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Criticalista

Rants and reflections on architecture, cities, and politics

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Author: Rafael Gomez-Moriana

Architect, educator and writer. Partner at ArqEstructura. Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Calgary. Blogger at criticalista.com.

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 … More

Angelo Roventa, authenticity, furniture, housing, idea theft, multiple discovery, PKMN, tweaking

Observations on Attitude

[Originally published in Log Journal #32] Visiting “Fair Enough,” the satirical exhibition in the Russian Pavilion, I was reminded of … More

architecture, art, General Idea, Log Journal, Russian Pavilion, USA Pavilion, Venice Biennale

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, … More

emergence

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 … More

activism, adaptive re-use, agriculture, countryside, embodied energy, Marcel Fontanillas, oligarchy, politics, radicalism, sustainable design

Seeing Things

Mountain architecture is very different from its flatland counterpart. This may be stating the obvious, but I’m referring here to … More

architecture, art, countryside, hut, landscape, mountains, refuge, shelter, wilderness

Seriously now, folks.

The other day, a friend of mine posted a rather humorous item titled “Religious Truths” on Facebook along with the … More

activism

Tradition

It’s early January, and in Spain the Christmas shopping season is still in full swing. Aarrgghh! It’s all because of … More

festivities, noise, Spain, tradition

Pure Shit (II)

This building in the Catalan Pyrenees is a perfect example of the kind of “pure shit” that, according to Frank … More

architecture, art, crap, ecological design, education, landscape, theory

The STEM Turn

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. It’s an acronym that can be heard a lot coming from the … More

architecture, engineering, formalism, mathematics, research, science, STEM, technology

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 … More

cultural centre, cultural identity, Galicia, Peter Eisenman, space race, Spain

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 … More

architecture, balcony, Barcelona, crisis, green wall, homelessness, landscape, tourism, vernacular

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 … More

CaixaForum, cantilever, Carme Pinós, column, cultural centre, Mark Magazine, pillar, Zaragoza

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 … More

media, philanthropy, public space, urbanism

Pure Shit

I couldn’t agree more, Frank.

building industry, building typology, crap, Frank Gehry

Groupies

[Originally published in Mark Magazine #51] We’ve all heard of ‘selfies’. What about ‘groupies’? During the opening of the 14th … More

advertising, architects, architecture, gossip, leisure, Mark Magazine, media, people, photography, Venice Biennale

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 … More

cruise ship, fashion, tourism

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 … More

cruise ship, Le Corbusier, modernity, perimeter block

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 … More

architecture, blogosphere, CICA, Critical Junction, criticism, interactivity, internet, Joseph Rykwert, media, theory, web 2.0

Morning Glory

It must surely be a signal from the cosmos. Yesterday, September 8th, at precisely 7:39 AM,  I woke up, opened … More

axis, Barcelona, cosmos, sun

Drawing Conclusions

Catalonia, drawing, la senyera, politics, representation

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Criticalista collects Rafael Gomez-Moriana's writings on architecture and the built environment. All photographs by the author unless indicated otherwise.

©2014 Rafael Gomez-Moriana. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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