Archinect - Features

B.Arch Graduate Jose Lacruz Vela Modernizes the Spanish Countryside

2020-08-24T13:40:00-04:00

IE School of Architecture and Design B.Arch graduate Jose Lacruz Vela designs a new, enriched landscape that focuses on dismantling the idea of "rural picturesque" views and focuses on creating interactive and performative architectural landscapes that respond to their inhabitants. Unearthing issues facing the rural countryside of Spain, specifically in the town of Docenario in Extremadura, Spain Lacruz, Lacruz Vela uses his thesis project Rural Alchemy to "transform the landscape into holistic artificial natures, from hyper-productivity to third natures."

Lacruz Vela shares, "The proposal aims to challenge depopulation, an issue affecting the Spanish countryside, by retaining and attracting talent through providing jobs of diverse educational levels, while generating a new local economic model." Archinect connected with the recent grad to dive into his thesis project and learn more about his experience entering the workforce after graduation. Lacruz Vela's project was awarded Best...

The Rise of the Rural Millennial

2019-02-20T13:41:00-05:00

Millennials are moving to more rural environments and making them active again – stimulating those places that were close to being forgotten about. But this growing shift in millennial demographics has gone largely unnoticed. Millennials, a demographic that reached young adulthood in the early 21st century, comprised of individuals born between 1981-1996, have been largely criticized for their strong attraction towards urban life. Often, they are used as a scapegoat by earlier generations for problems in the world today and, as a result, millennials are the group associated with fairly negative characteristics.

New Ground I: Advancing the Countryside

2018-01-31T09:50:00-05:00

Across the urbanized world, the contemporary countryside is a paradox. While media attention is absorbed by the city, many rural regions are experiencing accelerating change due to increased automation, the emergence of megastructures and new self-learning systems, all of which are reshaping the terrain. The divisive political events of 2017 exhibited just how much today’s countryside has grown apart from the city both ideologically and spatially. To kick off 2018, in New Ground I, the first of a two-part feature series co-authored with Christine Bjerke from In-Between Economies, we will briefly explore a selection of major shifts that have influenced how the countryside operates today. We check in with rural demographer and sociologist Ken Johnson from the University of New Hampshire and Ivan Sergejev, an architect exploring the potential of the data center typology. In addition, will be tapping into the latest research from international architecture practice OMA*AMO, who have bee...

Cutting Room: We talk with Patrick Creadon, director of "If You Build It", about the documentary and the power of design education in post-recession U.S.

2014-05-14T12:33:00-04:00

If You Build It documents a year in the classroom of Project H, an experimental design-build workshop for high school students in Windsor, North Carolina. Guided by designer Emily Pilloton and architect Matt Miller, the creators of Project H, ten high schoolers set out to design and build a farmers’ market hall for their town, in the hopes that it will help invigorate the local economy and inspire other community-minded projects.

Archinect - Features

B.Arch Graduate Jose Lacruz Vela​ Modernizes the Spanish Countryside

The Rise of the Rural Millennial

New Ground I: Advancing the Countryside

Cutting Room: We talk with Patrick Creadon, director of "If You Build It", about the documentary and the power of design education in post-recession U.S.

B.Arch Graduate Jose Lacruz Vela Modernizes the Spanish Countryside