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 … More

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 … More

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 neighborhood participation by a young collective known as Assemble speaks … More

Plus ça change…

This is a screengrab of what appeared on my laptop recently while I was trying to read a New York Times article … More

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 … More

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 … More

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 … More

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”, … More

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 … More

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 … More

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 … More

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 … More

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 … More

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 … More

Beauty

‘Beauty’ is one of the rarest words used by professionals when talking about architecture, yet it is one of the most used by … More

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 … More

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. … More