[Originally published in Bauwelt 5.2023. Photos by Aitor Estévez] Barcelona has some of the densest neighborhoods in Europe, so it…
Up Close and Personal
[Originally published in Bauwelt 4.2023] One of the growing problems facing Spain today is the ongoing depopulation of its interior…
The Attrition of Automobiles
The 2022 European Prize for Urban Public Space has gone to the disappearance of an urban expressway in Utrecht, Netherlands,…
Yellow Garden
[Originally published in Bauwelt #16.2022] When Spain imposed its nation-wide lockdown to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus on…
Not in Our Public Space
Public space belongs to everyone. That’s why the latest proposal to expand the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (MACBA)…
One Permanent Exhibition / Theme Park Inside Another
How many architects have an exhibition of their work permanently on display at a cultural institution, replete with nearly full-scale…
Statistical Error
In 2018, a study was published that situated “Europe’s most densely inhabited square kilometer” in the working-class town of L’Hospitalet…
Hotel Empanada
This advertisement for a Barcelona snack bar franchise contains an image of a local landmark building by the late Ricardo…
Public Property
[Originally published in The Architectural Review in April 2022] Before the arrival of steel and concrete, the most widely used…
Open House
[Originally published in Bauwelt March 2022] Since the emergence of the pandemic, outdoor private space has come to be newly…
Archaeological Building
[Originally published in Baumeister December 2021] Older buildings are no longer what they used to be. Until recently, the argument…
Presenting the E-Window®
Are windows really necessary in buildings? Is an LED panel that simulates a window an acceptable substitute? Some seem to…
The Anti-Circular Pepper Mill Scandal
The other day, I was preparing a dinner party when I realized my pepper mill was empty. I ran to…
Enric Miralles, 1955-2000
[Originally published in The Architectural Review July-August 2021] It has now been more than 20 years since Enric Miralles died…
Hide and Seek
[Originally published in The Architectural Review May 2021] One of the first alterations that pupils of the Imagine Montessori Primary…
Grit and Glam
[Originally published in DETAIL magazine 5.2021] There is no mistaking old from new in this adaptive reuse project by Baas…
Urbicide Rebellion Slaughterhouse Reno
[Originally published in Bauwelt 8.2021] The adaptive reuse of L’Escorxador del Cabanyal, a former slaughterhouse in Valencia, Spain, as a…
UNStudio’s Plagiarism of Elastic Living by Angelo Roventa
In the field of research, plagiarism is unacceptable and denounced. Here begins a post denouncing UNStudio’s shameless plagiarism of over…
Dear Ben van Berkel
Dear Ben, To have a design idea copied by you, a global starchitect with offices all over the world, is…
Home is Where the Pathologies Are
Here we are, in the ninth month of coronavirus crisis, eagerly awaiting the birth, any day now, of a new…
Dear Mayor Ada Colau:
Dear Ms Colau, internationally esteemed mayor of Barcelona. I write this letter in English because many citizens of Barcelona are…
Barcelona, posa’t guarra (get dirty)
Welcome to Carrer Príncep de Viana in the Raval neighbourhood of Barcelona, a small, normally quiet street lined with trees…
Canadà Park: Barcelona’s Maple Leaf Themed Suburb
As an architect who is blessed with having double citizenship–Spanish as well as Canadian– I was quite amused, while on…
Pop (-Up) Urbanism in the City of Design
Barcelona is known around the world today as a city of design. Its urban grid, buildings, parks, squares, streets, benches,…
Reassessing the Street-in-the-Sky in Times of Coronavirus
As Covid 19 spreads its way around the world, a fear of urban density is similarly catching on, with suburbs,…
Circular Container Housing
Does the sight of absurd architectural projects containing shipping containers make you cringe? Do you break into a cold sweat…
110 Rooms, 22 Flats, and One Good Idea
[Originally published in Baumeister 3/2020] The number of rooms contained in a building is not the way most young architects…
Cocooning in Balconville
With lockdown in effect in many parts of the world, and urban streets and squares largely empty, residential balconies have…
It's Now or Never
The whole world is grinding to a halt right now in what is surely the biggest crisis in several generations,…
Traces of the Past
[Originally published in Baumeister January 2020] Vilanova de la Barca is a small town located on the eastern bank of…
Circle of Life
[Originally published in The Architectural Review December 2019/January 2020] Article 12 of the 1964 Venice Charter of the International Council on…
The Politics of Architecture
Why is supposedly “advanced” architecture appreciated by so many of today’s dictatorial rulers, and what does this tell us about…
The Phenomenology of Solar Energy
I recently installed a thermo-solar water heater on my rooftop, and it has profoundly changed the way I live, making…
A Heroic Architect-Politician Exists
A previously little known architect is the topic of conversation in Spain right now. The discussion has nothing to do…
Eco-Monsters
A recent news item I came across stated: “If SUV drivers were a nation, they would rank seventh in the world…
The Poseidon Adventure
[Originally published in The Architectural Review July-August 2019] The small, idyllic Mediterranean island of Formentera, Spain, isn’t the first place…
CAP Macba
[Publicado originalmente en BCN MÉS #80] El pollo que se está montando entre el movimiento vecinal ravalero y el Macba sobre el…
¡Viva la macromani!
