take part in this process is crucial; by supporting an architecture based on its capacity to surprise, they compromise not only the dynamics of the discipline but the production itself.

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MEXICO:A CASE STUDY IN ARCHITECTURAL INSTITUTIONS AND REPRESENTATION

Mexico is a country characterized by its centralization. Mexico city is probably the most obvious example; according to the UN
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about 113 423 millions

habitants lived in the whole territory, but Mexico City gathered 20 446 millions.

This results also in the economical and cultural centralization; even though other cities in Mexico are presenting a growth on its roll in the architectural scenario, Mexico City still presents the most important scenario for culture.

Architecture also plays a big role in Mexicos economy, around the 7.2 of the GDP
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comes from the construction industry; of course this represents an

important sector in the job market, and therefore in the educational system; this means, architecture is significantly important not only because its economical factor but because its place itself in culture and politics.

Surprisingly, the architectural forums are not proportional to this, even though there are many institutions that have an important roll in architecture such as independent galleries, universities and government institutions. For analysis matters it can be stated due to its range, that there are 2 dominant institutions regarding architectural representations: The Architects Association

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(Colegio de arquitectos de la ciudad de Mxico Sociedad de arquitectos mexicanos, CAM SAM) and Arquine which it declares itself the most diverse communication media between professionals, students and curious of architectural culture and practice in Latin America.6

For its roll well consider the Architects Association as the official institution, because of its popularity well consider Arquine the most influential.

II The Architects Association and the Mexican Biennale of Architecture

Its official character can be perceived by many means, for example, the price for the architects job is set by the Association, it also takes a leading roll when it comes to political matters, such as the declaration made at the beginning of 2013 when the government of the City decided to grant a project to the Swiss Firm Herzog & The Meuron for the reconstruction of certain parts of the city; the Association declared itself against it in representation of the Mexican architects.

Even though very important, this task can!t compare with the importance with the organization of the Mexican Biennale of Architecture. Every 2 years, architects from all around the country present their works hoping it will be recognized by the biggest authority; usually the best offices in Mexico show on their publications their achievements, being the Mexican Biennale the most respected of the national awards.

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The Biennale provides also for students, professionals and curious a sample of what is being done in Mexico in terms of architecture, and of course, it is expected to be the best of what has been produced, it sets the bar.

The realm of the image has introduced itself as well in the official authorities. What could be expected is that an official institution such as this, stays outside the limits that mass media place with its spectacle need. Apparently this is hardly the case.

2 examples might be illustrative to show this. It is important to note that what is being evaluated here is the roll of the Architects Association and the Biennale, and not the quality of the architecture of the following cases. They are both definitely great examples of architectural practice and by no means I intend to diminish its qualities. What is being discussed its not the quality, but to make an analysis on why this works got the attention even though they presented serious problems.

The first example is the Faculty of Veterinary and Zoological Medicine by the office Isaac Broid Arquitectura awarded with the gold medal in the 2008 Architecture Biennale For practical matters, we wont talk about the generalities of the Project which I repeat, I don!t intend to judge; but we might speak about the power of the image, which in my opinion is the result of orange block situated in cantilever in the top floor.

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This projects present conceptual elements, which might be very interesting as well the use of materials and the position on the site, but as a cherry on the top of the pie, the image of the spectacular element of the top clouds the rest.

The reasons for the decision of this structural audacity are uncertain, but the implications are not: budget problems and structural risk. The volume is closed to the context, even though the view might be better from the top, it is impossible to see the exterior, this means that this strong, powerful element is meant to be seen from the outside.

The most characteristic element of this project it has been done for the sake of the image.

The Biennale in 2008 decided to grant this project the gold medal, the general opinion was favorable and the pictures were taken. Publications where printed with a beautiful shot of the orange cantilever, the editor: Arquine.

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After this was done, reality stroked and due to structural risks, the element had to be supported with 2 columns.

As far as I know the building is well appreciated by its users and is considered an important landmark in the area. Actually some people might even not notice the added columns. But for the architecture spectator that visits a building with some expectations, disappointment is automatic. Most of the libraries at the universities have a copy of the publication of this project, and students trying to enlarge their vision on architecture today might find a deceptive image of a beautiful building which doesnt exists.

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The second work we will consider is the School for Visual Arts of the city of Oaxaca, project designed by the office Taller de Arquitectura Mauricio Rocha, winner of the 2010 Gold medal in the already mentioned competition.

I would like to note that the work that this office has done in the last years, probably is one of the most representative of architecture in Mexico. This young architect has been involved in many social projects, such as educational or governmental. It has always done it with a particular respect to the site. There!s no much discussion about it, academics and non-academics now that Mauricio Rocha is producing some of the most interesting architecture today in Mexico.

He!s architecture is regional, elegant, sensitive and provocative, and its most representative work is the following project that we will discuss in the matter of image and the effect on the actual building.

