Last week I visited the building by Herzog & De Meuron: Caixaforum in Madrid. OT is an excellent Art center close to the Prado managed by the big savings bank La Caixa. These architects have built several wonderful Art centers in famous cities like San Francisco, Barcelona and Madrid.
In these recent years there sound voices claming the presence of more personal identity in public buildings and asking local authorities to contract rather local architects than famous international ones. These critical voices of the international constructive style argue that most buildings appear as replications and cities look all the same.
As an observer of these architectural networks, I feel that spaces belong people once they’re built. And people are different in every city.
Art centers look more similar due to the way exhibitions are designed than because of the buildings that are hosting them.
Today people have the power to transform any space through the usage. In an abstract representation spaces, art, people, time, and buildings knitt a network of knowledge where the architect is the less important element. Though the style becomes a bridge between cultures and gathers virtual links through triggering sensations of common art spaces.
