Constellation Theater's Blood Wedding

Constellation Theater's Blood Wedding opens this weekend at Source theater on 14th Street!

The lobby will include a few of my photographs of the Cortijo del Fraile, the site of the real-life tragedy that inspired Lorca's play. The image above was taken last November, showing the current state of the old cortijo.

Lovers are torn apart as two families in rural Spain are intricately bound in an unbreakable cycle of murder and revenge. Experience passion and violence mixed with song and ceremony. Federico García Lorca illuminates our deepest desires with gorgeous poetic imagery and the haunting appearance of a human Moon.

Directed by Shirley Serotsky. English Translation by Tanya Ronder. 90 minutes, with live music.

Visit constellationtheatre.org and use the code SPAIN for $20 General Admission Tickets!

Also this Thursday and Friday 2/2/ and 2/3 are Pay What You Can!

Abandoned Architecture: Borderstan Profile

Local DC blog Borderstan posted a thoughtful profile on my photographs of abandoned architecture. They've offered great coverage of artists in the mid city area in recent weeks, showcasing the diversity of artists in the neighborhood.

Buckner Building, Whittier, Alaska

Following World War II, the town of Whittier, Alaska, became the site for a major military installation. The Buckner Building, an enormous complex built in 1953, housed most of the population and included, under one roof, a theater, industrial kitchens, and medical clinics and laboratories. The complex was isolated from the outside world, accessible only by boat or airplane.

Today the Buckner building is still standing. The presence of asbestos has thwarted efforts to demolish it. The site is easily accessible and has become a hangout for local youth and grafitti artists. However, its condition is rapidly deteriorating due to flooding and exposure to weather conditions. The building is rumored to be up for sale. So far, however, no one has stepped up to buy it.

I spent a day exploring the site and photographing the interiors. I was intrigued by the appearance of the building being transformed by its surrounding environment, with grass growing five stories up and birds traversing the hallways. Apparently it's not unusual to see bears holed up there in the spring.

The Icon

 

Less than two years ago, in December 2008, condo mogul Jorge Pérez unveiled his $1.3 billion self-proclaimed “legacy,” the ICON Brickell in downtown Miami. With 1650 residences and a 150 room boutique hotel in three 50-story towers, it is Florida’s largest condominium development. The complex features “signature designs” by Yoo and “inspired by” Philippe Starck, including a unique entryway “envisioned by Starck as a dark cave illuminated by light emitted from the watchful “eyes” of mammoth columns” shaped like carved human faces. Marketing materials also promised a 28,000 square-foot state-of-the-art spa, a two-acre terrace and pool deck 140 feet above Biscayne Bay, Florida’s longest swimming pool, a thermal hot tub with seating for 40 people, and an exclusive residents-only nightclub 50 stories up. Prices for residences were expected to start at $500,000 and range to $2 million.

But by that time, the housing bubble was already well into collapse mode, tens of thousands of condo units sat vacant in Miami, and new lending rules had dramatically restricted financing for potential buyers. In March 2009, the New York Times described the ICON as a “monument to excess” and a symbol of greed and irrational behavior characteristic of the building boom. By January 2010, only 137 units, less than 10%, had sold. At the same time, dozens of potential buyers were seeking to get out of contracts to buy.

    After the developer slashed prices earlier this year, over 300 additional units have sold, though most likely went to bulk investors rather than future residents. The complex is also offering rentals, including a plan to house a group of homeless sex offenders living under the Julia Tuttle Causeway. July reports state that prices have been reduced further, below 50% of original targets.
    For the time being, the building remains essentially a ghost town. At night, a handful of lights might be visible in the semi-occupied north tower. And the infinity pool and top-floor bar have become popular sunday afternoon party spots, as commercial interests have eased the location’s planned exclusivity. But the towers themselves appear devoid of the usual signs of life of a residential building. Gazing up, there is not a single balcony chair or potted plant in view, just fifty identical stories of glass and metal. It is captivating in its own way. I visited the location recently to photograph it.

