1925-2017

Josep Maria Martorell Codina – the first M of MBM Arquitectes, a key office in modern Spanish architecture –, died in Barcelona, his home city, on 28 November. The son of a prestigious educator who raised him in the Scout Movement, Martorell attended the Institut Escola, where he met Oriol Bohigas, his studio partner during his entire career. A graduate of the ETSAB (Barcelona School of Architecture), he was active in the Catholic anti-Franco movement and founded the mythical Grup R before establishing his own studio with Bohigas in 1951 (David Mackay would join them in 1961, already as MBM). He developed a long career as architect and designer, completing key buildings of modernity from 1950 to 1970 in Catalonia and Spain, and combined his work as an architect with writing and occasional positions in the Administration and the COAC (Catalonia Institute of Architects). Committed to political progressivism, and a music lover, Martorell had a prominent role in the Olympic Villa of Barcelona, where he served as director of architecture and urbanism, and was able to show his sensibility for the city as well as his skills as conspicuous designer and builder.