After the traumatic experience of the previous year, 2021 was the year of overcoming the pandemic and of preparing for a long-awaited return to normalcy. The AV Monographs Yearbook goes over the most important events of the period, gathering twenty-f

Luis Fernández-Galiano   The eruption of a volcano in the Canary Islands was the most dramatic image of a year of geopolitical mutations and pandemic recovery through vaccines.

Luis Fernández-Galiano   The year 2021 begins with three black swans, sounding like drum beats after the Christmas truce: the assault on the United States Capitol by a mob devoted to still-President Trump, the historic snowstorm that has paralyzed Spain, and the sudden spike

Luis Fernández-Galiano   Beeple’s collage Everydays: The First 5000 Days is a purely digital artwork (an NFT, non-fungible token) which sold for a record-breaking figure, paid in cryptocurrency at a Christie’s auction. The NFT bubble is already comparable

Luis Fernández-Galiano   The chaotic exit from Afghanistan is a cultural drama, as well as a geopolitical failure that questions the leadership of the United States.

Luis Fernández-Galiano   The volcano of La Palma prompts to comment on the dramatic increase of devastating fires, which suggests the name Pyrocene for our time.

Paredes Pedrosa Arquitectos   Spain   The library is conceived as a gate of access to the Jardines de la Agricultura (Agriculture Gardens), which it joins and becomes part of. In order to adapt to the historic layout of the 18th century gardens and to respect the existing trees, the buil

Plasencia Arquitectura   Spain   This refurbished building is located in the Mas Xirgu industrial complex, on the outskirts of Girona. The commission consisted in converting an industrial warehouse that was no longer in use into a funeral service building for the city. The original

Josep Ferrando Architecture, Pedro García Hernández , Mar Puig de la Bellacasa , Manel Casellas   Spain   The town of Moià, some 60 kilometers north of Barcelona, needed to urgently renew its fire station, so in 2016 it called a competition which asked for an industrialized structure that could be built faster. The winning project proposed a light struct

behark   Spain   In Basque language, an aterpe is a refuge, a covered place or shelter. In the Basque regions the term is used to define a covered open space, so necessary due to the rainy climate. Given the lack of covered public spaces in the urban center, during t

EEESTUDIO, Lys Villalba   Spain   Eva, carlos, two Belgian Malinois – Bicho and Bomba –, Harris the owl, five swift families, six kestrel families, and twenty sparrows, are all companion species. They live and learn together in this building, 30 kilometers west of Madrid. Sitting in

Rafael de La Hoz   Spain   Guided both by tradition and common sense, over the centuries the people of Los Pedroches Valley – a protected area between Extremadura, Andalucía, and Castille – have cherished the holm oaks that cover the valley’s meadows as if they were sacred tre

Magén Arquitectos   Spain   The Miralbueno-El Olivar sports complex has its origin in the purchase of two estates, in the 1960s, and the project to build two swimming pools and a park, commissioned to the architect from Zaragoza José Romero. Later on, the farmhouse was enlarged

Beautell Arquitectos   Spain   Since the closure, for security reasons, of the old Alcalá Church – finally demolished in 2011 – the neighbors have been determined to rebuild it. In response to this social demand, the Parish of Candelaria, the Bishopric, the regional Government, an

Irisarri + Piñera   Spain   The brief of the competition called in January 2018 defined the masterplan for the sports city of the Real Club Celta de Vigo. The complex had to harbor both an undefined and open program – with the ambition of gathering all the elements that shape o

Óscar Miguel Ares   Spain   In the comarca of Montes Torozos, amid wheat fields and by the river Bajoz, Castomonte in the province of Valladolid features a stretch of the Camino de Santiago pilgrim route that comes from Madrid, and has a census count of 309. Using its wind-powe

MGM Arquitectos, José Morales, Sara de Giles, Rocío Casado   Spain   Located within the complex of the Colegio Bienaventurada Virgen María de las Irlandesas – designed in 1964 by the Sevillian brothers Fernando and Joaquín Barquín y Barón –, the project foresaw the construction of a kindergarten, as well as solving

SUMO Arquitectes   Spain   The Catalan firm SUMO arquitectes – Marc Camallonga, Jordi Pagès, Pasqual Bendicho – renovated and enlarged this school in Barcelona, organized in three volumes and combining concrete and wood. The 1950s building has undergone a thorough revamp. The

Juan Domingo Santos   Spain   The christian conquest of the Alhambra in 1492 led to the transformation of some of its buildings into private houses. In the case of the Baño de la Mezquita (Bath of the Mosque), the Islamic construction was radically converted into a courtyard hous

Josep Lluís Mateo, Mateo Arquitectura   Spain   The new Tony Catany Photography Center is the outcome of a competition held in 2018 for the design of a museum space dedicated to the exhibition of the work of the Mallorca photographer Toni Catany. Born in Llucmajor in 1942, where he lived until his

Fernández-Abascal + Muruzabal, GFA2   Spain   Subtle interventions enhance a necessary cleaning job in the project of reconstructing a deteriorated port facility and then fitting it out as home to an institution’s collection of artworks.

