Architect and artist Alejandro Haiek Coll from Venezuela will be speaking about improving public spaces at a free event next Tuesday (5 April) in Grafton Way.
In his architectural work Haiek Coll is interested in the design of a logistic chain of events with a strong social component and are focused on the renewal and resuscitation of inactive landscapes.
His best known work is Tiuna el Fuerte Cultural Park, an urban oasis in Caracas, and which won the International Award for Public Art in 2013.
The project began in 2006 when Haiek and colleagues occupied an abandoned parking lot to create a model of “instant microurbanism.”
The park was built using cost-effective, low-energy technologies. Recycled shipping containers, were grouped together as modular elements in expandable multi-use spaces. Increasing green coverage in the city was another project priority.
Currently the Capitol District of Caracas contains an average of .26 square metres of park space per inhabitant, compared to the World Health Organization’s recommended standard of 10 to 12 square metres of park space per city inhabitant.
In recent years, the project area has continued to expand, becoming a city cultural park containing offices, classrooms, dining spaces, green spaces and sports areas, and with plans for organized workshops and other activities promoting development in the arts and sciences. At present out of a total of five planned projects two have been completed.
The park is now a multipurpose gathering place that has started a green cultural movement and community engagement.
“It reflects the creativity, cohesiveness and the capacity that is possible when hands join together to improve the social and human environment. It’s a vibrant work of creative genius,” says Haiek Coll.
“Cultural infrastructures for social empowerment” a talk by Alejandro Haiek Coll, 7:00pm Tuesday 5 April 2016. Doors open at 6:30pm. Bolivar Hall Cultural Centre, 54 Grafton Way, Fitzrovia, London W1T 5DL. Free entry. RSVP required, contact: culturaembajadalondres@gmail.com