Some instruments from the Helena Folch-Rusiñol collection

Much has been written about architecture competitions, and while there is a certain consensus on their many disadvantages, it is still difficult to resist the opportunities for research they offer. As an architect, I include myself among the professionals who ever so often face the challenge of entering a competition; and inevitably in each one of these occasions the first concern that arises is whether we should adjust strictly to the program suggested or if, on the contrary, we should let ourselves be guided by a certain intuition, which usually responds to our desires and interests rather than to the requirements reflected in the brief. Thus, each competition becomes a sort of strategy game, with rules that fluctuate between the needs demanded and the opportunities detected...[+]