Smiljan Radić: Bestiary - Invitation to the Lecture and Vernissage
Lecture by the author: April 27, 2017, at 5:00 PM - at the Student Church of the Holy Family, Karel IV. St. 22, České Budějovice
Exhibition opening: Thursday, April 27, 2017 / at 7:00 PM / Gallery of Contemporary Art and Architecture - Art House of the City of České Budějovice
Exhibition duration: April 28 - May 28, 2017
Curator: Michal Škoda
We are greatly honored to present for the first time in the Czech Republic the work of the highly respected figure of contemporary world architecture, Smiljan Radic from Santiago, Chile, who is increasingly drawing attention due to his extraordinary approach to architecture and distinct creative perspective. His unique work stands out not only in his home country of Chile but also within the context of contemporary architectural developments in general.
These mentioned aspects are primarily rooted in the original Chilean landscape, which Radic has deeply embedded within himself and which significantly resonates in his work. With an inseparable emphasis on the context of the place, he successfully integrates his buildings into the given environment. Within his poetic work, it is also worth mentioning his unorthodox use and combination of materials. Although his buildings often oscillate between contradictory properties such as strength - fragility, abstraction - reality, durability - transience, they always exude a natural homogeneity.
In the context of the author's work, it is necessary to emphasize poetry, fables, and fairy tales, as they serve as original inspiration for many of the projects. For example, in 2010, Radic was influenced by Oscar Wilde's tale The Selfish Giant when creating an experimental model called The Castle of the Selfish Giant, which he later expanded into the realization of the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London (2014).
Smiljan Radic was born in Santiago in 1965. He studied architecture at the Universidad Católica de Chile. He then continued his studies at the Instituto Universitario di Architettura in Venice. After winning the first prize at the International Platía Eleftería competition (in Heraklion, Crete), he worked on the development and realization of a project in Greece in collaboration with architects Nicolas Skutelis and Flavio Zanon. In 2000, he won a competition for the Barrio Cívico de Concepción project and subsequently received the award for Best National Architect in the age group under 35, presented in 2001 by the Chilean Association of Architects. He has delivered countless lectures, and his writings have been published in magazines such as Casabella, A+U, Quaderns, Detail, 2G, Electa, Lotus, and Arq, as well as in two monographic catalogs published in Spain (El Croquis) and in Chile. In 2007, he was invited as a guest professor at the University of Texas. In 2008, he lectured at Harvard with his long-time collaborator, sculptor Marcela Correa.
He has also participated in numerous exhibitions. Notably, at the Venice Biennale in 2010, where he presented an installation titled The Boy Hidden in a Fish. In the same year, he exhibited Refuge, a work built on a square pedestal measuring 1800 mm, as one of seven architects showcased in the exhibition Global Ends: Towards the Beginning, held for the 25th anniversary of TOTO GALLERY·MA in Tokyo, The Wardrobe and the Mattress (in collaboration with Marcela Correa) at Maison Hermes – Tokyo 2013 or at MoMA New York 2016. In the mentioned Tokyo TOTO gallery, the exhibition Bestiary also premiered last year, which Radic is now presenting in a slightly modified form at the Gallery of Contemporary Art and Architecture in České Budějovice.
BESTIARY offers modern bestiaries created from Radic's imagination through the presentation of 20 models symbolizing various fictional creatures, supplemented by a set called Dead at Home, consisting of twenty-eight drawings.
These are models of works such as The Castle of the Selfish Giant, House for the Poem for the Right Angle, The Boy Hidden in the Egg, etc.
Vera Grimmer states in one of the catalogs: “In the works of Smiljan Radic, themes appear and disappear, only to return again, much like in a musical composition. His chamber music is sometimes so quiet that it cannot be heard; it is no louder than footsteps in the dark, but then suddenly bursts into a fortissimo of harmonies of heavy granite stones.”
