On these covers, the rough strokes of nine female painters illustrate the intellectual and social mutations that have marked recent times. The transformation is the theme of ‘Debates,’ the latest addition to the book series – published by Arquitectura Viva in Spanish only – that seeks to be a testimony of the main themes addressed by Luis Fernández-Galiano over the years, both as critic of the newspaper El País and from his position at the helm of our magazines. From the sociopolitical situation of the world at large to the artistic or environmental issues that have a bearing on architecture, not to mention the state of the profession and the preoccupations that affect it, nine sets of essays comb the past four decades through an alternation of chronicles and reviews, stirring up reflection on the point in time at which we find ourselves right now.
The first two volumes, La edad del descontento and Las ruinas y los muros, tackle the convulsions of a planet harassed by political conflicts, economic difficulties, and inequality, examining contemporary anxieties in the face of identity, risk, or the future.
Territorios mutantes and Modelos de habitar focus on the close kinship between city and house, delving into changes in the urban fabric and the revolution of private space.
For their part, Futuros del pasado and Bellezas imperfectas, explores architecture’s fertile links with history, memory, and art, bringing to light the role of architects in the transformation of museums, the preservation of heritage, and the creation of aesthetics.
The last three tomes, Estética y materia, Desacuerdos modernos, and Naturaleza viva, take stock of the stylistic changes that have taken place over a period marked by postmodernity and the ever more pressing ecological problem.
