#books #architecture | Best architects 19

Best architects 19.
[Düsseldorf]: zinnobergruen gmbh, 2018.
385 p : il.
ISBN 9783946021032
/ EN / Libros / Arquitectura – Premios y recompensas / Arquitectura – Siglo XXI /
ehuBiblioteka BCG A-72.092 BES
https://ehu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1127907606

Why are architecture prizes like the «best architects» Award, today one of the most prestigious in Europe, so important? The answer is as simple as it is obvious: «They give the profession an opportunity to form a picture of what’s happening at the moment,» says Jonathan Sergison of Sergison Bates architects from London/Zurich, a member of this year’s «best architects» jury. And the documentation of the award plays a key role in this respect.

Among publications accompanying awards, «best architects 19» stands out once again in terms of both content and design. As in previous years, the thorough documentation of the award-winners is already impressive in terms of size alone. The book presents this year’s «best architects» on a total of 400 pages. Of the many projects submitted, 70 were honoured with the label «best architects 19» and 12 were distinguished for particularly outstanding quality with the award «best architects 19 in Gold». Each winning project is illustrated and described in detail on two double-page spreads.

#monograficos #arquitectura | El Croquis 202 | Bernardo Bader : 2009-2019 : la audacia de lo familiar

Bernardo Bader : 2009-2019 : la audacia de lo familiar = fearlessness of the familiar / editores y directores = publishers and editors, Fernando Márquez Cecilia y Richard Levene.
El Escorial : El Croquis, 2019.
279 p. : il.
Ed. bilingüe español - inglés.
Serie: El Croquis ; 202.
ISBN 9788412003444
/ ES / EN / Monográficos / Arquitectura – Siglo XXI – Austria / Bernardo Bader Architekten‏
ehuBiblioteka BCG Referencia A-72(082) *CRO/202
https://ehu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1138887114

A decade of work by Bernardo Bader is covered in this instalment. In that time, the Austrian architect has steadily built a reputation for his modern take on regional styles. Both the exteriors and interiors of his designs are often clad in wood, with structures framed by clean lines and set in alpine terrains, radiating warmth and comfort. Bader’s outspoken perspective on critical regionalism in architecture has drawn international praise, and he prefers to use locally sourced timber in his work. Presented here are more than fifteen projects, many of them houses, but also kindergartens, an alpine sports centre, an Islamic cemetery, a railway station, a chapel, a hotel, and more.

#books #architecture | Architectural material & detail structure : concrete

Architectural material & detail structure : concrete / Josep Ferrando.
London : Design Media Publishing (UK), 2018.
319 p. : il.
ISBN 9781910596524
/ EN / Libros / Arquitectura – Siglo XXI / Construcción de hormigón / Estructuras – Diseño
ehuBiblioteka BCG A-693.5 ARC
https://ehu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1126995616

In our expectations, concrete is always rough and grey. Therefore, how to increase its public acceptance is architects' great consideration. Many architects have tried actively; some mix concrete and other materials in a proper proportion―clean concrete surface combined with carefully manufactured wood or metal makes it easier to be acceptable. The perfection and abstraction of concrete are also more influential to those who are familiar to contemporary art trends. ‘Architectural Material & Detail Structure: Concrete’ examines the proper use of concrete as an architectural and design tool.

#libros #construccion | 12 temas de construcción = 12 construction topics

12 temas de construcción = 12 construction topics / Alberto Ballarín Iribarren.
Madrid : A. Ballarín, 2018.
639 p. : il.
Ed. bilingüe español – inglés.
ISBN 9788409037193
/ ES / EN / Libros / Construcción
ehuBiblioteka BCG A-69 DOC
https://ehu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1117355132

Este libro tiene su origen en las clases que imparte el autor en la asignatura de Construcción 3, de cuarto curso, en la ETSAM. Como Tutor de Construcción de los PFC y, ahora, del Taller de Construcción y Tecnología del Master Universitario de Arquitectura ha tenido la oportunidad de contrastar los conocimientos que tienen los alumnos sobre esta materia al llegar al final de sus estudios, cuando realizan un esfuerzo extraordinario para obtener una buena calificación en esta última etapa de su vida como estudiante. El libro se compone principalmente de imágenes de edificios o planos técnicos obtenidos casi siempre de libros, revistas y en general de publicaciones especializadas y, también, de Internet y su propia cosecha. Ahí es donde están los ejemplos y lo que interesa a los estudiantes. También de textos deliberadamente ligeros y breves.

