The Fabra i Coats Art Factory explores the phenomenon of copied cities
The exhibition “After Landscape. Copied Cities” focusses on the factors that have influenced the recent increase in this phenomenon and can be seen from the 14th of March to the 17th of May
In contemporary society, notions such as imitation and repetition can also be applied to urban planning. According to exhibition curator Martí Peran, the combination of ideological neo-liberalism and world economy has led to the disappearance of genuine landscapes – a concept that underlies the Fabra i Coats presentation entitled After Landscape. Copied Cities. Curated by Peran and occupying two spaces of the recently-refurbished art factory, the exhibition focusses on contemporary art research processes that attempt to examine the phenomenon of standardised cities.
What do we mean, though, by copied cities? After Landscape... examines the political, economic, cultural and sociological factors that have encouraged the increase in, and which characterise these standardised replicate cities, devoid of identity – a phenomenon which, in addition, contributes to the loss of both memory and architectural identity. As the exhibition suggests, some of the factors that have favoured the proliferation of these fictitious cities are tourism, offshoring, the exportation of dominant models and land management. Along the same lines, the exhibition also offers a reflection on ideas such as replication and merchandising, the fastest-growing example being the city of Las Vegas.
By way of illustration, Domènec presents Baladia Future City, a military training camp in southern Israel where architectural scenarios are constructed for the purposes of planning attacks on Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria. Other highlights of the exhibition include, Jordi Colomer, who focusses on these training cities, Andrea Robbins and Max Becher, who focus on the fifteen reconstructions of the same building by the orthodox Jewish organisation Jabad-Lubavitch, and Stefanie Bürkle, who offers an analysis of the concept of miniature cities. Other exhibitors include Joan Bennàssar, Scott Chandler, Dan Dubowitz and Clarissa Tossin.
A series of activities have been programmed to coincide with the exhibition. For example, on Wednesday the 18th of March, Eloy Fernández Porta will direct a writers’ workshop entitled After Landscape, or the intermittent maps and, on Thursday the 26th, Carlos Losilla will present a screening and debate of the Florence Lazar film Les Bosquets (The Groves).
After Landscape. Copied Cities
When: from the 14th of March to the 17th of May
Price: Free entrance
Where: Fabra i Coats
More information here