Como ocurre cada verano, otro año más se van llenando las calles de miles de turistas, aquella especie que arrasa…
Viviendas para vivir
[originalmente publicado en BCN MÉS #79] En las últimas décadas, hemos logrado conectar la ciudad con el mar, hemos creado espacios…
Arquitecto de mierda / Shit-Architect
[Texto originalmente publicado en / Text originally published in BCN MÉS #73. English translation follows below] Arquitecto de mierda En…
Gaudí’s Essential Hut
El Xalet de Catllaràs is a mountain refuge by Antoni Gaudí completed in 1905 for workers of the Asland cement…
For Greener Cities
[Originally published in RocaGallery.com. Versión en castellano sigue a continuación] Urban mobility is becoming ever more diverse: electric cars, trucks,…
Electoral Architecture
Elections for the mayorship of Barcelona are coming up later this year, and we’re already being delivered promises in the…
Into the Woods
[Originally published in RocaGallery.com. Versión en castellano sigue a continuación] Forget steel or concrete; or even carbon fibre. The most…
Fake Architecture News II
A few posts back, I discussed “fake architecture news” (FAN) in blogs and social media, describing an offer I had…
How Much Does Your Conscience Weigh, Mr. Foster?
Dear Norman, I just read the following in the Architect’s Journal: “Amid an escalating crisis over the missing journalist Jamal…
Mercats: Sant Antoni & Abat
[originalmente publicado en BCN MÉS #74] Ahora que el recién reformado Mercat de Sant Antoni lleva unos meses abierto, ha llegado el…
Architecture and Design Reboot
[Originally published in RocaGallery.com. Versión en castellano sigue a continuación] Recycling is great…in theory. In practice however, it is only…
Is Tourism the Only Thing Killing Barcelona?
A few days ago, The Guardian published a piece titled “Why Tourism is Killing Barcelona” that describes the damage that “overtourism”…
Small City Architecture: Walden 7 as a Social Network
[Originally published in RocaGallery.com. Versión en castellano sigue a continuación] “The city is like a great house, and the house…
Overarching Craft
[Originally published in The Architectural Review July/August 2018] Matola, a hamlet in the semi-desert of the southeastern Spanish province of…
Knock on Stone: A Brief, Informal Acoustic Experiment at the Barcelona Pavilion
The original Barcelona Pavilion is believed to be the first time that stone was “hung” in the form of thin…
Bicivia 7: El carril bici que une la metrópoli
[articulo publicado originalmente en BCN MÉS #71] En marzo [2018] se inauguró un nuevo carril bici –la Bicivia 7– de apenas…
Mega-Market
Barcelona’s biggest market, Mercat Sant Antoni, has finally opened its doors after a renovation process lasting nearly a decade. The…
Housing Thinking
[Originally published in HOUSE US, eds. Jae Sung Chon and Kent Mundle (Winnipeg: OCDI Press, 2018)] In comparison to the…
Stop Demolishing Useful Buildings
I’m a walking nightmare, an arsenal of doomI kill conversation as I walk into the roomI’m a three line whipI’m…
A New Low: the World’s Tallest Building
Faced with a half-day layover in Dubai recently, I decided to visit the tallest building in the world. I could…
Fake Architecture News?
