07
DESIGN IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES. A HERITAGE FOR BARCELONA,
1992
| Editorial
DESIGN IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES. A HERITAGE FOR BARCELONA«Where there is no style and norm there is barbarism.»
J. V. Foix
Temes de Disseny dedicates the present
number to the Barcelona Olympic Games. Obviously, it is mainly centered around
the subject of design, architecture and urbanism, but it also refers to the economical
dimensions of this phenomenon. But let the reader not be deceived, for the
articles go far beyond this and inevitably delve into the problem of the city
of Barcelona as the capital of
Catalonia, as a Mediterranean metropolis and also as a meeting place for people
and cultures.
But the reader should not be deceived: among all these questions, some are dealt with, others are only suggested, and some are even missing. And thanks to these latter the reader will be able, if he so wishes, to carry out a useful task of enhancing the textual proposals with reasoning, imagination and, if it suits him, empirical verification. The Olympic Games represent the final emergence of the complex movement of Barcelona and Catalan design. The city of Barcelona seems to be internationally acknowledged as one of the most active and original urban nuclei of our continent in the field of architecture and design. However, those of us who experience the phenomenon from within feel surprised because we are conscious of our weaknesses and deficiencies. Nevertheless, if foreigners think so, they must be right to certain extent; not totally right, this we know for sure, but there must be some truth in what they say. The aforementioned emergence —let us accept it with skepticism— is the result of many, many years of activity. It is due to the excellent level that some of our architects have always had, the good work of the artisans, the conscious creations of designers, the work of painters, typographers and printers. All this activity which has developed over more than a hundred years has left behind a sediment of inestimable value that has constituted the strong basis on which design has developed since the sixties decade. Whether large or small, we have a certain tradition in the field of design; a tradition that now enables us to pick up the more fruitful results; a tradition which is invaluable for us no matter what international assessment it receives. The Olympics are a very complex phenomenon which also entails other dimensions, apart from sports, that are political, economical, cultural and that have to do with design, a factor that is becoming more and more important. It is a series of events that are characteristic of our times and, as such, are the vehicle for existing tensions, individual or collective aspirations, as well as for ideologies of triumph or fight and the spiritual emptiness of religious nature. Given the diversity that they represent, it is normal that they have changed very rapidly in their one hundred years of existence according to the circumstances of the moment. Since the restablishment —in truth, the new creation— of the Modern Games in Athens 1896, to the celebration of Barcelona'92, the Games have evolved in accordance to the history of our societies. We only have to remember the Games held in Berlin in 1936, as an exaltation of Nazi Germany, accompanied by the democratic and popular alternative ones that had to be held in Barcelona the same year and which were aborted by the uprising of the Spanish fasciste military. This years Games represent a new progress for this majestuous international celebration, precisely and very specially in relation to architecture, urbanism and design in general. As the reader will see in the following pages, never had we gone so far in the creation of a corporate image, in the exploitation of mascots, clothes, graphic work and objects especially designed for the occasion such as torches or flame holders. The brand of Barcelona, and therefore of Catalonia, has extended all over the world as never before in recent times. In the same line, the audiovisual coverage of the Games will attain landmarks never reached before. The card of the supposed form and creativity has been played to its full extent, to the point that the Barcelona'92 Games will probably go down in history as the Games of design. We can all see the incredible urbanistic works that have been carried out, the perfectioning in the communications networks. There is much to feel satisfied about; however, all this work also creates new problems as well as raising other old ones. The relations between the city itself and its metropolitan area have been upset; a worsening of the proportions between the great central city and the rest of the country are obvious. It is evident that the main aim of the urbanistic plans carried out by the municipal government during the past few years has been the creation of new urban centers equipped with services, monuments and facilities in the peripheral neighbourhoods of the city. There has been an obvious desire to dignify the most degraded sectors; to correct the disasters created during the years of the Franco regime. A noteworthy effort has been made to solve the problems of circulation and transportation: new avenues and belts have been constructed to improve traffic circulation inside the city. Nevertheless, all these improvements, as will be explained in some of the articles contained in this issue, have been made by exporting the problems of the periphery of Barcelona to its metropolitan area. On the other hand, the great demographic, economical and political specific weight of the Barcelona metropolis runs the risk of breaking the harmonious unity that has traditionally existed between the city and the rest of the country. It would be important to solve the articulation of the city with its metropolitan area and with the rest of Catalonia. But Catalonia does not have the political or economical organisms that it needs in order to organize its own territory, balance the local and regional power with the General power. With our present political organization formed by insufficient autonomic powers, municipalities with little financial capacity and peripheral