Exhibition of projects by the Caruso St John studio in České Budějovice
Caruso St John – 33 competitions, 6 projects
Lecture by Adam Caruso: Tuesday, October 18, 2016, at 5:00 PM
At the Students' Church of the Holy Family, Karl IV. 22, České Budějovice
Opening: Tuesday, October 18, at 7:00 PM
Gallery of Contemporary Art and Architecture, House of Art of the City of České Budějovice
Exhibition: October 19 – November 20, 2016
Curator: Michal Škoda
Adam Caruso and Petr St John founded a studio in 1990, which is now behind numerous remarkable buildings. At first glance, one can speak of "ordinary architecture." The initial projects were characterized by considerable austerity, which was later replaced by a very sensitive inspiration from history, resisting precise dating. Another strong source of inspiration for them is contemporary art, but they do not attempt to blur the boundary between visual art and architecture. It should also be emphasized that they successfully avoid modernist and historicist clichés. Their work is not only about building "new," but they also devote themselves significantly to reconstructions and extensions.
As they themselves state – “It is not possible to operate outside of space-time, nor can one design architecture without it. To consider novelty as a quality is an absurd notion. Everything becomes an integral part of the space-time continuum, from which one cannot escape.”
Caruso St John understands architecture as part of a broader culture – both artistic and social. Their works notably emphasize material, construction issues, detail, light, but also the creation of atmosphere. Working with the context of a place is a matter of course for them, from both the perspective of the existing situation and the possibilities of how to change the given atmosphere.
They have a number of realizations and competition projects behind them, as well as exhibitions, publishing, and educational activities, and they are holders of several significant awards. For instance, for the realization of the Gallery of Contemporary Art in Walsall (2000) and the Brick House in London (2006), they were nominated for the Stirling Prize – the most prestigious British award for architects. Recently, they received awards for the modernization of Tate Britain (2014) – Civic Trust Award, New London Architecture Conservation and Retrofit Award, and RIBA Award. In 2016, they received the RIBA Award and RIBA National Award for the modernization of Newport Street Gallery and Gagosian Gallery in London.
Their first exhibition specifically prepared for the House of Art of the City of České Budějovice is primarily linked to architectural competitions through recent projects (also increasingly relevant and discussed in our region).
The lecture is held with the support and in collaboration with the Faculty of Art and Architecture at the Technical University of Liberec, in the presence of Dean Zdeněk Franěk, based on a long-term partnership between the two institutions.
33 competitions, 6 projects
“The exhibition presents a selection of competitive proposals that this practice has created over the last twenty-six years. We have always participated in many architectural competitions, initially one or two, in recent years between five and ten a year, sometimes even more. The competition process is difficult, risky, and frustrating, and inevitably involves a high probability of failure. Most proposals do not win first prize, and buildings based on them are not constructed. These proposals are rarely pulled from the drawer and retain their private character while also representing the true dreams of the architect. To summarize, the number of projects we have created as competition entries could fill an imaginary city with museums, public spaces, residential and commercial districts, including stadiums and cemeteries.
This exhibition is an opportunity to reflect on the position of the competition proposal in relation to the realized building, and brings these realities closer together. They then become almost inseparable from one another, as they are in the mind of their creator. The competition entry represents something like a “first harvest” of an idea on its journey to materialization in the real world. Competition proposals must primarily be clear to convince the jury composed of professionals, clients, and politicians. And yet, with their emphasis on concept, these proposals conceal at their core the essence of their material and emotional identity. Creating competition projects is itself a complex and expensive endeavor that involves a tremendous effort from many people to distill something clear and focused. Enormous intellectual potential is invested in the outward aspect of the proposal as well as in its content. The competition submission presents a proposal that seems inevitable. It strives to convince the jury members to fully immerse themselves in the proposal, even though the depth of their immersion is almost never sufficient.
In the first exhibition room, there is a board in the shape of a city, consisting of five large models: a completed building and one model currently under development, as well as three unsuccessful competition proposals. Even though they are stripped of their differing context – outside of place and politics, they are closer to autonomous architectural thinking. Their simple, almost monumental forms of protrusions, distortions, and additives are neither evidently sculptural nor neutral representations, but somewhere in between. Their uneasy and precarious balance hints at a relationship to the main event and the background, to the infinitely overwhelming imperfect world of real things.
