The 16th Venice Architecture Biennale celebrates the triumph of the ancient régime, but la lutte continue

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-37
Author(s):  
Paola Somma
Keyword(s):  
Fine Arts ◽  
Art Market ◽  
International Exhibition ◽  
Cultural Institution ◽  
Prevailing Paradigm ◽  
Ancient Regime ◽  
May 68 ◽  
The City

Abstract In 1968 many intellectuals took to Piazza San Marco to express solidarity with the students of the Venice Academy of Fine Arts who were demonstrating against the Biennale and had been attacked for four hours by the police. In 2018 the same square was patrolled by armed troops deployed to 'protect the tourists' who occupied the city and there was no sign of protests against the Biennale. On the day of inauguration, the only voice of dissent was that of some citizens claiming their right 'to live here'. No trace of intellectuals. Many of the old protesters have made a comfortable career while the invited artists to the international exhibition have uncritically responded to the call of this year's Architecture Biennale, whose title is 'FREESPACE', without questioning the prevailing paradigm in which 'free' means 'space cleared from citizens and offered as a gift to financial investors'. Only a few national pavilions have adopted a more articulate attitude that might recall some of the May '68 aspirations. Retracing the events that transformed a public cultural institution into an enterprise at the service of the art market and a powerful agent of the gentrification and Disneyfication of Venice over the last 50 years, this article focuses on the role played by the Architecture Biennale in the process. It also highlights the few contributions that in 2018 challenged the dominant narrative by explicitly referring to the notion and practice of conflict.

scholarly journals Driving on the Left: Sorkin’s View of the Street, the City and architecture

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Sorkin ◽  
Graham Cairns
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Graduate Program ◽  
Fine Arts ◽  
Contemporary Culture ◽  
Environmental Threats ◽  
City College ◽  
The Media ◽  
Village Voice ◽  
The City

Sardonic, cutting, insightful, provocative: Michael Sorkin is one of today’s most radical architectural commentators with a staunch leaning to the political left and a literary bent for framing painful truths in ironic, and sometimes hilarious, verse. However, he should not be dismissed as a radical, isolated, or lone and unhindered voice however. He is a Distinguished Professor of Architecture and Director of the Graduate Program in Urban Design at the City College of New York, and he has been Professor of Urbanism and Director of the Institute of Urbanism at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. In addition, he has taught at architecture schools across the world, including the Architectural Association, Columbia, Yale, Harvard and Cornell. Sorkin runs his own design studio and research institute and has been a contributing editor of the Architectural Record . He was the architecture critic of the Village Voice for ten years and has published innumerable articles and essays. A list of some of his books includes: Twenty Minutes in Manhattan , Variations on a Theme Park , Exquisite Corpse , The Next Jerusalem , Indefensible Space , and a long list of other etcs . and alsos ….In this interview-article, he offers his opinion on a range of issues, including the environmental threats to contemporary America, architectural symbolism and paranoia, the importance of political action on the streets of the modern city, and the role of the architecture critic in the complex tapestry of contemporary culture. With regard the position of the modern critic, he begins by responding to a question regarding the relevance of Noam Chomsky’s description of the media as a form of propaganda and the contemporary journalist as functioning through the structure of what Chomsky defines as “filters,” or constraints and biases that dictate what gets written and published in the press.

scholarly journals Biblioteki miejskie jako „miejsca trzecie” a deglomeracja kultury. Wnioski z badania sieci bibliotek miejskich w Krakowie

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 47-62
Author(s):  
Jacek Gądecki
Keyword(s):  
Social Role ◽  
Third Place ◽  
Cultural Institution ◽  
Joint Activities ◽  
The Social ◽  
City Space ◽  
The City

This text addresses the significance and potential of municipal libraries. The author considers the results of research conducted to evaluate the network of municipal libraries in Kraków (a UNESCO City of Literature) and to prepare a strategy for a new cultural institution, the Kraków Library. He considers libraries in terms of “place.” The notion of “place” here involves both the urban dimension of a library (that is, its role and location in the city space) and the architectural sense (its interior and attractiveness). He attaches great importance to a library’s city-forming and culture-forming roles, and to the social role of the library as a “third place,” a place that is neither home nor work and in which diverse participants can undertake joint activities.

