Arch. Myriam B. Mahiques Curriculum Vitae

Thursday, November 4, 2010

REVENGE OF NATURE. By Mario Rabie Jachu

Tsunami 2. Digital art by Myriam B. Mahiques
Safe Creative #1011037758917
I find unusual

that sustain life and death

moments in the sea
punished without mercy, houses and huts
children and elderly
men and women
impoverished area
- And angrily lashing
to delicate plants and beasts

Winds angry sea unite
forming a partnership
to wipe out all existing

A storm enraged
and a shower of stones
come to joins them
and hurt more, the life of the poor unfortunate

Colossal forces of nature
are angry and uncontrolled
everything turned into a hellish siege


Are becoming by far
the damage they have inflicted on the land

self-satisfied men
believed to be powerful
always justify their actions

Just finished this feast
of which can not be beat,
quiet sun and then peek out
- But man
will not understand anything.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

The amazing urban drawings of an autistic man


He can take a look at the City and represent it with absolute accuracy, even in the details. He expresses himself through his wonderful urban illustrations.

Lamp Lighting Solution Award 2011

Anemona lamp.By Francesco Giannatassio

LAMP LIGHTING SOLUTIONS values the creativity, innovation and sustainability of the lighting projects, regardless of the manufacturer or the brand of lights used in the project.

For additional information visit: http://www.lamp.es/awards or the Facebook page Premios Lamp Lighting Solutions (Lamp Lighting Solutions Awards).
 The awards are divided into 4 categories:
1.    Architectural Exterior Lighting
Lighting projects for exterior illumination such as: facades, sport facilities, monuments, canopies, etc.
2.    Interior Lighting
Lighting projects for interior illumination such as: shops, restaurants, museums, exhibition halls, single buildings, offices, etc.
3.    Urban and Landscape Lighting
Lighting projects for urban illumination such as: squares, roundabouts, avenues, streets, parks, bridges, etc.
4.    Students Proposals
This year's theme is "Nomads"; lighting projects for mobility areas such as: airports, harbors, metro, bus and tram stations, taxi stands, bicycle stops, etc. Only idea-based projects will be accepted.
We would like to count with your contribution in order to create awareness concerning awards and it´s contest rules by your web site or social network, as well as promoting it between your readers.
Please find enclosed/attached to these message awards contest rules, awards logo and press release. 
For additional information www.lamp.es/awards

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Day of the Dead in Los Angeles


Today it's the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) and Los Angeles Downtown, specifically Olvera St and the plaza, are crowded with people celebrating in beautiful costumes.
It´s been two years by now since I cannot go, but anyway, I´m sharing some pictures of the event from Los Angeles Times.
To learn more about the altarcitos and the día de los muertos, click here:




El arte tomó Córdoba

¨Con bastantes menos recursos que los que dispusieron las comunidades autónomas que les hizo ganar gran reputación internacional, muchas provincias argentinas vienen haciendo esfuerzos notables por generar actividades culturales autónomas e independientes del acontecer de Buenos Aires. No se trata sólo de nuevos y sofisticados edificios de museos con programaciones de primer nivel como los del Caraffa, en Córdoba, el Macro de Rosario o el MNBA de Neuquén, sino de movidas con importante participación internacional que no derivan de Buenos Aires y ni siquiera han pasado por esta ciudad. Es el caso de ¡ Afuera! , proyecto concebido y organizado por el Centro Cultural España y la Municipalidad de Córdoba que por estos días ocupa espacios abiertos y cerrados de la ciudad.
La movida se lanzó el viernes 8 y el fin de semana del 9 y 10 con una serie de acciones en espacios públicos que protagonizaron figuras de gran relieve internacional especialmente invitadas para esa oportunidad. Una de ellas, Tomás Saraceno, el tucumano residente en Frankfurt, presencia destacadísima en la última Bienal de Venecia y las actuales exhibiciones argentinas de Frankfurt y Berlín. Otra: Rirkrit Tiravanija, el artista de origen tailandés, nacido por azar en Buenos Aires y figura fetiche de Nicolás Bourriaud, el teórico de la estética relacional. El domingo al amanecer Saraceno remontó dos gigantescos globos aerosolares en el espacio público, un día después de que Tiravanija organizara un asado “thai” de similares dimensiones en el Camping Muncipal. Tiravanija adquirió fama justamente por hacer de los encuentros gastronómicos una forma de arte capaz de sustituir otras formas más tradicionales en una galería.

