ALEJANDRO HERNANDEZ GALVEZ /// The Politics of Space in the City of Mexico

This conversation with Alejandro Hernandez Galvez is the first of a short series recorded in Latin America (Mexico, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil). This conversation attempts to be specific to the place where they occur and, thus, this one focuses on the politics of space in the city of Mexico. We begin by evoking the romanticization of poverty that condemns the latter to remain as such, as well as absolute otherness. This symptoms of this romanticization often materialize through the fascination that architects (myself included) have for the improvised/informal architecture of the city without consideration for the social mechanisms that produced it. Following these lines, the second part of the conversation questions the notion of “public space,” that constitutes a similar fascination. We therefore propose a few hypotheses about who might be thought in this term of “public,” and what politics of the city does this consideration hide.

Alejandro Hernandez Galvez is an architect. he has worked on several projects and competitions. he is editorial director at Avrquine and publishes in several national and international architectural magazines and newspapers. has edited several books and is coauthor with fernanda canales of 100×100 20th century architects in mexico, and author of sombras, sombreros, sombrillas: algunos principios de la arquitectura. he has been curator and lecturer at several universities and institutions. was member of the national creator system (2007-2010) and member of the mexican academy of architecture. he teaches theory and design studios in mexico city.

WEBSITES:

– http://www.arquine.com/
– http://otrootroblog.blogspot.com/

REFERENCE BOOKS:

– Alejandro Hernandez Galvez, Sombrillas, Sombreros, Sombras: De los principios de la arquitectura, Cabeza Prusia, 2013
– Bernard Rudofsky, Architecture Without Architects, Museum of Modern Art, 1964.