Trazia Arquitectura   Spain   The Valencia-based firm Trazia, headed by Carlos Pardo and Lucía Hernández, has renovated Casa Ayora – on Calle Mayor in Almussafes, a municipality in the comarca Ribera Baja – for museum use. Set between party walls, the building was a Dominican c

b720 Fermín Vázquez Arquitectos   Spain   The project to remodel the old headquarters of Páginas Amarillas (phone book company) in the Hortaleza district, in northern Madrid, proposed a deep and radical transformation of the existing building. The new one had to be an efficient, representati

Batlleiroig   Spain   The office building Ó is located in the area of the old factory of Can Batlló, one of the most important focuses of development of the city of Barcelona in relation with the economic district of Hospitalet de Llobregat and important avenues such as G

Jovino Martínez Sierra Arquitectos   Spain   After a meticulous work of fine tuning, several cultural uses will reactivate what now is the only surviving building of a lock manufacturing plant with deep roots in the memory of the place.

Meritxell Inaraja   Spain   Standing through a key moment in history, the building of the Unió de Cooperadors came to being in 1934 with the initiative of workers in factories and different industries, which joined the cooperative movement and decided to hire Josep Lluís Sert a

Francisco Mangado   Spain   The building is in the Nou Llevant-Fachada Marítima district by the Congress Center. The urban transformation of this area, according to the project by Joan Busquets, sought to address the lack of affordable housing in Palma. Paradoxically, its good

Alfonso Reina Ferragut, Antonio Martín Procopio, Carles Oliver Barceló, Xim Moyá, Miguel Nevado   Spain   The project proves the feasibility of using compression structures in housing projects to activate thermal inertia as much as possible and ensure passive cooling in summer, with a heavy enclosure with low carbon footprint…

bosch.capdeferro arquitectura   Spain   In a part of the city that creates a transition between the built-up fabric and the open urban expansion area characterized by the imposing presence of public facilites, the project proposes 35 apartments with a design based on principles of program

Peris + Toral arquitectes   Spain   The project consists of 85 social housingunits on a plot previously occupied by the emblematic Cinema Pisa in the city of Cornellà de Llobregat. It is a five-story freestanding building with a wood structure, resting on a ground level with a concrete

Glenn Murcutt In honor of a silent but exceptional career the 2021 Praemium Imperiale was bestowed on Glenn Murcutt, one of the most intensively personal figures in contemporary architecture. Born in London in 1936, Murcutt spent his childhood in Pap

Marina Tabassum The architect Marina Tabassum received the medal through which Sir John Soane’s Museum in London acknowledges the efforts of people who through the profession, education, and history and theory have “furthered and enriched the public

Lacaton & Vassal The Hyatt Foundation has since 1979 given the annual Pritzker Prize with a US$100,000 (84,000€) award. Chaired by Alejandro Aravena, the jury of the latest edition selected Lacaton & Vassal, considering that their work “reflects arch

Edward Mazria Echoing the environmental sensitivity that defines our Anthropocene times, the American Institute of Architects pinned its gold medal on Edward Mazria, a benchmark of what we call “sustainable architecture.” Born in New York in 1940, Ma

Kingston University Town House Conferred every year by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the Stirling Prize is a recognition of the best new buildings raised in the United Kingdom. The 2021 winner was Kingston University London – Town

Balkrishna Doshi The Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects, the profession’s most distinguished prize in the United Kingdom, fell upon Balkrishna Doshi, Pritzker winner in 2018, teacher of several generations of Indian practitioners

Rafael Moneo The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale went to Rafael Moneo (Tudela, 1937). In the words of the curator of this year’s event, Hashim Sarkis, the Spanish architect has been one of the most transf

Carme Pinós The Catalan architect Carme Pinós was distinguished with Spain’s National Prize for Architecture, an honor given by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility, and Urban Agenda with a 60,000-euro award. It is her second time to receive the accol

Nave Fabra & Coats With Fabrizio Barozzi at the helm and joined by Agnès Blanch, Daria de Seta, Manel Marín, Pedro Matos Gameiro, and Rosa Rull, the jury of the 2021 FAD Awards bestowed the Architecture prize on the 46-unit social housing development

