Techno music and modern movement. Erotic techno in Valencian architecture by Altre

Project description by Altre

'Erotic techno in Valencian architecture' explores the relationship between the architecture of the modern movement and techno music, locating itself in Valencia as the study territory, and aiming at enhancing both heritage manifestations through dissemination channels other than the usual ones, such as photography, music or exhibition.
 
The project includes editorial, photographic, and sound material, which will be available in Las Naves starting next Thursday, March 4. The presentation of the book, in charge of its editors Daniel Escobedo and Ricardo Ruíz, directors of the project and founders of Altre, a Valencian publishing house, is accompanied by an exhibition with some of the photographs included in the book, as well as a piece of video art. and sound composition. This project, promoted by València World Capital of Design 2022 in collaboration with Las Naves and the Valencia City Council, arises from an idea of ​​Valencia Techno Culture, a collective that delves into the teaching and dissemination of Valencian techno music.
 
'Erotic techno in Valencian architecture' includes two short essays by expert architects in the field –Débora Domingo and Mario Montesinos-, together with a photographic essay by the architect Ricardo Ruíz, thus forming a journey through all those architectural -and sound landscapes -, where the rhythmic and repetitive structures of concrete, with its lights and shadows, refer us to the sound structure of a techno song. The publication collects an entire architectural catalog of Valencian buildings and constructions from black and white photographs, dark and without human presence.
 

“We wanted architecture to be the protagonist of this project, an architecture full of rhythms and material nudity, with a very crude formal component, without superfluous elements, which leads us to fantasize in our inside world. We seek to create an analogy between the mathematical composition of architecture and techno music: with its patterned rhythms and its same formal forcefulness.”

Daniel Escobedo and Ricardo Ruíz

“This project highlights architecture from a different perspective than usual and aims to attract a non-professional audience who wants to discover Valencian heritage from a new perspective, related to Valencian techno music and our roots. A different tour of the city that takes us to look at very common buildings from a new perspective: the old Faith, the School of Agronomists, the Faculty of philosophy and educational sciences, the Musical Theater or Espai Verd are discovered as architectural buildings modern that from a subjective perspective related to mathematics and repetition, make up the reason for this expo.”

Xavi Calvo, director of València World Capital of Design 2022.

“with this exhibition, Las Naves, as an innovation center of the Valencia City Council, strengthens its ties with the World Design Capital Valencia 2022 for, from innovation, creation and reflection, to achieve a healthier, sustainable, shared and entrepreneurial city, as we pursue from the Missions València 2030 innovation strategy, where culture is a very important tool with which to work on social innovation.”

Councilor for Innovation of the Valencia City Council, Carlos Galiana

The project also incorporates a techno music song inspired by the photographed architectural landscapes, created by artists Domen and Sou Allen, disc jockeys from the legendary Barraca nightclub. Sounds of construction, welding, hammering, and a thumping bass beat at 130 BPMs, ideal for playing late at night. The video clip of the song has been developed by the visual artist Sergi Palau, who has worked from the photographs of the project.
 
In short, a whole set of materials could be the prelude to a broader investigation or lead the project towards new horizons, born to have fun, learning, and highlighting the local heritage. A project that allows one to immerse oneself in the story of its territory through disciplines distant but with great points of connection.
 
Because as you can read in the prologue of the book, “this relationship between music and architecture is not new. In the founding theoretical writings of the Modern Movement, allusions to the compositional rhythms of Le Corbusier are perfectly extrapolated to the patterns that govern the composition of techno music, performed by computers.”
 
For its part, the exhibition will remain open between March 4 and April 9 at Las Naves.