A new series of activities begins at the COAC: 'Absolutely moder(rr)n'
The activities aim to give an insight into new local contemporary architectural practices through a series of conferences and actions in answer to some basic questions which, in turn, relate to the statement made by Arthur Rimbaud in 1873: 'One must be absolutely modern'.
What does it mean to be contemporary today? Does being contemporary necessarily entail certain essential groups and connections (which used to be known as avant-garde), or are there other possible paths to avoid losing touch with the present? Which, if any, are the new paradigms of contemporaneity? All participants in the activities will be invited to answer this series of questions either in a conference format or at the Accions a l'Altell, a series of joint activities involving an artist and an architectural practice held in the mezzanine, or altell, of the COAC.
The activities will be structured in a series of monthly lectures, from March to June, followed by the opening of each of the Accions a l'Altell.
‘Absolutely moder(rr)n’ kicks off with a series of lectures by Arquitectura G, Studio Animal and Guillermo Santomà, followed by the inauguration of the installation by artist Carlos Valverde and Flexo Arquitectura.
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The jury of ‘Espai Barça’ chooses the proposal from Catalan architects Pascual i Ausió and Nikken Sekkei for the new Camp Nou stadium
The Jury of ‘Espai Barça’ unanimously chose the proposal from the team Nikken Sekkei + Pascual i Ausió Arquitectes as the winner of the architectural tender to design the new FC Barcelona Camp Nou stadium. The Jury panel comprised five members of the football club, three members of the Architects’ Association of Catalonia and a representative of Barcelona City Council.
The Nikken Sekkei + Pascual i Ausió Arquitectes team stood out over the proposals from AECOM + B720 Arquitectes, AFL + Mateo Arquitectura, Arup Sport + Taller d’Arquitectura Ricardo Bofill, BIG + IDOM + BAAS Arquitectes, GENSLER Sport + OAB, HKS + COX + Batlle i Roig Arquitectes, and POPULOUS + Mias Arquitectes + RCR Arquitectes.
The official presentation of the construction project for the new Camp Nou will take place at a public ceremony in the next few weeks.
The permanent exhibition of Espai Barça, located in the Paris Room and which opened at the same time as the presentation of the new Palau Blaugrana, will be rounded off with the winning project of the architectural tender for the new Camp Nou. The permanent exhibition will thus provide a wealth of detail on the projects for the new Camp Nou; the new Palau Blaugrana, by the HOK + TAC Arquitectes team; and the new Miniestadi, by Batlle i Roig Arquitectes. In the near future the exhibition will also be on show at the headquarters of the Architects’ Association.
For more details about Espai Barça, visit the FC Barcelona website.
Architects’, engineers’ and economists’ associations ask ADIF not to award the Sagrera project based on price alone
The four associations have criticized ADIF for awarding the new La Sagrera railway station project to the company that made the lowest bid, despite the fact that in ADIF’s own opinion this bidder submitted the worst technical bid.
The deans of the Associations of Architects, Economists, Civil Engineers and Industrial Engineers signed a statement on 24 February calling on ADIF to adhere to the assessment criteria agreed with the other public administrations in relation to the tender of projects for La Sagrera railway station.
They also reiterated their demand that the management of the execution of the La Sagrera project should be carried out, as has been the case so far, by Barcelona Sagrera Alta Velocitat SA, the company formed by the Ministry of Public Works, ADIF, the Government of Catalonia and Barcelona City Council.
In this respect, they criticized ADIF for making a unilateral decision on the rules for the new tender, overturning the scoring criteria. In 2008, the Barcelona Sagrera Alta Velocitat consortium planned the tender process based on an economic scale (40 punts) and a technical capacity scale (60 punts), while in 2015 ADIF established 25 points for the technical bid and 75 for the economic bid, which meant that the project was awarded to the company that submitted the lowest tender, despite being the worst of the technical proposals received, which was even acknowledged by ADIF.
At the event, the Dean of the Architects’ Association of Catalonia, Lluís Comerón, pointed out that 'the goal of the buildings and infrastructures we build and renovate is to be at the service of people and their wellbeing, and an overemphasis on economic criteria evidently fails to abide by this ultimate goal'. He called for the need to have 'a legal framework in place that prevents the kind of ridiculous situation such as the one that might happen at La Sagrera'.
Check the statement here (only available in Spanish)
La Cámara Alemana organiza una Misión Inversa de empresas alemanas con arquitectos catalanes
Los arquitectos interesados en participar en las reuniones con empresas alemanas, podéis apuntaros a través del formulario de inscripción hasta el 7 de abril.
De las ocho empresas, las cuatro siguientes están muy interesadas en conocer arquitectos catalanes:
_Böger Systemklinker GmbH: www.boegerfassaden.de Ver ficha de la empresa
_EnergiePunkt UG: www.energie-punkt.eu Ver ficha de la empresa
_HAI Technology GmbH: www.hai-technology.de Ver ficha de la empresa
_Raico Bautechnik GmbH: www.raico.de Ver ficha de la empresa
Para más información y para inscribirte a la jornada del 19 de Abril, clica aquí.
Se puede consultar el programa de la jornada aquí.