“art in general and, naturally, architecture, is a reflection of the spiritual condition of man at a particular time. but the impression exists that modern architecture, so idiosyncratic and intellectual, perhaps because it has lost close contact with its community, exaggerates at times its efforts to emphasize the rational aspect of architecture. as a result of all this, man in the twentieth century feels overwhelmed by so much ‘functionalism’, by so much logic and usefulness in modern architecture.” [1]

mathias goeritz, abstracto en dorado (1968)

 

i don’t feel like adding much to this post besides saying, “woah.”  but then again, i’m feeling anecdotal today.  this beautiful piece was installed in ricardo legorreta’s hotel camino real in mexico city.  my favorite part about this piece is that it wallpapers one portion of a mezzanine near the hotel lobby.  mezzanines aren’t usually spaces where you come for the art, but in this case, it is a passage enriched by opulence.  having never been i can’t say if abstracto en dorado acts like a tractor beam, but maybe the intention was to pull guests upstairs from the main lobby towards their rooms: “what is that?” or i suppose “que es eso?”

in the architecture of ricardo legorreta, the architect, legorreta, describes the role of art in camino real:

“public areas are very spacious, for what we saved in structural costs and costly finishes could be put into making the experience of the hotel more enjoyable through the luxury of space.  works of art were either chosen or commissioned for specific spaces, so they are more than decoration; they are intrinsic to the character of each place in the hotel.” [2]

which reminds me of a discussion last spring (and now comes the anecdote).  a fellow student had designed a robert irwin-esque wall and we were debating its placement in his project.  as a young designer, my initial inclination would be to build a pomp and circumstance around this spectacular moment; effectively yelling out, “this is a special moment”  my last inclination would be to place it on a mezzanine or as the instructor suggested – a hall.  seeing abstracto en dorado set into the back wall of a mezzanine and reading legorreta’s description, a subtler more integrated response makes perfect sense.

 

emotional architecture

a young hare

 

 

notes:

[1]      today’s title comes from mathias goeritz’ short manifesto on emotional architecture.  i highly recommend taking five minutes to read it.

[2]     this passage was taken from the wonderful centre for the aesthetic revolution’s post on the highs and lows of the camino real hotel.  also definitely worth reading.

[image]     the above image also comes from the same centre for the aesthetic revolution post.

[more golden opulence]     i was reminded of this piece by last wednesday’s post on an mmx installation at el eco, which was envisioned and designed by mathias goeritz.  and now today’s image made me think of an older post about jorge otero-pailos.