Two sponge architects

It will sound vintage to say it, but of Manuel Fraga, a key figure in the final stretch of Francoism and during a good part of the Spanish Transition, they used to say that he had "the State in his head." He had a big head, was stubborn, very intelligent and with a great memory, and they also said that he knew the gears of Spain in his time like few others. All this was referred to by journalists and politicians who argued that this Galician politician had "the State in his head." Of the two illustrious architects who this week have passed through the Moments Estel·lars that The New Barcelona Post organizes at Casa Seat, without the big head, but with many of Fraga's qualities and in this case in relation to the Catalan capital, I, when talking with them, came to the conclusion that they have, like few others, Barcelona in their heads.

The conversation was a delight, for how it flowed, for how unpredictable it was, and for how a mutual respect and affection was evident, of those who do not aim to be complacent with the other, nor to butter them up, nor to massage them. In some things they differed (quite intensely), and that was appreciated.

Should the future of cities, including Barcelona, of course, inevitably be "sponges" or is that not practicable? The great transformations of the city, since the eighties, now involve an "expansion" of Barcelona beyond diffuse borders that... how far should they reach? Is the reference of great architects like Oriol Bohigas a nostalgic burden or an inspiring impulse?

Barcelona's Chief Architect, Maria Buhigas (no relation to the recently mentioned master), and the prestigious architect Joan Roig, co-founding partner of the Batlle i Roig firm, conversed amicably but without too many concessions to each other, and exemplified with quite a profusion of examples why Barcelona, architecturally speaking, in terms of its public space, is both admired (especially by outsiders, but not only) and feared (especially by its citizens, who suffer its transformations and the collateral damage of its success or the opposite).

From Raval to Besòs, passing through Poble-sec or Sagrada Família, and from here to New York or the Arab Emirates, Roig and Buhigas invited us to stroll through the past, but also through a present that is already future, with an architectural gaze that, indeed, absorbs like a sponge, wherever it goes, many trends and cases of success and error of those who, in good hands like theirs, end up drawing cities like ours, and, therefore, by rebound, our lives.

Here are the links to recover the conversation on Spotify or Youtube.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6rlAwMmH19tAX615Jllsn6?si=kyd1C47cQFCH80NrLrl8jw