It’s a very good question, because almost every other field of knowledge converges in architecture. Architects are not just technicians or physicists, concerned with the solidity of the materials with which structures are built. Nor can you take on the challenge of bringing a dwelling to life without taking into account aspects such as sociology, psychology, etc. And even adding together all these factors…it is still not enough.
A house is a private place that must be able to generate spaces for intimacy. Yet at the same time its full connection with its context, with its public situation, is fundamental.
The art of architecture is a dialogue between the living and the concrete, between the inherent and its significance; and the world’s best architects are those who are able to design for and within an urban geography that, at the same time, they are redesigning as a whole. Building to serve a purpose and, with the same impetus, providing a dimension for new lifestyle habits.
This is why it seems fundamental, when it comes to talking about Marcio Kogan, to highlight his capacity to reinvent the spaces he takes charge of, and the way he interprets the city to improve it with places that, without departing from the written brief, further enhance its meaning.
This is what makes Marcio Kogan one of the finest architects in the world: his ability to add a new scenario that totally improves the continuum of the film set that is the city.
Something that characterises the world’s finest architects is their success in producing new spaces that respond to the questions and needs that society already had but had not yet openly expressed.
In other words: explaining the ‘geist’ of each ‘zeit’ and thus carving out a new step on the future of progress.
This was the magic of Gaudí, who made real the aspiration to live in a dream. Or the acumen so characteristic of the Modern Movement which, through Le Corbusier, turned concrete into plasticine.
And thus with every milestone of achievement, periods have been given meaning by the hand of their architects: from the Lutheran delirium of Speer to the snowy sensuality of Alvar Aalto. And further back and higher, at the very peak: the universal majesty of Herrera.
Due to the temperature of his constructions, one tends to glimpse in Marcio Kogan the influence of another of the greats, Van der Rohe. ,The dialogue between geniuses is indecipherable, just as the power of his achievements is unarguable. But in Kogan’s biography there are clues to understanding his concept that, interestingly enough, are not based on his beautiful architecture…
Before devoting himself entirely to construction, Marcio Kogan was also a filmmaker, combining the practice of both arts for a period of his career. It is therefore hardly surprising to witness the ease with which he has adopted the multidisciplinary essence of contemporary architecture, and perhaps for this reason has become one of the world’s greatest architects.
history, as we see in the great cathedrals that so tenderly minister to the cities that house them (or in any other monument capable of symbolizing an epoch), each period has a particular architecture that beautifies it. And this is not just a timeframe for blind technical progress, but the highest expression of the human phenomenon.
Right now, in every little provincial municipality, an architect is proposing a new perspective of the town to its inhabitants.
Or an architect has taken charge of a renovation that contemporizes a piece of traditional architecture for a new use.
Or an architect has happily found a place for some indomitable fantasy or personal proposal… Even the youngest of building technicians knows that their personal desires must take a back seat to the demands of the times.
Caledonian’s great good fortune on being able to count on Marcio Kogan’s services is the knowledge that its most high-profile projects, such as the one currently being developed in Javier Ferrero (Madrid), will, most assuredly, be a huge success.
Spearheading the cutting edge of architecture is a responsibility of those who know that every stroke, every nuance, every corner is under scrutiny. We are fully aware that were it not for Marcio Kogan, one of the world’s finest architects, the projects that we aspire to make the most advanced examples of contemporary construction would simply not be possible.
Our epoch is not something we are able to choose. But by choosing Marcio Kogan, we know we will get both an answer and a proposal, from the highest possible perspective, that will enable us to continue advancing, step by step, in the search for solutions ad interpretations of space that can be considered as canonical.
To build is to move constantly towards the future, resolutely. Our goal is to continue to pave the way with homes that transcend their remit by being able to transform and advance neighbourhoods and cities. And even epochs.
What kind of housing can we expect to emerge from these times? What are the forces behind them?
Today, the great value of connectivity has a very precise translation in architecture: space is plural. There is no single way. The home is a home for life: let the home create its own nooks and crannies.
The dwelling needs to encompass a family’s enjoyment in a safe and calming way; but it also has to be in contact with the community in which, after all, the youngest members of the household are going to socialize and grow, while the older ones, too, will enjoy leisure, culture and sport.
The work of the world’s greatest architects is to revitalize these spaces, just as Marcio Kogan has managed to do with Caledonian’s Javier Ferrero project.
This emblematic location is undergoing a transformation that will lead the former industrial plot into a whole new dimension. The apartments, aimed at all kinds of families, even single people, will provide a stunning example of how a wound in the urban fabric can become a flowerbed from which new life springs again.
These are the new modes and uses that must take over these areas that were once used for other, now obsolete, purposes.
And it is architects such as Marcio Kogan, thanks to their ability to reinterpret these spaces, who give us a response long before the question was even asked.
