Parabolic Facades
This photographic series portrays a collection of images captured in Algiers. Most of them belong to structures built in the fifties and sixties and highly influenced from the precepts of Modern Architecture.
As is characteristic in the Maghreb region, the building's facades profusely mirror the lives of those who live inside the vertical structures. In this Mediterranean city for instance, the "cites" are heavily populated with parabolic screens becoming part of the vernacular architecture. The tenants’ individualistic attitude of adding more and more screens generates an organic quality to the buildings. This improvisation takes us into new realms of expression converting the facades into a celebration of rhythm and colour.Algiers in the era of communications has contributed to push even further the experience of seeing the city.
Manuel Alvarez Diestro
