Starting tonight, experience the innovative projects of the Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism (XII BEAU) in New York City. For the first time, the biennial will be on view in the United States. The exhibition, titled Alternativas / Alternatives, presents 22 selected works and 20 shortlisted works by contemporary Spanish architects, completed between 2013-2015. The projects vary greatly, from residential homes to larger scale schools and public parks and highlight Spanish architects’ ability to push boundaries, even with limited means during a financial crisis. Begoña Díaz-Urgorri, co-director of XIII BEAU, comments, “The current generation of Spanish architects are full of optimism for the discipline and although recent austerity and frugality has affected the work, every project has become an opportunity for creative architecture.”
Alternativas / Alternatives
Díaz-Urgorri stresses that this exhibition showcases architecture for any person. It is not just “architecture for other architects,” she says. In order to communicate this, the curators made the unique decision to display interviews with the people who use the architectural spaces daily–in addition to interviews with the architect and developer, alongside the works.
Alternativas / Alternatives
Additionally, viewers can pick up models of the projects and scan them, launching a corresponding video display with images and architectural drawings of the work. Díaz-Urgorri highlights the project “El Caminito del Rey,” or “the King’s pathway,” a bridge pinned along the side of a narrow gorge with a shockingly steep drop below. The scanning of the models allows viewers to interact with the works and learn more about the pieces that catch their eye.
Cooper Union’s Arthur A. Houghton Jr. Gallery will host Alternativas / Alternatives, with an opening reception this evening at 6:30pm.
See more information on the exhibition here.