A whole cinematographic transition that in every shot is able to bring out the best in ourselves, combining several dimensions such as the private and more personal life of the family that complements and enriches its role in the neighbourhood community.
We are proud of our foresight in choosing Marcio Kogan for this project in the Madrid neighbourhood of Pradillo.
He has achieved a surgical manoeuvre in the city that suddenly changes an urban gap into a city landmark. This collection of dwellings will transcend their own walls to become a new community benchmark that raises living standards in the area.
This is the work of the world’s greatest architects such as Marcio Kogan: to replenish the weary skeleton of the urban phenomenon with clay and bandages and rehabilitate them, bringing them back to life and movement: contemporizing them for modern lifestyles.
Marcio Kogan’s biography represents a journey through the growth of a person with deep artistic and human concerns. His dedication to the world of film may come as a surprise to some people. Yet in the profession of contemporary architecture, multidisciplinarity is not just a value but a requirement.
Building homes for families today means taking on an array of stringent demands. Our societies have overcome the old dichotomies that extolled the gap between need and ostentation to accept the energetic, vibrant and entrepreneurial driving force of life.
Today, a dwelling is a pleasure, a commitment to comfort, and, of course, safety.
The cinema, also known as the seventh art, is the great cultural manifestation of the twentieth century. The most elaborate representation that man can make of himself. Bringing its dynamism to architecture means accepting that the house is not a static framework.
It is the dynamic framework of a life story. When wicker is the best material, the result is the perfect cradle of spaces that the world’s finest architects, like Marcio Kogan, are able to embrace. And the proof is in the outcome.
Life does not alter as you pass under the lintel of a door: the art of Marcio Kogan and his studio manages to positively resolve the interior-exterior continuum. In this way, the work of landscaping and garden design gradually becomes a nutrient of the interior design proposal… and vice versa.
One of the things that make Marcio Kogan a fixture on the list of the world’s finest architects is his ability to address the most authentic aspects of contemporary life in his architectural concepts.
This means that attention to detail is taken to the ultimate degree, because it is in the “between” between two points that the important movements arise. The key to this tranquil yet creative and poetic way of life lies in the perfect balance between spaces.
The key is to give each scenario its own autonomy and meaning, yet without relinquishing its interpretation as an element of a space, a work, or a bigger story.
Once again, we find the resolution of a conflict that was still incubating; that of a nostalgia for meaning.
The work of contemporary architecture, and what makes Marcio Kogan one of the best architects in the world, is to propose, from a formalism characterised by an explosion of simplicity, the revitalization of scenarios.
To create, to realize, homes that become archetypes, the ultimate expression of contemporary taste.
Always endowed with that powerful lambency which, in the neighbourhoods where Marcio Kogan’s interventions take place, sparks off a new proposal for a story that remasters the canons of the old movies of the past.
When at Caledonian we boast of being able to count on one of the world’s finest architects, Marcio Kogan (and his practice), it is because we know that we need his talent to tackle the challenges that we want to accomplish.
All this has been possible in the projects of Altos del Hipódromo I and II; in our A6 HQ Office venture, in Caledonian Somosaguas and in Concept Valdemarín and, of course, in Javier Ferrero.
All these projects address our concern to provide an outlet to the forces that drive us, which are materialized in a commitment to the utmost quality. In all of these projects we have taken the risk of making ourselves visible in the most avantgarde way possible.
We do not see our work as just another job. We understand that building, most importantly, means making a contribution. And while our concern for materials always leads us to choose the optimal option, this can be no less important in the matter of forms. Both these factors are complementary, and both of them spring from a purpose: to generate spaces for life.
When the interpreter of this approach is Marcio Kogan, one of the world’s best architects, and in addition you can count on the support of his practice and his staff… then the only possible outcome is satisfaction with what we are doing.
Among other reasons, this is because working with an innovative talent like Marcio Kogan is a daily stimulus for the most poetic creativity. We know that in his hands the next step will have even more significance, more colour, a better landing…
Where this path will take us is something we have yet to discover. From scene to scene: just like the end of a film directed by a genius.
A key aspect to consider in this whole adventure is the feedback we get from our customers. We know we are on the right track, because this feedback is a resounding “yes” from everyone who has put their faith in our propositions. And with this we can fine-tune the speed of our progress on a daily basis. Safely… and firmly.
Today, with our history of long-standing cooperation with the studio of Marcio Kogan, who we regard as one of the world’s greatest architects, our confidence in the success engendered by his talent and his signature allows us to continue opening up to increasingly innovative concepts.
All of this, of course, is without losing touch with what our customers demand, paying scrupulous attention to what is dear to them.
With Marcio Kogan, an unparalleled interpreter of that collective subconscious, we like to think that we have not only got it right… but that we will continue to get it right.
