丨阿根廷布宜诺斯艾利斯丨MATER + Cecilia Szalkowicz

Architects:MATER + Cecilia Szalkowicz

Year:2024

Photographs:Javier Agustín Rojas

Manufacturers:Holstein

Lead Architects:Leticia Virguez Lalli, Gabriel Huarte

Category:Installation

Project Team:Leticia Virguez Lalli, Gabriel Huarte, Cecilia Szalkowicz

Artist:Cecilia Szalkowicz

Curator:Mariano Mayer

Collaborators :Camila Gabrielli, Sofía Preliasco

City:Buenos Aires

Country:Argentina

Text description provided by the architects. The exhibition “Ideas Fijas” by artist Cecilia Szalkowicz, curated by Mariano Mayer, brings together photography, sculpture, and architecture in a single exhibition, working in collaboration with architects Leticia Virguez Lalli and Gabriel Huarte of Mater studio for the design and development of the piece.

From the art world, the subjective. The experimental, the experiential, the feelings, the intentions, and the political. The enunciation. From the universe of the symbolic, the interests, the referential explorations, the atmosphere, the timeless emerge.

The problematic evolves in the form of a question, and the challenge manifests itself in the way of appropriating a great emptiness and exhibiting a work. In this last instance, the spatial and the expository become concrete.

A problem of the universe of the technical, about form, stability, weight, material, and movement that dialogues with the performative. Completing the circular journey is an experience in itself that is consummated with the possibility of perceiving the work and returning to the subjective.

The project aims to design a wall that is not only a mounting device, but also forms part of the work together with the photographs.

Twelve pieces of lightened concrete of three different modulations are aligned to shape a broken wall of a final extension of 10.50m by 3.10m in height, to reflect on the act of exhibiting images.

The singularity of each piece is defined by a series of morphological operations that establish a relationship with the photographs and with each other, seeking a balance that attends to the look of the particular and the totality at the same time. Breaks, inclinations, traces, textures, and symbols are records of this process.

The stability of the pieces is determined by a reinforced concrete box that functions as a beam, redirecting the loads to four rotating wheels. In the same way, the caisson adds an extra weight to the base, bringing the center of gravity of the piece's barycenter to the ground. This allows the possibility of safe mobility of the elements, enabling other spatial configurations of the device to be imagined for future installations.

The material that makes up the device was not a mere choice, but a search oriented to satisfy three priorities: low cost, low weight, and allowing it to be conformable. Four prototypes were developed before reaching the desired properties of consistency, stability, and surface finish of the material. These prototypes were also used to explore design and morphological alternatives.

A steel reinforcement, similar to those used in concrete columns, connects the structural system of the piece with the box girder. This structure not only reinforces the dimensional stability of the material but also helps to support the bending stresses generated by the movement. The core of the part is composed of compact EPS bricks, which reduce the weight by 50%, achieving an average of 600kg per element.

The construction of the device was carried out in situ, transforming the room into a workshop over three weeks.

Project gallery