The particularities of this project are also not relevant at the moment for our study; our emphasis is made in the auditorium that presents, again, the boldest gesture

regarding its structure; the span its too long to preserve the thin measure of the concrete roof. The decision was made with previous knowledge about the structural risks; also here, image is imposing itself over the

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different elements to consider.

What makes this case interesting is that the problems that the walls presented got a lot of attention, mainly because of the internal politics of the public education system.

The director of the school, an architect himself, ordered the demolition of the wall due to structural risks. The discussion got to the media, and a big debate took place in the Internet, newspapers and publications. The author claims that they were informed of the risks, and they were working with engineers to solve them, apparently the risks weren!t threating the safety of the building in the near future.

After all, the auditorium of the School for Visual Arts in Oaxaca became an instrument for political discourse, either supporters or opponents, used the influence of the cover image for their own agenda.

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With 2 recent cases, where structural problems were found in the awarded buildings, the question has to be asked: what are the parameters that are considered to judge architecture?

One thing is for sure until now: image beats structure and construction.

III Arquine 6 months ago, Mexico City!s recent elected Mayor appointed the new secretary of urban development and housing. Many architects, city planners and urban planners were quite skeptical about it; the new secretary had a professional background on real state development, and they argued that this could present some conflict of interests.

Last year, the curator of the Mexican pavilion at the 2012 Venice Biennale open the exhibition showing the work of 13 offices, mainly public interventions such as cultural buildings, museums and parks.

Similarly to the case of the already mentioned, the director of the National Commission for Arts and Culture did the appointment for the curator. The elected architect was the editor of the most important written publication in

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Mexico, Arquine. The question made for the first case applies also for the second one: what about the conflicts of interests?

A private institution has the liberty to act the way it wants, because of this it is not in my interest to point out the flaws that I see in this important mentioned publication, but when its power range overlaps with the public realm it becomes relevant.

For Mexico it was an important year at the Biennale; in a bilateral agreement the S.t Lorenz Church was established as the permanent pavilion for at least the following 9 years. The format of the exposition was quite disappointing.

Even though the works on the inside of the church were still being done at the moment, the installation was done in the atrium of the church. A temporary structure covered with color panels protecting the screens, which each one of them was showing the works being exposed. The architecture was none, the panels, a poor attempt to make the installation interesting. The fact

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that the works were being showed only through video enhances the character of the buildings in a particular way: spectacular.

The pavilion was a reproduction of the previous publications done by Arquine; same architects, almost same format. No surprise there wasn!t any favorable or important reaction. Comparing it to other works, such as the one made by Urban Think Tank, it appears that the theme of the Biennale, Common Ground, went by complete unnoticed.

It looked like an excuse to reproduce again what had been reproduced already in the publications, no criteria in the project selection or in the ways of representation, just an automatic, almost immediate exposition through videos, images and some text.

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What is important here it is the overlapping of different spheres with a lot of influence in the realm of architectural representations. Magazines such as Arquine are everywhere, and they are important and have a crucial roll in architecture; the problem it!s the limited counterbalance. Public institutions should be there to promote the work in a different scale; the individuals against the spectacle and the stars.

Public and private institutions -which apparently are almost the same- are mixed, and the popularity of one of them is blocking the influence of the second one. Alternative means are needed in order to break with the continuous reproduction of images that cloud the spectator!s reception of architecture; closeness, scale and experience have to regain their roll in the sphere of architecture representation in order to see its influence in the built world.

IV Alternative means
The spectacle which inverts the real is in fact produced. Lived reality is materially invaded by the contemplation of the spectacle while simultaneously absorbing the spectacular order, giving it positive cohesiveness. Objective reality is present on both sides. Every notion fixed this way has no other basis than its passage into the opposite: reality rises up within the spectacle, and the spectacle is real. This reciprocal alienation is the essence and the support of the existing society. 7

Going back to Walter Benjamins essay, we can make a close up to the way architecture might act in societies perception, that is, as cultural legacy. There

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are 2 ways that buildings might be appropriated by the spectator; use and perception. The former can be related to the touch, the latter to the sight.

Tactile appropriation is accomplished not so much by attention as by habit, considering the definition of habit as a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up8, we can note that the basic condition to appropriate a building by use demands a broader factor of time. Immediacy of images are an obstacle for the appropriation of a building; this is a common problem in architectural representations, the limitations on time tie their means to only the appropriation through sight, which result in incidental fashion and the acquisition of canonical value, very useful elements for architecture to become spectacular and fulfill the task of some kind of marketing.

In relation to Benjamins description, we have Debords statement regarding sight and touch:

The spectacle, as a tendency to make one see the world by means of various specialized mediations (it can no longer be grasped directly), naturally finds vision to be the privileged human sense which the sense of touch was for other epochs; the most abstract, the most mystifiable sense corresponds to the generalized abstraction of present-day society.
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Just as the most basics forms of art where related to the spiritual world, even though they had their role in the physical world, the same happens with Architecture. The temple could be understood as the closest you could get in earth to heavens.

