LIGA 02: Paisajes Emergentes
Floodings
August – October 2011
The Colombian studio Paisajes Emergentes has selected five projects developed for different cities, each of which responding to a concrete geography and distinct socio political conditions, but with one element in common: the hydrological phenomena. Paisajes Emergentes’ intervention exemplifies its interest in creating intangible phenomena and environments that are based in water, temperature, humidity, condensation… Elements that seem impossible to represent through traditional architectural means.
The title of the show suggests that the gallery is flooded with water that is contained in a hydrogel, which are minuscule spherical particles of a polymer normally used for agriculture, greenhouses and hydroponic farms, and that can absorb 150 times their own weight in water. This material allowed the architects to create a set of scale models inside a continuous aquatic landscape. The light projected from the lower part of the base generates a somnambulist light effect, characteristic for the studio. This light accelerates evaporation of the contained water and creates, throughout the exhibition space, a humidity similar to that of a greenhouse. The plants between the water particles activate the installation with live elements, introducing continuous and slow change in the scenery over the course of the exhibition.
Photography: Ramiro Chaves
An architecture of atmospheres by Charles Waldheim