ThoughtGallery.org > Oculus Book Talk | From Mall to Prison: El Helicoide’s Downward Spiral

Oculus Book Talk | From Mall to Prison: El Helicoide’s Downward Spiral

Please join us for a talk and the launch of the book From Mall to Prison: El Helicoide’s Downward Spiral

Hailed in the 1950s as a beacon of Latin America’s modernist architecture, Venezuela’s El Helicoide is a futuristic fantasy gone sour. At its conception, this drive-through shopping center embodied the narrative of progress fueled by soaring oil prices, consumerism and car culture. Yet a very different story unfolded on its spiral ramps. Caught up in the transition from military dictatorship to democratic rule, El Helicoide became a site of abandonment, encircled by slums, repurposed as an emergency shelter for flood victims, and finally taken over as the intelligence police headquarters and jail. Combining archival documents, critical analysis, literary excerpts and visual artworks, From Mall to Prison traces the turbulent history of this living ruin and others like it, showing the dystopic side of urban modernity. The book was produced in collaboration with Terreform/Urban Research.











When: Thu., Jul. 13, 2017 at 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Where: Center for Architecture
536 LaGuardia Pl.
212-683-0023
Price: $10
Buy tickets/get more info now
See other events in these categories:

Please join us for a talk and the launch of the book From Mall to Prison: El Helicoide’s Downward Spiral

Hailed in the 1950s as a beacon of Latin America’s modernist architecture, Venezuela’s El Helicoide is a futuristic fantasy gone sour. At its conception, this drive-through shopping center embodied the narrative of progress fueled by soaring oil prices, consumerism and car culture. Yet a very different story unfolded on its spiral ramps. Caught up in the transition from military dictatorship to democratic rule, El Helicoide became a site of abandonment, encircled by slums, repurposed as an emergency shelter for flood victims, and finally taken over as the intelligence police headquarters and jail. Combining archival documents, critical analysis, literary excerpts and visual artworks, From Mall to Prison traces the turbulent history of this living ruin and others like it, showing the dystopic side of urban modernity. The book was produced in collaboration with Terreform/Urban Research.

Buy tickets/get more info now