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The poetical dimension of the canonical image fulfills the void of a superior world, and today this world is perceived only through sight, the admiration of a parallel life which is impossible to grasp. The fascination that this generates in the spectator provides the comfort of a better world, the same way that the temple did not so long ago.

The continuous exposition of spectacular images in architecture, have a great influence on the following production of it. Many publications, that usually play the role of authority in architecture, enhance this attitude, which set the ground for misconceptions of the real values of architecture, and therefore the spectacle becomes real. Here rely the dangers and responsibilities of an imagebased representation of architecture.

Important questions follow this statements; Architecture is manifold, until which extent architecture might be represented? What specifically represented? is being

We might start by acknowledging the unexploited characteristics of architecture.

Bachelard makes a thought provoking distinction between formal imagination and material imagination. In he!s view, images arising from matter project deeper and more profound experiences, recollections, associations, and emotions than images evoked by form. The eye assigns them (forms) names, but only the hand truly knows them. Bachelard claims. Until recently modernity at large has been primarily concerned with form rather than the mental and

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emotional suggestions of matter. Le Corbusiers passionate definition of the specific realm of the art of architecture, Architecture is the masterly, correct and magnificent play of masses brought together in light, exemplifies this predominantly visual and formal orientation. We need to remember, however, that in his own later works Le Corbusier revealed the expressive power of matter.
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To evoke the material imagination can be a daunting task, but as well provides with a much bigger catalog for reproduction. The richness of this approach in comparison relies on the fact that it includes all the advantages of the image presentation, but counterbalances its authority through bringing to the surface other important elements that constitute architecture. Touch, smell and sound might come up, bringing the representation down to earth and making it, through imagination, possible to grasp.

As romantic as this might sound, it is in our reach to overcome the images and authority that architectural representation has set until now.

As previously mention, architectural representation takes a very important place in the first years of learning architecture. The means which a student has are so limited that representation becomes the link between itself and what might be considered architecture. This need of representation should be limited.

Ephemeral architecture and Derive can work as tools for everyone, but specifically students, to understand the elements that enrich architecture, to be

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able to appreciate the spatial qualities and not the collective imaginary of what is right or good.

To relate this possibilities to our case study, Mexico City, well consider the case of the Ecos Pavilion, a yearly competition organized by the National Autonomous University of Mexico, which consists on the architectural installation in the backyard of the museum designed by Mathias Goeritz, Luis Barragans partner in many important works and the initiator of Emotional Architecture.

Two are the most successful projects in this young initiative; the first one is Frida Escobedo!s intervention, and the second one is MMX Studio. In the first case, the exhibition consisted on the arrangement of concrete blocks, changing completely the atmosphere of the backyard.

The logic in its construction, the use of materials and the sight

exemplifies very good the way she works. Similar elements can be found in other works of her, such as the gallery La Tallera.

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MMX intervention consists in a very singular approach to the site; the backyard without is completely any changed kind of

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construction.

The tension of ropes and chains, the logic in its construction and the use of materials and shadow provide a very peculiar situation, which is hard to explain in formal terms.

It is also important to note that this intervention is worthy visiting it for a long periods; the factor of time it!s implied in the design. The conception of the installation comes from the urge to resist a single, spectacular image.

This modest intervention presents not only a great platform for young architects to present their investigations, but a forum for architecture events, where discussion and exhibitions are being held. Also considering the importance of the building it makes it one of the best point for someone to start approaching architectural thinking.

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Even with its scale, the intimidating feeling of the photoshoped image in the cover of a magazine seems irrelevant next to the complexities of these simple, daunting and complex installations.

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References 1. Scannell, Paddy (2003) "Benjamin Contextualized: On 'The Work of Art in the Age of
Mechanical Reproduction'" Canonic Texts, Polity Press, Cambridge. Chapter XII

2. Ibidem, chapter XV 3. Ibidem, chapter X 4. "Population seven billion: UN sets out challenges". BBC. 2011-10-26. Retrieved 201110-27.

5. "Economa. Construccin." INEGI, Economa. Construccin. N.p., n.d. Web. 6. www.arquine.com 7. Debord (1977) [1967] The Society of the Spectacle, translation by Fredy Perlman and
Jon Supak (Black & Red, 1970; rev. ed. 1977). Online at Library.nothingness.org, Chapter 1 Separation perfected 8. Scannell, Paddy (2003) "Benjamin Contextualized: On 'The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction'" Canonic Texts, Polity Press, Cambridge. Chapter XV 9. Debord (1977) [1967] The Society of the Spectacle, translation by Fredy Perlman and Jon Supak (Black & Red, 1970; rev. ed. 1977). Online at Library.nothingness.org, Chapter 1 Separation perfected 10. Pallasmaa, Juhani. Matter, Hapticity and Time, material imagination and the voice of matter. Madrid; El Croquis, 2011.

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