Paulo Mendes da Rocha Instituted in 1961, the Gold Medal of the International Union of Architects recognizes “professionals whose qualities, talents, and actions have had an international impact on the diverse sectors of architectural practice.” Thou

Lina Ghotmeh Every two years the Schelling Architecture Foundation, based in Karlsruhe (Germany), grants the Schelling Award for Architecture and Architectural Theory, which comes with a 30,000-euro prize, to recognize “future-oriented developments i

Anupama Kundoo The Jencks Foundation and the Royal Institute of British Architects gave the RIBA Charles Jencks Award of 2021 to Anupama Kundoo. This annual prize is conferred on a person, studio, or firm that has “made a major contribution to the th

1938-2021 The Catalan architect and poet Joan Margarit died in Sant Just Desvern on 14 February 2021 at 82 years of age. Born in the town of Lleida where his parents – an architect and a teacher – took shelter during the Civil War, Margarit soon felt

1942-2021 Like the great artists of the historic avant-gardes, whom he so much admired, Alberto Corazón thrived in multiple disciplines – painting, photography, sculpture, graphic design –, making compatible the highest intellectual ambition with a c

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 ser

1949-2021 After a long convalescence with a fatal ending due to coronavirus, on 27 February Richard Ingersoll passed away in Huebro, not far from Almería and the Mediterranean, which he loved so much. Ingersoll, historian, critic, and one of the most

1934-2021 The Cáceres-born architect Dionisio Hernández Gil, one of the leading advocates of heritage protection in Spain, died on 21 December. Born in 1934 to a family of lawyers, Hernández Gil broke the tradition by enrolling at the Madrid School o

1934-2021 The painter Carmen Laffón de la Escosura passed away in Sanlúcar de Barrameda on 7 November, at the age of 87. A referent of figuration in Spain, Laffón was born in Sevilla to a cultured and well-to-do family – her parents had met at the Re

1929-2021 Bohigas’s death at 95 means the disappearance of one of the most influential masters of the second half of the 20th century, but also of a whole way of understanding the profession, the power and the sphere that connects both: the city. Boh

1938-2021 Born in Valladolid in 1938, Prada Poole finished Architecture in Madrid in 1965, a year that is not special but that is representative of a time marked by vitalism, psychodelia, technocratic ambition, and the political struggles of the Fren

1948-2021 It is hard to find a structure with a greater impact on the perception of modernity in the place where it goes up than the Casar de Cáceres bus station. Its author, Justo García Rubio, was born in 1948, studied in Madrid as disciple of Fran

1950-2021 Roberto Valle passed away on 30 June at 70. He was born in Orense but lived in Castille, where he completed most of his buildings. Trained at the architecture schools of Valladolid and Madrid, he graduated in 1976 and that same year he set

1926-2021 Genaro Alas Rodríguez died in Cáceres at 94 years of age due to complications caused by Covid. The Madrid architect, originally from Asturias, studied at the ETSAM between the 1940s and 1950s decades, and belonged to the generation of Anton

1928-2021 The Brazilian Paulo Mendes da Rocha, perhaps one of the last great masters of the second half of the 20th century, passed away in São Paulo on 29 May at 92. Born in Vitória, in the southeast of Brazil, Mendes da Rocha studied architecture a

1920-2021 Pritzker laureate and one of the most unique architects of the 20th century, Gottfried Böhm passed away at the patriarchal age of 101 years in Cologne, where he developed most of his career. Following in the steps of his father Dominikus –

1940-2021 That so many architects aren’t prophets in their own land doesn’t necessarily mean they shall succeed abroad. A few, however, do manage to make the saying true, and become not just prophets but symbols of the architecture of their places of

1954-2021 The influence of an architecture critic is measured by talent but also by their presence in the arenas where public opinion is formed. These are two qualities that Terence Riley, who died at 66, undoubtedly possessed. Riley studied and prac

1937-2021 Member of a Jewish family of Polish immigrants, Jaime Lerner was born in Curitiba in 1937 and trained as an architect at the Federal University of Paraná. As so many Brazilian architects of his generation, he was marked by the social situat

1934-2021 If we had to choose one word to sum up the work of the German architect Jörg Schlaich, who died on 4 September at 86, that would be ‘lightness.’ Lightness as the result of optimizing resources and structural design; and lightness as an aest

1933-2021 The son of an Anglo-Italian father who returned to England during World War II, and a relative of architect and critic Ernesto Nathan Rogers, Richard Rogers died on 18 December in London at 88. Though born and raised in Florence, Rogers wou

1933-2022 With the death of Jaime López de Asiaín Martín, Spanish architecture has lost one of its fathers of bioclimatism. Son of an architect, López de Asiaín graduated from the ETSAM in 1960 and settled in Seville after becoming Chair of Aesthetic