Spain is shrinking. Talent is emigrating and becoming as elusive as money used to be. An entire generation on whom hopes of doing great things were pinned has had to settle, simply, for doing things. The result is varied, perhaps uneven, but always intense.

It is tempting to try to classify the interests of a heterogeneous group of architects by purely formal criteria. Associating it with a country takes on even more resounding connotations. “Spain, Spain is a nation that has wanted too much,” said Nietzsche. Thousands of Spanish architects are in despair. Spain shrinks because it has become a tall order to keep up the dream of being useful as an architect...