A few weeks ago, I received a curious e-mail from someone representing “a digital marketing agency currently working with a…
A Guide to the Many Flags Visible in Barcelona These Days
[Originally published in Art4d Magazine] Barcelona is currently festooned with flags hanging from apartment balconies. It’s been this way especially…
Spongifying the City
Esponjamiento urbano, a Spanish term that literally translates as “urban spongification”, refers to the process of aerating dense, historical urban…
Notes from a Recent Construction Site Visit
I was recently fortunate enough to be shown a truly interesting work of architecture currently under construction in Barcelona: La…
Inner Space
[Originally published in Azure Magazine November 2017] For an up-and-coming advertising agency called The Keenfolks, following the rules is not necessarily top…
Dialectical Destinations: Two Solo Houses
[A version of this text was originally published in Baumeister December 2017] Contemporary architecture has become such an intrinsic component…
Vinylizing the Barcelona Pavilion
The Barcelona Pavilion is as white as Greek yoghurt right now. All the Roman travertine, ancient green marble, green Alpine…
Diving Deep
[Originally published in Frame Magazine #118] In creating Tunateca Balfegó Espai Gastronómic, a restaurant dedicated exclusively to dishes prepared with Atlantic…
Archispeak in Political Propaganda
The Catalan independence movement has for years been churning out a great deal of propaganda in order to win over…
La globalización de los mercados municipales
[publicado originalmente en BCN MÉS #63] Cualquiera que haya pisado uno de los recién remodelados mercados municipales en barcelona se…
Disappearing Act
[Originally published in Baumeister 9/2017] As the place where Ancient Greeks first set foot on the Iberian peninsula, the archaeological…
Loop the Loop
[Originally published in Mark Magazine #69] Solo Houses is the name of a project that’s intended to include more than…
At Home: Santa Clara 1728
[Originally published in Azure Magazine, June 2017] Nestled within a labyrinth of narrow streets, small squares and gracefully aged buildings…
Earthy, Corpulent and Well-Structured
[Originally published in Baumeister, June 2017] The Costa Brava’s Empordà region has a long history of exporting wine. Empúries, an…
Destination Architecture
[Originally published in Mark Magazine #68] Barcelona may be well known today as an urban tourism destination, but it was…
Interview with Daniel Mòdol, Architect and Politician
[Originally published in Mark Magazine #68] In Barcelona, architect and independent politician Daniel Mòdol was recently appointed city councillor for…
Out-of-Doors House
[Originally published in Mark Magazine #67] This remarkable house cost under €900 per m2 to build. Admittedly, mentioning the cost…
Award Politics
Architecture’s top award is the Pritzker Prize, as we all know. Often referred to in the media as the “Nobel…
Vacation Ruin
Ruins are as depressing as they are beautiful. Building abandonment is never a happy occurrence, but when it precedes building inhabitation, it’s…
Monomateriality
Material purity is highly valued in contemporary architecture. The ideal that buildings should be materially consistent inside and out seems…
Why Be Normal
Recently, I visited two buildings that provoked me to seriously question everything I learned in school. One is a student residence…
Experitecture
Empirical experimentation has always been intrinsic to architecture. Attempting to build something that has never been built before in terms of form, height,…
Vernacular Precedent?
When I first saw an image of De Rotterdam, by OMA, I knew I had seen something vaguely similar before…
Rem Koolhaas, Mythologized on the Big Screen
[Originally published in Azure Magazine Nov. / Dec. 2016] Filmed, produced, directed and edited by Tomas Koolhaas over the course of…
Three Roles Played by Architecture in Three Recent Films
[Originally published in O magazine] Buildings are as ubiquitous in films as they are in our lives. Even in the most…
Scatological Cantilever?
