The IVAM (Valencian Institute of Modern Art) has recently hosted the book launch of VIPS 70, born from a project promoted by the research group Crearqcio and the architect David Estal. The book talks about the rise in Valencia, during the seventies, of a new type of residential building due to renewed social needs which architects like: Emilio Giménez, Alberto Sanchis, Estudio GO-DB, Estudio Espaci and CSPT Arquitectos tried to find an answer to through architectural projects that have withstood the test of time. Prior to its publication, the book went through a phase of crowdfunding, promoted by the authors themselves, after a period of research, focusing on finding original plans and material which made the exhibition at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia possible.
The projects developed throughout the pages of VIPS 70 show the response, in the architectural field, to the desires of a new model of housing required by different collectives. Therefore, the buildings presented by the architects and studios not only responded to this demand of housing but also brought together new social uses and habits thanks to the interior spaces.
The buildings that VIPS 70 has brought together in the book are found spread out throughout the city of Valencia, as is the case in the Ruzafa neighbourhood where the building ‘Luis Santángel’ is located, by the Valencian architect Emilio Giménez, he was as much of an architect as he was a promoter especially through the way in which he highlighted the quality of the materials used during the buildings construction. The book also reviews ‘La Colla’, a project by the architect Alberto Sanchis located in Malvarrosa or the impressive ‘Torres Turia’, constructed during the mid-seventies with the aim of becoming one of the iconic buildings of the city, a project out of GO-DB’s studio. Finally, VIPS 70 turns its attention to ‘Espai Verd’, the emblematic building which emerged in the Benimaclet neighbourhood, just a short distance away from the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, that nowadays still generates a wide variety of opinions as a result of the use of white concrete as a base material to develop a new concept of terraced gardens which continue in the truly unique interior. ‘Espai Verd’ was an architectural project developed from the offices of Espaci and CSPT Arquitectos studios.
Four buildings that thanks to VIPS 70 occupy a historic space in the field of Valencian architecture that should never leave it.