Dweik, Taleb (1952--)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tina Sherwell
Keyword(s):  
Art Education ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Arts Education ◽  
Fine Arts ◽  
Secondary Level ◽  
Mixed Media ◽  
Historical Sites ◽  
The City ◽  
Holy City ◽  
Fine Arts Education

Taleb Dweik was born in 1952 in Jerusalem and studied art at Hilwan University in Cairo. He was known for his paintings of the Palestinian landscape, in particular his picturesque and decorative images of the Holy City of Jerusalem executed in a painterly style combining Impressionism and Expressionism. His work characteristically removed traces of the hardship of the occupation of the city, and instead explored the beauty of its landscape and historical sites. He participated in group exhibitions locally and internationally, including the Sharjah Biennale, in the United Arab Emirates, in 1995 and 2003. He was the president of the Palestinian League of Artists from 1990 to 1996, and was the Dean of the faculty of fine arts at Al-Quds University from 2001 to 2003. He held the position of inspector for fine arts education in Jerusalem, and published a book on art education for secondary level students. From 2000 onwards he explored mixed-media techniques and collage, investigating relationships between the land, heritage, and childhood. In particular, he adopted a child-like style in his paintings to represent ideal images of the city filled with innocence and spontaneity, erasing traces of the harshness of occupation, and creating a city of bliss, beauty, and utopia.

Bishop, Isabel (1902–1988)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Regina Palm
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Fine Arts ◽  
Working Women ◽  
Young Female ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
New York School ◽  
Art Students ◽  
Applied Design ◽  
Union Square ◽  
The City

Born in Cincinnati, Isabel Bishop spent her childhood in Detroit, where she attended life-drawing classes at the John P. Wicker School of Fine Arts. In 1918, Bishop enrolled in the New York School of Applied Design for Women to study illustration, but transferred to the Art Students League in 1920. Bishop is associated with the realist painters of the Fourteenth Street School. She is best known for her depictions of young female office workers of the 1930s and 1940s, whom she observed as they navigated their way through Union Square (the location of Bishop’s first studio). Bishop, like other Fourteenth Street artists, sought to capture contemporary urban life. Her depictions of working women are notable for their time, as she did not glamorize them or transform them into sexualized stereotypes, but rather strove to portray these young, modern women as they traversed the city in daily life. Bishop was granted her first one-woman show in 1933 at the Midtown Galleries and in 1941 was elected to the National Academy of Design.

scholarly journals Perceptions of Final Beneficiaries about the Performance of Cross-sector Partnerships: A Case Study Applied to the 2008 Zaragoza International Exhibition on Water and Sustainable Development

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 3860
Author(s):  
José María Agudo-Valiente ◽  
Pilar Gargallo-Valero ◽  
Manuel Salvador-Figueras
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
International Exhibition ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Increasing Demand ◽  
The City

Using the 2008 Zaragoza International Exhibition “Water and sustainable development” as a case study, this paper aims to respond to the increasing demand for measurements of the effects and the implications of the performance of cross-sector partnerships from the perspective of their intended final beneficiaries. A contingency framework for measuring the short-, medium- and long-term effects of the 2008 Zaragoza International Exhibition is developed based on a “results chain” or “logic model”. Our results highlight that there are positive long-term synergies between the two main purposes of the 2008 Zaragoza International Exhibition; first, to increase public awareness of and commitment to the problems of water and sustainable development and, second, to make the city of Zaragoza better known internationally and to modernize its infrastructures. Although respondents to our survey consider that the long-term effects on the city are greater, the main short- and medium-term effects are related to awareness of water problems, sustainable development and non-governmental organizations. These results are in tune with what has happened around the city in the last 10 years providing indirect validity both to our study and to the proposed methodology.

