New Life for Abandoned Cinema Spaces

It is very sad to see a beautiful cinema theater deteriorate. Here in San Francisco, we have many old theaters that have been wonderfully preserved, like the Castro Theater. Across the Bay the Fox Theater found a new life after being closed for more than 40 years. It is now a music venue and the permanent home of The Oakland School for The Arts.

Other old cinema houses have found less than stellar ends, like the amazing Alhambra on Polk street (it became a gym) and several theaters on Mission street. These theaters were being used as churches and in recent years, dollars stores. El Capitan is now a parking lot, and only the facade remains. Several more theaters like the Tower and the New Mission sit abandoned. Sadly just recently we lost other neighborhood treasures like the Coronet on Geary street.

Here is a new idea from Projecto Oxido (Project Rust) an artistic effort in Mexico City. On December of last year this project showed a documentary and a neon art installation in a grand old abandoned theater, The Cine Opera.

The project set up a free standing screen in the auditorium. Folding chairs were set up among the old decaying seats of the original theater. A documentary by Catalonian film maker Mireia Sellarés was projected for three consecutive days, and a neon installation titled "Las Muertes Chiquitas" (The small deaths) was set up in the lobby. Sellarés interviewed many women in her documentary. She covered subjects as varied as sexuality, rape and violence against women. The theater itself became part of the installation, alluding to subjects like neglect and abandonment.



Cine Opera debuted in 1949, with a capacity to host almost 4,000 movie goers. After becoming a concert venue during its later years, it finally closed in the early 90's. The future of this wonderful old movie house is uncertain, but I'm glad the project and the documentary raised awareness for women's issues as well as architectural preservation. Enjoy more photos from the Cine Opera, thanks to Rocio Echeverri Renteria and other contributors from the Mexico City threat at Skyscraper City. The following photos of Cine Opera are by photographer Olivia Vivanco







Links:

A couple of links that deal with preservation of historic movie houses in San Francisco:

Save the Harding

Friends of 1800

Contemporary Mexican design, and tropical fruit

Recent cold summer weather in San Francisco made me long for the beach and the casual, relaxed pace of Mexican coastside towns. These photos from Dupuis, a contemporary Mexican design firm illustrate an ideal spot for a perfect Summer vacation!


These two homes, Villa Tortuga and Villa Ceiba have wonderful living spaces that are open to the outdoors. The feeling is luxurious, clean, spacious and incredibly inviting.


I also noticed that the Dupuis designers incorporated tropical fruit into all living spaces of these amazing villas. Not too long ago I shared one of my favorite recipes for plaintains, and some memories of my grandfather's banana plantation in Chiapas. The airy comedor at Villa Ceiba remined me of my mother's description of her childhood home. The space is decorated with hanging bunches of green bananas, and more bananas are displayed in wooden trays reminescent of rustic bateas, or large containers generally used for washing and storage. I think my grandparents would have felt right at home at Villa Ceiba.


Villa Torguga's comedor is decorated in a coconut theme. The massive table and painting keep with the scale of the space and crate a grand, yet relaxed feeling. Displaying plastic grapes would not feel quite appropriate. I really like how the folks at Dupuis took something that could be considered extremely trite (fruit in Mexican design) and came up with something fresh and original.


Recently I also posted about the subliminal power of displaying fruit. Go on, place some apples by your bedstand, some limes in your bathroom and some pineapples on your dining room table. Even if we don't have grand beach homes, we can visually enjoy the bounty of the farmer's market before eating it...while we long for warm weather!

Visit Dupuis for more contemporary Mexican design ideas.

Through the desert, in a house with no name...

Known for her photography featured in VOGUE magazine, Deborah Turbeville's book Casa No Name features images of her home in San Miguel De Allende.



Much like an impressionistic painting, Turbeville's lens captures a sense of light and emotion. Her photos are soft and diffused, at times fuzzy and blurry. The book conveys a sense of history and nostalgia, evoking dusty curtains, candle light, old saints and water damage. Very far away are the happy bright colors of a Mexican sarape.

This book called to mind my own fuzzy memories of my relatives' homes in Chiapas, and very much like "Casa No Name", the combination of my own unconscious memories and ghost stories evoked images of a Mexico that never existed.

I found this book to be a nice departure from other publications that stick with the stereotypical "Casa Turismo" approach to Mexican interiors and style. Go here if you want to learn more about "Casa No Name".

More on square schematics and boxy houses

Below are some images from Casa Barragan, the former home of architect Luis Barragan in Mexico City. It is now a museum and UNESCO heritage site.


The way Barragan used light gave his home an airy and contemporary feeling. After more than 60 years the house looks like it could have been built yesterday, yet the house dates back to 1947.

Barragan took the "essence" of Mexican architecture (Mesoamerican temples, haciendas, thick adobe walls) and condensed it into a simple design where squares are a reccuring element.

Barragan's use of color and the relationship with the outdoors is dramatic. The following image reminds me of paintings by Rufino Tamayo (also pictured below: "La Gran Galaxia"). Tamayo used to say that his roots and colors were Mexican, but his concept was universal. Maybe the same proves true for Barragan's designs...

The concept of "sacred geometry" and other philosophical elements also play a part in Barragan's designs, making them modern but also warm and inviting. I find this house very inspiring...I hope you enjoyed the pictures! Click here if you want to learn more about Luis Barragan