“Le bon sauvage”
“Gardez-vous de la pureté, c’est le vitriol de l’âme…"
Paul Valéry
A contemporary architect’s status.
In the imaginary of the architect's profession, various paradigms have historically appeared. Not so distant is the globalized cosmopolitan genius, defending globalization and, in his words, the generic, and constantly proposing new horizons, these being in Atlanta or China. In the intellectual climate of the turn of the century this professional figure emerged, with its corresponding priests (I think of Rem Koolhaas) and a broad legion of, in many cases, less sophisticated figures hurrying and gluttonously on the broad market where the style iconic staff, confidence in the extraterritorial goodness of the technique (echoes of the hightech) or simply remnants of modernities or mannered classicisms were applied.
The economic crisis of the beginning of the century, and the broad collective conscience in the face of the devastation caused by this attitude, have caused this line of argument, let's say cosmopolitan and globalizing, to have lost its intellectual prestige. In front of her, recently, there are many data that announce the proposal of a new myth with broad collective and media consensus.
In front of the above illustrated cosmopolitan, we are now in the presence of, using the Rousseaunian nomenclature (1), Good Savage (2). Rousseau, in open polemic against the Enlightenment of the Voltaire encyclopaedists, defended as essence of truth and purity the "good savage", the uncontaminated Emilio in the "natural" world.
In our field the present collectively active myths seem to announce similar processes.
Faced with globalization, defense of the local. Faced with the cosmopolitan, ruralism. The artist now lives in the village, preferably in inaccessible places: the mountains. Whether these are the Alps or the Pyrenees.
The good savage is proud to disdain technology, and in his apparent retirement of anchorite, of course, he has no web, secretary, or any of the usual means of communication and organization.
This character speaks little, but when he does not always use rational arguments, he is comfortable in a certain quasi-religious metaphysics. The beloved themes of his santoral are: architecture as a transmitter of emotions, space as an atmosphere, nature as a primitive, acultural, essential reference.
Emotion, atmosphere, nature, themes of this attitude.
Here I would add material. The short vision that this attitude exhibits proudly, meets the physical world of the project and makes it, frequently, a central argument. The object accentuates its material qualities, its close (3), tactile, sensitive presence, protagonist.
The appearance of this figure, historically understandable as an alternative to the previous propositions that are clearly irrelevant, does not hide - in my opinion - its weakness.
If it were true, his rural departure from the urban and global scene would leave this proposition without the capacity to intervene outside of its environment, the people. It would mean finding ourselves in front of an attractive experience because of the archaic and endearing, without possibilities of development to greater horizons.
In a story like ours where change despite everything is always protagonist, are probably already announcing new figures where globalization does not suppose opposition to the local, intelligence and reason are shared values and serve to build languages and analysis globally understandable, the form has meaning and not only metaphysical value, and the cosmopolitan overture is an effective instrument for the construction of the new.
Text by Josep Lluís Mateo
NOTES.-
1. See “Cours sur Rousseau”, Louis Althusser, Ed. Le temps des cerises. 1972
2. “The myth of the good savage did nothing but replace and prolong the myth of the golden age, that is, the perfection of the beginning of things. The myth of the good savage is the creation of a memory ... ”. MirceaEliade, “The myth of the good savage” in “Mythes, rêves et mystères”. Ed. Gallimard 1957.
3. “Production of Presence: What Meaning cannot Convey”, Gumbrecht, Hans Ulrich.Stanford University Press, 2004.