administration by the State with a different meaning and diverging acts makes Catalonia, in many aspects, an ungovernable country. The articles that follow underline something that the reader may already know well, but we believe should nevertheless be stressed: taking advantage of the Olympic investments to make progress in many other senses. In the first place the Barcelona authorities as was their duty, but also the authorities of other public administrations headed by the Generalitat, thought of the organization of this sports event in terms of a driving force and excuse for giving the capital of Catalonia the necessary impulse to become very soon one of the most important metropolis of southern Europe. In order to reach these objectives Barcelona, its politicians, its intellectuals and among them naturally its designers never have to forget, in the name of cosmopolitanism, its nature as a Catalan city: visible head of Catalonia as it has been traditionally considered. Now more than ever, the Catalan country is an intimately related urban network; its unity cannot be broken artificially without producing certain unwanted consequences; the fluid communication between the city and the rest of the country is an essential requirement for maintaining the strength of the whole. Only by maintaining their own personality and strength do individuals and collectivities transcend beyond their own limits and boundaries. Opening up to the world must contribute to the already-existing richness and not serve to dissolve ones own personality. In other words, and to put it clearly: if Barcelona forgets her nature as the capital of Catalonia it will not be a European metropolis or anything else but a provincial city. This reflection, or a very similar one, should be made within the field of design now that the work of our professionals has become popular inside our country and has also acquired a certain international dimension, as we pointed out at the beginning. The determination of the shapes of objects, of spaces and of images that have to constitute our vital space is a very important activity in the world of today; only the cultures capable of doing this satisfactorily will have an important place in the future. In Catalonia we have many chances of doing this if we are capable of not only taking advantage of the work carried out so far but also of going beyond it and improving. We have the necessary institutions: schools, professional organizations, publications and cultural baggage that cannot be underestimated. What we must now do is improve this. A necessary period of reflection and study must ensue; also a big debate between professionals, investigators, entrepreneurs and politicians could situate us satisfactorily in order to face the future. Barcelona has become fashionable, Catalan design is known everywhere for the first time in our history, but fashions pass and only solid constructions remain. The well done work demanded by our avantgarde artists of the 19th century continues to be a very important objective. Jordi Berrio |
Contents
07
DESIGN IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES. A HERITAGE FOR BARCELONA,
1992
PEP SANT, RAMON BIGAS Olympic cauldron 07 DESIGN IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES. A HERITAGE FOR BARCELONA, 1992 NORMAN FOSTER The Tower of Collserola 07 DESIGN IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES. A HERITAGE FOR BARCELONA, 1992 IGNASI SOLÁ-MORALES Barcelona'92: provisional conclusions 07 DESIGN IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES. A HERITAGE FOR BARCELONA, 1992 FRANCESC ROCA Political economy of the Barcelona Olympic games 07 DESIGN IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES. A HERITAGE FOR BARCELONA, 1992 JORDI FARRÉ, JORDI BUSQUET Acceptance and social appropriation of the Barcelona’92 olympic mascot The present article is divided into three parts: 1. The first part, relative to the social acceptance of Cobi, briefly analizes the problems and implications that arise dining the difficult process of choosing an Olympic mascot. Secondly, a reference is made to the degree of popular acceptance and the opposition met with against the Olympic mascot among important sectors of the population. 2. The second part includes a series of sociological considerations on the «aesthetics» and «antiaesthetics» of Cobi as a product of the cultural industry and as an object of design. 3. The third part refers to the use and social appropriation of Cobi, especially by radical and contestatary groups. This last part includes a repertoire of the most significant and suggestive images of the «anti-Cobi». [...]07 DESIGN IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES. A HERITAGE FOR BARCELONA, 1992 JOSEP MARIA MONTANER The Barcelona model 07 DESIGN IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES. A HERITAGE FOR BARCELONA, 1992 LLUÍS ARMET Notes on a decade of urban design in Barcelona 07 DESIGN IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES. A HERITAGE FOR BARCELONA, 1992 ANDRÉ RICARD The design of the olympic torch 1992 07 DESIGN IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES. A HERITAGE FOR BARCELONA, 1992 JUAN JOSÉ LAHUERTA Note on the airports of Barcelona and Seville 07 DESIGN IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES. A HERITAGE FOR BARCELONA, 1992 ANNA CALVERA Kitsch'92: dignifying the olympic souvenir 07 DESIGN IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES. A HERITAGE FOR BARCELONA, 1992 FRANCESC FERNÁNDEZ, MOISÉS GALLEGO Project for the renovation of the Picornell baths in Barcelona 07 DESIGN IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES. A HERITAGE FOR BARCELONA, 1992 ARATA ISOZAKI A system called «architecture». The Palau Sant Jordi 07 DESIGN IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES. A HERITAGE FOR BARCELONA, 1992 JOSEP M. TRIAS The symbols of the xxv olympic games, Barcelona’92 07 DESIGN IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES. A HERITAGE FOR BARCELONA, 1992 MIQUEL DE MORAGAS SPÀ Design: promotion and identity of Barcelona’92 07 DESIGN IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES. A HERITAGE FOR BARCELONA, 1992 XAVIER MARISCAL Mariscal responds |