Dido Rediviva, of: Liever Turks dan Paaps Een opstandig schilderij door Gillis Coignet

1994 ◽  
Vol 108 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-86
Author(s):  
Hessel Miedema
Keyword(s):  
Fine Arts ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Building Trade ◽  
Charles V ◽  
Dutch Revolt ◽  
Strong Resemblance ◽  
Museum Of Fine Arts ◽  
The City

AbstractIn the Vleeshuis museum in Antwerp is a painting which is signed and dated G.COINGNET.FEC.1583 (note 1 and fig. 1). It allegedly represents 'Queen Dido, giving orders for Carthage to be built.' However, in the painting an architect is presenting the putative queen with a construction drawing (fig. 2) which bears the inscription PORTA DE LA GOLETA. La Goletta was a fortress built by Charles v to keep Tunis under Spanish control when he took possession of the city in 1535. In the 1560s, to cope with the threat of renewed Turkish attacks, La Goletta was substantially reinforced. Work was also begun on a new fort ('Nova arx') between Tunis and La Goletta. However, the Turks finally took both fortresses and the city itself in 1574. The conquest of 1574 is depicted and described in Civitates orbis terrarum by Braun and Hogenberg (note 7 and fig. 3). The authors suggest that the 'Nova arx' was modelled on the fortress of Antwerp. This edifice was built in 1568-69 by the Duke of Alva to subdue Antwerp, but after the initial success of the uprising against Spanish domination it was taken by the rebels and integrated in the city's fortifications. This was the situation in 1583, when Coignet painted his picture. The role assigned to the Antwerp guild of bricklayers and stone-masons in the painting is so prominent, that it is safe to assume that it was commissioned by the guild. In all probability it represents an anti-Spanish political programme. A further indication is provided by the drawing which is being presented to the queen; it bears a strong resemblance to the plan of Hadrian's port in ancient Ostia (note 11 and fig. 4). In Civitates orbis terrarum we read that the Turks, after their conquest of Tunis, razed the city's fortifications to the ground, replacing them by a naval port to make things as awkward as possible for the Catholic enemy. There is thus an obvious connection between La Goletta and a port of Antiquity; in that connection the role of the Turks also emerges. During the Dutch revolt against Spanish domination there was often talk of making overtures to the Turks, who, although not noted for their gentle disposition, were far more tolerant in matters of religion than the Hapsburgs. Indeed, one of the slogans of the revolt was 'sooner Turkish than popish'. There is also evidence of actual contacts between Antwerp and Constantinople during this period. The specific reference to La Goletta thus clearly indicates the intention of the painting: in analogy with the Turkish conquest of 1574, the Antwerp building trade guild assigned to Dido a new, allegorical role: that of ordering the conversion of a fortress erected by the enemy into a fortified port for the purpose of vexing the emperor of the Roman, c.q. the Roman-catholic realm. The link with the hated fortress which Alva had built for Antwerp is evident. There is little likelihood that plans were actually made to provide Antwerp with such a port; the painting probably had a propagandistic function. In 1585 the Duke of Parma definitively took the city for the king of Spain, and the fortress was separated from the fortifications again in order to quell any fresh uprisings. The fortress was pulled down in 1884; today the Museum of Fine Arts stands on the site.

