Habitat Hidroespacial, Maqueta N (Social Studies)

Discussion through works of art encourage how to approach ambiguous and complex ideas, thoughts, and feelings. The MFAH offers a democratic space where students and teachers can develop, practice and articulate these habits of mind. Remember that the quality of the conversation is what is important, not finding the artist’s “answer.” Slow down and take the time to make careful observations. Talk about what you notice, and try to avoid jumping to conclusions and interpretations. Be sure to give enough time for silent looking and thinking.

Work of Art

Gyula Kosice’s drawing depicts a series of stacked circles connected by three thin calendrical towers. A large horizontal platform creates a bridge linking the two outermost towers flanking the structure.  Silhouettes of human figures traverse the space. The people appear to be miniature in comparison to the grand scale of the imagined structure that they are inhabiting. The emptiness of the blank paper serves as the background for Kosice’s envisioned habitat; it is suspended in space, rather than limited by gravity.

This drawing is part of a series of models (maquestas) that Kosice created for the ambitious and long-running project, The Hydrospatial City (la ciudad hidroespacial). Kosice first conceived of the project in 1946 with the publication of the Madi Manifesto, which posed that architecture should be created by forms and habitats suspended in space. Kosice was a charter member of the Madí Movement, which was established by a group of artists in Buenos Aires seeking to break from older forms in favor of invention by experimenting with new materials and concepts. Developing on the principles of this movement, Kosice created a series of ink drawings as models for the hydrospatial habitats that he would later fabricate as three dimensional forms using innovated materials such as acrylic, Plexiglas, and light. When the artist completed the grand project in 1971, it consisted of nineteen three-dimensional space habitats and seven two-dimensional light boxes coming together in an immersive, single-room installation.

Kosice described this utopian city as an alternative to Earth when, in the future, the planet’s food and its waters become contaminated resulting from the “persistent geographical and geological depredation.” Kosice’s The Hydrospatial City Manifesto (Manifesto La Ciudad Hidroespacial) from 1971 proposed:

“These are the many incentives for the radical changes we already anticipated as a biological necessity. We specifically propose the construction of the human habitat, actually occupying space at a height of a thousand and five hundred meters, in cities conceived of ad-hoc with a previous feeling of co-existence and a differentiated 'modus vivendi.’ Architecture has depended on the soil and the laws of gravity. These laws can be used scientifically so that hydro-spatial housing can be a reality, that is, viable from a technological point of view."[1]

Kosice created his body of work in Argentina; however, he adopted his artist’s name as Gyula Kosice in place of his birth name, Ferdinand Fallik, as a reference to his place of birth in Kosice (in current day Slovakia). The first exhibition of the Hydrospatial City was held in 1971 in the important gallery Bonino in Buenos Aires. The work received interest among both artistic and scientific circles in Buenos Aires. The Planetarium of the City of Buenos Aires (Planetario de la Ciudad de Buenas Aires) exhibited The Hydrospatial City in 1979, and the accompanying catalogue described Kosice’s work as “the manifestation of the human need to colonize space” [una manifestación de la necesidad humana de colonizar el espacio].[2] In 2009, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston acquired Kosice’s Hydrospatial City (object numbers 2009.29.1-.26), which was purchased from the artist along with his drawings for the project. Although many of the individual components have been exhibited in the past, the MFAH is the only museum in the world to house the complete La ciudad hidroespacial, a fascinating and poetic discourse on the intelligent relationship between civilization and community in the near future.

Conversation

• What shapes do you observe in the drawing? How are they connected? How do the figures depicted in the drawing move through these objects and spaces?
• Describe the scale of figures, objects, and spaces in this drawing. If you were to create a three dimensional object based on the drawing, what would it look like? How would you represent the relative scale shown in the drawing?

• Read the excerpt from Kosice’s The Hydrospatial City Manifesto. How does this drawing relate to the concepts described in the manifesto? What technologies do you think would be needed to support the habitat envisioned in Kosice’s drawing?
• Like Kosice, imagine your ideal habitat or place to live. What would it look like? What materials would you use? Where would the setting or geography for this place exist? How does your imagined utopia compare with Kosice’s vision of an ideal city?

This work of art helps support students in asking questions but also helps students think about WHY they are asking the questions that they are. Being able to ask students “What makes you think that?” or “Why were you drawn to that?” helps students to understand WHY they are asking the questions that they are. Being more aware of gaps in knowledge or potential misconceptions could also help them improve their questioning skills.

Subject Matter

• Observe the work of art using the “Turn and Talk” method, encouraging  back-and-forth conversation where students elaborate upon observations, ideas, and conclusions with peers.
• Teacher shares the following information:
  • “Kosice started this large and radical project out of his interest for space travel and the desire for a classless society. He felt that contemporary architecture was centered around functionality for the powerful people in society more than anything else, and that this focus made the oppression of the lower class in Argentina much worse.”
• As a whole class discuss:
  • “What parts of Hidroespcial Maquetta N reflect intentional choices made by the artist to reflect a classless society?”
• Then discuss the following question:
  • “Can there ever be a Classless Society?” Relate to a culture/society/social system/civilization that is in the curriculum. Is there a class system in that society? Elaborate.
• Kosice co-founded the “Madi Art Movement”, known for non-representational geometric abstraction. Explore more details at “Connecting to the Work of Art” on lta.mfah.org. 
• Using the tenets of the Madi Art Movement, students create a sketch of a culture/society/social system/civilization that is studied.
• Compose an informative essay detailing how the sketch represents the culture/society/social system/civilization studied. Present to class.

Assessment

This work of art would foster questioning habits because there are a wide variety of questions a student could be curious about in viewing this image. Because its purpose is not obviously clear, it will take some time for students to work through the ideas connected to this image. Viewing this image and discussion about the image could also help students feel more comfortable asking questions in a open environment. Students need to feel more comfortable with being unsure about ideas and practice asking questions to better understand unclear ideas or concepts. Ultimately, asking questions helps students better understand the world around them. 

Resources

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