PREVIEW OF AN EVENTUALITY. CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE IN GALICIA. 2007

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CGAC. Galician Contemporary Art Center. Santiago de Compostela. Spain

Curators: David Chao, Verónica Santos and Rafael Lens

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At a present time in which terms such as redistribution, culturalisation or globalisation are imperative in the language of art and architecture criticism, Galicia has revealed itself as being one of the most outstanding regions in so far as the development of new architectural proposals and languages is concerned. Its peripheral geographical, i.e., not central, situation does not seem to have been an obstacle for shaping this phenomenon, linked as much to continuous interaction and flux as it is to the impression of the medium. Since the 1980s and even earlier several were the architectures which gave away the concerns and efforts of certain architects, institutions and developers to modernise when proposing constructional solutions as progressive as they were original. In this process, the contributions of nationally and internationally-renowned figures have been determining factors when proposing conceptual and formal divergencies, thus complementing the worrying autochthonous panorama which was being born of a creative heterogeneous exceptionality. Behind the suggestive and at the same time clarifying title Avance de una contingencia (Preview of an eventuality), the exhibition which is held on the groundfloor of the CGAC, the Bonaval Zona C room and the COAG exhibition rooms, is the consequence of a parallel process of searching, review and analysis of the main architectural trends established in Galicia since the 1980s until the present day, as conscious works which generate the context of Galician contemporary architecture.

The selection presented is intended to offer an intensive view of a phenomenon which is exceptional in our creative panorama. The functional and aesthetic criteria when assessing and presenting each architectural work have only served to increase the number of variables involved in sofar as use, development or socioeconomic, political and cultural interests are concerned, agents which are fundamental to everystudy in this respect. Also, key factors such as an identity and dialogue with the past, the recreation of the site, consideration as an architectural landmark or one which contributes towards the urban fabric, the link which the building has with its surroundings, the keypoint of who built it or the sensations and subjectivities which constructed sites originate… have become key vectors when the exhibition site referred to has been formed. A sharp and visual montage facilitates the ultimate expression of the analytical references mentioned, although it is the spectator who in the end has to complete this reflexive journey based on the personal concerns which determine his/her interests with regard to this contingencia en avance.

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(Excerpt from CGAC press release)

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Works featured: TACC Lugo; P12-House (see project here)