Monday, April 01, 2013

How wrong could I be? Or Manrique, part one!

I hope you all had a great Easter! I've been away for a week and have fallen in love in the most unexpected place, not with a man (I already have one:-), but with an island and a local artist/ architect.
If you're european, you probably know the Canary islands. For those of you guys overseas who might not know them, these islands are spanish, but are located further south in the Atlantic ocean, off the Maroccan coast.They're known for their great climate year around, and are popular winter destinations when the Mediterranean is too cold.
My mom and dad invited my family and my sister's to come celebrate my mom's 70th birthday in a house they rented in Lanzarote. I must admit my first thought was 'oh no, not the Canary islands...'

I'm kind of allergic to mass tourism, and to me these islands are quite stigmatised in that respect. But boy, did I have to eat my words, or thoughts, rather! I've been to a couple of the other Canary islands in my 20s, and remember them as something I would not be drawn to today, but Lanzarote was quite different! We stayed in a house in a small village and avoided mass tourism all together. I was quite impressed with the restricted policy towards tourism, and how they'd managed to preserve the landscape and local building traditions. The latter, we were told, was much due to local artist/ architect Caesar Manrique, who spent years abroad, but returned to his native Lanzarote and did a great job in using his connections in high places to persuade the authorities into preserving the island's unique qualities and resisting the pressure from the charter companies.

The Canary islands are all volcanic, but in Lanzarote, the numerous volcanoes had massive eruptions as late as the 17- and 1800s, which has given the island the most peculiar landscape. It's so dramatic, with great encounters between the ocean and the extremely rugged coast.





 


I want to show you some of Manrique's great art as well as the three buildings I found most interesting.They're all pretty amazing. The artworks he's most known for are his large- scale sculptures, that are scattered across the island. Many of them are kinetic, moved by the wind. The lava landscape combined with sculptures that really capture the elements and a great period, really got to me. I see a lot of both Picasso and Miro in his work. Although not a trained architect (he had an art education), Manrique had strong ideas about architecture, that he realised in collaboration with trained architects. His buildings are very sculptural and organic.

 


The following images are from his home and studio, containing amazing living spaces actually inside the lava. By looking at the lava landscape that surrounded him, it's not so hard to understand his obsession to live in it? The house was built in 1968 on top of a volcanic trail from an eruption in 1730-36. It uses, in the lower level, the natural formation of five volcanic "bubbles" to make an unusual living space within a natural space. It's unbelievably cool. That great 60s vibe, the artworks, the lava, what's not to like? The outside of the house and upper level is inspired by the traditional local architecture, and contains exibition spaces with great works of art, both by Manrique and others. The courtyard has an enormous Manrique mural, as well as several great sculptures. I'll be showing you two other amazing manrique buildings later- to be continued!
 
 
 










     


 


10 comments:

  1. Så herlig det ser ut, og så deilig å reise et varmt sted i påsken! Vi var på Gran Canaria påsken for to år siden, men det var gravide-ferie på Star Tour-anlegg med klovneunderholdning på kveldene...ikke akkurat memorable, men kunne gjerne tenkt meg tilbake til øyene - på en helt annen ferie!

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    1. Det var veldig deilig:-) Trodde aldri jeg skulle anbefale Lanzarote, men det var virkelig vakkert der, og mye ungene synes var spennende- helt uten bamseklubb! Vulkaner, store bølger, lava- til og med Manrique- husene var de begeistret for:-) Hyggelig å oppdage at disse øyene har annet å by på enn det man gjerne assosierer dem med!

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  2. Everything about that home, inside and out, is amazing!

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    1. Yes, isn't it? I loved it, the lava, the organic shapes, the furniture, the art...

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  3. Wow! That's all I've got for you Tove, so I'll say it again, WOW!!!

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    1. I'm so glad you liked it, Kylie! Those were some pretty amazing rooms, I've never seen anything like it! And there's more to come soon:-)

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  4. What a great post. I love it when passion and talent merge and birth works of art like these. Thank you for sharing with us. What a great home.

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    1. Ooh, thank you!! I adored how art, architecture and landscape melted together into one amazing piece that's really hard to categorize. Wait until you see the next one, it's very different but equally amazing in the way it's integrated in the landscape. It's coming up soon!

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  5. A-MAZING!! Such a stunning location and oh, my that art! I've heard of the Canary Islands but not of this one or this artist. Thanks so much for sharing it with us.

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    1. I'm so glad you liked it!! The art was truly amazing, and the house utterly experimental! I hadn't heard of Manrique either, until a few years ago when my parents were there and my mom couldn't stop talking about him:-) Now I understand why! The island is one of the smaller ones in the group, and has, managed to keep the tourism in a tight leash. It was quite spectacular:-)

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