El Croquis Blog

Being in Translation Essay by Bart Lootsma Text published in El Croquis 220/221 SANAA [II] 2015 2023 The flowing river never stops,/ and yet the water never stays/ the same.Foam floats upon the pools,/ scattering, re-forming, never lingering long.So it is with man/ and all his dwelling / places here on earth.[…]The place itself / does not change, / nor do the crowds; / even so, of all the many people / I once knew / only one or two remain.They are born into dusk / and die as the day dawns, / like that foam / upon the water.People die...

Protected Public Housing, An Alternative Model. A Conversation with Cris Ballester and Carles Oliver,by Liliana Obal Text published in El Croquis 219 IBAVI 2019 2023    Liliana Obal: In the project you are undertaking at IBAVI, political and social goals seem to come together, and this impulse has made it possible to align architectural reflection with policies and their management. It cannot have been easy to achieve your goals and the change in model you propose. How did this experiment begin? What was its starting point?Cristina Ballester: I arrived at IBAVI as managing director in August 2019, at a time when the...

How Fiction Works.A Conversation with Eduardo Souto de Moura by Inmaculada Maluenda y Enrique Encabo Text published in El Croquis 218 Eduardo Souto de Moura 2015 2023  My family lived behind that grove of trees in the distance, heading towards the centre of town. The Italian School of Porto, where I studied, was nearby, and so was the pavilion where I’d go to watch the field hockey games against Spain. In summer, we’d go down to the beach at the mouth of the Douro; the water is so cold there that it’s like a gin and tonic. We’d have picnics there and my father,...

Tectonics and History:A Conversation with Amin Taha by Cristina Díaz Moreno y Efrén García Grinda Text published in El Croquis 217 [II] Groupwork 2012 2022 Cristina Díaz Moreno & Efrén García Grinda: Often the beginnings of the careers define the aspirations, ambitions and motivations of later work, especially in a place as peculiar and competitive as London, where one most often starts out working for others. In your case, are you able to identify the origins of your story as an architect?Amin Taha: We graduate from architecture school, go from one practice to another, and each office has its own 'style'&mdashthat is to say,...

Fot.: John Pawson The Invisible Detail:Three Encounters with Álvaro Siza by Inmaculada Maluenda and Enrique Encabo Text published in El Croquis 215/216 Álvaro Siza 2015 2022  Álvaro Siza Vieira has just turned 89 years old. Born in 1933 in the port town of Matosinhos, he has stretched the calendar at both ends. As well as being extraordinarily precocious &mdash long before finishing his studies, at the age of 21, he had already tackled a few small commissions &mdash he has also achieved a rare longevity. Siza has been building over eight different decades, and in all of them he has made an...