1924-2020

At the patriarchal age of 96, a leader of the postwar generation of Catalan architects died in the Barcelona where he was born into a bourgeois family that originally came from Comillas and Jerez. Federico Correa was educated under professors like Jujol and Rafols, and from early on stood out on account of natural drawing skills, a talent he demonstrated throughout his long career with Alfons Milà as inseparable partner. Always aboard the currents that blew into Catalonia from the Italy of Gardella, Albini, and Rogers, Correa was both sophisticated and pragmatic, and combined a respect for vernacular tradition with a commitment to modernity, and this with a sensitivity for the cosmopolitan, even pop. It is hard to cover the career of this designer who was also a demanding and admired professor, and whom we will remember for works like the early Coderch-inspired houses in Cadaqués, the Montesa plant in Cornellà, the Monitor and Atalaya buildings, the planning of the Plaça Reial and the revamp of the Olympic Stadium, all in Barcelona, and of course the restaurants Il Giardinetto and Flash Flash, pop scenes of the gauche divine.