Art

Item Description

Half a century ago ago the Algarrobico beach, along the Almeria coastline in southern Spain, was bustling with the activity of a small metropolis. Workers were constructing a replica of the city of Aqaba for the filming of the famous battle scene in Lawrence of Arabia. After the shoot, the entire set was dismantled, leaving the rocky coastline exactly as it had been before. The site now lies within the borders of the protected natural park of Cabo de Gata.

But several years ago, a developer began construction on a mega-resort complex near the site where Aqaba once stood. The main hotel, Azata del Sol, was to include 411 rooms in 20 stories, most with water views due to the fact that the hotel scales the side of a cliff. Another seven residential buildings and an 18-hole golf course were also part of the plan.

However, opponents of the development claimed that it was in violation of regulations protecting the natural park and the Spanish coastline. In February 2006 a court ruling declared the construction illegal and ordered that work on the hotel be stopped. Yet it remained unclear who would bear the cost of restoring the coastline to its original state.

The unfinished building still stands today, towering over the beach. When I last photographed the site, it was a week after Greenpeace activists draped the hotel with more than 18,000 square meters of green material, drawing attention to the blemish the construction has left on the coastline.

Item Special Note

Mark Parascandola lives and works in the U Street neighborhood of Washington D.C. A PhD epidemiologist by training, he uses photography to explore patterns of movement in human populations, focusing on architecture as evidence of often-invisible social, environmental, and economic processes. Mark has family roots in the desert landscape of Almería, Spain, and he is currently documenting the remains of old movie sets constructed in the region during the 1960s and 1970s.

His work has been featured at various galleries in Washington D.C. and at Galería Acanto in Almeria, Spain. His work appears in the D.C. Art Bank and numerous individual collections. He is an active member of the Mid City Artists and the Washington Project for the Arts. He was also recently selected as a finalist for the 2011 Sondheim Prize and a finalist for Critical Mass 2012.

SIZE: 36 x 24"

THIS IS FRAMED. ESTIMATED VALUE OF FRAME: $100.

This photo will also be available at our event on October 17th. Proxies are available for those unable to attend. Winners will be notified the morning of October 18th.