Archinect - Features

New Book Looks at the Last 60 Years of Work by Ricardo Bofill Taller De Arquitectura

2019-06-03T12:17:00-04:00

In light of the ‘rediscovery’ of Ricardo Bofill’s work in the era of social media, it was a brilliant move by Gestalten - a publishing house firmly committed to the coffee table book genre, with titles including Northern Comfort: the Nordic Art of Creative Living and Bohemian Residence: Metropolitan Apartments and Interior Design - to make the last 60 years of work by Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura their most recent focus. With gorgeously reproduced photographs of gorgeously produced architecture, Ricardo Bofill: Visions of Architecture, will be as desirable a coffee table book as any other today.

Iconic Buildings: I work at Centro Botín

2018-05-17T10:34:00-04:00

In our series Iconic Buildings, we speak to people who live or work in buildings of architectural significance. Is their exposure to an architectural wonder on a daily basis a source of inspiration or simply part of the backdrop?

In this latest installment we speak with Marina Pascual who is responsible for Programs in Creativity Development at Centro Botín in Santander, Spain.

Silent Walls: The Architecture of Historical Memory in Spain

2018-01-23T09:00:00-05:00

In 1977, Spain celebrated its first free general election since the Spanish Civil War and the dictatorship that followed, which together lasted over four decades. Despite that this restoration of democracy has become a model for peaceful political transitions, to this day the country still struggles to come to terms with its historical memory.

Iconic Buildings: I work at the Barcelona Pavilion

2018-01-15T09:00:00-05:00

For our series Iconic Buildings, we speak to people who live or work in buildings of architectural significance. Is the exposure to an architectural wonder on a daily basis a source of inspiration or simply part of the backdrop?

This time we were lucky enough to speak to Marc Quintana Carreras Head of Maintenance at the Barcelona Pavilion, a symbol of modernist architecture, most likely studied by every architecture student in the world. The geometric masterpiece arranged out of glass, steel and varying types of marble was originally designed as the German National Pavilion in 1929, part of the Barcelona International Exhibition. After the exhibition the Pavilion was disassembled but its presence and reputation lingered and finally in 1980 Barcelona City Council reconstructed the Pavilion in its original site, where it has remained every since, an icon of the city.

For eleven days last autumn the Pavilion was transformed as part of an artistic intervention 'mies missing materialit...

Studio Animal, a Practice Specializing in Ephemeral Architecture, Talks About the Elasticity of a Small Studio

2017-12-18T10:00:00-05:00

Studio Animal, the Spanish practice directed by Javier Jiménez Iniesta, describes itself as an elastic platform that specializes in interior design and ephemeral architecture. They share a space in the neighborhood of Gracia, Barcelona where the fluctuating team sits at a 12.5 meter long table alongside friends that work in specific areas related with architecture: acoustic, landscape, technical developments, graphic design and so on.

For this week's Small Studio Snapshot, we talk with Iniesta about the practice: their structure, their ethos, and the way they deal with their projects.

SelgasCano's Magical Rock-Like Auditorium Opens in Spain

2017-08-17T12:47:00-04:00

Located on the boundary between the town and the country, in outskirts of Plasencia, SelgasCano's dreamy auditorium sits on a steep hillside—the edge between the nature and the city. Gently occupying the lot, cantilevering off the ground, the building stands out from the mountain landscape, its surprising materiality and colors both—complementing and contrasting the shrubby semi-urban setting.

Screen/Print #56: Diana Balmori is interviewed by MAS Context about Bilbao's Abandoibarra Master Plan

2017-05-19T12:11:00-04:00

The story of Bilbao—and its Architectural Wonder™—has been told to the point of cliché. Yet in MAS Context's BILBAO issue, the familiar trope is given new life and depth as a series of architects, designers, and denizens of the city explain how they helped to transform this Spanish industrial town into a case study for holistic, rejuvenating design. In this excerpt from the issue for Screen/Print, Iker Gil interviews the late, great Diana Balmori about her firm's work on the Abandoibarra master plan.

Contingencies, Complicities and Contradictions: Andrés Jaque Exposes the Processes Behind Architecture

2017-02-15T12:20:00-05:00

Andrés Jacque and the Office for Political Innovation have been tasked with renovating CA2M, a museum in central Spain. But, rather than close the building for a few years, they’re keeping the museum open during the remodel. In the process, they’re making the act of architecture itself—in all its messiness—an object on display.

Menis Arquitectos use local building techniques to create a sharp-edged sacred space

2016-12-16T12:54:00-05:00

Some 100 kilometers off the coast of Morocco, the Canary Islands are an archipelago of islands and autonomous community of Spain. Tenerife, the largest island, has a population of just under 900,000 people—the vast majority of whom are Catholic. It’s no surprise, therefore, that the island has a fair share of churches and cathedrals, including the historic La Laguna Cathedral, built at the beginning of the 20th century in a syncretic mix of styles including Neoclassical and Neo-Gothic. Not too far away (about 4km) sits the Holy Redeemer Church, built in 2012 by Menis Arquitectos—a wildly different approach to ecclesiastical architecture, but just as impressive.

Playtime! 7 bold and whimsical playgrounds from around the world

2016-08-12T12:44:00-04:00

The act of play rests heavily on the ability to indulge in the imagination. While a certain degree of functionality is required for elements like swings, slides, and climbing walls, the key to any great playground design is that it be inspiring: and oddly enough, it doesn’t always have to be strictly for children. Game-playing takes multiple forms, from the stream of consciousness rules of a child's adventure to the psychologically penetrating/illuminating construct of an artist. These examples of architectural spaces for play from around the world openly embrace the esoteric and playful.

Previewing the 2016 Venice Biennale: Spain's "Unfinished"

2016-05-12T11:37:00-04:00

Iñaqui Carnicero, principal of RICA Studio, has been selected along with Carlos Quintáns to co-curate the Spanish Pavilion at the 2016 Architecture Biennale in Venice, “Reporting from the Front”. Iñaqui is active both in the academic field and in professional practice, which he combines to push the limits of architectural explorations.

ShowCase: Villa CP by ZEST Architecture

2014-05-15T14:11:00-04:00

Restored from a stone Catalan farmhouse, Villa CP by ZEST Architecture stands as a memento to historical craftsmanship and future sustainability. The sturdy stone structure has been opened up into two distinct layers on the villa’s property, and incorporates strong elements of wood, clay, metal, glass and locally-sourced cork.

ShowCase: Casa H by Bojaus Arquitectura

2014-03-05T14:51:00-05:00

Bojaus Arquitectura’s Casa H is a modernist white cube, but it’s also not what you think it is. The cube is sometimes interpreted as a reflex towards neutrality, to get the spaces and the inhabitants within to speak for themselves. But Casa H isn’t arbitrarily a white cube; it’s the logically resulting form of rationalist, as well as aesthetic, concerns.