Geothermal potential of the Tubbergen Formation in the Twente region of east Netherlands

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. SQ93-SQ103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edo Veenstra ◽  
Paul de Groot ◽  
John de Lange ◽  
Andre Mol ◽  
Piet van den Heuvel
Keyword(s):  
Lower Cost ◽  
Block Size ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Reservoir Simulations ◽  
Prevailing Paradigm ◽  
Geothermal Potential ◽  
Porosity And Permeability ◽  
Lateral Extent ◽  
Well Data ◽  
The City

We have determined the potential geothermal prospectivity of clean sandstones in the Tubbergen Formation (Late Carboniferous) of the Twente area (eastern Netherlands). We were motivated by the prevailing paradigm that in the Netherlands geothermal power can only be harvested economically through large, expensive installations producing high volumes from high-quality aquifers located between approximately 1500 and 2500 m. No such aquifers are present in Twente. We found that heat production is economically feasible from the Tubbergen Formation sandstones by producing smaller volumes from smaller, highly efficient installations that can be developed at considerably lower cost. Our reinterpretation of publicly available seismic and well data shows that potentially suitable sandstones occur over the whole area with thicknesses of up to 50 m, porosities reaching 20%, and permeabilities reaching 300 mD. The Tubbergen Formation is approximately 400–700 m thick in the study area and contains approximately 60% sandstone. The top reservoir reaches an approximate 1500 m depth in the southwest, and the base reaches some 4300 m in the northeast of the study area. The temperature is expected to range between 60°C and 140°C depending on the depth. The Carboniferous is densely faulted with a block size of approximately 3 × 4 km, each block being a potential target for geothermal development. To determine the economic feasibility, we performed an economic screening for a hypothetical location north of the city of Enschede and backed this up by reservoir simulations. The geologic risks of the Tubbergen Formation are the lack of permeability, reservoir thickness, and lateral extent of the reservoirs. In our judgment, the chance of economic success for this site is 50% or more. Upside potential is present in numerous fault blocks in the study area and in adjacent areas where suitable sandstones with similar porosity and permeability at greater depth and higher temperatures are expected.

scholarly journals THE STRUCTURE OF SPACE: CUBISM AND MODERNISM. FIGURES AND ICONS IN JOSEF GOČÁR’S WORK

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-21
Author(s):  
Domenico Giuseppe CHIZZONITI
Keyword(s):  
Architectural Design ◽  
Close Association ◽  
Fine Arts ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
Design Work ◽  
Time Period ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The City

This research paper relates to a number of works by Josef Gočár, a Bohemian architect who was active in a time period between “Cubist” vanguardism and “Rationalist” modernism. The theme regards the search for a general method which evaluates the key elements of the structure of space in architectural design. The main asset of architectural composition has traditionally been the close association between the syntactic order of the elements and a semantic perception of space. The aim of this essay is to explore the relation between the role of the experimental design regarding the multiple and changeable architectural experience and the creative process of architectural work. The methodological experience hereby demonstrated refers to a specific case study that belongs to the scientific research carried out by Gočár and his researchers’ group at the Prague Fine Arts Academy (AVU). His work is hereby re-interpreted in an effort to explore the experiential contribution to the architectural design discipline, and the figurative aspect, by reexamining various characteristics of his practical experience as an architect involved in the civic priorities of the city, from the scale of urban settlement to the individual design work.

scholarly journals Subjugated in the Creative Industries: The Fine Arts in Singapore

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Can-Seng Ooi
Keyword(s):  
Fine Arts ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Creative Industries ◽  
Work Place ◽  
Art World ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Art Practices ◽  
City State ◽  
The City

The arts and culture are considered core in a creative industries strategy. But the promotion of the creative industries brings about revised notions of creativity. These revised notions are being applied to the arts. Creativity is now seen to be largely manageable. All individuals are made to believe that they can be creative. Not only that, creativity is seen to be a money spinner. Workers should tap into their creativity and bring about innovations in the work place. Pupils are taught to tap into their creativity and to think outside the box. Such views on creativity galvanize the public and enthuse many people into the creative industries. Such notions of creativity contrast against the fine arts. Regardless, as this paper examines the situation in Singapore, shows that fine artists in the city-state are finding themselves internalizing a market logic and have tied their art practices to economic value. Fine arts practices will not be as lucrative or popular as their counterparts in the other creative businesses; they will remain poor cousins in the creative industries. Essentially, the fine arts are being subjugated in the creative industries and the Singaporean art world is being changed.

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