Critical Regionalism

Activity: Talk or presentation Lecture and oral contribution

Description

While regionalism relates to architecture developed according to the culture and context of a particular region, critical regionalism emerged as an alternative approach to the lack of local identity of the International style and the arbitrary individualism and decoration of the post-modern movement. Critical regionalism has a progressive character which seeks for an interpretation of the local tradition from a present position and looks towards the future. As stated by Jorge Oteiza, “Whoever goes forward creating something new, does so like a vogador, moving forward, yet rowing backwards, looking towards the past, towards what exists, to reinvent its essence.” A quote used to explicate the 1st Catalan and Balearic Venice Biennale architecture exhibition 2012 focused on a few contemporary built works that in some way illustrate an up-to-date version of the ideals of the first critical regionalism. Although rooted in the Catalan tradition and context, however this is not an isolated attitude, it is just one more contribution to the contemporary international debate. The lecture will give a broad introduction to the concepts of regionalism and critical regionalism followed by a more specific investigation of the Catalan condition by looking at some built works that range from the 1950´s until now.
PeriodOct 2021
Held atAarhus School of Architecture