Preserving the Cortijo del Fraile

Federico Garcia Lorca's drama Blood Wedding was inpsired by a true story that appeared in a Spanish newspaper in 1928. A bride-to-be ran off with another man (her cousin) the night before the wedding, but the groom's brother discovered the couple and shot and killed the lover. The bride-to-be lived on a farm known as El Fraile. Over 75 years later, the ruins of the farm remain in the remote countryside of Nijar in Almeria, accessible only by a poorly marked, unpaved road. The site also appeared in Sergio Leone's 1966 film The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, starring Clint Eastwood.

However, the site has been rapidly deteriorating following years of neglect and increasing vandalism. The bildings lie on private property and the government has had limited authority, or interest, to act to protect the site. In recent months, demonstrators have gathered at the Cortijo to call for action. Finally, last week the regional government, the Junta de Andalucia, published an order classifying the site as Bien de Interes Cultural (BIC), a protected site of cultural importance. Now plans are in the works to resore the buildings and turn the cortijo into a cultural and historial center.

Cárcel de Carabanchel

The Carabanchel prison in Madrid is one of the most infamous architectural landmarks from Spain’s decades of dictatorship. General Francisco Franco ordered construction of the prison in the 1940s to house the regime’s many political prisoners. The complex is designed on the panopticon model, with the cell blocks extending outwards from a round central tower. This arrangement, first proposed by 17^th century philosopher Jeremy Bentham, allowed guards to easily observe all areas of the prison and was intended to amplify the prisoners’ sensations of powerlessness.

Carabanchel was finally closed in 1998 and its few remaining inhabitants moved to other prisons. Since then, the building has been heavily looted—all the metal gates and fixtures have been removed—and it has been visited by graffiti artists, drug addicts, gypsies and curious observers.

The Spanish government now wants to make the site available to private developers with plans for condominiums and a hospital. However, an informal group of architects, social workers, neighbors, and former prisoners have demanded that part of the prison be preserved as a memorial to those who suffered under the dictatorship. Members of the Platform for a Center for Peace and Memory have held a series of demonstrations and camped out near the site.

Just a few weeks ago the fate of the structure appeared uncertain. A national judge had ordered a study of the prison for possible evidence relevant to ongoing investigations into crimes committed under Franco’s regime. And the Congress was debating legislation on the prison’s future. However, the Madrid city government effectively put an end to the debate by authorizing the start of demolition. Seventy people were removed from the complex, mostly Romanian gypsies who had been living on the site. Construction crews began work at 1:00 am on Wednesday October 22. By the following Saturday half of the 32-meter wide central cupula, the most architecturally significant element, had collapsed.

Carabanchel had drawn a following in recent months among amateur photographers and urban explorers, intensified by its pending destruction. Members of a Flickr group dedicated to the prison have been documenting the site and continue to track the demolition process in photographs.

I visited the prison in Early October, about three weeks before the demolition began. The photographs here show two hallways leading out from the panopticon. The halls of the cell blocks are said to be tapered inward slightly at their far ends, which allows the guards to see the entire length of the hallway and also accentuates the length of the structure, adding to the inmates’ feelings of powerlessness. I aimed to convey that sensation of exaggerated perspective in these photographs. These images also document the impact of the many visitors who have passed through the building over time. Unfortunately, the structure is now preserved only in photographs.

Ghost Houses of Cabo de Gata

 

The landscape of Cabo de Gata, along the coast of Almeria, is dotted with architectural remains -- eighteenth century fortifications, abandoned mining operations, and empty cortijos. These vacant structures, fixed in the arid desert landscape for decades or centuries, seem timeless. They could have been abandoned fifteen years ago, or 150 years ago. It's often hard to tell, as the stillness of the desert masks any signs of life. However, these architectural relics are, in fact, products of human history and have some intriguing stories to tell. The Cortijo del Fraile (which I blogged about previously) was the site of a deadly love triangle that became the inspiration for Federico Garcia Lorca's Blood Wedding. Not far away along the coast, I encountered an abandoned house at the edge of an enormous cliff that dropped the ocean below. I've been unable to find any information about it, though a detailed topographical map of Cabo de Gata identifies the spot as "Casa del Tomate". Inside, there is also evidence -- graffiti, a few empty bottles, a pair of discarded boots -- of more recent visitors.

Inside the Cortijo del Fraile | Google Maps

Inside the Casa del Tomate | Google Maps