#libri #pittura | La villa di Livia : le pareti ingannevoli

La villa di Livia : le pareti ingannevoli / Salvatore Settis ; con un appendice bibliografica a cura di Fulvia Donati.
Milano : Electa, 2008.
79 p. : il.
ISBN 9788837062040
/ IT / Libros / Pintura y decoración murales greco-romanas
ehuBiblioteka BCG A-75.052 VIL
https://ehu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1114330374

Salvatore Settis accompagna il lettore alla scoperta delle splendide pitture di giardino della villa appartenuta a Livia, consorte di Augusto, alle porte di Roma, staccate negli anni '50 per ragioni conservative e ricomposte all'interno del Museo Nazionale Romano in Palazzo Massimo alle Terme. L'autore spiega con chiarezza le ragioni architettoniche e formali dei dipinti, lo spazio dell'incanto, che neppure agli angoli si interrompe, in rapporto alla posizione dell'osservatore e con un'attenta scalatura della resa di dettaglio: la rappresentazione delle piante in primo piano è infatti tanto minuta da consentire una precisa indagine botanica e ornitologica mentre diventa via via più sfumata e indistinta verso lo sfondo vago e mosso.

#libri #architettura | Giuseppe Tombola architetto : dagli anni delle avanguardie alla ricostruzione

Giuseppe Tombola architetto : dagli anni delle avanguardie alla ricostruzione / Enrico Pietrogrande.
Roma : Gangemi, 2019.
158 p. : il.
Serie: Architettura e Territorio ; 2.
ISBN 9788849237016
/ IT / Libros / Arquitectura – Siglo XX – Italia / Giuseppe Tombola
ehuBiblioteka BCG A-72TOMBOLA GIU
https://ehu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1127050743

Giuseppe Tombola (1909-1990) fu membro del M.I.A.R., il Movimento Italiano per l'Architettura Razionale, e protagonista delle iniziative del raggruppamento veneto del movimento futurista. Di questo architetto si presenta un profilo dell'attività progettuale svolta fino al periodo della ricostruzione postbellica, una sintesi delineata cercando di distinguere nella monumentalità aspra e scarna di molte sue opere le tracce del futurismo ascetico al quale sono improntati i suoi primi progetti. Si è inteso, tra l'altro, ricostruire il quadro delle relazioni intessute da Tombola nei primi anni Trenta con professionisti e intellettuali. Tra questi in ambito veneto Mansutti, Miozzo, De Giorgio, Gallimberti, Guiotto, Salce, Calabi, Vallot. In un più ampio contesto Ponti, Pagano, Merlo, Tedesco Rocca, Aloisio.

#books #architecture | Affordable housing, inclusive cities

Affordable housing, inclusive cities / edited by Vinayak Bharne & Shyam Khandekar.
[Novato, California] : ORO Editions, 2019.
209 p. . il.
ISBN 978194180619
/ EN / Libros / Arquitectura doméstica / Arquitectura y sociedad / Urbanismo – Aspecto social / Vivienda social
ehuBiblioteka BCG A-72:316 AFF
https://ehu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1126313367

Offers a comprehensive survey of affordable housing across the world. Presents numerous case-studies and best-practices on affordable housing design. Presents clear and concise strategies on how to make cities more affordable and inclusive. Offers interviews and conversations with globally known figures in progressive architecture and city planning. How are efforts at making cities more inclusive and equitable playing out across nations and societies, with different governance structures and varying political circumstances? How is affordable housing bridging economic gaps across different social and cultural geographies? This collection of fifty essays and case studies engages in these important questions and explores a wide array of strategies and approaches, extracting their overlaps and contrasts. It features interviews with influential administrators and planners such as Somsook Boonyabancha (Thailand), and Jaime Lerner (Brazil). It showcases projects by globally known architects and urbanists such as MVRDV (The Netherlands), and Alejandro Aravena (Chile). And it offers discussions on uplifting the base of the economic pyramid through low-income and slum-upgradation projects in Mali, Venezuela, Bogota, Myanmar, and Pune. This volume is not only an invaluable resource for architects and planners interested in the design of affordable housing, but for anyone interested in the global multiplicity and complexity of urban affordability, liveability and social justice.

