El Croquis Blog

AUTLETS: The Offer of the Land A Conversation with Francisco Cifuentes and Sebastián Martorell Andreas Ruby Text published in El Croquis 235 AUTLETS 2015 2026.     AULETS is an unusual name for an architecture office. It is a Catalan word meaning a young or tender alzineda — a grove of alzines, the holm oaks (Quercus ilex), the emblematic evergreen oaks of the Mediterranean. An aulet is a small, often enclosed, grove of holm oaks either left standing or planted on purpose in a field, allowing livestock —such as sheep, goats, or pigs— to graze under the dense shade away...

PERIS+TORAL: Grid and InventionA Conversation with Marta Peris and José ToralEduardo PrietoText published n El Croquis 234 PERIS+TORAL 2015 2026.   ORDER MANIFESTS ITSELF in many ways. It may arise spontaneously, like the crystalline structures bestowed by nature, or like that seemingly effortless order that appears to be the prerogative of geniuses. More often, however, order is the outcome of effort — the deliberate will to resist that childlike complacency in chaos that so frequently characterises our societies. The work of Marta Peris and José Toral constitutes a vast reservoir of vocation and labour, of carefully premeditated order, yet it combines...

Essential Approaches to the Landscape.A Conversation with Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem and Ramon Vilalta,by Santiago de Molina Text published in El Croquis 228 RCR 2017 2024.     Every conversation happens in a different way. This one with Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem and Ramon Vilalta (RCR) took place over four days in Olot, two at the end of a long spring and two in early autumn. The formal portion was recorded over several hours. But, in reality, the true conversation, the underlying one, didn't take shape during that formal portion. In the literal meaning of the words, one cannot find what...

Looking for the Realconversation with Kersten Geers and David Van Severen by Giovanna Borasi Text published in El Croquis 226 OFFICE 2017 2024. Giovanna Borasi: OFFICE's early projects were framed within the idea of rooms, literally or metaphorically. In recent years there has been a shift of scale in your work, and I'm curious about how you conceptualize this new scale. I have always thought that the Solo House was a turning point between your initial idea of rooms as a design generator and the new territory of larger projects, like the headquarters for the Swiss Radio & Television (RTS) in Lausanne, or the headquarters...

Conversation between Christian Kerez and Smiljan Radić Text published in El Croquis 224 Christian Kerez 2015 2024. Smiljan Radić: Generally, one admires another architect's work when it lies beyond our own capabilities, and outside of our own range of action or thought. That admiration turns into envy when we think we can do what another architect does. Fortunately, I can comment on your work thanks to an honourable admiration for something I am happily unable to do myself. Christian Kerez: The perspective that others do what you cannot could also mean that other people are fulfilling your dreams. I think the purest exercise for an architect is to...