Why is your exhibition called “Condemned to be Modern”?
Julio: The title is a quote from the Mexican poet Octavio Paz: “wanting to be modern seems like madness, we are condemned to be modern.” He was one of the most influential Mexican intellectuals who analysed modernity, and described best how tradition and modernity have always been in opposition to each other; he is basically saying that we are always modern, no matter what we do, there is no choice. Modernity is not an attitude, nor a style. We are living in our time, so we are “condemned to be modern”. This was a great starting point for our research on tradition and modernity in Mexico’s 20th century architecture.
In his concept of “Absorbing Modernity” for this year’s Biennale, Rem Koolhaas stated that “national identity has been sacrificed to modernity”. Is that true for Mexico?
Julio: In Mexico there has always been a strong dynamic between the two opposing forces of tradition and modernity, constantly struggling with, yet influencing, each other. They fused and mixed, creating a dynamic duality. This constantly changing mixture has created some very specific characteristics not only in Mexican architecture, but in our entire cultural history. We hope to show that in our book and our exhibition here in Venice. But we also suggest a critique, an open question, if you like, about how far there was continuity (or a break) between the heroic modernistic movement of the 1950s and 1960s and the contemporary practice of architecture.
Was this heroic modernity an imported concept that entered Mexico from the outside?
Luby: Yes, to a certain extent. Speaking of architecture, there were a lot of European and US-American influences. Just like in all open countries in the world, I guess. Yet Mexico had, like many Latin American countries, totally different circumstances under which modernity evolved. For instance, we were not part of the world wars that destroyed many parts of the world, and we had a pretty stable socialist government for almost 70 years. When European countries were beginning to question and reject their traditions, most Latin American countries were discussing what their traditions were: colonial, pre-colonial or post-colonial? I think that this is also why modernism in these countries was mixed so much with pre-colonial elements. Especially in Mexico, we have a very rich culture, thousands of years old. A very strong DNA, so to speak, with which we work. We have a huge vocabulary that has been integrated into or influenced our “Tropical Modernism”.
Gaeta-Springall Arcquitectos is a Mexico City-based firm, founded by Julio Gaeta and Luby Springall in 2001. They have won several competitions and have worked in different scales and programmes in architecture and urban projects. From the beginning, both have combined professional practice with teaching and research, from the conviction that different platforms complement a better way of doing and thinking. At the end of 2013, the office won the national competition for the Mexican pavilion at the 14th International Architecture Biennale in Venice, where their exhibition Condemned to be Modern is on view until November 23, 2014.
An exhibition of their work will open July 11, 2014 at the architecture gallery, Aedes, in Berlin.
Would you call yourselves modern architects?
Julio: Yes of course. We are condemned to be modern anyway, right? We don’t have a choice. But also because we live and work in Mexico City, which I think is a truly modern city. It features all these different mixtures of modernity and tradition, which the city is very open-minded to. That’s also why I think it is the most beautiful city in the world.
Luby: I agree. But it is also tragic in a way that everything in Mexico is still so focused on it – politically, economically, culturally – compared with other big cities like Monterrey, Guadalajara and Tijuana. And as for the most beautiful city in the world, I’d say London!
About Gaeta-Springall arquitectos
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