A large tree, whose leaves are drawings, a pond from which photos of projects arise, a large installation which recreates the mental landscape of Alberto Campo Baeza: this is CAMPO BAEZA. THE CREATION TREE, the third of the monographic exhibitions of NATURE, the series of four monographic installations in which MAXXI Architectura explores different interpretations of contemporary architectural investigation.
Co-produced by MAXXI Architectura and Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) with the special collaboration of TOTO GALLERY MA of Tokyo, the show, dedicated to the work of one of the masters of Spanish architecture, is curated and designed by Manuel Blanco. More information on the event after the break.
Alberto Campo Baeza believes in architecture as a built idea, he believes that its main components are gravity, which constructs space, and light, which constructs time.
He is one of the purest and most radical of Spanish architects who is able to construct the space of his works with natural light, which at the same time changes them constantly. The way Campo Baeza builds situates man in the center of nature, offering him at one and the same time a refuge and a belvedere, a lookout point over the surrounding landscape. His buildings are constructions of great intensity and are purely essential; nothing is superfluous and nothing is lacking in them, they are spaces in which time expands.
In the words of Margherita Guccione, director of MAXXI Architettura, “the third installation of the series Nature proposes a variation on the theme, leaving to the curator the staging of the work of Alberto Campo Baeza. The metaphor of the tree and the author’s words make us aware of the harmony between the natural landscape and the architectural construction, in which the Spanish architect’s works succeed in dematerializing, fluctuating, overcoming gravity and entering into play with nature’s own rhythms.”
“Alberto Campo Baeza is one of the purest and most radical of Spanish architects – says Manuel Blanco, curator of the show. Natural light is the material with which he constructs the spaces of his works. His works are built ideas. He creates powerful archetypal images, icons of contemporary architecture. In this exhibition, I have wanted to analyze his creative process, unveiling the architect’s intimacy and his language, what makes Campo Baeza, building more with less, one of the greatest masters of contemporary architecture.
Spanning twenty years of Campo Baeza’s work (from his 1988 Casa Turégano to current projects in 2011), the exhibition is organized around the large central tree and analyzes the great architect’s creative process, uncovering its most intimate dimension and its language.
Like all of the projects selected for NATURE, this one dedicated to Alberto Campo Baeza with its spirit of poetic narrative, reflects on man’s natural tendency to think about a “recreated” nature.
For more information on the event, please visit here.