#monograficos #arquitectura | Arquitectonics 31 | Arquitectura y conocimiento I = Architecture and knowledge I

Arquitectura y conocimiento I = Architecture and knowledge I / [editado por] Josep Muntañola.
Barcelona : UPC, 2019.
433 p. . il.
Textos en español, inglés, francés y portugués.
Serie: Arquitectonics. Mind, Lans & Society ; 31.
/ ES / EN / FR / PT / Monográficos / Antoni Gaudí / Arquitectura – Estudio y enseñanza / Urbanismo

📘 Ed. impresa: ISBN 9788498807608
Cita APA-7: Muntañola i Thornberg, J. (2019). Arquitectura y conocimiento I: architecture and knowledge I. UPC.
ehuBiblioteka BCG Referencia A-72(082) *ARQ/31
https://ehu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1127049471

🔓 Ed. digital: E-ISBN 9788498807615
Open Access RE-UPC UPCommons
https://upcommons.upc.edu/handle/2117/133831

[.es] La educación del arquitecto cabalga entre artes, ciencias y políticas, lo cual, hace difícil su evaluación, tanto en el tiempo presente como en el pasado. El mejor camino en la actualidad para evaluar la educación superior y la investigación en arquitectura pasa por encontrar criterios capaces de definir una capacidad de síntesis que pueda evaluar la calidad, tanto de los proyectos de arquitectura y urbanismo, como los edificios y la calidad de uso que ofrecen. Estos criterios hacen de puente entre las habilidades artísticas, las científicas y las ético-políticas de los profesionales de la profesión. Por lo tanto, obligan a una evaluación de carácter interdisciplinar, que, desafortunadamente, no muy presente en las escuelas superiores de arquitectura. Las diferentes comunicaciones que proponemos intentarán describir estos criterios con la máxima precisión posible.

#monograficos #arquitectura | Arquitectonics 30 | Arquitectura y espacio social = Architecture and social space

Arquitectura y espacio social = Architecture and social space / [editors for this issue, Josep Muntañola].
[Barcelona]: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 2017.
319 p.: il.
Textos en español e inglés.
Serie: Arquitectonics. Mind, Lans & Society ; 30.
ISBN 9788498806410
/ ES / EN / Monográficos / Arquitectura – Filosofía / Arquitectura y sociedad
ehuBiblioteka BCG Referencia A-72(082) *ARQ/30
https://ehu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1077656673
Edición electrónica:
Arquitectura y espacio social [Recurso electrónico] = Architecture and social space
/ RE / RE-UPC / Open Access
TEXTO COMPLETO | UPCommons
https://upcommons.upc.edu/handle/2117/102940

En este volumen 30 de la revista Arquitectonics hay una serie de artículos relacionados con el análisis de los lugares y espacios públicos de diferentes países, un tema de investigación muy importante en los últimos años, tal vez relacionado con la fuerte crisis financiera en todo el mundo vinculada a la vivienda. El principal y primer trabajo de éste volumen está dirigido por el profesor Rainer Zimmermann de Munich, matemático y filósofo, que inaugura un nuevo y fuerte punto de vista sobre las meta-teorías de las actividades del diseño arquitectónico y urbano. Relacionando cognición, interacción social y diseño arquitectónico, este trabajo es un estudio teórico muy importante que puede impactar en casi todas las tesis sobre arquitectura y planeamiento urbano. Los tres libros monumentales sobre los fundamentos de los sistemas de este autor, en proceso, marcarán un antes y un después en las teorías y prácticas arquitectónicas.