Unlike so many contemporary cantilevers whose only purpose, seemingly, is to out-do other cantilevers in depth, height or width, the tiny…
Hyperbolic Holiday Greetings…
…and may the funicular be with you in 2017
Architecture Without ‘Parti’
One of the first lessons every student learns in architecture school is that an architectural design must always be based on a…
The Barcelona Pavilion as Cozy Christmas Home
Here’s yet another advertisement that features the Barcelona Pavilion. This one isn’t a print ad for a famous German brand…
Building on top
Sometimes, the best option is one on top of the other. It might be because available space is too constricted, because an opportunity is…
The Definitive Solution to All Gentrification Everywhere
Gentrification is like cancer: everything seems to cause it, and there’s no cure; there’s no answer. We all know by now that…
The Venetian Front
[Review of the 15th International Architecture Exhibition originally published in Mark Magazine #63. Photos by Sergio Pirrone.] Reporting From the…
Super-Islands
The city block is a fundamental element of urbanism. The Ancient Romans called a city block an insula, or “island”, which is…
Temporary Permanence
Earlier this summer, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the reconstruction of Mies van der Rohe’s German Pavilion for the 1929 Barcelona…
Contemporary Ruins II
Further to my last post, here is another Spanish contemporary ruin by a Pritzker laureate: Toyo Ito’s spa near Torrevieja.…
Contemporary Ruins
As is well-known, Spain’s recent building boom-turned-bust has left behind a legacy of halted construction projects that are now in…
Built-In Obsolescence
The other day, out of the blue, my printer suddenly stalled, even though it had been working perfectly for once. Strange warning…
Everyday Camouflage in the Countryside
The building above looks like a military installation of some sort, right? After all, it’s got a camouflage pattern on…
A World Apart: Architectural Autonomy as Artistic Freedom / Un mundo aparte. La autonomía arquitectónica como libertad artística
[Originally presented at and published in Out-onomy, Critic|all II International Conference on Architectural Design and Criticism, ETSAM / Resumen en castellano sigue…
Reporting From the Affront
[Text published in art4d magazine #238] The Venice Biennale is a huge event; architecture’s biggest. It’s so big, if we…
Monolith of Memory
[Text originally published in Mark Magazine #61] The Camp de Rivesaltes, a sprawling military base built in 1938 near Perpignan,…
Dizzying Inequality
Ben Wheatley’s film High Rise, a multi-story about decadence and class war in a Brutalist housing estate in London, brought plenty…
Architecture Only an Artist can Get Away With
New York’s Guggenheim Museum has just announced plans to install a new artwork by Maurizio Cattelan consisting of a toilet made…
Love-You Architecture
“The envy and hostility of Wall Street leads many to a common goal: to amass enough money so as to…
Avoid the Void
[Originally published in Mark Magazine #60] In recent decades, architecture commemorating violent death has typically relied on a dark, austere and…
Farewell Zaha
Zaha Hadid left us yesterday. She won’t be forgotten for a long time, as she was an architect who actually changed architecture.…
Revisiting Casa Bloc
The architecture of housing differs fundamentally from the architecture of other building types in that it is never a purely qualitative…
Inteligencia empresarial / Corporate Intelligence
[English text follows below] Ya sabemos que hoy en día está muy de moda llamar ‘inteligente’ o ‘smart’ a todo…
Dis-fru-tar
[Originally published in Azure, November-December 2015] Disfrutar means “to enjoy” in Spanish. It’s an appropriate name for a restaurant that encapsulates…
La crítica arquitectónica y la imagen del arquitecto / Architectural Criticism and the Public Image of the Architect
[English text follows below] [una versión previa de este texto ha sido presentada en un simposio de la ETSAB y publicada…
New Year’s Greetings
Spa in Panticosa by MoneoBrock
But is it Architecture?
The recent adjudication of Britain’s Turner Prize to some Liverpool houses regenerated through neighbourhood participation by a young collective known as Assemble speaks…
Plus ça change…
This is a screengrab of what appeared on my laptop recently when I downloaded a New York Times article titled “What You…
A conversation with Ricardo Devesa
[Originally published in Mark Magazine #58] Ricardo Devesa is editor in chief of Actar, a Barcelona-based publisher known for books…
Cycling Barcelona versus Copenhagen: an Experiential Comparison
The other day I read an interesting critique of Barcelona’s cycling infrastructure titled “The Arrogance of Space”, by the Copenhagenize…
Twisted Logic: Turning Torso as ‘Innovative’ Housing?
I recently had the pleasure of visiting Malmö, Sweden; best known –in terms of contemporary architecture– for its Santiago Caltrava-designed…
Why is BP sponsoring an architecture biennial?
