Taxonomy by generations and the observance of centenaries are superstitions of statistical thought, but keep our memory and sense of justice awake, especially when honoring figures whom fashions consign to limbo. This is not fully the case of José Ma
Both praised by Bill Gates, the Czech-Canadian scientist and political analyst Vaclav Smil and the Danish economist and political scientist Bjørn Lomborg propose a reality check: Smil’s How the World Really Works and Lomborg’s Best Things First invit
Stores in 50 Spanish provinces are used to paint a graphic and literary portrait of an urban landscape of traditional charm that deserves to be saved from oblivion.
From childhood we want to climb trees, reach the top of a tower, or stand on a cliff’s edge for thrilling views. Since the 19th century the modern city has been associated with verticality, the dream of ever taller buildings in defiance of structural
This is a personal exploration of gardens that the author is drawn to, and her aim is to grasp the meaning of these somehow ‘unreal’ places without which “architecture feels incomplete.” She follows no clear order, preferring an erratic round of visi
If photographers are characterized by the qualities of their gaze, Alastair Philip Wiper would be described as a precise, ironic eye that fluttered around unfrequented, disturbing, unholy places. In Building Stories, his latest album, published like
“The book’s better than the film” is an axiom that embroils us in debates. The matter goes way back to the dawn of humanity: word vs. image. Mary Beard is among those who believe that what we see is as important as what we read, though she put into a
In the 1970s, John (Berger) overtook John (the Evangelist) and put the gaze before the Word. A half-century later, we are living a time of absolute visual supremacy, and many already perceive fury and fatigue in our sight. But amid all the whining, t
In 17th-century Holland, the microscope and the camera obscura for evermore changed the way we behold. The historian Laura J. Snyder describes this phenomenal mutation in how we perceive things through two figures who coincided in time: Antoni van Le
A species in extinction, a fragile koala still existing even though the ecosystems it thrived in no longer do, architecture criticism has for a while now been facing the question of how to die. Some part of it will take leave of us discreetly, bequea
Does being modern mean adopting a style, taking on a certain attitude, continuing to exhaust the paths of the avant-gardes, ultimately finding new ways to do old things? Balkrishna Doshi (1927-2023), one of the fathers of architecture in India, is un
Few architects are as widely published as Miguel Fisac. Just when it seemed that little could be added, three new books suddenly expand the bibliography. Two monographs now accompany the ‘complete works’ published by Francisco Arqués, by Andrés Cánov
Spain’s 20th century causes sighs of pain and relief. Fuentes and Rueda’s Diccionario de símbolos explores the tragic and festive images of a history which in its latest stretch incorporates events of the 21st, such as the 11-M terrorist attacks or t
During the lockdown imposed by the pandemic, archaeological photographer Luigi Spina had the opportunity to roam freely – and even to reside in – the ruins of the polis that was buried by the Vesuvius in the year 79 AD, including visits to some of th
Norman Foster has published three books which are great works. Their colossal dimensions belie the intimate attention given to every page, because the architect’s hand and gaze is all over. Taschen’s monumental two-tome monograph is signed by Philip
“I love books.” What better way to begin. The author proceeds to specify his adoration: “In particular I love architecture books.” Then: “I love illustrated architecture books.” So it is that John Hill took up the tricky challenge indicated in his su
There are marvels to be found in the corners of maps. “Here be dragons” was the warning on a Renaissance globe regarding the Pacific’s still unexplored coasts, in line with early cartographers’ custom of filling their maps with fantastic creatures ex
Lumpen people wander the streets of the Quartiere Tuscolano; bicycles wheel from the borgate to the new working-class districts; a helicopter flies over the empty grounds of the Aqua Claudia transporting a Christ statue to St. Peter’s… Such scenes fr
“Our cities are ill.” From Mesopotamian settlements to the medieval city, and especially after the Industrial Revolution, urban cores have altered to accommodate demographic growth and adapt to social advances. But with the exacerbated neoliberal mod
Spain takes an ugly turn. The systemic corruption and intellectual anemia of the Franco dictatorship sowed the seed of a story of ambition and abandon that was only reinforced, when the regime ended, by a mediocre political class, and which has led t
Xenophon came to be highly popular among students of classical Greece because the simplicity of his language was perfect for translation exercises, perhaps in the same way that Julius Caesar’s Commentaries on the Gallic wars helped many of us learn t
Crises in publishing, paper supply, reading, humanism, economics, architecture... have jeopardized books, magazines, newspapers, and the usual modes of passing on knowledge. It is no mirage: there is much less reading done now than before, and readin
“Von Herzen zu Herzen gehen!” The sentiment Beethoven encoded in dedicating his Missa solemnis to Archduke Rudolph is what Paolo Zermani pursues with his most spiritual work. And if the composer of symphonies and sonatas, more than of oratorios, chan