architecture

Figueras moved to New York for school and soon found himself working at the internationally acclaimed firm nARCHITECTS

The Dutch architecture studios NL architects and XVW architectuur, received the EU Mies Award 2017 (Contemporary Architecture prize of the European Union – Mies van der Rohe) on Friday in Barcelona for the rehabilitation of a big apartment building in Amsterdam. According to the jury, this year’s edition communicates two important messages: First, modern architecture has to fulfill citizens’ needs, and second, citizens participation in urban projects is essential for solving urban challenges. In an interview with the CNA, representatives from both of the prizewinning studios, Kamiel Klaassen (NL) and Xander Vermeulen Windsant (XVW), commented about the “incredible richness and variety” of Barcelona’s architecture and praised the potential of the city’s structure for future urban development.

The winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, considered the Nobel Prize of Architecture, will represent Catalonia at the Venice Biennale 2018. The Catalan Minister of Culture, Santi Vila, and the manager of the Institut Ramon Llull (IRL), Manuel Forcano, explained that this is the proposal they will submit to the Biennale. “It is important that, when Catalonia's talent and excellence are recognized, that the institutions should be able to find the displays in which they can express their style, what they do and what they think,” said the minister. Vila also explained that this decision was taken through a consensus with the sector, so no tender needs to be announced. The studio RCR Arquitectes, which won the Pritzker Architecture Prize on March 1, has 30 years of experience in Olot, Catalonia. The announcement made by Vila and Forcano comes just ten days before the architecture studio receives the award in a ceremony in Tokyo.

The Torre de Glòries, an emblematic modern tower widely known as the “Torre Agbar”, with its 33.000 square meters and distinguished design by Jean Novel, is Barcelona's candidate for the new location for the European Medicines Agency (EMA) headquarters. The decision was made last Friday by the representatives of the City of Barcelona, the Government of Catalonia, and the Spanish government. The Mayoress of Barcelona, Ada Colau, the Spanish Minister of Healthcare, Dolors Montserrat, and the Catalan Minister of Health, Antoni Comín had already agreed to join forces for the promotion of the Catalan capital’s candidacy in an earlier meeting two weeks ago.

'RCR' Arquitectes, a studio based in the small village of Olot, 100 kilometres north of Barcelona, has been awarded the 2017 Pritzker Architecture Prize. The three locally-based architects, Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem and Ramon Vilalta are the first to share the prize, which is known internationally as architecture’s highest honour. “This is a dream we would have never dared to dream of”, stated Pigem. During its 30-year history, 'RCR Arquitectes' has carried out more than 60 singular projects, mainly in Catalonia but also in France and Belgium. Tom Pritzker, Chairman of the Hyatt Foundation, considered the winners’ work to have “had an impact on the discipline far beyond their immediate area” with projects ranging from public and private spaces to cultural venues and educational institutions. “They’ve demonstrated that unity of material can lend such incredible strength and simplicity to a building,” said Glenn Murcutt, Jury Chair.

Over 50 speakers from all around the globe are to attend this week the Second World Gaudí Congress. From the 4th to the 7th of October the Historic Building of the University of Barcelona is hosting this biennial event organised by the Gaudí Research Institute (TGRI) and the University of Barcelona, ??where Antoni Gaudí received the title of architect in 1878. One of the main attractions of the congress is the thesis that the Blessed Sacrament Chapel of the Church of Sant Joan de Gràcia, in Barcelona, is a work by Gaudí, an idea defended by the biographer of the Catalan architect, Josep Maria Tarragona. This second edition has as a novelty the incorporation of the three-day session in Shanghai, which took place between the 21st and the 23rd of June, in collaboration with several Chinese universities of Tsinghua and with the support of the City of Shanghai. 

The so-called ‘Casa de les Punxes’ (‘House of Spikes’) has opened its doors to the public after being closed for a century. Standing in the middle of Barcelona’s Avinguda Diagonal, this modernist building in the shape of a Gothic castle was completed in 1905 and designed by architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch, who was together with Antoni Gaudi one of the most outstanding figures of the modernist art movement. Officially called ‘Casa Terradas’ the building catches the eye of the visitor to the Catalan capital because of its triangular structure, embracing three different streets in Barcelona’s city centre, and also for its conical roofs ending in spikes, which explains its nickname ‘House of Spikes’. Visits to the castle will be organised around three main areas: the building itself, the figure of its architect and the legend of Sant Jordi, Catalonia’s patron Saint. 

The Catalan pavilion at the Venice Architecture ‘Biennale’ brings architecture to life with the project ‘Aftermath_Catalonia in Venice. Architecture beyond architects’. This project, set to represent Catalonia, is curated by film director Isaki Lacuesta and architects Jaume Prat and Jelena Prokopljevic. The three propose to open a dialogue between architecture and cinema; according to Prokopljevic, the aim is to “teach architecture from the point of view of the user, with buildings that are in use, and to flee from the moment when architects show the buildings when they are just finished and about to be opened, when they are all clean and have no life”.