Si algo no faltó en los días de apertura fueron credenciales de proyección internacional aquí y allá. A los ya mencionados se sumó entre otros el español Fernando Sánchez Castillo, participante en 2004 de la XXVI Bienal de San Pablo y autor del sorprendente monumento ecuestre a Chávez que fue emplazado en plena plaza de la Intendencia; también, el mexicano Gustavo Artigas que invitó a los cordobeses a pronunciarse por el edificio más detestable de su ciudad, el guatemalteco Aníbal López y el propio curador cubano Gerardo Mosquera, quien diseñó esta selección junto al argentino Rodrigo Alonso.
La deliberada impronta internacional se acentuó en El Panal, edificio histórico en desuso que fue rescatado como espacio de exhibición para esta oportunidad. La mayor parte de obras de soporte tecnológico emplazadas en este espacio también pertenecen a artistas de amplia trascendencia en circuitos internacionales. Al catalán residente en Nueva York Antoni Muntadas, pertenece “Fear/ Miedo”, uno de los videos que se pudo ver el año pasado en la Fundación Proa y forma parte de On Traslation , un proyecto que trabaja Muntadas sobre diferencias o similitudes en las experiencias que se modifican según los contextos. Charly Nijensohn, el argentino residente desde hace unos años en Berlín, es otro de los invitados a este espacio donde se proyecta en pantalla media su conmovedora videoperformance “Dead Forest Storm”, realizada el año pasado en Amazonia. También Fernando Sánchez Castillo, el autor del menoscabado monumento a Chávez instalado en la plaza de la Intendencia exhibe aquí un video. “Rich cat dies of Hear Tattack in Chicago” (Gato rico muere de ataque al corazón en Chicago), que así se llama, es una soberbia alegoría sobre el fin del poder en interminable secuencia de grupos arrastrando la cabeza de un héroe derrocado. El mexicano Carlos Amorales es otro de los presentes en este espacio con una poética videoinstalación que dirige la mirada del espectador a un cielo interior, al igual que la francesa Dominique González Forster, otra artista del círculo Bourriaud que llega a Córdoba tras pasar por el Turbine Hall de la Tate Modern de Londres y la última Bienal de Venecia.
Aunque no todo es la flor y nata del firmamento internacional traída a la escena cordobesa, buena parte de los artistas o las obras de ¡ Afuera! parecieran acreditar algún tipo de experiencia bienal. Por caso, el marplatense Dani Joglar, que exhibe aquí la misma instalación que envió hace dos años a la Bienal de Pontevedra, en Galicia, una red de rosarios fluorescentes suspendida en forma de cúpula, como síntesis de la cultura gallega entre la religión y la práctica ancestral de la pesca. O Julian D’Angiolillo, cuyo “Peregrino Inmobiliario” hizo su primera aparición en la Bienal del Fin del Mundo en 2007, en homenaje a los pintores viajeros que fundaron el imaginario de nuestro paisaje.
Rescatado del abandono en plena peatonal Rivera Indarte, el edificio El Panal, donde se exhiben todas estas obras, es un emblema de la generación del 80 cordobesa. Proyectado en 1889 durante la administración de Marcos Juárez , padeció usos y desusos varios hasta este retorno a la escena. No es extraño entonces que sean dos artistas cordobeses, Dolores Cáceres y Hugo Aveta, quienes refieran a este edificio entre las pocas obras que hacen una arqueología de sentido en torno de él.
La intervención de Dolores Cáceres, quien también participó de la I Bienal del Fin del Mundo, ha sido concebida como parte del proyecto Maquillaje de Museos que la ocupa desde hace tiempo. La artista realiza un enlace entre las aves de la sierra –una performance que realizó en Carlos Paz– y este edificio habitado por palomas durante tantos años de abandono. Hugo Aveta, en cambio, interviene el espacio apenas acondicionado de El Panal, con imágenes que registran su no tan lejano estado ruinoso y establece un contrapunto de experiencias dirigidas a activar la memoria sensorial en el propio lugar.
Múltiple, diverso e imposible de abarcar en un panorama, ¡ Afuera! cruzó proyectos itinerantes, como “El ciudadano”, de Lucas Di Pascuale, que surca la ciudad. Pero también se realizaron encuentros musicales, residencias de artistas, conferencias y encuentros de auditorio por donde pasaron disertantes de todo pelaje y lugar, entre ellos, Toni Puig Picart, quien esto escribe, Adrián Gorelik, Douglas Crimp y Marc Augé. El tema analizado desde distintas perspectivas siempre fue la relación arte-ciudad.¨
REFERENCIA
Reproducción del artículo de Ana Maria Battistozzi para Revista de Cultura Eñe. Las fotos han sido bajadas del artículo.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Are food trucks displacing restaurants?

