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Category: Reviews

Sharing School

[Originally published in Bauwelt 5.2023. Photos by Aitor Estévez] Barcelona has some of the densest neighborhoods in Europe, so it … More

Barcelona, community, Poblenou, school, SUMO Arquitectes

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 … More

Aragon, Auditorium, brick, Magén Arquitectos, small town

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 … More

COVID-19, garden, Granada, Improvisation, nightclub, Tomás García Píriz

Community Integration

[Originally published in Bauwelt 14.2022] With a current average life expectancy of almost 84 years, Spain’s is one of the … More

adaptive re-use, Chamberí, day center for elderly persons, Madrid, Mariluz Sánchez Moral & Padilla Nicás Arquitectos

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 … More

CaixaForum, Enric Ruíz Geli, exhibition, greenwashing, Santiago Calatrava, theming, Valencia

Public Property

[Originally published in The Architectural Review in April 2022] Before the arrival of steel and concrete, the most widely used … More

housing, IBAVI, Mallorca, stone, structure, vault

Open House

[Originally published in Bauwelt March 2022] Since the emergence of the pandemic, outdoor private space has come to be newly … More

architecture, Arquitectura-G, Barcelona, courtyard, flexibility, house, inside-outside

Archaeological Building

[Originally published in Baumeister December 2021] Older buildings are no longer what they used to be. Until recently, the argument … More

adaptive re-use, archaeology, homelessness, Josep Ferrando, prison, Reus, shelter, Tarragona

Hide and Seek

[Originally published in The Architectural Review May 2021] One of the first alterations that pupils of the Imagine Montessori Primary … More

education, Gradolí & Sanz Arquitectes, Montessori School, Open-ended architecture, The Architectural Review, Valencia

Grit and Glam

[Originally published in DETAIL magazine 5.2021] There is no mistaking old from new in this adaptive reuse project by Baas … More

adaptive re-use, Baas Arquitectura, Barcelona, DETAIL magazine, Oliva Artés Museum of the History of Barcelona, sculpture

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 … More

activism, adaptive re-use, Bauwelt, Boris Strzelczyk, David Estal, El Cabanyal, l'Escorxador del Cabanyal, protest, punk, Salvem El Cabanyal, Tato Herrero, Valencia

Circular Container Housing

Does the sight of absurd architectural projects containing shipping containers make you cringe? Do you break into a cold sweat … More

APROP, Barcelona, circular economy, housing system, prefabrication, shipping containers, Straddle 3, sustainable design

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 … More

Barcelona, building typology, Eixample, enfilade, housing system, Maio Architects, room

Traces of the Past

[Originally published in Baumeister January 2020] Vilanova de la Barca is a small town located on the eastern bank of … More

adaptive re-use, AleaOlea, Baumeister, brick, church, countryside, heritage, ruin, small town, stone, Vilanova de la Barca

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 … More

adaptive re-use, Barcelona, Flores & Prats, materiality, renewed old, Sala Beckett, sustainability, The Architectural Review, theatre

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 … More

building materials, civil servant architecture, countryside, experimental prototype, housing, IBAVI, low carbon footprint, resource map, small town, sustainable design, The Architectural Review

Into the Woods

[Originally published in RocaGallery.com. Versión en castellano sigue a continuación] Forget steel or concrete; or even carbon fibre. The most … More

CLT, engineered wood, Lacol, low carbon footprint, rocagallery.com, sustainable design, wood

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 … More

Barcelona, BCN MÉS, market, Sant Antoni Market renovation

Overarching Craft

[Originally published in The Architectural Review July/August 2018] Matola, a hamlet in the semi-desert of the southeastern Spanish province of … More

brick, countryside, garden, house, landscape, Mesura, pavilion, small town, The Architectural Review, vault

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 … More

Barcelona, BatlleRoig, bicycling, bike lane, green corridor, infrastructure, landscape urbanism

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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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