El Croquis Blog

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...

Fot.: John Pawson The Simple Expression of Complex Thought by John Pawson Text published in El Croquis - John Pawson. Omnibus Volume   I am always perplexed when people look at my house and say that they think it is very beautiful but how can I live like that. To me the thinking is all the wrong way round. The whole point is that this is how we live, so this is what our house needs to be like. The architecture is the physical expression of a way of being: the form does not follow a particular fashion, it follows a particular life....

Phot.: Jesús Granada. The Creative ProcessA Conversation with Héctor Barroso by Hugo Sánchez Text published in El Croquis 213 Taller Héctor Barroso 2015 2022   Hugo Sánchez: I met Héctor Barroso a little over 15 years ago at the Anáhuac University School of Architecture in Mexico City. Some time later, our connection resumed in a professional capacity. Over the years, Héctor has invited us to collaborate with the landscaping for quite a few of his projects, which has allowed me to get involved with the design process of his work, each time further strengthening our friendship, whose roots are thus embedded in his...

Refugio para Artistas en Pittugala. Obra publicada en El Croquis 212 Palinda Kannangara 2005 2022. Fot.: Jesús Granada. The Visceral Qualities of ArchitectureA Conversation with Palinda Kannangara by Richard Murphy Text published in El Croquis 212 Palinda Kannangara 2005 2022   Richard Murphy: I want to inevitably start off with your origins. As you know, some very interesting architects don’t necessarily start off wanting to be architects. I read in Anura Ratnavibhushana’s essay for this issue of El Croquis that you were a maths-inclined boy at school. And I know Geoffrey (Bawa) went to law school. First of all, how relevant has...