‘You Are Here’ exhibit shows the future of Puerto Vallarta

You Are Here, provides the opportunity to visit Puerto Vallarta, not as it is, but as it could become. It places us in the realm of ideas and discourse about the city, presenting a plan incrementally produced through independent, diverse, and heterogeneous ideas that together, exemplify a city panorama that pertinently responds to the urban challenges of the 21st century. This exhibition marks the second year anniversary of the opening of OPC (Office of Cultural Projects). The exhibition brings together the vision of architects and urban planners, through work of critique and architectural proposals with great transformative potential for Puerto Vallarta. It covers aspects of cultural infrastructure, mobility, public space, real estate development models, responsible activators of public space, fluvial water management, environmental conservation, preservation of historical heritage, identity, imaginary, and social capital. The exhibition is the result of curatorial efforts by the OPC team and Oscar Moran Guillén, architect and urban planner involved in urban projects through non-governmental organizations, as well as private practice. The exhibition seeks to create a space for dialogue and discussion about the urban reality of Puerto Vallarta and the potential for developing a critical longterm vision for future growth. OPC annually organizes an exhibition dedicated to Puerto Vallarta on the occasion of its anniversary (both the gallery and the Port). You Are Here coincides with the 98th anniversary of Puerto Vallarta, opening a space that fosters discussion and dialogue about the urban possibilities of the present and the future. The exhibition consists of three main themes: Reflection and Criticism: through artistic representation techniques (audio visual, installation, graphic), a human reality of the city is presented, experiential implications of current urban policy and city making decisions that shape the everyday lives of the city’s dwellers. Research and Heritage: reflects upon hard data, surveys and mapping from an academic perspective and is presented graphically to provide the opportunity for a comprehensive and analytical and de-romanticized reading of the city in with its problems, opportunities, its legacy and its contrasts. Urban Vision: displays projects with potential for broad impact and transformative qualities for the city, projects proposed but never built show through architectural representation such as models, plans, 3D visualizations, all independently produced mainly by architects and urban planners of Puerto Vallarta. The exhibition features the participation of the following architects with practice in Puerto Vallarta: Ana Olivera, Alfonso Baths, Jorge Ramírez, Alberto Reyes, Leonardo Díaz Borioli, Luis Echeverria, Arturo Davila, Raul Henderson, as well as projects architects of national stature Javier Sanchez, Mauricio Rocha, Alejandro Zohn, and Ricardo Agraz. It also features the participation of activists and artists such as Davis Birks, Javiera Pintocanales, Ana Joaquina Ramírez, Ana Ramos, Enrique Reyes, Alberto Reyes, Jimena Odetti, Eduardo Solórzano, Josef Kandoll, and Alejandra Ferrise Grant. Oscar Moran Guillén (Guadalajara, Jalisco 1976) received his degree in Architecture from ITESO (Guadalajara), Masters in Urban Planning from the University of Southern California (Los Angeles). Oscar is director and founder of the Architecture and Planning studio RH+OM. He has over 15 years of experience in the practice of urban planning, architecture and real estate development. He is a founding member of the OPC (Office of Cultural Projects) and is an active member of various non-governmental and urban activism organizations in Puerto Vallarta. He began his career as Research Manager at the Center for Housing Research and Documentation (CIDOC) at the National Housing Institute of Mexico under the direction of Sara Topelson. He gained most of his urban design experience working for AC Martin and Gensler in Los Angeles, leading urban planning projects in the United States, Korea, Egypt and Mexico. He has conducted research at the Center for Economic Development in the University of Southern California, and has been involved in Transit Development Projects with the LA MTA since the early 2000s. In recent years he has worked as consultant to urban infrastructure projects in Mexico such as CETRAM Cuatro Caminos in the metropolitan area of Mexico City among others. He exercises his architectural practice in Puerto Vallarta where he is an active participant in Planning efforts through art collectives, activism, and non-profit institutions. The Office of Cultural Projects (OPC) is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting contemporary art through exhibitions, roundtables, public art initiatives and educational services programs. Born with the desire to contribute to the reflection of contemporary, cultural, and artistic environment; with the aim of sharing it with the inhabitants and visitors of Puerto Vallarta. OPC works with various artists, architects, curators, academics, and writers who contribute to the construction of our notion of city and contribute to the cultural landscape linked to Puerto Vallarta but global reach. You Are Here: Urban Approximations opens on May 28, 2016 in the Office of Cultural Projects Puerto Vallarta at Juarez # 598 Aldama corner in downtown Puerto Vallarta.