The professionals were recognized for their contributions to the dimension of public architecture. The university community was able to follow him through the official UNR YouTube account.
La Universidad Nacional de Rosario distinguished the architects Jorge Moscato, Mario Corea and Claudio Vekstein with the title of Doctors Honoris Causa, for their contributions to the dimension of public architecture. It was carried out through a virtual event that was broadcast on the UNR's official YouTube channel.
The meeting was attended by the Rector Franco Bartolacci and the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Planning, Adolfo del Río. In addition, Ana Valderrama, Marcelo Ranzini and Bibiana Cicutti, teachers of the Faculty who promoted these nominations, did so. It is the first time that a recognition of this type is carried out through the virtual modality.
Rector Bartolacci stressed that the acknowledgments given by the UNR speak volumes about how the institution imagines, plans and thinks. “It is a pleasure to be able to sustain the links in the exceptional times we are living. This is a recognition carried out by the University with the aim of incorporating the honorees into our select body of professors, although the institutional link of each one is longstanding and predates this event. When we honor someone we are saying that our University also wants to be able to reflect on that image”.
Bartolacci emphasized that the trajectory of the three professionals goes beyond what a resume can express and that the contribution they have made to the constitution of the public dimension of architecture is very important. “We recognize what is on paper but also what is not seen, which is what we want to value the most as an institution. We understand that university education is much more than accredited disciplinary knowledge and that it is a set of principles and values that are present in the exercise of the profession”.
Del Río confessed that the best thing would have been to have this meeting in the University Cultural Space or in the Faculty full of public and students, but that current circumstances demand new ways so as not to miss the opportunity to recognize such exponents of architecture. “This title is not granted to any professional, but to those who have excelled in their fields regarding teaching and research. This is the case of the three teachers, who with their contributions have enriched the field of public architecture”.
Mario Corea graduated in Rosario in 1962 and has been working in Europe for more than 40 years. He is the author of multiple recognized public buildings that have a great social function in our city, such as the Felipe Moré West District Municipal Center and the Clemente Alvarez Emergency Hospital (Heca). He obtained a master's degree in architecture from Harvard and a diploma in urban studies in London, he is a professor at the Polytechnic University of Barcelona and visiting professor at various houses of higher education in the United States, Belgium and Argentina. In 2012 he received the Konex award.
“I am very grateful and excited. Receiving this recognition from the University that trained me is very important, especially at my age, because I spent many beautiful moments both as a student and as a teacher in those hallways. Because of the military dictatorship I had to leave the country, but then I was able to return at different times to work in my city and meet my beloved again. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. “This is a great award for my career, which makes me extremely happy,” she expressed.
Ranzini highlighted Korea's teaching vocation, because "it is always learning and therefore teaching, regardless of whether it is in a classroom or not." In turn, she referred to the honoree's passion for architecture: “Talking with Mario is talking about architecture all the time, it is his way of life. He has fully immersed himself in the subject of public buildings, becoming an absolute reference on the subject, not only locally but also internationally”.
Jorge Moscato graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of the UBA in 1969. He has taught at that institution as well as at other universities throughout the country. Within his career, he has worked as a consultant for the urban development of the city of Buenos Aires and received the Konex award in 2012. He currently works at the Arturo Jaureche National University. He is also a Member of the Board of Directors of the Sociedad Central de Arquitectos, a member of the Association of Advisors and Juries of the same and of the Argentine Federation of Architects Entities.
“I am very excited, it is a caress for the soul. I am a kind of student of Argentina, and Rosario always surprised me how it became a cultural and educational breeding ground at a time when both were destroyed, as happened in other places. For me, the UNR is the best university institution in the country, because despite the attempts to boycott higher education during the 80s and 90s, it resisted and grew a lot, always betting on the importance of promoting the culture of public education," he mentioned. Moscato.
Bibiana Cicutti highlighted that in addition to Moscato's reflective contribution to Argentine and world architecture, his constant defense of public education is valued. “Mosca, as those of us who know him call him, always encouraged us to rethink universities and their social role. In various difficult times he has contributed his knowledge and experience to urban development, appealing to common sense, common sense and social responsibility”.
Claudio Vekstein received a degree from the National University of Buenos Aires and a Master's from the Academy of Fine Arts in Frankfurt, Germany. He is a tenured professor in the Master of Architecture Program, School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Arizona State University, United States (since 2002), and has developed his practice specializing in Public Works Architecture and Urban Infrastructure, both in Buenos Aires. Aires. Argentina (since 1996) and Phoenix Arizona (since 2002). Among his great works is the construction of the "Che" Guevara Memorial Square in the city of Rosario, which is located on Boulevard February 27.
“Sharing this event with two leaders in the area, such as Mario Corea and Jorge Moscato, is a great pleasure. I want to thank the UNR, for which I have enormous affection and have worked together for a long time. Since 92 we have been carrying out an enormous uninterrupted joint pedagogical task”.
In her turn, Ana Valderrama noticed Vekstein's will to focus on the construction of what he himself calls public opera, a concept he uses to define those pieces of architecture and infrastructure managed by the State but with a conception of them as a orchestration. “Claudio was like a teacher to me. His presence every year at the Faculty has been very important for the development of the different generations of students who have passed through the classrooms. He has a way of working with the community based on the development of participatory methodologies, promoting civic commitment and integrating professional practice with research, teaching and action”.
Journalist: Gonzalo J. García