The exhibition is held in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, with the Faculty of Architecture and Art of the Technical University of Liberec, and with the kind support of the Embassy of the Republic of Chile. The project has been supported by funds from the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs within the cultural programs DIRAC 2017
More information >
Exhibition opening: Thursday, April 27, 2017 / at 7:00 PM / Gallery of Contemporary Art and Architecture - Art House of the City of České Budějovice
Exhibition duration: April 28 - May 28, 2017
Curator: Michal Škoda
We are greatly honored to present for the first time in the Czech Republic the work of the highly respected figure of contemporary world architecture, Smiljan Radic from Santiago, Chile, who is increasingly drawing attention due to his extraordinary approach to architecture and distinct creative perspective. His unique work stands out not only in his home country of Chile but also within the context of contemporary architectural developments in general.
These mentioned aspects are primarily rooted in the original Chilean landscape, which Radic has deeply embedded within himself and which significantly resonates in his work. With an inseparable emphasis on the context of the place, he successfully integrates his buildings into the given environment. Within his poetic work, it is also worth mentioning his unorthodox use and combination of materials. Although his buildings often oscillate between contradictory properties such as strength - fragility, abstraction - reality, durability - transience, they always exude a natural homogeneity.
In the context of the author's work, it is necessary to emphasize poetry, fables, and fairy tales, as they serve as original inspiration for many of the projects. For example, in 2010, Radic was influenced by Oscar Wilde's tale The Selfish Giant when creating an experimental model called The Castle of the Selfish Giant, which he later expanded into the realization of the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London (2014).
Smiljan Radic was born in Santiago in 1965. He studied architecture at the Universidad Católica de Chile. He then continued his studies at the Instituto Universitario di Architettura in Venice. After winning the first prize at the International Platía Eleftería competition (in Heraklion, Crete), he worked on the development and realization of a project in Greece in collaboration with architects Nicolas Skutelis and Flavio Zanon. In 2000, he won a competition for the Barrio Cívico de Concepción project and subsequently received the award for Best National Architect in the age group under 35, presented in 2001 by the Chilean Association of Architects. He has delivered countless lectures, and his writings have been published in magazines such as Casabella, A+U, Quaderns, Detail, 2G, Electa, Lotus, and Arq, as well as in two monographic catalogs published in Spain (El Croquis) and in Chile. In 2007, he was invited as a guest professor at the University of Texas. In 2008, he lectured at Harvard with his long-time collaborator, sculptor Marcela Correa.
He has also participated in numerous exhibitions. Notably, at the Venice Biennale in 2010, where he presented an installation titled The Boy Hidden in a Fish. In the same year, he exhibited Refuge, a work built on a square pedestal measuring 1800 mm, as one of seven architects showcased in the exhibition Global Ends: Towards the Beginning, held for the 25th anniversary of TOTO GALLERY·MA in Tokyo, The Wardrobe and the Mattress (in collaboration with Marcela Correa) at Maison Hermes – Tokyo 2013 or at MoMA New York 2016. In the mentioned Tokyo TOTO gallery, the exhibition Bestiary also premiered last year, which Radic is now presenting in a slightly modified form at the Gallery of Contemporary Art and Architecture in České Budějovice.
BESTIARY offers modern bestiaries created from Radic's imagination through the presentation of 20 models symbolizing various fictional creatures, supplemented by a set called Dead at Home, consisting of twenty-eight drawings.
These are models of works such as The Castle of the Selfish Giant, House for the Poem for the Right Angle, The Boy Hidden in the Egg, etc.
Vera Grimmer states in one of the catalogs: “In the works of Smiljan Radic, themes appear and disappear, only to return again, much like in a musical composition. His chamber music is sometimes so quiet that it cannot be heard; it is no louder than footsteps in the dark, but then suddenly bursts into a fortissimo of harmonies of heavy granite stones.”
The exhibition is held in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, with the Faculty of Architecture and Art of the Technical University of Liberec, and with the kind support of the Embassy of the Republic of Chile. The project has been supported by funds from the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs within the cultural programs DIRAC 2017
More information >
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