Monomateriality
Material purity is highly valued in contemporary architecture. The ideal that buildings should be materially consistent inside and out seems to be gaining a foothold in the architectural canon, if highly mediatized prizes like the Pritzker are any indication. RCR Aranda Pigem Vilalta, the
Monomateriality
Material purity is highly valued in contemporary architecture. The ideal that buildings should be materially consistent inside and out seems to be gaining a foothold in the architectural canon, if highly mediatized prizes like the Pritzker are any indication. RCR Aranda Pigem Vilalta, the
Why Be Normal
Recently, I visited two buildings that provoked me to seriously question everything I learned in school. One is a student residence on the campus of the ETSAV-UPC architecture school, completed in 2011, while the other is the Institute for Environmental Science
Why Be Normal
Recently, I visited two buildings that provoked me to seriously question everything I learned in school. One is a student residence on the campus of the ETSAV-UPC architecture school, completed in 2011, while the other is the Institute for Environmental Science
Experitecture
Empirical experimentation has always been intrinsic to architecture. Attempting to build something that has never been built before in terms of form, height, structural spans, new kinds of building methods and materials, or new ways of living is a basic human trait that has always involved learning through
Experitecture
Empirical experimentation has always been intrinsic to architecture. Attempting to build something that has never been built before in terms of form, height, structural spans, new kinds of building methods and materials, or new ways of living is a basic human trait that has always involved learning through
Vernacular Precedent?
When I first saw an image of De Rotterdam, by OMA, I knew I had seen something vaguely similar before somewhere; an older, more “anonymous” and “vernacular” precedent in a distant metropolis. I just couldn’t remember where, exactly. Then, lo and behold,
Vernacular Precedent?
When I first saw an image of De Rotterdam, by OMA, I knew I had seen something vaguely similar before somewhere; an older, more “anonymous” and “vernacular” precedent in a distant metropolis. I just couldn’t remember where, exactly. Then, lo and behold,
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 four years, Rem is a film about an architect more than it is a film about architecture. The feature-length documentary
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 four years, Rem is a film about an architect more than it is a film about architecture. The feature-length documentary
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 arcane science fiction films, there is always a built structure of some kind sheltering intelligent beings of some sort or
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 arcane science fiction films, there is always a built structure of some kind sheltering intelligent beings of some sort or
Scatological Cantilever?
Unlike so many contemporary cantilevers whose only purpose, seemingly, is to out-do other cantilevers in depth, height or width, the tiny cantilever poking out of the wall of this defunct factory in Vic, Catalonia, must surely have served a very precise function. But what? There
Scatological Cantilever?
Unlike so many contemporary cantilevers whose only purpose, seemingly, is to out-do other cantilevers in depth, height or width, the tiny cantilever poking out of the wall of this defunct factory in Vic, Catalonia, must surely have served a very precise function. But what? There