#books #architecture | Façades : a visual compendium of modern architectural styles

Façades : a visual compendium of modern architectural styles / Oscar Riera Ojeda, Byron Hawes.
Munich : Prestel, 2019.
443 p. . il.
ISBN 9783791385174
/ EN / Libros / Arquitectura – Detalles / Arquitectura – Siglo XXI / Fachadas
ehuBiblioteka BCG A-692.2 FAC
https://ehu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1125325042

This fascinating sourcebook presents the most remarkable, beautiful, and innovative building façades in contemporary architecture. A building's façade sets the aesthetic tone for its entire design while serving a variety of functions, from regulating light and protecting against the elements to providing insulation for temperature and sound. This absorbing book details hundreds of examples of interesting and progressive façades from around the world. Presented in colorful double-page spreads, each façade is photographed from different angles and includes engaging texts that describe their significance. Readers can learn how traditional mashrabiyas in Abu Dhabi are being engineered to respond to light and to regulate heat, how a hospital in Mexico City has been constructed with "smog-eating" tiles, and how a "bio-adaptive" façade in Germany uses algae to generate energy and provide shade. Informative and accessible, this compendium is a highly useful resource for architects, engineers, and designers.

#books #architecture | Mark Foster Gage : projects and provocations

Mark Foster Gage : projects and provocations / Mark Foster Gage.
New York, NY : Rizzoli, 2018.
271 p. : il.
ISBN 9780847862092
/ ES / Libros / Arquitectura – Innovaciones / Arquitectura – Siglo XXI / Mark Foster Gage
ehuBiblioteka BCG A-72GAGE MAR
https://ehu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1127567858

Gage, Yale theorist, architect, and pioneer of the digital avant-garde in architecture and design, presents here a phantasmagoria of ideas and built work in his first monograph.

Architect to Lady Gaga and Nicola Formichetti, Mark Foster Gage has spent 20 years leading the digital architectural avant-garde, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in architecture and design and exploding expectations. This volume features built and unbuilt work from around the globe, from a penthouse in downtown Manhattan to retail stores in Hong Kong. The work shown goes beyond traditional architecture to the realm of fashion and fine art, and includes Gage’s celebrated ‘Valentine’s Sculpture’ for Times Square, a 3-D-printed outfit for Lady Gaga, as well as designs for Google Glass, Solar Flowers, and robotic tulips.

Mark Foster Gage, whose work ‘Harper’s Bazaar’ has called “effortlessly chic” and who has been labeled a “boundary breaker,” is a visionary for today. Filled with surprises and creations of wonder, such as a tower for New York’s 57th Street with mouthlike balconies on giant wings or a retail space bedecked with a hundred-faceted mirror, Gage’s work at once challenges expectations of what architecture might be and, as well, frequently fills one with a sense of excitement. Gage’s work is further elucidated in the book by the critical musings of eminent architects and cultural touchstones Peter Eisenman and Robert A.M. Stern.

#books #architecture | How to read architecture : an introduction to interpreting the built environment

How to read architecture : an introduction to interpreting the built environment / Paulette Singley.
New York [etc.] : Routledge, 2019.
VIII, 401 p. : il.
ISBN 9780415836203
/ EN / Libros / Arquitectura – Estética / Arquitectura – Filosofía / Espacio (Arquitectura)
ehuBiblioteca BCG A-72.013 HOW
https://ehu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1126314158

‘How to Read Architecture’ is based on the fundamental premise that reading and interpreting architecture is something we already do, and that close observation matters. This book enhances this skill so that given an unfamiliar building, you will have the tools to understand it and to be inspired by it. Author Paulette Singley encourages you to misread, closely read, conventionally read, and unconventionally read architecture to stimulate your creative process. 

This book explores three essential ways to help you understand architecture: reading a building from the outside-in, from the inside-out, and from the position of out-and-out, or formal, architecture. This book erodes boundaries between the frequently compartmentalized fields of interior design, landscape design, and building design with chapters exploring concepts of ‘terroir’, scenography, criticality, atmosphere, tectonics, inhabitation, type, form, and enclosure. Using examples and case studies that span a wide range of historical and global precedents, Singley addresses the complex interaction among the ways a building engages its context, addresses its performative exigencies, and operates as an autonomous aesthetic object.　 

