Architecture Without Architects. Bernard Rudofsky como comisario y diseƱador (MoMA 1964)
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Abstract
La exposiciĆ³n Architecture Without Architects (AWA) fue inaugurada en 1964 en el Museo de Arte Moderno de Nueva York. Con ella, su comisario y diseƱador, el arquitecto Bernard Rudofsky (1905-1988), tratĆ³ de transmitir una nueva manera de abordar la arquitectura que se alejaba de las modas impuestas por la modernidad para centrarse en los orĆgenes e introducirse en las arquitecturas sin pedigrĆ, relacionadas con lo vernĆ”culo, lo anĆ³nimo, lo espontĆ”neo o lo rural. Consciente de la polĆ©mica que la exposiciĆ³n suscitarĆa, Rudofsky la presentĆ³ como una comparaciĆ³n entre la serenidad de los llamados paĆses menos desarrollados y la plaga arquitectĆ³nica de los paĆses industriales, queriendo destacar el pragmatismo de los constructores anĆ³nimos a la hora de resolver los problemas prĆ”cticos. El argumento de la exposiciĆ³n aunque aparentemente inconexo con la instituciĆ³n moderna estaba, sin embargo, directamente relacionado con lo moderno pues, tal y como expresĆ³ su comisario, la arquitectura sin pedigrĆ, sus constructores anĆ³nimos y sus modos de vivir eran la mayor fuente de inspiraciĆ³n para el hombre industrial.
La subversiĆ³n de AWA, con un evidente carĆ”cter crĆtico, tambiĆ©n se debiĆ³ a la materializaciĆ³n del discurso: a travĆ©s del uso exclusivo de la fotografĆa y mediante un amplio trabajo de postproducciĆ³n (la selecciĆ³n reutilizaba veinte cuatro imĆ”genes del propio Rudofsky y ciento cincuenta y seis de otros autores que mostraban rincones remotos de los cinco continentes), se convirtiĆ³ en la primera exposiciĆ³n del departamento de arquitectura del MoMA que descartaba el material tradicionalmente expuesto en las muestras de arquitectura a base de dibujos, planos y maquetas. La ediciĆ³n de estas ciento ochenta fotografĆas se organizĆ³ en treinta y ocho apartados temĆ”ticos que creaban una estructura dialĆ©ctica abierta la cual no definĆa una taxonomĆa estricta; de hecho tenĆan el carĆ”cter de una colecciĆ³n inacabada que podĆa ser leĆda de diferentes formas en clara relaciĆ³n con el Atlas Mnemosyne de Warburg.
AdemĆ”s, el diseƱo expositivo desarrollado por Rudofsky tambiĆ©n planteaba una soluciĆ³n innovadora que, frente a los modelos tradicionales (caracterizados por tener los materiales grĆ”ficos colgados en las paredes perimetrales y el centro de la sala destinada a la exhibiciĆ³n de maquetas y prototipos) se oponĆa al concepto galerĆstico de cubo blanco y contraponĆa al misticismo del vacĆo la laberĆntica espacialidad de lo boscoso. Una superposiciĆ³n de elementos verticales era soporte para los paneles de imĆ”genes. Esta estrategia conducĆa al espectador hacia un espacio dominado por la transversalidad que huĆa de la monotonĆa de circular de sala en sala y favorecĆa el cruce de informaciĆ³n entre Ć”mbitos diversos a lo largo del recorrido de la exposiciĆ³n.
El anĆ”lisis de la exposiciĆ³n Architecture Without Architects, interpretada como metĆ”fora de la complejidad del mundo real construida a travĆ©s de una estrategia curatorial integral que incluĆa un diseƱo espacial, permite considerarla un hito en el campo de la comunicaciĆ³n arquitectĆ³nica dentro del Ć”mbito expositivo.
ABSTRACT
The exhibition Architecture Without Architects (AWA) was inaugurated in 1964 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. With it, its curator and designer, the architect Bernard Rudofsky (1905-1988), sought to convey a new way of approaching architecture that moved away from the trends imposed by modernity to focus on the origins and delve into nonpedigreed architecture, related to the vernacular, the anonymous, the spontaneous, or the rural. Aware of the controversy the exhibition would stir, Rudofsky presented it as a comparison between the serenity of so-called less developed countries and the architectural plague of industrial countries, wanting to highlight the pragmatism of anonymous builders when solving practical problems. The argument of the exhibition, although seemingly unconnected with the modern institution, was directly related to modernity because, as expressed by its curator, architecture without pedigree, its anonymous builders, and their ways of life were the greatest source of inspiration for industrial man.
The subversion of AWA, with an evident critical character, was also due to the materialization of the discourse: through the exclusive use of photography and through extensive post-production work (the selection reused twenty-four images of Rudofsky himself and one hundred and fifty-six from other authors that showed remote corners of the five continents) it became the first exhibition of the MoMAs architecture department that discarded the material traditionally displayed in architectural shows based on drawings, plans, and models. The editing of these one hundred and eighty photographs was organized into thirty-eight thematic sections that created an open dialectical structure that did not define a strict taxonomy; in fact, they had the character of an unfinished collection that could be read in different ways in clear relation to Warburgs Mnemosyne Atlas.
Furthermore, the exhibition design developed by Rudofsky also proposed an innovative solution that, contrary to traditional models (characterized by having graphic materials hung on the perimeter walls and the center of the room intended for the display of models and prototypes) opposed the gallery concept of a white cube and countered the mysticism of emptiness with the labyrinthine spatiality of the wooded. A superposition of vertical elements served as supports for the image panels. This strategy led the viewer into a space dominated by transversality that fled from the monotony of moving from room to room and favored the exchange of information between various areas throughout the exhibitions journey.
The analysis of the exhibition Architecture Without Architects, interpreted as a metaphor for the complexity of the real world built through a comprehensive curatorial strategy that included spatial design, allows it to be considered a milestone in the field of architectural communication within the exhibition context.
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E.T.S. Arquitectura (UPM)
Date
2024-02-27
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Arquitectura
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https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/
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