The golden yurt is an installation created by graduate students of architecture at Columbia University. It followed six weeks of research on the emerging identity of the nation of Kazakhstan: resource-rich and teeming with potential, the politically dysfunctional capital is now hurtling towards modernity, fueled by foreign interests and dubious import/export relations. Once a part of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan previously had no architectural heritage - only a modest, nomadic population. The yurt was their shelter. It is portable and simply made from available materials. Now the country is rushing to create a utopian vision of a acpital, with mixed results. Our installation mates some of
the gaudy veneer of modern Astana with a contemporary form and elements of classicism to present the video research and documentation.
Studio Kazakhstan is:
Christopher Lewis, Tanya Von Preussen, Karla Karwas, George Michael Rusch, Maria Alejandra Rivas,
Christa Mohn, Chris Booth, Janine Schneider, Jane Lea, Noah Sherburn, Eddie Chou, and Alejandra Bartlett
|
|
|