The RCR monograph is beautiful. I'd recommend it to anyone. I pored over it for weeks - great photography and explanatory graphics and the work is uncompromisingly modern and yet somehow complementary (natural, even) to the landscape and historic fabric of their home region.
we've all seen modern projects that we wish hadn't gotten built because they reflect badly on modern architecture in general. this may because they're overbearing, poorly related to their surroundings, jarring/in your face, or otherwise ill-conceived. at least here in the midwest u.s., we don't need any of those projects to provide ammo for arguments against modernism and encourage votes in favor of more colonial dreck.
so, by complementary, what i mean is that these are projects that - through their scale, material use, a sense (reaching here) of humility rather than heroism - neither overpower nor separate themselves from their environments. and these are often historic environments - the kind that makes less courageous architects feel that they have to do something which "fits" (meaning "it's dressed in 19thC drag."). rcr's very modern projects are embedded/integrated sensitively. all the moves, from the scale of the urban intervention to the scale of the pedestrian interface, are thoughtfully considered and edited down to their essence.
my admiration for their projects springs from a feeling that they have synthesized a variety of issues - a very sophisticated constructional, spatial, sectional, urban planning, and material agenda - into simple solutions that have a feeling of inevitability about them.
oh, i think you were also playing on my description of their complementing their region (vs. country?). while their minimal modern approach is certainly consistent with a legacy of spanish modernism from the imported barcelona pavilion through siza and moneo, there is also, in my mind, a hint of that catalan expressiveness and sensuality in the development of details and use of materials. while it really blasts to the forefront in the restaurant with all the gold gewgaws, it's still present in even the most essential park structures.
more than any specifically catalan traits, though, i was also noting a sense of continuity with the landscapes that many of their buildings occupy. they're obviously conscious of the importance of this, too, judging from their landscape/horizon/intervention watercolor studies.
ok, thanks for the explanation Steven... I was just simply curious about your statement of Vilalta's & co. projects being 'complementary' to the natural and manmade surroundings of the Alt Empordà -that's the north-west of Catalonia (to delimit even more specifically their home region), and really, I pretty much agree with all you said.
Not that I'm against the attitude, which was pretty common until the late 70's here, of developing new architecture -or rework/rehabilitate the existing one- with traditional techniques and formal fitting procedures, specially in the urban cores of rural towns or small cities.. but RCR -together with others- kind of brought a new fresh approach to the architectural catalan scene out of the Barcelona's area of influence, a new conception of the already traditional minimalism that people like Ferrater were producing here in the 90's, though RCR seem to have a more interesting approach to the textures and materiality of their projects, maybe because they know so well their own natural surrounding and being from Olot themselves instead of a big urban metropolis like Barcelona, they may possess a more expanded sensibility towards the rural environment.
Somehow they bring together the best of Bonell & Gil and Francesc Rius and of Ferrater, the 80's and 90's minimalist catalan masters, I think that's were their works find the link with the 'catalan tradition', if there's one at all (both the link and the tradition).
They are still pretty young and have a lot of time to develop a great architectural legacy, and though I appreciate them even at a personal level -I had Vilalta as my prof in school, and it was one of most kindred spirits I ever met in that place, and Carme was around there too and she seemed pretty affable, which goes in concordance with the 'amability' of their works and their sense of respectfulness (or complementarity, using your adjective) for the environment-, I still can't understand why they have become so internationally famous, or how a pavilion like the bathing house at the Tussols-Basil park, or the racing track next to it, have been published almost everywhere... when I'm sure there are good works like that in every corner of the planet.
Anyway, I wish them the best for the future; even if only because of their good-natured character and respect for the environment they're building onto, they absolutely deserve it.
The region vs. country its just a personal thing. I happen to be not only a catalanist, but also an independentist, and while the title of the news brought me a smile in my face, the "home region" comment reminded me of some other nasty spanish political discussions from other places in the net, I just forgot that I was in Archinect... :) .. my bad.
I'd say that their minimalist character, interest for the materiality of objects ('phenomenological architecture' I think they call it), and inventiveness of their work has a very specific catalan root, but that's just 'me' (or 'us', catalan activists) and our partial view, cause I'm aware that that's a common and shared architectural attitude we have with the rest of iberian creators, both with our spanish neighbours, be the dead (the great de la Sota or OÃza), the old (Moneo) or the young ones (Mangado, Nieto & Sobejano, Ãbalos & Herreros, etc), and the portuguese ones (Siza, Soto de Moura or, for example, the pretty good young firm from Lisboa, Promontório).
hey, medit. thanks for the other names. now i have some work to look up that i didn't already know.
i had a feeling you were being sensitive to the more political (?) catalan/spanish conversations and am glad that i dispelled any worries. i'm definitely an outside observer making an outsiders' observations. that part of the world fascinates me - with all of its shades of layers of history, cultural distinctions and conflict, and the incredible natural landscape. not at all like kentucky...
lol.. so the chinese philosopher was from Kentucky.. I didn't know that.. ;)
I don't want to infect this news section with disgusting spam (but I'll do it): if you're interested in catalan architects/tecture, I'm putting together a site -well, actually learning basic html/css while doing it-, about the whole 'catalan tradition', from the gothic master builders up to what the typical starchitects are doing around here... not that there's too much to see yet, but check it out in some months, and I guess you'll find plenty of names for you to check out :) :
15 Comments
The RCR monograph is beautiful. I'd recommend it to anyone. I pored over it for weeks - great photography and explanatory graphics and the work is uncompromisingly modern and yet somehow complementary (natural, even) to the landscape and historic fabric of their home region.
do you mean the el croquis, or their own separate monograph? do you have a link?
publishers are GG, a spanish house. also publish the 2G series.
