The Concrete gallery in Dubai: la machine d’exposition
In 1977 Peter Blake wrote, "Forms follows fiasco: Why modern architecture does not work." The '70s were a moment of profound crisis for architecture. Avant-guard movements in the '60 already defined alternative approaches to the discipline. Brutalism reinterpreted the language of modernity portraying the need for a formal expression deprived of shiny material coatings and sophisticated details. De-constructivist thinkers started to influence the first radical groups of young architects. Some of them would have become today's' archistars. Blake followed this line of theorization. His skepticism towards the dominant architectural thinking of the twentieth century was expressed through a series of chapters in which he cynically commented on the dominant themes of "modern" architectural research. In the chapter "The fantasy of the open plan," the main topic is functional flexibility or multi-functionality. Through a logical analysis of the myth of adaptability (meant as the possibility to change the functional purpose of spaces), Blake aimed to demonstrate its un-sustainability. In a mirage of achieving variable and complex configurations, "flexibility" was the means to overcome static and immutable environments, being unable to respond to the multiple continuous, and unexpected changes that life brought to the new "modern man." His argument was convincing, it seemed a closed topic. Blake described how the energy spent to achieve the desired level of functional flexibility then went, inevitably, to diminish the overall quality of spaces. Thus, flexibility was registered as one of the "myths" of modern architecture. Visiting Concrete, the new exhibition space designed by OMA in of Al Serkal Avenue, I thought of Peter Blake, and how, at least, in this case, he was wrong. The new 1.250 m2 gallery, is an adaptation and combination of four of the existing warehouses built with the extension of Al Serkal Avenue. Crippling a famous Le Corbusier's definition for the so-called "modern" house (machine a habiter), the gallery is indeed a true exhibiting machine: A machine d' exposition. Four gigantic walls, the interior partitions, slide and revolve around themselves to fit the varying content of the gallery. They allow up to four multiple spatial configurations, and they are also soundproof to enhance a variety of uses enabling a different kind of activities beyond exhibitions. To support this flexibility, the lighting system appears oversized. During my visit, only a small amount of the spotlights were functioning. It seemed that all the other lighting fixtures were waiting for their turn to be activated. Over-provision is one of the conditions requested by spatial flexibility to guarantee proper technical support to all the possible configurations. The giant order of partitions produces a grand spatiality inducing a sense of solemnity. The perception of monumentality simultaneously fascinates and imposes its grandness, and the art on display is not diminished by this solution. Maybe a better variety in terms of spaces size would have offered better hospitality to smaller artworks, although the designers seem to have thought about this necessity as well. When I visited the gallery, the movable walls and the fair-face concrete facade of the services spaces located at the back of the building formed a narrow corridor which was used to exhibit small size paintings. The use of a neutral palette of materials enhances the uniqueness of the exhibited work. Few materials are used obsessively with no concession to any decorative style. All functional and technical details necessary in the daily use of space as doors, handles, grilles, hinges, etc. disappear in the inner lining of the perimetric walls, as if they were absorbed by the gray fair-faced concrete finish. The glossy black color of the metallic ceiling and the dark floor enclose the white partition walls, exalting, in section, the artistic content of the space. We could, nostalgically, define this space as Brutalist. Its tectonic solution, in terms of the perception of masses and planes, undoubtedly overwhelms the reading of its details. The gallery takes possession of four of the modular warehouses built for the expansion of Alserkal Avenue, but the intervention is not just an interior design project. The redesign of the facades totally changes the nature and the presence of the anonymous "sheds between the other sheds." The designers chose to cover the existing metallic envelope with sprayed cement that appears almost soft and "spongy," being "embellished" by mirrored glass fragments. A detail that seems to appear almost frivolous in the first reading but it adds surprising complexity and lightness to the rough coating. The "spongy" layer of the building is unseen before a solution for Dubai's architecture. It could be read as an intentional reference to the former industrial nature of the Al Serkal district. I believe, however, that the most crucial element of the whole project is the main facade. Using the same strategy of the internal movable partitions, large translucent panels rotate opening to the outer space, the "Yard," already used as the main open public area of the entire complex. The double-layered poly-carbonate surface contains the metal structure. It is, at the same time, limit, and threshold. An ambiguous condition underlined by the sophisticated idea of not placing any doors, any "classic" opening, on the whole, the main elevation. The perceptual ambiguity continues and transcends in the total translucency of the poly-carbonate which being back-lit by the interior lighting suggests a mysterious content, thus, inviting. The open outdoor space flows uninterruptedly to the internal one and vice versa. This is a great urban invention. The detail of the corner solution of the facade confirms this intent. The flanking external concrete walls are not perceived from the open space. The thickness of the poly-carbonate superimposes them. The indoor space appears from the concrete envelope through the main elevation, and it establishes a spatial dialogue with the outdoor. The gallery shows itself through the material absolutism of its facade. A contemporary art cathedral overlooking the open space which can be read as its "churchyard." One question is on the future performance of the poly-carbonate and its evolving (or devolving) materiality. The building is almost totally oriented north, and this should ensure reduced aggression of sunlight that, historically, tends to yellow the material when used for exterior design solutions. Nevertheless, the project for the Concrete gallery demonstrates that architecture can still impress, excite, and fascinate without being bewitched by the growing contemporary need for "spectacular," but often meaningless, formal over-complexity.