A food truck in Los Angeles. Picture from ilovefoodtrucks.com

¨Sure, a few cities around the country may be starting to see a backlash by brick-and-mortar restaurants against the myriad mobile kitchens that have proliferated in a brutal economy. Every dining dollar counts these days, and a party of six eating dumplings or duck confit from a come-and-go curbside truck cuts into the income a "real" restaurateur needs to pay for everything from linens to dishwashers to rent itself.
But many savvy entrepreneurs see the trend as a win-win situation. Wolfgang Wannabes can get a relatively low-budget start on the street and build a following, while established restaurateurs can collaborate to make extra income, whether by renting kitchen space at off-hours or actually doing the cooking for the fly-by-day vendors.
And if imitation is the most trustworthy form of flattery, this is an even busier two-way street. More and more restaurateurs are starting to take their food on the road, validating the whole concept, while curbside cooks are increasingly opening restaurants without giving up on their first ventures.
Matt Geller, a founder of the Southern California Mobile Food Vendors Association that has mobilized since January in Los Angeles, says there is no way to quantify how the truck movement is affecting restaurants, although he sees the biggest impact in areas with few or no food choices where workers are now thrilled to be able to buy ambitious braised pork belly or just a simple burrito. Restaurants that offer "ambiance, a bar, great food" will never be affected, he says. (Location, location matters more than ever now that food is "movable and malleable," Geller adds.)
Food truck in L.A. From Latimes.com
Established restaurateurs may complain that food trucks have an unfair advantage because they don't pay rent, but Geller notes that they still have to pay for commissary space to clean and restock their "kitchens," they pay for licenses and food and staff, and they pay for rent on storage space and commissaries to do most of the prep work. And then there is the energy and the cost of social media: Because trucks are literally on the move, they need Twitter and Facebook to get the word out on where they are and when, plus what they are serving. Websites are so 2009.
On the plus side, Geller says, trucks develop something close to cults. "Restaurants have customers," he says. "Food trucks have followers." The difference lies in the devotion — the latter will follow their food wherever it is.
The food truck phenomenon has obviously exploded in the last year, partly inspired by Roy Choi of Los Angeles, whose Kogi trucks have served thousands and thousands with crossover Korean/Mexican cuisine, including kimchi quesadillas. And talk about a business model: He not only famously grossed $2 million his first year but was also just named Food & Wine magazine's best new chef of 2010, even though he doesn't have a stockpot to stew in like the nine other winners with free-standing restaurants and fixed expenses to cover.
No wonder vendors from Miami to Minneapolis and beyond are getting into the mobile act. Portland has become the Disneyland of food trucks, with areas set aside to create "food courts" that attract even bigger crowds. Seattle is edging toward allowing carts, and New York is nearly overrun. Now the Los Angeles area is beginning to emulate the Portland model, setting aside not just parking spaces for food trucks but clearing lots where four or more trucks can gather to draw bigger crowds for more income.¨
Excerpt from the article by Regina Schrambling.
Read the full story:

The house of the month in Frankfurt, selected by Architectural Record


¨If you ask Georg Kratzenstein, project architect for Frankfurt, Germany based Meixner Schlueter Wendt Architects, to describe the house his firm designed for a family of five in the town of Kronberg im Taunus, he will tell you it’s a “completely normal, pitched-roof house, built on a slope, where the mass of the garden floor has been subtracted.” He will also tell you it can also be perceived as a “dynamic, hovering vehicle or flying object.”
Stealth bomber or angled-roof dwelling, the house meets local regulations set by the housing authorities of this 13th century town, as well as fulfilling the needs of the couple and three children who are proud to call the building home. Describing the house as normal, however, is a bit of a stretch.



At 3,500-square-feet, the three-story house is firmly embedded into its sloped site, which overlooks a valley with a densely forested hill in the distance. The ground floor, is a basement bunker used as a guest apartment. This submerged level gets natural light through a lightwell above. The first floor, or “garden” floor contains kitchen and living areas, and is, according to Kratzenstein, “a composition of boxes and levels embedded into the topography of the site, and glazed all around to make the transition between living area and orchard lawn as seamless as possible.” Then there’s the top floor, an aluminum-composite clad wedge that seems to hover above the ground.¨

Excerpt from Ingrid Spencer´s article. All pictures posted at Architectural record.com. Keep on reading:

Mitigating disaster through design and construction conference


MARCH 2-3 2011. Renaissance Washington DC. Dupont Circle Hotel
Contact: 800-371-3238 sandy_singh@mcgraw-hill.com
Floods, tornados, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and landslides
disrupt our environments and lead to financial and sometimes human loss. While natural hazards are inevitable, disastrous consequences are not, if policy-makers, designers and builders plan successfully.
ENR’s Mitigating Disaster through Design & Construction Conference will explore these critical issues:
How the public and private sectors can improve planning to create resilient urban, as well as rural, communities to withstand the outcomes of natural hazards.
Creating common risk-assessment methodologies.
Inspection mechanisms and training programs.
Managing society’s evolving expectations
Incentive (i.e. tax credits) and disincentive programs that plan for mitigation and resilience.
Determining funding priorities.
How social media has helped raise awareness.

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