"Beniyork"

OnSite Review Magazine: 14::2005::architecture and land.

OnSite Review is a bi-annual magazine which describes itself as “a magazine about architects and architecture in Canada.” Funny, because the reason why I bought this issue was for an article on Benidorm, Spain. Oh in a place like Canada where various cultures are so complexly intertwined and where globalization oversees our manifold lifestyles, who really knows what identifies Canada as Canadian anymore!
But I digress, back to the magazine. I was interested in this article not only because I had visited and experienced Benidorm myself, but because my professor Rafael Gomez-Moriana had written it. The four page article demonstrates in both image and text the lack of architectural investment made in this Southeastern coastal city. Punctuated by enormous point towers Benidorm looks more like something from a kitschy American resort town amplified a million times in height, density and tourists. It asserts the highest building in Spain – the 186m high Gran Hotel Bali which pales by comparison to the CN Tower which towers at 553m. Although dwarfed by other internationally renowned structures, could Benidorm be developing a strategy which to expand upon? And by presuming it’s authority on tourism, generate taller buildings in the future thus creating a template that could influence other Spanish coastal cities? (hopefully not!).

“In Benidorm, there is no architecture: there is ‘the tallest building in Spain’ which is also ‘the tallest hotel in Europe’…but there are no buildings that stand out architecturally. Architectural guidebooks to Spain do not list any of its buildings, making Benidorm an exceptional city without exceptional buildings.”

(Gomez-Moriana 18)

By turning your back on the city (literally) your vision surrenders itself to an all encompassing view of the Mediterranean Sea. This calm is what the city lacks. More a spectacle than what should be a complete celebration of its natural surroundings, I’m content in knowing that (so far *fingers crossed*) it permeates Canada only through the medium of paper.

+ see (the madness) for youself! :: Benidorm

+ read :: OnSite Review Magazine (their site needs *help* - don't let it dissuade you though, the mag is good).

ReadingSPACE:

+ book: Up Against the Sprawl: Public Policy and the Making of Southern California :: Ed. Jennifer Wolch/Manuel Pastor Jr./Peter Dreier // Everything you ever wanted to know about the original ex-urban city - research analysis geared towards policy makers - hence can sometimes be a bit dry, but is very thorough in dealing with issues regarding: fiscal policies, racial inequalities, implementing strategies ["smart growth" models].