The most recent issue of MAS Context is dedicated to the city of Bilbao. Coinciding with the twentieth anniversary of the opening of the Guggenheim Museum in 1997, which was so important in the transformation of the city, this issue explores the recent history of Bilbao and reflects on its present and future. With contributions from mainly local authors (politicians, town planners, architects, landscapists, photographers, historians, a film director) it aspires to transmit a global vision of this extraordinary Basque city with its own identity.
MAS Context editor in chief Iker Gil, along with several contributors, will present this issue dedicated to the city of Bilbao in Bilbao on Thursday, March 23, at 7 pm. The event is organized in collaboration with EIDE, the Association of Designers in the Basque Country and will take place at the Edificio Ensanche (Plaza Ensanche 11, 48009 Bilbao).
 

The second launch event will take place in Chicago on Wednesday, April 19, at 6 pm, with a presentation of the issue by Iker Gil and a conversation about Bilbao and Chicago with MarySue Barrett, president of the Metropolitan Planning Council, and Philip Enquist, FAIA, partner in charge of Urban Design and Planning at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). The event, organized in collaboration with the Instituto Cervantes of Chicago, will take place at their headquarters (31 W. Ohio Street, Chicago, IL 60611)

Description of the project by MAS Context

The Bilbao double-issue of MAS Context explores the remarkable transformation of the city and the goals and needs driving it.

Three specific circumstances make it an appropriate moment to focus on Bilbao, to understand its transformation, and look forward to its future. First, in 2017 the Guggenheim Museum will celebrate two decades since opening its doors, and much has happened since October 19, 1997. The city has continued to change since that day, completing many urban, infrastructural, and architectural interventions. Second, the global economic crisis had a local effect on Bilbao, challenging its economic model and the structure used to fund the ambitious projects. No longer a viable structure for the future, the city needs to explore new models to continue its evolution. And finally, the transformation of the Zorrotzaurre peninsula, an area of 70 hectares with a master plan by Zaha Hadid Architects, has kicked off. The first two tangible steps have been the start of the work to open the Deusto Canal, that will turn the peninsula into an island, and the construction of the first bridge, the Frank Gehry Bridge, that connects it to the Deusto neighborhood.  

To provide a comprehensive look at the history and transformation of the city, this issue features contributions by those who have had a direct involvement with it, whether leading the process or closely witnessing it. Most of them local residents, the list includes public officials, urban designers, architects, landscape architects, photographers, historians, and a filmmaker, among others. They provide an invaluable perspective, from the city’s past as an industrial power followed by its steep decline, to the transformation during the last three decades into a service city. It is an ongoing, ambitious, and complex effort to position the city regionally and internationally. Ultimately, we want this issue to provide a relevant tool to better understand the past and present of the city as well as to think about its future and build upon its strengths without losing its identity.

The issue features contributions by architects, urban planners, structural engineers, landscape designers, photographers, filmmakers, and graphic designers. The list of contributors include Ibon Areso, Diana Balmori, Eduardo Belzunce, José Luis Burgos, Cini Boeri Architetti, Carlos Copertone, Juan Luis de las Rivas, Luis Diaz-Mauriño, Patxi Eguiluz, García de la Torre Arquitectos, Juan García Millán, Iker Gil, IDOM, JAAM, James Stirling Michael Wilford & Associates, Koldo Lus Arana, Elena Martínez-Litago, Ruth Mayoral López, Meneo, NO.MAD, Aitor Ortiz, Lucía C. Pérez-Moreno, Fidel Raso, Tomás Ruiz, Juan Sádaba, Diego Sanz, Patricia Sanz Lacarra, Koldo Serra, Alfonso Vegara, Yosigo, Zaha Hadid Architects, and John Zils.

The issue has been designed by Bilbao-based graphic design studio Meneo.

 

 

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Edition
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MAS Context
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Graphic design
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Meneo
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Collaborators
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Ibon Areso, Diana Balmori, Eduardo Belzunce, José Luis Burgos, Cini Boeri Architetti, Carlos Copertone, Juan Luis de las Rivas, Luis Diaz-Mauriño, Patxi Eguiluz, García de la Torre Arquitectos, Juan García Millán, Iker Gil, IDOM, JAAM, James Stirling Michael Wilford & Associates, Koldo Lus Arana, Elena Martínez-Litago, Ruth Mayoral López, Meneo, NO.MAD, Aitor Ortiz, Lucía C. Pérez-Moreno, Fidel Raso, Tomás Ruiz, Juan Sádaba, Diego Sanz, Patricia Sanz Lacarra, Koldo Serra, Alfonso Vegara, Yosigo, Zaha Hadid Architects, John Zils
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Issue launch in Bilbao
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Thursday, March 23, 7:00 pm, the Edificio Ensanche (Plaza Ensanche 11, 48009 Bilbao) Free and open to the public
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Issue launch in Chicago
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Wednesday, April 19, 6:00 pm, el Instituto Cervantes of Chicago (31 W. Ohio Street, Chicago, IL 60611), Free and open to the public
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Iker Gil is the founder of MAS Studio, the Editor in Chief of the nonprofit MAS Context, and the Executive Director of the SOM Foundation. He has edited or coedited several books including Radical Logic: On the Work of Ensamble Studio and Shanghai Transforming.

He has curated multiple exhibitions including Nocturnal Landscapes, Poured Architecture: Sergio Prego on Miguel Fisac, and BOLD: Alternative Scenarios for Chicago, part of the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial. He was cocurator of Exhibit Columbus 2020–2021 and Associate Curator of the US Pavilion for the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale. He has taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), and the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT).

Iker has received several grants and awards for his work, including the 2010 Emerging Visions Award from the Chicago Architectural Club, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation grants, Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts grants, Ruy de Clavijo grant by Casa Asia, and PICE grant by AC/E (Acción Cultural Española).

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Published on: March 14, 2017
Cite: "BILBAO. MAS Context. Issue 30-31" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/bilbao-mas-context-issue-30-31> ISSN 1139-6415
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