Archinect - News

Carles Enrich Studio wins the AR Emerging Architecture Awards 2020 for their dynamic approach to heritage

2021-11-26T10:00:00-05:00

The Architectural Review has announced Carles Enrich Studio as the winner of the AR Emerging Architecture Awards 2020. The Barcelona-based practice was chosen from a shortlist of 16 young architects and designers around the world recognized as “the architectural stars of tomorrow.”

Founded in 2013, Carles Enrich Studio focuses on interventions in Catalonia’s historical landscapes. Their celebrated works include the Merola Tower in Puig-reig, which saw a 13th-century stone tower reactivated by a contemporary timber structure. The firm’s previous accolades include nominations for the EU Mies Award in 2017 and 2019 and participation in the 2012 and 2016 Venice Biennale.

The 16 shortlisted firms for the 2020 awards were published in October of last year.

The award judges, which included previous Emerging Architecture alumni Manuel Aires Mateus, Sameep Padora, and Maria Smith, commended Carles Enrich Studio for reconnecting history with the future and for viewing heritage as infrastructu...

Barcelona's bold new plan to get cars off the road

2016-05-18T13:09:00-04:00

In the latest attempt from a big city to move away from car hegemony, Barcelona has ambitious plans. Currently faced with excessive pollution and noise levels, the city has come up with a new mobility plan to reduce traffic by 21%. And it comes with something extra: freeing up nearly 60% of streets currently used by cars to turn them into so-called “citizen spaces”.

"The plan is based around the idea of superilles (superblocks) – mini neighbourhoods around which traffic will flow, and in which spaces will be repurposed to “fill our city with life”, as its tagline says."

A precedent for Barcelona's superblocks was actually instituted in the city back in the late 19th century when Ildefons Cerdà planned Eixample, a district intended to free up the crowded medieval neighborhoods of the old city. With their famous beveled corners, Cerdà's large residential blocks were intended to serve as lungs for the city, with interior courtyards to provide greenery on a regular and frequent basis.

But urban development laid waste to Cerdà's carefully-laid plans. Today, the city loses about 3,500 citizens each year to air pollution.

The bold new plan comprises a series of interventions to create "superblocks" from nine of Cerdà's smaller blocks. The initiative starts with restricting vehicular traffic to primarily the perimeter streets.

City officials hope that by i...

Get Lectured: Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, Winter '15

2015-02-19T15:56:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter-Spring 2015

Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session! Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

The next featured poster comes from The Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia in Barcelona. Although their Winter series is almost done, they'll be back with more events in the Spring.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Listed below are upcoming lectures only. Lectures take place at the IAAC Auditorium from 7:30-9 pm, unless noted. Free and open to the public.

Feb 19
Alfredo Brillembourg / Urban Think-Tank + ETH-Zurich

Feb 26
Alberto Diaspro / Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, advanced materials

Mar 3
Rodolphe el-Khoury / Dean, University of Miami

Find videos of previous le...

A detailed look at “Grafting Architecture: Catalonia at Venice” for the 2014 Venice Biennale

2014-05-29T12:59:00-04:00

For Catalonia's second year exhibiting at the 2014 Venice Biennale as a Collateral Event, they will showcase the evolving state of local contemporary Catalan architecture in "Grafting Architecture: Catalonia at Venice." The proposal won in a juried competition hosted by the Institut Ramon Llull. The exhibition examines pivotal projects that blend the traditional and the contemporary throughout the last century of Catalonia's architectural history.

Learn more about the exhibition on Bustler.