SPACES. Norman Foster Foundation through the Eye of José Manuel Ballester

For José Manuel Ballester, reshaping the mental view of reality by means of craftsmanship does not seem to consist only of the freezing of time through a space in an image; he does not even limit himself  to being a notary of the existence of a place. Ballester establishes a visual discourse of a reality, which when frozen, transcends the action which man is producing in it, to establish a metalinguistic discourse on the ways of inhabiting and creating a place. Understanding place as Yin Fu Tuan would propose, as the space where man interacts with other individuals or with a specific space.

José Juan Barba

As Norman Foster writes in the foreword,
 

His images dissolve the walls between those separate entities
in the same spirit of the Foundation’s mission
to break down the barriers between professions.
 

"This journey starts with José Manuel Ballester’s presence as he pacesaround the Norman Foster Foundation with his camera, tripod andequipment —forever on the move. Maybe there is a pattern that underlies his movements but we cannot discern it as he sets up viewpoints in some of the most unlikely places and even at times when frantic activities are taking place around him. The journey ends with the transfer of the three-dimensional world that he can see through his glass lens to emerge finally onto the flat printed pages of this book. In the time between those forays through space and the final images there has to be an intensely creative process. (...)

Ballester’s coverage of the Norman Foster Foundation spaces embraces not just the rooms that comprise the original residential palace of 1912 by Joaquín Saldaña, its courtyard and the most recent addition of a pavilion, but also the gaps and hidden areas between them. His images dissolve the walls between those separate entities in the same spirit of the Foundation’s mission to break down the barriers between professions.

I hope that the pages in this book will kindle the curiosity of the younger generations to engage with the Foundation in its quest to anticipate the future. In any event this volume will be a testimony to the efforts and goodwill of the many individuals and organisations who have come together to make the dream of the Foundation a reality. It is a wonderful tribute and I would like to express my gratitude to José Manuel.”

 Norman Foster