Visitors can finally see the sacristy on the west side of Gaudí’s cathedral, the Sagrada Familia. The construction of Barcelona’s most iconic building began in 1882 and aims to be finished in 2026. Recently architects removed the framework and scaffolding from the sacristy where visitors can see symbols on the obelisks on the corner of two famous streets in Barcelona, Provença and Sardenya. The sacristy contains several items for the celebration of liturgical acts, some of which are original designs and others are reproductions of the famous Catalan architect. In two years’ time, the six central towers will already be visible and by 2023 they will be complete, making it the tallest religious building in Europe.

The final phase of construction of the Sagrada Família basilica in Barcelona has begun. In two years’ time, the six central towers will already be visible and by 2023 they will be complete, making it the tallest religious building in Europe. Barcelona’s most iconic building is expected to be completed by 2026, to coincide with the 100^th anniversary of architect Antoni Gaudí’s death. The construction work is currently focused on the transept, a room that wasn’t planned by Gaudí, and that is set to bear the weight of Jesus tower, the biggest one, which will be 172.5 m high. The transept room will also be used as a landing space for visitors before they start the ascent to the tower. Audiovisual projections showing the progress of the work on the building will also be exhibited in the transept room, which has already been set up with stone stands for visitors. The work on Sagrada Familia represents 25 million euros in annual investment and the basilica is visited by more than 3 million people every year.

An increasing number of people are fed up with living in concrete jungles. Many think of the countryside as a solution to problems such as stress, a low-paying job and pollution. Due to the start of the economic crisis, this phenomenon boomed, with people beginning to look for an 'alternative way of life' or, at least, new opportunities. Catalonia and the whole of Spain are no exception to this. Here, moving (back) to the countryside nowadays looks like an attractive option to many, especially to young unemployed graduates. However, sustainable agriculture initiatives and the like are the 'junior division' compared to more complex social, cultural and ecological experiments: the eco-villages. Coming in different shapes and sizes, their members share resources and spaces, grow their own food and cover in a sustainable way the energy demand of the buildings they live in. With different missions and features, many eco-villages can be traced back to one or two decades ago and could teach a lot to newcomers.

American television network HBO has confirmed that season six of the popular television series 'Game of Thrones' will be partly shot in the historic city of Girona, located in north-eastern Catalonia. With its enchanting medieval city walls, its old Jewish Quarter, a vast network of churches and monasteries, and four rivers crossing the city, Girona will host the worldwide hit show for at least three weeks in September. Filming will involve the city's Old Quarter (Barri Vell, in Catalan), where Girona's highlights are concentrated and two thousand years of history are on display. Although rumours have been around for some time, the official confirmation arrived only on Wednesday from Spanish television channel Canal +. Indeed, the agreement between HBO and Girona's City Council was signed four months ago but negotiations have been carried out with discretion. A portion of season six will also be shot in Peníscola, a Mediterranean seaside town in the Valencian Country.

Enric Miralles was an internationally renowned Catalan architect who died prematurely at the age of 45. His studio EMBT Architects, founded in 1993 with his wife Benedetta Tagliabue, created many globally recognised projects, such as the Scottish Parliament Building in Edinburgh and Igualada’s Cemetery. On Monday, the Fundació Enric Miralles launched the exhibition 'Urban regeneration 1992-2022. Enric Miralles-EMBT projects for urban spaces', curated by Karl Unglaub. The show – held in the foundation's palace in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter – provides a glimpse into the Catalan architect's universe, with a focus on his original models, sketches, notes and photographs, most of which are on display to the public for the first time. The foundation also announced that it has scheduled a second exhibition on Miralles' furniture design at the 15^th century Casavells Palace, in the Province of Girona, and is planning a third one at MACBA (Barcelona Contemporary Art Museum) for 2016.

The 19^th edition of Barcelona’s International Building & Construction Show opened its doors on Tuesday, rebranded as 'Beyond Building Barcelona-Construmat'. The event – which is held every two years – will be on until Saturday 23 May, hosting around 300 exhibitors from 15 different countries. For the first time after 7 years of continuous decline for the construction sector, Construmat – the most important trade fair for this industry in Spain – kicks off at a time of gradual recovery for this sector, according to the figures of the last few months. For Josep Miarnau, Chairman of the show, this year represents a turning point and the end of a cycle. Held in the Gran Via venue of Fira de Barcelona, the show is organised around 4 main thematic pillars: Innovation, Design, Renovation and Sustainability. Moreover, internationalisation will play an important role as well, with 145 projects from all over the world at the tendering stage.

The Mies van der Rohe Award is the Catalan capital-based European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture, which is among the world's most prestigious awards in this field. It is named after the architect who designed the German Pavilion for the 1929 Barcelona International Exhibition. At each of its biennial editions, two works are awarded: one with the EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture and the other with the Emerging Architect Special Mention. For this year, the Philharmonic Hall of Szczecin (Poland) designed by Barcelona-based architects Alberto Veiga (Spain, 1973) and Fabrizio Barozzi (Italy, 1976) has been announced as the prize winner. The work was realised in collaboration with Studio A4. The Catalan ARQUITECTURA-G has obtained the Emerging Architect Award with the work 'Luz House'. The winners were chosen from a list of 420 works from 36 European countries.