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Criticalista

Rafael Gómez-Moriana's architecture blog

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Tag: Spain

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

A Guide to the Many Flags Visible in Barcelona These Days

[Originally published in Art4d Magazine] Barcelona is currently festooned with flags hanging from apartment balconies. It’s been this way especially … More

Catalonia, design, flags, history, politics, Spain

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

Baumeister, countryside, court yard house, forest, Office KGDVS, overtourism, Pezo Von Ellrichshausen, romantic gaze, Solo Houses, Spain, touristic architecture, wilderness

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

architecture, countryside, ruin, seashore, spa, Spain, Torrevieja, Toyo Ito, wood

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

Alvaro Siza, architecture, Balneario de Panticosa, countryside, crisis, mountains, ruin, Spain, wilderness

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

camouflage, countryside, industry, landscape, nature, Spain

Avoid the Void

[Originally published in Mark Magazine #60] In recent decades, architecture commemorating violent death has typically relied on a dark, austere and … More

Federico García Lorca, Granada, light, Mark Magazine, museum, MX_SI, Spain

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

Tradition

It’s early January, and in Spain the Christmas shopping season is still in full swing. Aarrgghh! It’s all because of … More

festivities, noise, Spain, tradition

Thinking Big: The City of Culture of Galicia as Regional Development Strategy

[Text originally commissioned in 2011 by a Swiss art institution for an exhibition that never materialized and for which I … More

cultural centre, cultural identity, Galicia, Peter Eisenman, space race, Spain

Rebel Rebel

Al Jazeera is currently airing a series of architectural documentaries in six parts titled “Rebel Architects“, the first of which is … More

activism, alternative architecture, criticism, DIY, politics, Recetas Urbanas, Santiago Cirugeda, Spain

Reality Check: Spain

[Text originally published in Mark Magazine #50] Revisiting architecture is always a good thing to do, especially when the work … More

architecture, Cloud 9, criticism, history, Jürgen Mayer H., Jean Nouvel, Mark Magazine, media, Peter Eisenman, politics, post-occupancy, Spain, theory

Criticism as Reality Check

As my article titled “Reality Check: Spain” in the current (at time of post) 50th issue of Mark Magazine hopefully makes clear, architecture … More

criticism, Ferrater, politics, Spain, train station, Zaragoza

Power, Corruption and Architecture

Transparency International released its annual report some weeks ago, and this year’s corruption perception index, which ranks 177 countries from least to most … More

architecture, branding, building industry, construction, corruption, crap, politics, Spain, spectacle, theory, tourism, urbanism, urbanization

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

Barcelona, Cadaval and Solà-Morales, countryside, landscape, Mark Magazine, Mexico, parametric design, Spain

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

Park, Shop, and Pray

Churches are architecture whereas supermarkets and parking garages are not. At least, that’s what we’ve been taught by Nikolaus Pevsner. What, then, … More

church, mixed-use, Rafael Moneo, retail, sacred-profane, San Sebastian, Spain

Water Tower and Bridge Pavilion

[originally published in Mark Magazine #16] Water TowerOne of the ironies of world expositions is that while they apparently act … More

bridge, Enrique de Teresa, Expo Zaragoza, infrastructure, Mark Magazine, Spain, tower, Zaha

Punch and Play

Any voyage from an airport to a city centre proves that urban peripheries the world over relate more to each … More

CHS Arquitectos, healthcare, Mark Magazine, Seville, Spain, suburbia

Exquisite Corpse

A large sculpture next to a mega monochrome painting – at first glance and from a distance, that’s what the … More

adaptive re-use, art, heritage, Herzog de Meuron, Madrid, Mark Magazine, museum, Spain

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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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