Fernando Romero was forty minutes late for an interview. There is nowhere to go, we have to wait: the "star" of modern Mexican architecture does not come to Moscow every day, the schedule is probably tight. During this time, I learn about the real reason for his visit. By negotiating the interview, Romero's employees made it clear that the founder and head of FR-EE (Fernando Romero EnterprisE) is traveling to Russia to promote his large-scale project of a new airport in Mexico City, which his bureau is developing in conjunction with Foster + Partners. And suddenly an acquaintance from the Konstruktor communications bureau called me and said that the purpose of Romero's visit to Moscow was actually a much more chamber story: a seminar for the participants of the Rosatom State Corporation competition at the Nuclear Energy pavilion on the territory of VDNKh. The consortium of FR-EE and the young Russian bureau IND Architects was among the six teams that made it to the second round of the competition.
When Romero finally walks into the courtyard of the Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design, where we agreed to meet, at least twenty minutes remain for the conversation, and, as a result, it turns into a kind of blitz interview with Mr. Parvulesco from the film Godard "On the last breath" (Question: What would you like to achieve in life? Answer: Become immortal, and only then die).
Archi.ru:
As far as I understand, you are in Russia for the first time. What are your impressions and what brings you here?
Fernando Romero:
- All my life I have been waiting for the opportunity to come to Moscow. My whole family has already been here, but everything did not work out for me, although I even lived for some time in Europe, very nearby - in Paris and Rotterdam. Now I have arrived from London and am simply amazed at how close Moscow is: only three and a half hours fly. I am very glad to finally be here, my expectations were fully justified. I always knew that this is a place of exceptional beauty and energy. For me, this is a direct contact with the culture of your country, with which I got acquainted by studying its fine arts, architecture, literature, music. As for me personally as an architect, I am very interested in the opportunity to create something at VDNKh in cooperation with local architects. Yesterday we visited the competition site. I was amazed by the quality and density of the VDNKh space in the evening. Since we were on the territory of the complex in the dark, I first encountered the need to come up with something without the ability to sketch along the way. I didn’t sleep all night and kept thinking about the project. This is a special place in many respects: beauty and the ordinary coexist here, the contrast between the scale of nature and exhibition pavilions is visible. It is also important for me that there is no problem of seismic activity, which allows using a variety of designs in the project.
What do you have in mind?
- For example, it is not a problem to build a high tower, which would be impossible in many seismically active areas [Obviously, Romero means Mexico City first of all, where the last catastrophic earthquake happened in 1985 - approx. Archi.ru]. Here you can experiment with such a traditional and beloved in Russia form as the dome. The very theme of the competition - atomic energy - provides rich imaginative material: it is necessary to create a form that would speak of the history of the development of the atom and the potential for the responsible use of this efficient way of generating energy. In this sense, VDNKh provides tremendous opportunities for the project.
What convinced you to take part in this creative competition?
- In addition to the theme of the competition, I am interested in the city - for its inhabitants, the history of architecture. I would like to become a part of the processes that are currently underway in Moscow. Many great architects are looking for solutions to various problems here [just the day before our meeting, the opening took place
the new building of the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in the Seasons Pavilion, which was reconstructed by Rem Koolhaas, Romero's teacher - approx. AB]. The context of the project described in the task of the competition seemed very exciting to us. And so we entered the second round, and now we have two months to work out the initial idea in more detail. The workshop and site visit gave us new food for thought. Our building takes into account the surroundings - the general layout of the territory and the mutual arrangement of the pavilions. For us, such an architectural form as the dome is very important - we see in its use the development of the theme of the domes of Moscow churches (Romero points towards the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on the other side of the Moskva River). I would like to create a flexible space free of columns, so the self-supporting structure of the dome is interesting from this point of view too.
In the international media you can find publications that Mexico is becoming a new architectural "Mecca": European architects are drawn here, its capital is becoming a testing ground for experiments. If earlier tourists were attracted by the Aztec pyramids and sandy beaches, now they go to Mexico for impressions of modern architecture and design … You once said that architecture is always a reflection of the situation in the economy and politics of the country. As a person who sees the situation from the inside, tell us how this coup happened?
- I have always been very critical of modern Mexican architecture. Beginning in the 1980s, the local scene was dominated by postmodernists, who in the 1970s went to study at European universities, returned and made "decorative", commercial architecture. Mexico had a truly great architecture during the period of modernism - it was an amazing historical moment in terms of creative activity, social transformations, national wealth, which allowed the country to create architectural masterpieces.
When I was a student, I always wanted to go to Europe, which I perceived as the "epicenter" of modernism, and I went there to make sure that I wanted to devote my life to architecture. In the end, I worked for Rem Koolhaas' OMA bureau for several years and then returned home. This was the year 2000, which marked the beginning of a period of democratization in Mexico: for the first time, there was no single party dominance in Congress. Now, I think, has come an interesting historical moment, but we are only at the beginning of a period of renewal. Our government sends very positive signals to the international market with its financial and monetary policy, as well as implements a reform program that will solve complex problems in education, taxes, privatization, and competition between large corporations.
Although we have many social challenges, especially those related to drug cartels, from an economic point of view, Mexico is in a relatively good position, so developers can implement new projects. This, in turn, provides an opportunity for young architects to work. So the number of new projects is sufficient, although I would not say anything about quality. There are good projects done by interesting European architects. Perhaps in the next 15–20 years we will see architects who, with their projects, will try to contribute to solving social problems - poverty, social stratification, tensions in different parts of the country related to security and drug trafficking. There are many problems. But, at the same time, we have something to rely on - our rich history and culture, biodiversity, natural resources.
What role do you see for yourself as an architect in this sense?
- I am keenly interested in the border zone between Mexico and the United States: it is unique both in the scale of migration flows and in the problems caused by the contrast between the two cultures. Many Mexicans, trying to cross the border in search of work and better life, die in the desert. We are constantly working on projects that affect the humanitarian dimension of this space [for example, in the mid-2000s, FR - EE bureau developed a project for the "Museum of the Border" in the Mexican city of Matamoros, on the right bank of the Rio Grande River, which serves as the administrative border with the United States - approx. AB]. In addition, I am more and more interested in the topic of infrastructure, which is very important for social development: its creation requires new jobs, moves the economy forward, increases the connectivity of the territory. We are currently working with Norman Foster's bureau on a project for an airport for the Mexican capital, one of the largest currently under construction in the world [its area will be 470,000 m2 - approx. Archi.ru]. Mexico City has been waiting for this project for 30 years, and now it is finally made possible thanks to the fact that the government is ready for the idea of long-term investment. While preparing the project, we were able to see all the airports in our region. Apparently, in the next fifteen years, Latin American countries will have to modernize their air harbors, and we expect 10-15 new airports in the region. Infrastructure in general is one of the most interesting areas for our bureau precisely in connection with the positive changes that it is capable of producing.