Including over 300 images, this book is an essential read for both undergraduate and postgraduate students of architecture with a global focus on the interpretation of buildings in their context.

#books #architecture | Mathias Goeritz : modernist art and architecture in Cold War Mexico

Mathias Goeritz : modernist art and architecture in Cold War Mexico / Jennifer Josten.
New Haven : Yale University Press, [2018].
XI, 339 p. : il.
ISBN 9780300228601
/ EN / Libros / Arquitectura – Siglo XX – México / Mathias Goeritz / Modernismo (Arte)
ehuBiblioteka BCG A-72GOERITZ MAT
https://ehu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1127567798
 

The first major work in English on Mathias Goeritz (1915-1990), this book illuminates the artist’s pivotal role within the landscape of twentieth-century modernism. Goeritz became recognized as an abstract sculptor after arriving in Mexico from Germany by way of Spain in 1949. His call to integrate abstract forms into civic and religious architecture, outlined in his “Emotional Architecture” manifesto, had a transformative impact on midcentury Mexican art and design.

 

While best known for the experimental museum El Eco and his collaborations with the architect Luis Barragán, including the brightly colored towers of Satellite City, Goeritz also shaped the Bauhaus-inspired curriculum at Guadalajara’s School of Architecture and the iconic Cultural Program of Mexico City’s 1968 Olympic Games. Josten addresses the Cold War implications of these and other initiatives that pitted Goeritz, an advocate of internationalist abstraction, against Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros, ardent defenders of the realist style that prevailed in official Mexican art during the postrevolutionary period. Exploring Goeritz’s dialogues with leading figures among the Parisian and New York avant-gardes, such as Yves Klein and Philip Johnson, Josten shows how Goeritz’s approach to modernism, which was highly attuned to politics and place, formed part of a global enterprise.

#books #architecture | Reglazing modernism: intervention strategies for 20th-century icon

Reglazing modernism: intervention strategies for 20th-century icons / by Angel Ayón, Uta Pottgiesser, Nathaniel Richards.
Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag GmbH, 2019.
256 p. : il.
ISBN 9783035618457
/ ES / Libros / Arquitectura – Conservación y restauración / Arquitectura – Siglo XX / Modernismo (Arte)
ehuBiblioteka BCG A-72.025.4 REG
https://ehu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1126588598

The worldwide use of building envelopes in steel and glass is one of the characteristic features of modern architecture. Many of these pre- and post-war buildings are now suffering severe defects in the building fabric, which necessitate measures to preserve the buildings. In this endeavor, aspects of architectural design, building physics, and the preservation of historic buildings play a key role. The book documents 20 iconic buildings.

#books #architecture | Gordon Bunshaft and SOM : building corporate modernism

Gordon Bunshaft and SOM : building corporate modernism / Nicholas Adams.
New Haven : Yale University Press, 2019.
VII, 288 p. : il.
ISBN 9780300227475
/ EN / Libros / Arquitectura – Siglo XX – Estados Unidos / Gordon Bunshaft / Nueva York / Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
ehuBiblioteka BCG A-72BUNSHAFT GOR
https://ehu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1126995974

Gordon Bunshaft’s (1909–1990) landmark 1952 design for Lever House reshaped the Manhattan skyline and elevated the reputation of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the firm where he would spend more than 40 years as a partner. Although this enigmatic architect left behind few records, his legacy endures in the corporate headquarters, museums, and libraries that were built in his distinctive modernist style. Bunshaft’s career was marked by shifts in material. Glass and steel structures of the 1950s, such as New York’s Chase Manhattan Bank, gave way to revolutionary designs in concrete, such as the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University and the doughnut-shaped Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC. Bunshaft’s collaborations with artists, including Isamu Noguchi, Jean Dubuffet, and Henry Moore, were of paramount importance throughout his career.

