LIGA 07: Izaskun Chinchilla
House: Tree, Chocolate, Chimney
November 2012 – January 2013
In her project House: Tree, Chocolate, Chimney, Izaskun Chinchilla turns the gallery space into the scene of a countryside birthday that celebrates housing, which, according to the architect, is millions of years old. Three edible cake-shaped models, on top of tables with cart wheels and tree trunks, are decorated with children’s motifs and lit with lamps that have organic shapes. Each cake represents different states of the treehouse, a metaphor Chinchilla uses to talk about the most natural and ancestral way of living. The festive installation communicates the essence of her architectural work: the relation of the house with the immediate environment, the responsibility of the architect-citizen in the construction of the city and the poorly-achieved sensorial spontaneity with which architects approach the theme of housing.
In spite of the bucolic environment that emanates from this ludic and colorful installation, the architecture signals with precision and clarity the urgent problematics of the actual crisis of the discipline— its disconnect from the user and the distrust of society towards the profession. Like Charles and Ray Eames, for Chinchilla “everything is architecture.” Inspired by the ubiquitous details of daily life, her work promotes an architecture engaged with professional innovation: a refreshing combination of new technologies and a search for primary and sensorial experiences.
Photography: Ramiro Chaves
