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

A Heroic Architect-Politician Exists

A previously little known architect is the topic of conversation in Spain right now. The discussion has nothing to do … More

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

Gaudí’s Essential Hut

El Xalet de Catllaràs is a mountain refuge by Antoni Gaudí completed in 1905 for workers of the Asland cement … More

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

Dialectical Destinations: Two Solo Houses

[A version of this text was originally published in Baumeister December 2017] Contemporary architecture has become such an intrinsic component … More

Disappearing Act

[Originally published in Baumeister 9/2017] As the place where Ancient Greeks first set foot on the Iberian peninsula, the archaeological … More

Loop the Loop

[Originally published in Mark Magazine #69] Solo Houses is the name of a project that’s intended to include more than … More

Earthy, Corpulent and Well-Structured

[Originally published in Baumeister, June 2017] The Costa Brava’s Empordà region has a long history of exporting wine. Empúries, an … More

Out-of-Doors House

[Originally published in Mark Magazine #67] This remarkable house cost under €900 per m2 to build. Admittedly, mentioning the cost … More

Vacation Ruin

Ruins are as depressing as they are beautiful. Building abandonment is never a happy occurrence, but when it precedes building inhabitation, it’s … More

Contemporary Ruins II

Further to my last post, here is another Spanish contemporary ruin by a Pritzker laureate: Toyo Ito’s spa near Torrevieja. … More

Contemporary Ruins

As is well-known, Spain’s recent building boom-turned-bust has left behind a legacy of halted construction projects that are now in … More

Everyday Camouflage in the Countryside

The building above looks like a military installation of some sort, right? After all, it’s got a camouflage pattern on … More

Monolith of Memory

[Text originally published in Mark Magazine #61] The Camp de Rivesaltes, a sprawling military base built in 1938 near Perpignan, … 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

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

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

Seeing Things

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

Perspective is Everything

Same place seen from different viewpoints (Pas de la Casa, Andorra). Neon duty-free stores selling discounted liquor and cigarettes to … More

Going Slowly: Cadaval and Solà-Morales

[Originally published in Mark Magazine #39] “Young architects” is a culturally loaded term, often conjuring notions of rebellion, utopian idealism, … More