This is Christians Brygge, a central Copenhagen traffic thoroughfare. It varies between one and two lanes for motor vehicles in … More
Category: Rants
Failing the Test of Time
The famed Sant Antoni Library by RCR Arquitectes, Catalonia’s only Pritzker Prize-winner, has been undergoing a complete renovation since September … More
A Highly Contested Urban Space in Barcelona
It’s finally happening. A commercial thoroughfare in my neighborhood that is much too narrow, traffic-laden, and overcrowded with shoppers is … More
Life in a Gated Community
When my parents retired around 20 years ago, they decided to move to Seville, my father’s hometown. Since they were … More
Gaudí, Ecologist
Antoni Gaudí is often cited as an architect who was “in tune with nature.” His complex, curvilinear forms, it is … More
Grassroots Gentrification?
A few years ago, dozens of residents of a street in Barcelona’s El Raval neighborhood started hanging potted plants from … More
Less Glass
In 1832, as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe lay on his deathbed, he famously uttered the words “Mehr Licht” (more light). … More
The Metaphysics of Zoning
Welcome to one of Barcelona’s “newest” green zones. Barely a year old, it’s located one block off Las Ramblas, the … More
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) … More
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 … More
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 … More
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 … More
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, … More
Eco-Monsters
A recent news item I came across stated: “If SUV drivers were a nation, they would rank seventh in the world … More
Arquitecto de mierda / Shit-Architect
[Texto originalmente publicado en / Text originally published in BCN MÉS #73. English translation follows below] Arquitecto de mierda En … More
Electoral Architecture
Elections for the mayorship of Barcelona are coming up later this year, and we’re already being delivered promises in the … More
Fake Architecture News II
A few posts back, I discussed “fake architecture news” (FAN) in blogs and social media, describing an offer I had … More
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 … More
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 … More
Fake Architecture News?
A few weeks ago, I received a curious e-mail from someone representing “a digital marketing agency currently working with a … More