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Criticalista

Rafael Gómez-Moriana's architecture blog

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Tag: small town

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

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

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

countryside, politics, small town, Spain, Teruel existe

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

Small City Architecture: Walden 7 as a Social Network

[Originally published in RocaGallery.com. Versión en castellano sigue a continuación] “The city is like a great house, and the house … More

Anna Bofill, city edge, community, housing, housing system, megastructure, Ricardo Bofill, rocagallery.com, small town, social media, Taller de Arquitectura, urbanism, Walden 7

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

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

affordable architecture, architettura povera, Calders, countryside, house, Mark Magazine, Narch, sliding doors, small town

Scatological Cantilever?

Unlike so many contemporary cantilevers whose only purpose, seemingly, is to out-do other cantilevers in depth, height or width, the tiny … More

cantilever, Catalonia, ruin, scatology, small town, vernacular

Architecture Without ‘Parti’

One of the first lessons every student learns in architecture school is that an architectural design must always be based on a … More

architecture, building typology, Casa Erwin Broner, house, Ibiza, parti, seashore, small town, studio, vernacular

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

Cloud 9, Enric Ruíz Geli, house, resort, seashore, small town, Villa Nurbs

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

architecture, Barcelona, house, Josep Ferrando, Mark Magazine, renovation, small town

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

Bernabad Arquitectura, countryside, crisis, failed development, landscape, mountains, ruin, small town, Spain, tourism, urbanism, urbanization

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

architecture, countryside, infrastructure, landscape, mountains, perspective, politics, small town, tax haven, urbanism

Ill-Fitting: The Balenciaga Museum

  Fashion, Architecture, Politics: Image is Everything The inauguration of a cultural institution is normally a cause for widespread celebration; even … More

ambition, AV62, Balenciaga, Basque Country, competition, Disegno magazine, failure, fashion, media, museology, museum, politics, small town, Spain, topography

Villa Nurbs: a Sad Spectacle

It is June 2012, and  after a decade of construction Villa Nurbs is still incomplete. In fact, construction has now seemingly come … More

Cloud 9, digital fabrication, Enric Ruíz Geli, ethics, resort, seashore, small town, spectacle, Villa Nurbs

Strike a Pose

[Originally published in Mark Magazine #32] What is it that makes these architectural images so seductive? To be sure, there … More

Aires Mateus, Assisted living facility, Barcelona Pavilion, countryside, Lisbon, Mark Magazine, photography, Portugal, small town

Triumph of the Shell

  [originally published in Mark Magazine #26]   In cinema, there is a common type of architectural scene: a building … More

building envelope, film, Lleida, Mark Magazine, Mecanoo, politics, small town

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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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