🌇Qondesa: MADโ€™s First Contact w/ South America

Ian Mutuli
Updated on
Ian Mutuli

Ian Mutuli

Founder and Managing Editor of Archute. He is also a graduate architect from The University of Nairobi, Kenya.
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GM architecture aficionados,

today we begin by pouring one out for a real one

Reminder: if someone in your town proposes to remove a masterwork by a legend for a strip mall with a Jimmy Johnโ€™sโ€” simply: stop them. Justโ€ฆ stop that from happening. 🛑.

So, whatโ€™s worth knowing this week in architecture and design?

โ†’ MAD Lands in South America w/ โ€œQondesaโ€ 🌆

โ†’ Botta Touches Up Milanโ€™s La Scala ⛪

โ†’ IAAC Brings Oasis to Barcelona Forest 🌳

โ†’ Who Said What: This Weekโ€™s Hot Takes 🗣️

โ†’ Dropping it Like itโ€™s Hot: New Structure of the Week 🔥

MAD Lands in South America w/ โ€œQondesaโ€ 🌇

MAD Architects has finally made their way across another pond, starting the process of planting down its first South American structure in Quito. Inspired by “twisting vines,” this “intimately-scaled” urban apartment and mixed-use complex is set to become the tallest building in Ecuador’s capital.

MAD says: โ€œGrowing from the earth to the sky, Qondesa’s exterior facade emulates twisting vines weaving around the building to taper at its top, and sprout greenery which form planters throughout the building’s balconies.โ€

IAAC Oasis in Barcelona 🌳

Obviously, some strong images come to mind when we think about Barcelonaโ€™s architecture. This new addition by IAAC, however, might not fit that bill.

The Forest Lab for Observational Research and Analysis (FLORA) is located in Valldaura, situated in the central forest of the metropolitan area of Barcelona. Itโ€™s a beautiful lookout inspired by the hanging walkways of biologist Margaret Lowman.

Although the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia built a lookout that is perfect for this stunning locale, one of the virtues of this project is that itโ€™s basically adaptable to anywhere. In the meantime, FLORA will accommodate a researcher as living quarters while they study biodiversity in the park.

Botta Touches Up La Scala ⛪

This NYT feature on Mario Bottaโ€™s newest architectural update to La Scala, an 18th-century opera house in Milan, is worth a read.

With an emphasis on Botticino marble, he talks about how his work to โ€œcreate a dialogue between the 18th century and modernityโ€ meets many challenges to be creatively overcomeโ€” everything from the materials he works with to the culture with which the work interacts.

In 2002, Botta delivered a more substantial renovation to the theatre. Now, heโ€™s just touching things up. The whole journey, however, is compelling.

Who Said What!? 🗣️

โ€œThe illusions created by media tend to remove people from the organic and tactile world around them. Retaining this connection between mind and hand seems just as valid now as it was for the cave art masters who immortalized the hunt in Lascaux and Altamira. The quest for calligraphic quality is no less relevant as well. It is an objective perfectly described by the writer/animator, Walter Stanchfield; We all have at least 10,000 bad drawings inside of us. The sooner we get them out and onto paper, the sooner weโ€™ll get to the good ones buried deep within.โ€

โ†’ James Wines on why โ€œArchitects Should Never Stop Drawing By Handโ€

โ€œBuildings today all look the same. You canโ€™t read their function. This is the homogeneity thatโ€™s been created by globalization. Itโ€™s destroyed the symbolic power of buildings; the value of architecture. Now, a McDonaldโ€™s can resemble a theater. Weโ€™ve lost the capacity to express the true value of architecture.โ€

โ†’ Botta from the La Scala piece mentioned earlierโ€ฆ heโ€™s a good quote!

โ€œI think that there are a lot of dangerous myths about materials, recycling and sustainabilityโ€ฆ We had a very intense debate on this in the jury of the Stirling prize. It wasn’t about the material, it was about how you use that material.โ€

โ†’ Norman Foster responds to criticisms re: his firmโ€™s continued use of concrete despite environmental concerns, and more

Drop it Like itโ€™s Hot 🔥

Wang Chong Studioโ€™s Taihang Xinyu art museum in Shibanyan Town, Linzhou, China. Incredible.

Ian Mutuli

About the author

Ian Mutuli

Founder and Managing Editor of Archute. He is also a graduate architect from The University of Nairobi, Kenya.
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