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Honored to be included in this beautiful exhibition.

#Burj Khalifa tower #exhibition #photography

Two texts in the Architectural Review's reading list on Barcelona

Two texts I have penned for The Architectural Review are included in their reading list on Barcelona.

#architectural criticism #Barcelona #The Architectural Review

Dear Jaume Collboni, Mayor of Barcelona

Congratulations on all your efforts to have Barcelona declared the UNESCO / UIA World Capital of Architecture in 2026. As I’m sure you are aware, the architecture of Barcelona is more than merely a collection of great buildings. It is also the city’s public spaces, the design of its streets and infrastructure systems, and not least its ordinary building stock, without which the great buildings of…

#Barcelona #Jaume Collboni #letter to the mayor #Raval

A Tour of the Courtyards of Barcelona

Just about every building in Barcelona has a courtyard of some sort. Whether it’s the splendid centerpiece of an important public building or the utilitarian lightwell of an ordinary building, courtyards of all shapes, sizes, materials and uses abound in this city. Some are verdant gardens while others are hard-paved. They might be open to the public or have access that is restricted. Some are…

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#Barcelona #courtyard

Plaça del Canòdrom

Photo: José Hevia Barcelona’s international reputation as a glamorous centre of design and architecture belies the city’s industrial and working‑class hinterland. Differing greatly from the bourgeois Dreta de l’Eixample, suburban Barcelona is an urban patchwork of tiny historical agricultural villages surrounded by a mix of industry and lacklustre residential buildings containing compact,…

#Barcelona #Peris+Toral #public space #The Architectural Review

Out now, just in time for the UIA congress coming up soon in Barcelona. This public space is worth a detour!

#architectural criticism #Barcelona #Peris+Toral #public space #The Architectural Review

On the occasion of the upcoming UIA (Union Internationale des Architectes) World Congress of Architects in Barcelona, I have decided to post some tours of architectural interest. This first one focusses upon Barcelona’s many passatges (arcades or passageways).

#arcades #Barcelona #passageways #urbanism

El Raval Needs Your Help!

As you may know from reading this blog, I have been involved, together with the neighborhood association Xarxa Veïnal del Raval (XVR), in a battle to save Barcelona’s Plaça dels Àngels from MACBA contemporary art museum’s expansion. Last year, XVR suffered a setback in its legal challenge to City Council’s irregular rezoning of part of Plaça dels Àngels. Of the four judges who ruled in the case,…

#activism #Barcelona #macba

It's by Gaudí After All

1905 photo of Xalet de Catllaràs (image courtesy Wikipedia) [Originally published in Bauwelt 8.2026] It’s official: Antoni Gaudí is now certified to be the architect of Xalet de Catllaràs, a remote mountain hut situated high in the forested foothills of the Catalan Pyrenees. Although this has long been rumored to be the case among locals, no documents have ever been uncovered providing proof,…

#authorship #Bauwelt #Càtedra Gaudí #Gaudí #La Pobla de Lillet #Xalet de Catllaràs

Article on Gaudí Mountain Hut Authorship Certification

I have published an article on the certification of Antoni Gaudí’s authorship of the Xalet Catllaràs mountain hut in the German architecture magazine Bauwelt.

#Bauwelt #Gaudí #Mountain hut #Xalet de Catllaràs

Form Follows Material

[Originally published in OnSite Review #48] In the search for sustainable building materials, wood has come again to the fore. It is a natural material that is renewable (as long as the forests from which it is sourced are well-managed), that sequesters carbon dioxide (as long as buildings constructed of it are long-lasting), and has relatively recently become available in the form of much…

#Bibliotèca Gabriel García Márquez #building materials #engineered wood #IMPSOL-AMB #library #Modulus Matrix #Onsite Review #Peris+Toral #social housing #suma arquitectura

Yes, Ban Housing Speculation!

A 40 m2 Barcelona studio apartment advertised for €1550/month, more than two thirds of the average monthly wage in that city. Image courtesy idealista.com The government of Catalonia wants to ban housing speculation. It is currently studying the constitutional legality of banning the ownership of more than one home in areas where the housing crisis is acute. These areas include inner city…

#capitalism #Catalonia #housing #real-estate #speculation

Revisit: La Fábrica

Ricardo Bofill lived and worked in La Fábrica until his death in 2022, constantly transforming it. ‘The factory will always be a work in progress, which is part of its fascination,’ he once wrote. The site continues to undergo transformation today; upon approaching the entrance gate, a pair of old, very thick and tall concrete walls were recently stained in ochre, partially concealing the ageing…

#adaptive re-use #La Fábrica #politics #Ricardo Bofill #Taller de Arquitectura #The Architectural Review

Review of Vall d'Hebron Fire Station Training Tower

My review of the Vall d’Hebron Fire Station Training Tower in Barcelona by architect Carles Enrich is published in Bauwelt 15.2025.

#Barcelona #Bauwelt #Carles Enrich #Fire station

Entrevista en 'Habla con Daria'

He sido entrevistado en el programa Habla con Daria por Daria Gavrilova, una periodista independiente. Hemos hablado sobre arquitectura en Barcelona, Gaudí, la ampliación del Macba, y otros temas.

#Daria Gavrilova #entrevista #Habla con Daria

The Mediterranean Corridor

Spain’s much-lauded high-speed rail network is based on a hub-and-spoke model with Madrid, the Spanish capital, at its very centre. This works very well for travel along high-speed lines to and from Madrid, but not between the country’s second- and third-largest cities of Barcelona and Valencia respectively, which are separated by only 350 km and yet are not connected by high-speed rail. The…

#Barcelona #decentralization #high-speed rail #infrastructure #logistics #Mediterranean Corridor #Spain #transportation #Valencia

Radiotherapy and Hemodialysis Center

[Originally published in The Architectural Review, April 2025] While hospitals naturally require particular sanitary conditions, they must also accommodate people who are among the most vulnerable in society. The newly born, the sick, the injured and the dying are all in need of a comforting environment. This is something that was understood by Lluís Domènech i Montaner, who designed Barcelona’s…

#Baas Arquitectura #brick #Casa SOLO #Catalonia #healthcare #The Architectural Review

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