Behind the lukewarm smile of the nice professor, there is the gambler in Rafael Moneo. The pursed lips and mild gestures conceal the sharpened denture and shining eyes of the lover of risk. In him, intellectual curiosity always exceeds professional
Architecture between context and type, between the assertion of the singularity of each building and its belonging to a series that comes from the past and gets lost in the future: this is the crossroads in which the work of Rafael Moneo is located.
Projects and buildings belong to two different and mutually exclusive worlds. While design is a personal and subjective labor pertaining entirely to the architect, built objects are part of a material universe and live in a time and space of their ow
The bank of Spain branches are somewhat like fortresses, or, so to speak, peculiar safes facilitating the movement of that singular type of fluid called money. Guided by a strict program describing the operations of the branch with extreme precision,
This new branch of the insurance company Previsión Española sought to blend into the architectural tradition of Seville, but without making a fuss. The idea was to respect the surrounding city, integrating the building into its scheme and adjusting i
The architecture here - the bulk of the new building - is a result, on one hand, of the archaeological condition of the site, and on the other hand, of the need to establish good relations with the existing surroundings. All this implied respecting
In 1983, an invitational competition was called to enlarge Atocha Station, which meant demolishing the Carlos I overpass, as well as the extension and remodeling of the historical roof, the creation of a local commuter train station, the construction
With remarkable insistence, airport architecture has, almost ever since the beginnings of aviation, tried to get as close as possible to the always sophisticated industrial world of aeronautics through buildings formally alluding to it. Experience ha
The ‘Diagonal Block’ - between Diagonal, Deu i Mata, Numancia and Entenza avenues - is a vacant lot within the city that remains true, on one hand, to the Cerdá Plan and its idea of continuity and closed edifications, and on the other hand, to that o
The smooth slope of the almond yard where the Foundation is situated, somewhere between the painter’s studio – a work by the architect Josep Lluís Sert – and the road running along the lowest part of the property, keeps the new building from spreadin
When a place is barren and offers no inspiration to the architect, the otherwise beneficial dialogue between place and architecture is reduced, unfortunately for him, to a monologue. His obligations are multiplied, as the job of transforming the en
The Jewett Art Center is undoubtedly one of Paul Rudolph’s finest works. Here his admiration for Wright and for Italian architecture is at its prime, yet without mitigating the building’s contribution to the configuration of the beautiful open space
The Villahermosa Palace was built in the 18th century, and in 1771 ownership was transferred to the Duke of Villahermosa, who commissioned reforms to several architects, though finally Antonio López Aguado took charge. After the Spanish War of Indepe
The idea competition for the reorganization of the Messepalast area in Vienna - in a prestigious, historical site backing the Ring and along the axis of the Hofburg, marked by the presence of the magnificent Imperial Stables of the late-Baroque archi
The extent and disparity of the program - pier, concert hall, convention center, restaurants, exhibition galleries, etc. - were in plain contradiction to the space available, a lot with a limited size. Moreover, building on the site necessarily mea
To say that the beauty of San Sebastian is largely due to the environment, to the landscape, is already a commonplace. Few cities enjoy more favourable natural conditions. The Bay of Biscay lies on La Concha beach, and a small stretch of coast is hom
For all the beauty of the Lido beaches, it is the irresistible spell of this enigmatic city that draws visitors from all nations to her. The building proposed here is thus oriented toward the city of canals rather than toward the sea. Though quite re
The site selected for the building of the new Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Architecture is on the island of Skeppsholmen, on the space left over once the pavilion of the present museum is demolished, and on the new open area fronting the Ty
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