Why is BP sponsoring an architecture biennial; specifically the Chicago Architecture Biennial, titled “The State of the Art of Architecture”,…
Still Nurbing Along
Enric Ruiz Geli’s Villa Nurbs is still incomplete after 13 years. The good news is, however, that it does not appear to…
Size Isn’t Everything
[Originally published in Mark Magazine #57] It’s been said that the most difficult thing to design in architecture is a…
Design and Decadence in Sabiñanigo
The land-scars of Spain’s construction boom-gone-bust have been documented photographically to great extent. More typically than not, these images portray a landscape of newly built…
The Art Studio-Museum
[Originally published in Oris Magazine #92] Situated on the distant side of the forested hillcrest that overlooks Barcelona, the Arranz-Bravo Studio…
How to Find Work as an Architect
The perennial problem for the 99% of architects who are not stars is: how and where do you find work? There are many ways…
The First BIAM: 20 Years After
I recently attended a reunion to celebrate 20 years since graduating from the Berlage Institute Amsterdam. This first ever BIAM, or ‘Berlage…
Beauty
‘Beauty’ is one of the rarest words used by professionals when talking about architecture, yet it is one of the most used by…
The School in the Forest
Els Xiprers –The Cypresses in Catalan– is the name of a Barcelona primary school situated in a very special setting: a forested…
Selfie Scene
With the invention of the ‘selfie’, the traditional comic foreground or carnival cutout is rendered obsolete, along with the profession of carnival portrait photographer.…
Architecture and Crime
A recent escape from a maximum-security prison in upstate New York, in which two convicted murderers cut through steel jail-cell walls to…
Sign o’ the Times
Isn’t it great when something that looks ‘arty’ turns out not to be art at all? A well-designed object that…
New ‘Public’ Space in Barcelona
“The goal is to turn this old, unloved port into the best super marina in the world, to integrate yachting…
From Baukunst to Kunstwelt: The Biennalization of Architecture
There is no doubt that architecture is an art. The eternal question is which kind. Is architecture a building art? A…
Taste
RCR, the Catalan architectural firm known for its love of Corten steel, has an exhibition in Barcelona’s Palau Robert that…
The Tall Building Politically Reconsidered
The tall building has been an expression of machista one-upmanship since its earliest beginnings. San Gimignano’s stone towers are a built testament…
Brutal Underground
[Originally published in Mark Magazine #54] Barcelona has a problem: too many motor vehicles occupy too much space and fill…
A Response to Marc Kushner’s ‘A New Golden Age of Architecture’
[Originally published on medium.com] Dear Marc Kushner, Like yourself, I also want people to love architecture. But unlike yourself, I don’t…
Death of a Manifesto
“Architecture Must Blaze” is the title of a 1980 manifesto by Coop Himmelb(l)au. In it, the architects declare: “we don’t want to exclude everything…
Emot-Icon Building
Considering the recent spate of ‘icon’ buildings, you would think that an Emoji would exist for ‘Architecture’ by now, but no, this is in fact…
Multiple Discovery, Idea Theft, or Tweaking?
Having an original idea is everything in architecture. Its history is one of innovations and breakthroughs; of new ideas, materials, and…
Observations on Attitude
[Originally published in Log Journal #32] Visiting “Fair Enough,” the satirical exhibition in the Russian Pavilion, I was reminded of…
2015 Atmosphere Symposium: Emergence
The annual Atmosphere symposium, presented by the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Manitoba, will be held February 5–7,…
Radical Architecture at its Most Subversive
This house near Barcelona ranks among the most radical and subversive works of architecture of 2014, and yet it’s not by…
Seeing Things
Mountain architecture is very different from its flatland counterpart. This may be stating the obvious, but I’m referring here to…
Seriously now, folks.
The other day, a friend of mine posted a rather humorous item titled “Religious Truths” on Facebook along with the…
Tradition
It’s early January, and in Spain the Christmas shopping season is still in full swing. Aarrgghh! It’s all because of…
Pure Shit (II)
This building in the Catalan Pyrenees is a perfect example of the kind of “pure shit” that, according to Frank…
The STEM Turn
STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. It’s an acronym that can be heard a lot coming from the…
Thinking Big: The City of Culture of Galicia as Regional Development Strategy
[Text originally commissioned in 2011 by a Swiss art institution for an exhibition that never materialized and for which I…
Barcelona’s Disappearing Green Façades
Barcelona’s ‘green façades’ are disappearing at an alarming rate. A part of this city’s vernacular tradition, the small balconies typically used by apartment…
Carme Pinós Honours the Pillar
[Originally published in Mark Magazine #52] Our Lady of the Pillar, Zaragoza’s 17th-century baroque basilica, is dedicated to the Virgin…
How to become a “public space” benefactor in 6 easy steps:
Pssst. Nouveau-riche and dying to go down in philanthropic history? Why not build a “public space” vanity project? It’s easy. Here’s how you do…
Pure Shit
I couldn’t agree more, Frank.