dang. npc beat me to it.
yeah, that's the one > the big book by GG. really high quality production.
and, yes, the 2G books are nice, too. love the one on max bill.
how is RCR's works "complementary" to the historic fabric of their home country?
i'm just curious about what that personal perception of yours means...
nice title for this piece of news by the way..
medit-
we've all seen modern projects that we wish hadn't gotten built because they reflect badly on modern architecture in general. this may because they're overbearing, poorly related to their surroundings, jarring/in your face, or otherwise ill-conceived. at least here in the midwest u.s., we don't need any of those projects to provide ammo for arguments against modernism and encourage votes in favor of more colonial dreck.
so, by complementary, what i mean is that these are projects that - through their scale, material use, a sense (reaching here) of humility rather than heroism - neither overpower nor separate themselves from their environments. and these are often historic environments - the kind that makes less courageous architects feel that they have to do something which "fits" (meaning "it's dressed in 19thC drag."). rcr's very modern projects are embedded/integrated sensitively. all the moves, from the scale of the urban intervention to the scale of the pedestrian interface, are thoughtfully considered and edited down to their essence.
my admiration for their projects springs from a feeling that they have synthesized a variety of issues - a very sophisticated constructional, spatial, sectional, urban planning, and material agenda - into simple solutions that have a feeling of inevitability about them.
oh, i think you were also playing on my description of their complementing their region (vs. country?). while their minimal modern approach is certainly consistent with a legacy of spanish modernism from the imported barcelona pavilion through siza and moneo, there is also, in my mind, a hint of that catalan expressiveness and sensuality in the development of details and use of materials. while it really blasts to the forefront in the restaurant with all the gold gewgaws, it's still present in even the most essential park structures.
more than any specifically catalan traits, though, i was also noting a sense of continuity with the landscapes that many of their buildings occupy. they're obviously conscious of the importance of this, too, judging from their landscape/horizon/intervention watercolor studies.
ok, thanks for the explanation Steven... I was just simply curious about your statement of Vilalta's & co. projects being 'complementary' to the natural and manmade surroundings of the Alt Empordà -that's the north-west of Catalonia (to delimit even more specifically their home region), and really, I pretty much agree with all you said.
Not that I'm against the attitude, which was pretty common until the late 70's here, of developing new architecture -or rework/rehabilitate the existing one- with traditional techniques and formal fitting procedures, specially in the urban cores of rural towns or small cities.. but RCR -together with others- kind of brought a new fresh approach to the architectural catalan scene out of the Barcelona's area of influence, a new conception of the already traditional minimalism that people like Ferrater were producing here in the 90's, though RCR seem to have a more interesting approach to the textures and materiality of their projects, maybe because they know so well their own natural surrounding and being from Olot themselves instead of a big urban metropolis like Barcelona, they may possess a more expanded sensibility towards the rural environment.
Somehow they bring together the best of Bonell & Gil and Francesc Rius and of Ferrater, the 80's and 90's minimalist catalan masters, I think that's were their works find the link with the 'catalan tradition', if there's one at all (both the link and the tradition).
They are still pretty young and have a lot of time to develop a great architectural legacy, and though I appreciate them even at a personal level -I had Vilalta as my prof in school, and it was one of most kindred spirits I ever met in that place, and Carme was around there too and she seemed pretty affable, which goes in concordance with the 'amability' of their works and their sense of respectfulness (or complementarity, using your adjective) for the environment-, I still can't understand why they have become so internationally famous, or how a pavilion like the bathing house at the Tussols-Basil park, or the racing track next to it, have been published almost everywhere... when I'm sure there are good works like that in every corner of the planet.
Anyway, I wish them the best for the future; even if only because of their good-natured character and respect for the environment they're building onto, they absolutely deserve it.
The region vs. country its just a personal thing. I happen to be not only a catalanist, but also an independentist, and while the title of the news brought me a smile in my face, the "home region" comment reminded me of some other nasty spanish political discussions from other places in the net, I just forgot that I was in Archinect... :) .. my bad.
I'd say that their minimalist character, interest for the materiality of objects ('phenomenological architecture' I think they call it), and inventiveness of their work has a very specific catalan root, but that's just 'me' (or 'us', catalan activists) and our partial view, cause I'm aware that that's a common and shared architectural attitude we have with the rest of iberian creators, both with our spanish neighbours, be the dead (the great de la Sota or OÃza), the old (Moneo) or the young ones (Mangado, Nieto & Sobejano, Ãbalos & Herreros, etc), and the portuguese ones (Siza, Soto de Moura or, for example, the pretty good young firm from Lisboa, Promontório).
sorry, a correction: the Alt Empordà region is at the north-east of Catalonia, facing the Mediterranean sea, not the west (Pyrenees).
hey, medit. thanks for the other names. now i have some work to look up that i didn't already know.
i had a feeling you were being sensitive to the more political (?) catalan/spanish conversations and am glad that i dispelled any worries. i'm definitely an outside observer making an outsiders' observations. that part of the world fascinates me - with all of its shades of layers of history, cultural distinctions and conflict, and the incredible natural landscape. not at all like kentucky...
oops, blew my cover.
lol.. so the chinese philosopher was from Kentucky.. I didn't know that.. ;)
I don't want to infect this news section with disgusting spam (but I'll do it): if you're interested in catalan architects/tecture, I'm putting together a site -well, actually learning basic html/css while doing it-, about the whole 'catalan tradition', from the gothic master builders up to what the typical starchitects are doing around here... not that there's too much to see yet, but check it out in some months, and I guess you'll find plenty of names for you to check out :) :
http://www.geocities.com/medit1976/index.htm
nice. i'll keep checking (especially for the english translation!).
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.