1954-2021

The image of Spanish architecture during the fertile period that ended with the crisis of 2008 will always be associated with the photographs of Lluís Casals. Born in Barcelona in 1954, Casals was able to put his demanding retina at the service of volume, space, and light, in his view the essential ingredients in the construction of buildings. After studying at the School of Design of his home town, Casals earned the trust of important studios like Correa/Milá and MBM during the optimistic years of transition to democracy, prior to collaborating with Moneo, Ferrater or Navarro Baldeweg, among many others, and becoming a respected international figure. Two are the most innovative aspects of this way practicing the profession: on one hand, the preference for color photography over the deceitful auras of black and white, but in favor of a realism filled with poetry, as illustrated in his famed image of the Roman Museum of Mérida, illuminated by a flash of light; and on the other, the status of the photographer as mediating artist in the context of iconic proliferation linked to the success of architectural magazines. Casals died on 16 February at 67.