Groupies
[Originally published in Mark Magazine #51] We’ve all heard of ‘selfies’. What about ‘groupies’? During the opening of the 14th…
Cities that Come and Go
Within walking distance of Barcelona’s historic centre, there lies a small satellite town that comes and goes with regularity. It tends to…
Cruise Ships
Le Corbusier famously wrote in Vers une architecture that we should look to ocean liners as examples of a new, modern architecture. This…
Criticism 2.0, or Nobody Likes a Critic when Everyone’s a Critic
[This text originated as a talk at the CICA Critical Juncture symposium session “Architectural Criticism Now” in February 2014 at the…
Morning Glory
It must surely be a signal from the cosmos. Yesterday, September 8th, at precisely 7:39 AM, I woke up, opened…
Drawing Conclusions
Rebel Rebel
Al Jazeera is currently airing a series of architectural documentaries in six parts titled “Rebel Architects“, the first of which is…
When in Rome
Barcelona’s public space is yet again being hotly contested. Protests against the many illegal tourist apartments in this city, sparked by last week’s publication…
Reality Check: Spain
[Text originally published in Mark Magazine #50] Revisiting architecture is always a good thing to do, especially when the work…
Criticism as Reality Check
As my article titled “Reality Check: Spain” in the current (at time of post) 50th issue of Mark Magazine hopefully makes clear, architecture…
Architecture’s Prime Taboo, is one of its ‘Fundamentals’, too.
Russia’s pavilion at the 14th Venice Architecture Biennale, titled ‘Fair Enough’, is one of the few exhibitions in the entire Biennale…
Destination: Barcelona’s Renaissance Fira Hotel
[Originally published in Azure, May 2014] The elevator soars up the Hotel Renaissance Fira Barcelona, and my knees buckle beneath…
Some Reflections on Concrete Formwork
Every building material symbolizes something, and the most modern building materials are no exception. Glass, we have been told, is representative…
Groupies: A Mark Magazine project at the Venice Architecture Biennale
We’ve all heard of ‘selfies’, perhaps even taken a few ourselves. So why not ‘groupies’? During the opening of the…
Skin-Deep Beauty
Rambla de Canaletes, Barcelona. 8:30 AM. The morning light is shining through the window openings of a façade that has been…
The Barcelona Brand
Barcelona is the sixth most powerful urban brand in the world, according to a report published today in The Guardian,…
B720 Corners the Flea Market
[Originally published in Mark Magazine #48] With its beginnings dating back to the 14th century, Barcelona’s flea market La Fira de Bellcaire (also known…
What’s in a Name?
How should we name an important temple after it undergoes a complete religious change of use, but only a partial architectural transformation? And…
Generic No More: Toronto Modernism in Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Enemy’
Canadian cities such as Toronto or Vancouver are often used by Hollywood to represent either generic modern cities that could…
From Bauhaus to Vitrahaus and Beyond: a new Meme?
Architecture and Status-Anxiety
Ever wondered why luxury products are advertised so heavily in mass-circulation media, even though the market for such products is…
Tourism versus Terrorism
Is tourism a form of terrorism? Some Barcelonins seem to think so. All over the city — especially near tourists sites…
Perspective is Everything
Same place seen from different viewpoints (Pas de la Casa, Andorra). Neon duty-free stores selling discounted liquor and cigarettes to…
The Ramp of Justice
Ever since Infanta Cristina, King Juan Carlos of Spain’s younger daughter, was called into Palma de Mallorca’s courthouse for questioning…
Calatrava May Bleed You Dry, But Who is Ultimately Responsible?
