[IMC-Editorial] Massimiliano Fuksas Met with Thousands of Architecture Enthusiasts at the Last ARKIMEET

[Arkitera Architecture Center]

Massimiliano Fuksas Met with Thousands of Architecture Enthusiasts at the Last ARKIMEET

The third conference of the ARKIMEET series which aims to meet internationally acclaimed architects in Istanbul was held in 17th February 2003 at the Harbiye Cultural Center Auditorium. Presented by Massimiliano Fuksas, the curator of the 7th Architecture Biannual in Venice, the conference was attended by a crowd of 1500 people. 

With the organization of Arkitera Architecture Center and sponsored by BETONART, the brand new magazine of the architectural community in Turkey, the conference brought architects, students of architecture and academicians together.   

Massimiliano Fuksas began the conference with his impressions on Istanbul. His first visit to the city was in 1964 and as Fuksas stated at that time Istanbul had been a city between the East and the West, but now it shifted completely to the western culture. He described Hagia Sofia as the “changing face of architecture” and according to Fuksas if Hagia Sofia hadn’t been built, then the gothic and even the modern architecture couldn’t exist at the first place. The architect regarded Hagia Sofia as “the most modern building he has ever seen.”

Fuksas began his project presentations with “Entrance to Grotto” project which was the transformation of a cave with prehistoric drawings, located in Niaux Region, France, into a museum. Commissioned as a result of a competition in 80s, a decade Fuksas describes as the “impecunious art era” of Italy, the cave entrance is made of pre-rusted Corten Steel and wood. Fuksas said “We’re always moving from one place to another, from darkness to light, inside to outside,” and he stated that he adored the narrow gaps. The 34 meter-long, wooden platforms which opens out of the cave and embraces a spectacular view of the settlement underneath the cave, reflects the magic of Fuksas’ intention to pass through the “narrow gaps” in order to keep motion alive. 

Fuksas’ Mediatheque in Nantes, France is another example of his “in-between” projects. Fuksas described the concept as:  “I am more interested in what is happening in between, than the form of the objects that create the void.” Contradicting rationalism, Fuksas experimented about the void rather than the masses surround the void. 

Winning the first prize in a competition about the new congress centre in Eur, Rome; Fuksas created a building with “non-geometry within the geometry”. The design was derived from the question “how can we build a cloud”, which came to his mind while he was sitting at the beach, staring at the ocean. The answer was a Teflon-steel cloud with a 2000 square metres auditorium and conference halls. Fuksas resembled the feeling of what is happening in different elevations such as 4m and 45 m was very much alike what he felt in Istanbul’s many regions.

Fuksas said he likes to work with the models and the computer generated 3D models simultaneously. According to him, in order not to be drowned in the realm of architecture, one must seek for ways apart from architecture, to feed his artistic abilities. For Fuksas, the critical and the essential element of design is the concept itself and for him, the concept comes from the head, not from the hand. 

Another competition project which Fuksas had won last year is the new one million square-metre fair area in Milan. “A really crazy project” as Fuksas described, is a project made of a 2 km long central (axe) that dissects the area into 2 major districts. 55,000 square metres of glass is planned to be used in this project. Despite its majestic size, the new fair area is going to be completed within 26 months. 

The twin towers designed in Vienna for the Wienerberger firm, was the project where Fuksas aimed to give us the feeling about how it feels to be in between. “What is happening between?” was Fuksas’ motto to start the design of the towers. Two towers made of steel and glass has a numerous bridges between them and underneath the towers there is another world of animated daylight created by the architect’s vision. 

The most outstanding project in Fuksas’ presentation was probably Ferrari’s new office building in Moranello. Aiming to internalise the nature to create a healthy and comfortable working place, the building has three different levels; open planned spaces with sufficient daylight at the first level, above this, a water level that cut the solid building into two masses, with a bamboo plantation in the middle and offices at the last level. Fuksas internalised the water not just to create a working place with adorable scenes. In addition to that, water gives building lightness and energy efficiency. Fuksas indicated that he also dreamed of the reflection of water on the ceilings which he sees as another important element of the building. With Bamboo plantation in the middle, animated reflections on the ceilings around it and the multi interactions between the compositions one can easily see and feel Fuksas’ vision through the 3D renders the architect showed in his presentation.  

The last project of his presentation was the Peace Centre in Jaffa which was a project directly commissioned by Simon Perez of Israel and Yasser Arafat of Palestine. He said that the building was made of a single space covered with stone and glass and it was an important symbol for the both nations who have been living together for centuries. Fuksas said “Maybe the wings of peace may end the sufferings” as he described his building whose facades were made of different layers of stone and glass on top of each other, that symbolised time and patience.

During the conference, Fuksas also showed some DVD’s including some of his projects, his commentaries about those projects, excerpts from the construction sites and simultaneously drawn sketches. Directed by Filippo Marcelloni, the DVD videos carried the audience to a journey of enrichment about architecture through totally different approaches. 

The ARKIMEET series is going to continue with the theme: “Contemporary Dutch Architecture”. The founding architects of some internationally acclaimed Dutch architecture offices such as UN Studio, West 8, Neutelings & Riedijk and Mecanoo are going to give successive conferences in Istanbul. 

ARKIMEET 2004 Program:

March 16, 2004	UN Studio	Ben van Berkel	Harbiye Cultural Center	19:00     
March 22, 2004	West 8	Adriaan Geuze    	ITU Macka G Auditorium	19:00     
April 06, 2004	Neutelings Riedijk 	W. Jan Neutelings  	Harbiye Cultural Center	19:00     
April 13, 2004	Mecanoo	Francine Houben	Harbiye Cultural Center	19:00     

It is also possible to reach further information on ARKIMEET conferences and the schedule for the upcoming meetings from the website, www.arkimeet.com.

Press Room for ARKIMEET:
http://www.arkimeet.com/pressrelease.php





For more information, please contact: 

Pinar Gokbayrak
________________________________
Arkitera Architecture Center 

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E: pr at arkitera.com