Archinect - News

The unusual tale of how Luis Barragán became a diamond

2016-07-26T15:28:00-04:00

Magid agrees with those who argue that the Barragán archive should be open to the public and returned to Mexico, but she insists that this is not her focus. “If that’s what my intentions were, I don’t think I’d make art,” she told me. “I’ve always called the archive her lover. To marry one man, she negotiated owning another man, whom she’s devoted her life to. It’s a weird love triangle, and I’m the other woman.”

“‘It intrigued me as a gothic love story,’ [Magid] said, ‘with a copyright-and-intellectual-property-rights subplot.’”

A fascinating story about “architectural preservation” that focuses on an artist's elaborate negotiation to open Luis Barragán's tightly controlled archive to the public in his native Mexico — and the unusual “love triangle” behind it. The story begins with conceptual artist Jill Magid, whose work questions the boundaries of institutional power and law. In her latest performance art piece, Magid had Barragán's ashes compressed into a 2.02 carat diamond, which was transformed into an engagement ring for architectural historian Federica Zanco. Magid would then “propose” to Zanco in exchange for Barragán's entire archive.

Zanco first received the archive as a gift from a Swiss businessman who purchased it and the copyrights for $3 million in 1995, in lieu of an engagement ring. Since then, everyone from architects to students to museum staff members have been denied acc...

Herzog & de Meuron's Kabinett shares their entire estate since 1978

2015-06-18T19:14:00-04:00

Herzog and de Meuron no doubt has a wealth of archival material attached to each of their projects - all valuable pieces of information that are often rarely seen outside the architects' main HQ...The Kabinett is a charitable foundation set up in Basel to make the celebrated architects' estate accessible to the public. Establishing this initiative in their home town...has been a 'lifelong aspiration' for the duo.

Herzog and de Meuron recently issued a press statement through the Kunstmuseum Basel announcing their Kabinett project, which features categorized cabinets consisting 'all the items and materials that were produced, collected, and archived' by the firm since its founding in 1978. The estate will be available for loans to local museums and institutions, and the Kunstmuseum Basel will have exclusive access. Experts and researchers can visit the archives upon request.

Read the full statement here.

Tech-Tycoon Loses Forced to Keep Beach Open

2014-09-30T11:34:00-04:00

San Mateo County Court Judge Barbara Mallach has ruled against Silicon Valley billionaire Vinod Khosla in a lawsuit over public access to Martin’s Beach. According to the ruling, Khosla will be required to seek a permit from the California Coastal Commission before locking gates at the beach, as well as to consult with the community to determine changes to the property and public access to the beach.

The secluded Martin's Beach in San Mateo County has been a cherished spot for locals for decades. When Khosla purchased his 53-acre property there in 2008, he locked the gate to the beach, closing off public access. This is just one example of a long history of wealthy property owners trying to privatize beaches. But in the state of California, everything below the mean tide line is public. Still, since access paths sometimes have to be maintained by adjacent property owners, things tend to get complicated.

A few months ago, we posted about the case as it was developing. We mentioned the LA Rangers, an awesome group of urban vigilantes who lead tours on how to access beaches that have – often illegally – been marked as private. Check out their work here.