Thursday, June 01, 2006
Santa Cruz, Tenerife Embarks on Redesigning the Plaza de España so that it Opens onto the Sea
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, Canary Islands (Spain) (Olaf A. Koch, summer 2005)
Back in March, we mentioned that Santa Cruz - particularly the area of the Plaza de España - was to get a big face lift. WebTenerife have more details of the project, which, they say, is going to take a year to complete.
Of note is the news that, "The Swiss architects Herzog and De Mueron started this project on turning Santa Cruz into a more central and modern area without losing its historical buildings including the headquarters of the Cabildo, dating back to 1949 on the eastern side of the Plaza de España. They are also redesigning the monument, Monumento a los Caídos (Monument to the Fallen) that stands out with its large cross, rising 25 metres above the circular base. It has been the symbol of Tenerife's capital since 1947."
The currently fashionable architects have been busy boys all over the world, being responsible for, amongst many other things, the Barcelona Forum Building and the Tate Modern in London, the new soccer stadium for Munich, to be inaugurated with the 2006 World Championships and, they are currently working on the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Together with works by Santiago Calatrava (the Tenerife Auditorium and the Centro Internacional de Ferias y Congresos photo) and Perrault, Santa Cruz has something of all the best known contemporary architects. But, I'm beginning to wonder if Santa Cruz has a season ticket with Herzog and De Mueron and they are involved in enough projects to change the face of the city entirely.
Herzog and De Mueron had already worked on the new Link Quay in the port of Santa Cruz and, as well as working on the Plaza de España project, also designed the Centro Westerdahl which is under construction in Santa Cruz and includes the Instituto Óscar Domínguez de Arte y Cultura Contemporánea (Óscar Domínguez Institute of Contemporary Art and Culture), the Tenerife Island Center of Photography and the Alejandro Cioranescu Insular Library.
Herzog and De Mueron have been involved in the Instituto Óscar Domínguez de Arte y Cultura Contemporánea (IODAC) project since 1999 and, which has been under construction for years. (As, it seems, has been the center's website, which is not yet found at the URL given.) Adjoining roads had to be closed to traffic in 2003 and last year, in June, they were starting to build the ramp that is part of the 20,000 square meter center and will join the area of the Nuestra Señora de Africa market with Santa Cruz' old town area around the Iglesia de la Concepción. The center is alongside the usually dry river, the Barranco de Santos and behind the Museum of Man and Nature.
(You can see the cranes on the left of this photo.)
Eduardo Westerdahl, whose name is given to the overall center, founded the magazine, Gaceta de Arte (Art Gazette) in Tenerife. Presumably, news reports currently focus on the name of Óscar Domínguez because it is his centenary and because he is considered more international (and bankable). How surreal!
Culturilla_TF say, appropriately, that, "The institutional exhibitions centered around the figure of painter, Óscar Domínguez, have commenced, despite the possible anomalies in the data surrounding this grand figure, the fact that you can't see the sculptures he left in Santa Cruz because of the remodelling of the Parque García Sanabria; that the IODAC (Instituto Oscar Domínguez de Arte y Cultura Contemporánea), anticipated for next year, is unfinished and, to which can be added the "cultural" debate over who will direct the said institution."
What will the finished center look like? Here is a photo of model, looking distinctly like a cardboard box with a spatula handle in it. Yes, we hope that was taken from a bad angle and that the real thing will grow into a glorious swan!
In some circles, there has also been criticism of the "shopping spree" that the Tenerife Corporation has been on recently, acquiring works by Óscar Domínguez for the future institute, which, it is said, has been unplanned and erratic and, has caused prices of the artist's works to shoot up.
Domínguez works are currently on show - from May 16 to July 22 - at the Instituto Cervantes in Paris in celebration of his centenary.
Another project that will finally convert Tenerife into Herzog and De Mueron Land is reported in this Mexican architectural journal, which says that Herzog and De Mueron, along with the University of Harvard are to undertake (or may have done: the article is undated) a complete analysis over urban, cultural and policies of connectivity of the seven Canary Islands, starting with Tenerife.
The first problem underlined is that "The Canaries are far away, when they could be very close", given that it is difficult, they say, to get to the islands directly from other countries. I can only imagine that they mean one has to go via Madrid if coming, for example, from the United States. There are, of course, thousands of direct flights from most points in Europe.
That report also says, "It must not be forgotten that Santa Cruz de Tenerife will have one of the best cultural spaces in the Canary Islands: the Instituto Oscar Domínguez de Cultura y Arte Contemporáneos (Iodacc), which is currently under construction and is one of the works of Herzog and De Mueron."
The architects also have the project for the tunnels under the Avenida Anaga in Santa Cruz (included in the Plaza de España remodelling project), during 2006. The tunnels will run from the start of the Avenida Anaga (at Alameda del Duque de Santa Elena) to the Cabildo building, where the project also includes a new Plaza del Cabildo in front of the building, the construction of three pavilions, underground parking, traffic and pedestrian arrangements.
The Plaza de La Candelaria (Formerly named Plaza de la Pila then Plaza de la Constitución) will not undergo a radical transformation, they say, though the pavements will be improved and it will be replanted with all palm trees in place of the flamboyanes (Poinciana or Flame Trees). This is because the flamboyanes need more space to grow and because their roots have already become so aggressive that they have lifted the pavements. Those trees will almost certainly be relocated in the new Plaza de España.
What seems to be the biggest secret at the moment - I have been unable to find any plans or artists' impressions - is how the town will look when it is finished.
Santa Cruz, Tenerife Embarks on Redesigning La Plaza de España so that it Opens out onto the Sea
