Altered Origins: Emergencies, Experiments and Environments in Mexico, Day 2

To think about origins is to think about sources, materials, and places of provenance: natural or artificial, physical or virtual. The question of origins, however, is bound to the question of their alteration. Only when something changes, are we left asking where it came from. Transformations, in all scales and temporalities, have always been present in architecture: from the slow degradation of ancient ruins to the immediate repetitions of digital images. Architecture and its objects are not only inevitably bound to face alterations, but architectural practices have also incorporated them at the core of their methodologies, mixing old traditional processes and new technological tools in various gradients and conditions. Mass and digital production and dissemination methods are making for fast-changing conditions in architecture, taking a particular interest in replicating and reproducing objects, processes, and experiences. As technical and technological tools evolve, so do the forces that objects undergo, changing media, shape, location, temporality, and meaning.

Altered Origins invites contemporary spatial practitioners in Mexico who work at the intersection of architecture and the arts to share their insights into the physical and conceptual transformations, media, and disciplinary intersections shaping contemporary architectural discourse and practice through an open exchange of methodologies and experiments.

The three-day festival, featuring a program of open workshops, conversations, and live performances, will be held from 24 to 26 October at multiple venues in and around Rice University, including the Rice School of Architecture, the Archaeology Lab of the Rice University Anthropology Department, the Moody Center for the Arts, and the Houston Climate Justice Museum.

 

PARTICIPANTS:

Sinuhé Acosta, Random Studio

Aaron Ambroso, Houston Climate Justice Museum

Andrea Carrillo Iglesias, Independent Artist

Nathan Friedman and Francisco Quiñones, Departamento del Distrito

Erika Loana, Materia Prima

Francisco Regalado, Laboratorio de Arte, Arquitectura y Arqueología

Diego Rivero Borrell, TANAT + María Alejandra Rojas and Arturo Salazar

Adriana Salazar, Independent Artist

Andrés Souto, mUcHo estudio/taller

Tania Tovar and Juan Carlos Cuock, Proyector

 

This program is made possible through the generous support of the Rice University Office of Research Creative Ventures Fund. Altered Origins is supported by the Rice School of Architecture, the Rice Anthropology Department, the Moody Center for the Arts, and the Houston Climate Justice Museum.