Josep Lluís Mateo: We will rediscover the Barcelona model
Barcelona Institute of Architecture is an institution founded on the interaction between academic research, professional practice, and the effort to promote architecture. It occupies its place among schools of architecture and architectural practice.
BIArch is a laboratory for new ways of thinking and working in current energy, technological, and economic conditions
The Barcelona Institute aims to become a meeting place that will serve as a reference point in a globalized world.
Interview with Josep Lluís Mateo
Barcelona has solidified its place in the world of global architecture with a new study center and a publishing group.
Barcelona has confirmed its position in the world of architecture by establishing the Barcelona Institute of Architecture (BIArch) and also by Actar becoming the largest publishing group in the world, publishing architectural works, after acquiring the Birkhäuser publishing house.
BIArch, which will award its first degrees in October 2010, was born as an international entity with the exclusive mission of functioning at the intersection of academic research, specialized practical tasks, and the promotion of architecture. The institute is based in Barcelona, a city that established its current architectural prestige during the transformations that took place in preparation for the Olympics in 1992. As Josep Lluís Mateo, president of the BIArch council, says, Barcelona is destined to rediscover the famous "Barcelona model" of architectural and urban development.
What can Barcelona contribute to the global architectural discussion?
Barcelona is associated with Olympic success. The construction of the Forum, which is more appreciated abroad than here, was the last surge of the Olympics. After that, these signals faded away.
Are you saying that the Barcelona model is exhausted?
It needs to be rediscovered. And we will do that. The Barcelona model, as we understand it, is 25 years old. The present is different: we now live in a "non-model" situation. Politicians still apply strategic approaches, but we are left without visions.
Is this approach applicable to modifications of Diagonal?
That is a good example. It makes no sense to talk about major projects if we do so in subjugation to that political context. We must stop using architectural projects as weapons to undermine opponents, and return to the intellectual environment and academic debate.
Isn't it risky to start a discussion about world architecture based on the Barcelona model in a time of crisis?
Sometimes there prevails a self-destructive atmosphere here, with which I disagree. I believe that the exhaustion of the model is stimulating, appealing, and thus important projects like BIArch are independent and globally oriented.
Allow me to insist: isn't it risky to present Barcelona as the focal point of debate when it needs to be resurrected as a model?
The architectural past of Barcelona has a deeper tradition than the "Barcelona model," which leaves us with a great cultural legacy.
Moreover, the crisis is not local; it is global. In Spain, we knew that. And Dubai has just confirmed it. The economic bubble popped; iconic architecture was its shell and has now disappeared along with the bubble. Forms are no longer ruling. Architecture must return to space, material, light, feelings, and logic.
What is the goal of BIArch?
To be a global reference point. We are counting on cooperation with the best professionals in Europe, America, and Asia. Our ideal is a study program based on education and a workshop of ideas in the fields of architecture, urban planning, energy, thought, and the digital world.
BIArch is a laboratory for new ways of thinking and working in current energy, technological, and economic conditions
The Barcelona Institute aims to become a meeting place that will serve as a reference point in a globalized world.
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| photo: Ana Jiménez |
Interview with Josep Lluís Mateo
Barcelona has solidified its place in the world of global architecture with a new study center and a publishing group.
Barcelona has confirmed its position in the world of architecture by establishing the Barcelona Institute of Architecture (BIArch) and also by Actar becoming the largest publishing group in the world, publishing architectural works, after acquiring the Birkhäuser publishing house.
BIArch, which will award its first degrees in October 2010, was born as an international entity with the exclusive mission of functioning at the intersection of academic research, specialized practical tasks, and the promotion of architecture. The institute is based in Barcelona, a city that established its current architectural prestige during the transformations that took place in preparation for the Olympics in 1992. As Josep Lluís Mateo, president of the BIArch council, says, Barcelona is destined to rediscover the famous "Barcelona model" of architectural and urban development.
What can Barcelona contribute to the global architectural discussion?
Barcelona is associated with Olympic success. The construction of the Forum, which is more appreciated abroad than here, was the last surge of the Olympics. After that, these signals faded away.
Are you saying that the Barcelona model is exhausted?
It needs to be rediscovered. And we will do that. The Barcelona model, as we understand it, is 25 years old. The present is different: we now live in a "non-model" situation. Politicians still apply strategic approaches, but we are left without visions.
Is this approach applicable to modifications of Diagonal?
That is a good example. It makes no sense to talk about major projects if we do so in subjugation to that political context. We must stop using architectural projects as weapons to undermine opponents, and return to the intellectual environment and academic debate.
Isn't it risky to start a discussion about world architecture based on the Barcelona model in a time of crisis?
Sometimes there prevails a self-destructive atmosphere here, with which I disagree. I believe that the exhaustion of the model is stimulating, appealing, and thus important projects like BIArch are independent and globally oriented.
Allow me to insist: isn't it risky to present Barcelona as the focal point of debate when it needs to be resurrected as a model?
The architectural past of Barcelona has a deeper tradition than the "Barcelona model," which leaves us with a great cultural legacy.
Moreover, the crisis is not local; it is global. In Spain, we knew that. And Dubai has just confirmed it. The economic bubble popped; iconic architecture was its shell and has now disappeared along with the bubble. Forms are no longer ruling. Architecture must return to space, material, light, feelings, and logic.
What is the goal of BIArch?
To be a global reference point. We are counting on cooperation with the best professionals in Europe, America, and Asia. Our ideal is a study program based on education and a workshop of ideas in the fields of architecture, urban planning, energy, thought, and the digital world.
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