RUINAS MODERNAS. Una topografía de lucro / Modern Ruins, a Topography of Lucre.

15/10/2012. Por Julia Schulz-Dornburg. CCCB [BCN] 19/10/2012. 19.30 h
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA

The CCCB and the publishing house Àmbit presents Julia Schulz-Dornburg’s book Ruinas modernas, una topografía de lucro (Modern Ruins, a Topography of Lucre), which is the second work to appear in the collection “Paraula i Paisatge” (Word and Landscape). This book is the result of more than two years’ research on the destruction of landscape brought about by abusive urbanisation of large swathes of territory. With a prologue by Francesc Muñoz, the book also features contributions by such authors as Pedro Azara, Rafael Argullol, Oriol Nel·lo and Jordi Puntí.

Images from "RUINAS MODERNAS. Una topografía de lucro." by Julia Schulz-Dornburg. Images courtesy of the author.

Many of you already know my position especially critical point of this subject, they authors and creators seem to have amnesia, on their terrible consequences by their folly. Below you can see some links with lectures Deconstructing the Generic City, written or articles. Moreover sure many of you will remember the article El jardín de las delicias, Garden of Earthly Delights, by writer and philosopher Rafael Argullol, published last summer in El País. The article is based on this book, which it will present on Friday in Barcelona and I recommend: "Modern ruins: a topography of lucre", authored by architect Julia Schulz-Dornburg, and publishers are Àmbit serveis editorials.

It is much the material is being published on the subject and in this case Julia Schulz-Dornburg has a particularly attentive eye and brilliant photos. Her journey through this "journey of the Argonauts" in search of the "the Golden Fleece" is particularly shocking and with tremendous graphic bluntness. On the other hand it is difficult not to mention the famous "Walk on the monuments of Passaic" by Robert Smithson in 1967 and its similarity poetic, visual and conceptual between both journeys and vision of the ruins. From here my sincere congratulations and my Hat tip!

"Ruinas modernas, una topografía de lucro" is a photographic inventory of speculative construction in Spain, showing areas of land occupied by abandoned construction projects, the legacy of the burst real estate bubble. In recent years, the embedding in Spanish territory of massive leisure enclaves and all kinds of tourist and residential complexes has transformed huge zones of the country, not only along the coast but also in the interior. The premature decline of many of these projects is presented through images of disturbing beauty, bearing witness to the short life of real estate speculation and its enduring physical scars.

Venue: CCCB, Montalegre 5, 08001 Barcelona. spain
Dates: Friday 19 October at 19.30h
Free admission, limited seating. Tel. 93 306 41 33