New Media

  • Amancio Williams 2.1 - Archivo Vivo
  • GRANTEE
    Monoambiente:
    Martín Huberman
    GRANT YEAR
    2016

Amancio Williams, Sala para el espectá culo plástico y el sonido en el espacio (1942–53). Copyright: Williams Archive.

Amancio Williams is a crucial figure in Argentinean modernist architecture. His theoretical and constructed works significantly impacted Argentina’s burgeoning architecture scene, and this project aims to introduce his corpus to an international audience, while formulating a new vision for how to engage with a living archive. Amancio Williams 2.1 - Archivo Vivo curates, selects, catalogs, and digitizes documents from the papers of Argentine architect Amancio Williams as part of a new "open-source" web archive. Monoambiente invites architects and specialists—some independent and some affiliated with institutions—to curate the material on the basis of previously digitalized blueprints; his material is incorporated into a new archival website open to the general public for consultation.

Martín Huberman trained as an architect, and also works as a designer and teacher. He received his degree from the Faculty of Architecture, Design, and Urban Studies at the University of Buenos Aires in 2006, and then continued his studies through graduate courses in Buenos Aires and the United States. Upon returning to Argentina, in mid-2008, he founded the practice Normal™, which furthered his interest in applying experimentation and research to architecture, design, and cultural management. In 2010, he founded Monoambiente, the first space in the region dedicated to experimental architecture and design.

Argentine architect Amancio Williams (1913–1989) studied engineering for three years before turning to the field of aviation, in which he worked intensively. He did not graduate from the Universidad de Buenos Aires School of Architecture until 1941. For almost his entire life, he lived and worked in his family's house—a large residence that served as his studio. It was there that he engaged in his intensive work as a teacher, undertook experimental modes of research, and created works, including Viviendas en el espacio (1942), Estudio para viviendas en Casa Amarilla (1942–43, with Bonet, Caminos, Rivas, Sacriste, and Zalba), Una nueva bóveda cáscara (1951–52), Sala para el espectáculo plástico y el sonido en el espacio (1942–53), and Casa sobre el arroyo en Mar del Plata (1943–45, Argentina).

The Williams Archive is a nonprofit institution whose primary objective is the preservation of all the documentation produced by architect Amancio Williams over the course of his career. Directed by Amancio's youngest son, Claudio, Williams Archive is located in Vicente López, Buenos Aires (Argentina). In addition to preserving the archive, the institution attempts to make Williams's work accessible to the public. All of Williams's most important documents, blueprints, and prints are available on a maintained and administered by the archive.

Son of Amancio Williams and Delfina Gálvez de Williams, Claudio Williams studied architecture and worked at his father's firm from 1978 to 1989, while also working at Raúl A. Petrucci y Asociados with Daniel Fernandez Lugea (from 1984 to 1989). With Fernandez Lugea, Williams went on to found the company Tau Construcciones S.A., active from 1989 to 1996. Since 1997, Claudio Williams has been the president of Lece Construcciones S.A. He is also director of the Williams Archive, a nonprofit institution dedicated to the preservation of the archive of Amancio Williams.

Inés Molinari received her degree from the Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Urbanismo of the Universidad de Buenos Aires. She currently serves as assistant professor at Universidad de San Martín (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and Universidad Torcuato Di Tella (Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina). Molinari has developed urban and architectural projects in different contexts, and worked as a writer and editor for the Argentine magazine of architecture Summa+.

Founded in 2011, Monoambiente is an experimental space committed to the development of architecture and contemporary design. By challenging and questioning established limits, the exhibitions, actions, and programs carried out under its auspices further the material and spatial language of both disciplines. The intention is to make a contribution that operates on conceptual, material, and professional levels, encouraging engagement and dialogue between architects, designers, students, and the general public.