Guillermo Vázquez Consuegra, Viviendas sociales, Vallecas (Madrid)

To build is to choose. Architectural design is a crucible of objectives, data, and criteria, all merging in a single proposal. The step toward materialization, always implicit, is just one more turn of the screw in the routine of rejection and selection, and is where aluminum presents its attributes.

Part of the visible side of the environment we live in, architecture shapes our urban world. It is exposed to climate pressures against which many materials fail. But aluminum presents itself in alliance with oxygen, the element which through corrosion weakens aluminum’s alternatives, especially steel. Anodized with a self-repairing layer of aluminum oxide, it has a durable outer face, unalterable (except in contact with other metals, cements, limestone, and damp plaster) and (almost) maintenance-free...