Several Spanish media (such as El Diario and El País) are reporting that Santiago Calatrava is suing Esquerra Unida País Valencià…
Everything is Art
In September 2012, the fiscally and socially retrograde People’s Party governing Spain raised the value-added tax on most items to 21%,…
Critical Juncture: the Work of Joseph Rykwert, critic
CICA, AA and V&A organise events to mark the occasion of the RIBA Royal Gold Medal awarded to CICA President…
Power, Corruption and Architecture
Transparency International released its annual report some weeks ago, and this year’s corruption perception index, which ranks 177 countries from least to most…
Ice Fishing in Gimli, a book project by Rob Kovitz
One of my favorite publishers, Treyf Books, is celebrating its 25th anniversary. To mark the occasion, Treyf is offering, for the first time, Ice…
2014
Media-TIC, another Sad Spectacle?
In an article I wrote a few years ago on Barcelona’s Media-TIC building, for Mark Magazine #25, I concluded my optimistic…
Spanish Steps
[Originally published in Azure, Nov/Dec 2013] One thing becomes immediately apparent when approaching MediaLab-Prado. There is no confusing old with…
Old Buildings, New Buildings
“I don’t know whether we should be designating heritage buildings.” — Frank O. Gehry Why is preserving old buildings only…
Hotel Agbar?
Barcelona’s La Vanguardia newspaper reported three days ago that the Agbar Tower, an office building designed by Jean Nouvel and completed in…
Sagrada Familia Doubt
A recent video illustrating “the final stages of Gaudí’s masterpiece” represents, we are led to believe, La Sagrada Familia completed. However,…
Sociability Generator
[Originally published in Azure, October 2013] Gràcia, with its narrow streets and the atmosphere of the former village still intact,…
How Much Does Your Conscience Weigh, Mr. Koolhaas?
Mr. Koolhaas, you designed a daring and ambitious building for CCTV, China’s state-controlled television broadcaster. But it is from this…
Adam’s House in Paradise
The courtyard house may be ancient, but it is still contemporary and modern. This became apparent to me on a…
A Barcelona Hotel gets Graphic
[Originally published in Azure, September 2013] For Pau, its new hotel in Barcelona, the Room Mate group sought an interior…
Learned from Las Vegas: DHUB Design Museum, Barcelona, by MBM
[Originally published in Mark Magazine #45] This building is important. It occupies a prominent site at the intersection of three of…
Step Right Up. Architectural Monumentality. Three Boxer Shorts for Only 6€.
Flea markets are normally found under bridges, in empty parking lots, or in old industrial sheds. This flea market (which…
Remembering Marshall Berman
I think it was in 1985. I would have been in my second year of study at University of Waterloo’s…
Product Placement / Emplazamiento publicitario
Product Placement [Originally published in Arquitectura Viva #153 under the title “Marcas y contextos”. Translation: Eduardo Prieto] “Designed by Apple…
Architecture Road-Tripping: Marseille
Earlier this August, I went on a roadtrip through southern France and spent two nights in l’Unité d’Habitation in Marseille,…
La Grande Motte Revisited
I first saw La Grande Motte in the summer of 1978, more than a decade before I would graduate from…
The Forest Metaphor
The Drassanes Reials (royal shipyard) of Barcelona has recently reopened after a lengthy renovation by architects Robert and Esteve Terradas.…
Bullshit Island
“Barcelona Island will be an out of this world experience for all guests of ‘Mobilona Space Hotel’ who wish they…
Making Bullshit Mountains out of Buildings
“If architecture is landscape, buildings are mountains.” -Vicente Guallart, chief architect of the city of Barcelona and general director of Urban…
Provocative Architecture?
In “Little Frank and his Carp”, a 2001 video of a performance by artist Andrea Fraser, architecture, replete with its…
NO a la LSP
Spanish architecture is respected the world over, if the number of exhibitions, publications, Gaudí fans, and archi-tourists who visit this…
Architects’ Struggle
Today, I ran into a small protest: a squadron (herd? platoon? pack?) of young architects protesting dismal working conditions. Other…
The Vancouver Model versus El Modelo Barcelona: Trevor Boddy talks, Francesc Muñoz responds.
The Canadian port city of Vancouver has entered centre stage of the global debate about future directions for cities in the sustainability…
A Whimsical Water Tower in…Barcelona?
I spotted this fantastic water tower the other day while walking around Poble Nou, Barcelona’s industrial graveyard. Claes Oldenburg and…
Criticalista 