Furthermore, we present the A2 books of original panels submitted for the selection of competition proposals from the entire spectrum of the practice. They are placed alongside large color prints of photographs by Hélène Binet, depicting buildings we have recently completed in London, Zurich, St. Gallen, Bremen, and Lille. These details of the buildings are a microcosm of ideas about architecture contained in competition proposals, which lie latent in perspective representations and model photographs, waiting and hoping to materialize.” (CSTJ)
More information >
Lecture by Adam Caruso: Tuesday, October 18, 2016, at 5:00 PM
At the Students' Church of the Holy Family, Karl IV. 22, České Budějovice
Opening: Tuesday, October 18, at 7:00 PM
Gallery of Contemporary Art and Architecture, House of Art of the City of České Budějovice
Exhibition: October 19 – November 20, 2016
Curator: Michal Škoda
Adam Caruso and Petr St John founded a studio in 1990, which is now behind numerous remarkable buildings. At first glance, one can speak of "ordinary architecture." The initial projects were characterized by considerable austerity, which was later replaced by a very sensitive inspiration from history, resisting precise dating. Another strong source of inspiration for them is contemporary art, but they do not attempt to blur the boundary between visual art and architecture. It should also be emphasized that they successfully avoid modernist and historicist clichés. Their work is not only about building "new," but they also devote themselves significantly to reconstructions and extensions.
As they themselves state – “It is not possible to operate outside of space-time, nor can one design architecture without it. To consider novelty as a quality is an absurd notion. Everything becomes an integral part of the space-time continuum, from which one cannot escape.”
Caruso St John understands architecture as part of a broader culture – both artistic and social. Their works notably emphasize material, construction issues, detail, light, but also the creation of atmosphere. Working with the context of a place is a matter of course for them, from both the perspective of the existing situation and the possibilities of how to change the given atmosphere.
They have a number of realizations and competition projects behind them, as well as exhibitions, publishing, and educational activities, and they are holders of several significant awards. For instance, for the realization of the Gallery of Contemporary Art in Walsall (2000) and the Brick House in London (2006), they were nominated for the Stirling Prize – the most prestigious British award for architects. Recently, they received awards for the modernization of Tate Britain (2014) – Civic Trust Award, New London Architecture Conservation and Retrofit Award, and RIBA Award. In 2016, they received the RIBA Award and RIBA National Award for the modernization of Newport Street Gallery and Gagosian Gallery in London.
Their first exhibition specifically prepared for the House of Art of the City of České Budějovice is primarily linked to architectural competitions through recent projects (also increasingly relevant and discussed in our region).
The lecture is held with the support and in collaboration with the Faculty of Art and Architecture at the Technical University of Liberec, in the presence of Dean Zdeněk Franěk, based on a long-term partnership between the two institutions.
33 competitions, 6 projects
“The exhibition presents a selection of competitive proposals that this practice has created over the last twenty-six years. We have always participated in many architectural competitions, initially one or two, in recent years between five and ten a year, sometimes even more. The competition process is difficult, risky, and frustrating, and inevitably involves a high probability of failure. Most proposals do not win first prize, and buildings based on them are not constructed. These proposals are rarely pulled from the drawer and retain their private character while also representing the true dreams of the architect. To summarize, the number of projects we have created as competition entries could fill an imaginary city with museums, public spaces, residential and commercial districts, including stadiums and cemeteries.
This exhibition is an opportunity to reflect on the position of the competition proposal in relation to the realized building, and brings these realities closer together. They then become almost inseparable from one another, as they are in the mind of their creator. The competition entry represents something like a “first harvest” of an idea on its journey to materialization in the real world. Competition proposals must primarily be clear to convince the jury composed of professionals, clients, and politicians. And yet, with their emphasis on concept, these proposals conceal at their core the essence of their material and emotional identity. Creating competition projects is itself a complex and expensive endeavor that involves a tremendous effort from many people to distill something clear and focused. Enormous intellectual potential is invested in the outward aspect of the proposal as well as in its content. The competition submission presents a proposal that seems inevitable. It strives to convince the jury members to fully immerse themselves in the proposal, even though the depth of their immersion is almost never sufficient.
In the first exhibition room, there is a board in the shape of a city, consisting of five large models: a completed building and one model currently under development, as well as three unsuccessful competition proposals. Even though they are stripped of their differing context – outside of place and politics, they are closer to autonomous architectural thinking. Their simple, almost monumental forms of protrusions, distortions, and additives are neither evidently sculptural nor neutral representations, but somewhere in between. Their uneasy and precarious balance hints at a relationship to the main event and the background, to the infinitely overwhelming imperfect world of real things.
Furthermore, we present the A2 books of original panels submitted for the selection of competition proposals from the entire spectrum of the practice. They are placed alongside large color prints of photographs by Hélène Binet, depicting buildings we have recently completed in London, Zurich, St. Gallen, Bremen, and Lille. These details of the buildings are a microcosm of ideas about architecture contained in competition proposals, which lie latent in perspective representations and model photographs, waiting and hoping to materialize.” (CSTJ)
More information >
The English translation is powered by AI tool. Switch to Czech to view the original text source.
0 comments
add comment
Related articles
0
19.10.2016 | The Budějovice exhibition showcases the competition designs of awarded architects
0
07.10.2016 | The best British building of the year is the gallery in Newport
0
09.11.2015 | Newport Street Gallery in London by Caruso St John
0
13.10.2014 | To the lecture of Laurent Stalder and Adam Carus
