Second part on 'Thinking Scale', an horoscope dedicated to large and medium scale buildings, following the previous blog article that rescued great works by French Charlotte Perriand or Chinese Xiu Zelan, among others. Scale is one of the main problems of architectural design and also one of its great tools. Let’s approach here the internal messages and design issues of six … [Read more...]
Thinking Scale I: from Aries to Virgo, a horoscope for M and L buildings
We bring back the relation between the Zodiac and architecture, which we already read a year and a half ago to a set of classic houses of architecture history. This time we will do the same with medium and large scale buildings. Maybe you believe that planets and their movements inspire our personalities and destinies, or maybe you don't. But in any case, this report will bring … [Read more...]
Looking back at our 2020/21 works
As the academic year draws to a close, we take the opportunity to look back. In these exceptional months at a global level, we have won competitions in different parts of the world, as well as completed works in Kuwait and Spain. We also continue with the construction process of other projects, highlighting our participation in the Dubai World Expo 2020, where we are completing … [Read more...]
A summer house, as seen through the eyes of Modern Art
Architectural atlas What does the perfect summer house look like? How does Modern Art reflect architecture? Crossing these two questions, in this new article we write a little story about a vacation day reconstructed through the summer experiences of different artists of the twentieth century. In the US west coast, in California and near the Mediterranean, artists were … [Read more...]
Landscape and heritage, two intertwined ideas
Heritage means "that which may be inherited" coming from Old French iritage, eritage, heritage "heir; inheritance, ancestral estate, heirloom," from heriter "inherit," from Late Latin hereditare. Its meaning "condition or state transmitted from ancestors" is from 1620s. With the French Revolution, it acquired a new meaning. The related word patrimonie began to refer to goods … [Read more...]
The infrastructural space as a total work of art
There are architectural spaces in which the function accommodated in its interior outlines its layout and significance to a great extent. These are infrastructural places in the city, which historically have been constituent elements of urban settlements. Spaces that are nodes in a matrix of circulations. Railway stations, airports or ports, entry and exit points of the … [Read more...]
The origin of the urban park. The commodification of nature
Saturday in the park, I think it was the Fourth of July People dancing, people laughing A man selling ice cream Singing Italian songs Everybody is another Can you dig it (yes, I can) And I've been waiting such a long time For Saturday Chicago sings Saturday in the park, a song that recalls a day in a city park in the United States. There are people … [Read more...]
Passivhaus standard in the Mediterranean climate
By Marta Lozano, architect at AGi architects, Polytechnic University of Madrid. Existing since Antiquity, passive architecture is that which adapts to the climatic conditions of its environment. Throughout the 20th century the focus placed on the energetic component in the architectural project was diluted due to the disassociation from local conditions proclaimed by the … [Read more...]
The courtyard house, domestic paradise
Atlas of Architecture The courtyard house is a type of dwelling in which the rooms are organized around a central private courtyard. The courtyard is an architectural form with its own rules that has generated multiple variations over time. The 20th century, with its high buildings and urban expansion, has perhaps distanced us from this unique space. Despite this, … [Read more...]
The poetics of water
The meanings of water in the Nasrid architecture of the Generalife and the romantic painting The Journey of Life Water has been widely depicted in the history of art. It has also been the protagonist of many architectural designs, since it is an essential element for living. We have already discussed water in architecture from an infrastructural point of view in this article … [Read more...]