Nicholas Adams explores the contested line between Bunshaft’s ambition for acclaim as a singular artistic genius and the collaborative structure of SOM’s architectural partnership. Bunshaft received the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1988 and remains the only SOM partner to have achieved this distinction. Adams counters Bunshaft’s maxim that “the building speaks for itself” with necessary critical context about this modernist moment at a time when the future of Bunshaft’s iconic works is very much in question.

#llibres #arquitectura | Josep Puig i Cadafalch i la recerca de la modernitat

Josep Puig i Cadafalch i la recerca de la modernitat / Víctor Gómez.
Barcelona : Universitat de Barcelona Edicions, [2019].
757 p. : il.
Serie: Biblioteca universitaria.
ISBN 9788491682332
/ CAT / Libros / Arquitectura – Siglo XX – Cataluña / Barcelona / Josep Puig i Cadafalch / Modernismo (Arte) – Cataluña
ehuBiblioteka BCG A-72PUIG JOS
https://ehu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1120119315

Josep Puig i Cadafalch (1867-1956), home d’esperit inquiet, va brillar en múltiples facetes. Va ser arquitecte, historiador de l’art, professor de l’Escola d’Arquitectura de Barcelona, i es va comprometre amb la realitat social del seu temps fins a arribar a la primera línia de la política. Amb un viu interès per les construccions medievals catalanes —expressió dels orígens de la història de Catalunya que va adaptar al gust de la seva època—, Puig i Cadafalch va posar les bases de la modernització de l’arquitectura, transitant pels diferents moviments europeus i nord-americans de renovació artística. Aquest llibre mostra l’evolució de la pràctica totalitat d’una obra reconeguda arreu del món i constitueix la recopilació més notable dels projectes d’aquest prolífic arquitecte, il·lustrada amb un miler de fotografies que permeten contemplar edificis i detalls tan insòlits com dignes d’admiració.

#llibres #arquitectura | Manuel Sayrach : 1886-1937 : arquitectura i modernisme a Barcelona

Manuel Sayrach : 1886-1937 : arquitectura i modernisme a Barcelona.
[Barcelona] ; Ajuntament de Barcelona, [2018].
236 p. : il.
Incluye (p. 213-232) la reproducción del manuscrito “L'arquitectura nova”, escrito por Sayrach en 1909.
ISBN 9788491561644
/ CAT / Libro / Arquitectura – Siglo XX – Cataluña / Barcelona / Manuel Sayrach / Modernismo (Arte) – Cataluña
ehuBiblioteka BCG A-72SAYRACH MAN
https://ehu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1103684722

Manuel Sayrach (Barcelona, 1886 - Sant Feliu de Llobregat, 1937) va ser l’arquitecte de dues cases emblemàtiques a l’encreuament de la Diagonal amb el carrer d’Enric Granados, però també va escriure obres de teatre i textos polítics. Artista polièdric i poc conegut, aquest llibre ofereix un repàs integral a la producció de Manuel Sayrach. Inclou per primera vegada la reproducció del manuscrit «L’arquitectura nova», en què l’artista plasma el seu ideari basat en la força de la natura.

Reivindicació de l'arquitecte modernista Manuel Sayrach
Gustau Nerín | El Nacional, 2019-01-04
https://www.elnacional.cat/ca/cultura/manuel-sayrach-arquitectura-modernisme-casa-montserrat_338145_102.html

El modernisme està de moda i avui en dia molta gent exalça les construccions de Gaudí, de Jujol i de Domènech i Montaner, però és més inusual que es mencioni l'obra de Manuel Sayrach i Carreras (1886-1937), un seguidor de Gaudí, molt menys prolífic que el seu mestre, però que va deixar algunes obres de gran espectacularitat, sobretot les cases Montserrat i Sayrach, a la cantonada de la Diagonal amb Enric Granados. Un racó molt poc conegut de Barcelona però d'un gran encant. Ara, l'Ajuntament de Barcelona reivindica la seva figura amb el llibre ‘Manuel Sayrach, 1886-1937. Arquitectura i modernisme a Barcelona’. L'obra incorpora textos de Josep M. Montaner, Francesc Fontbona, Núria Gil Farré i de dos fills de l'arquitecte: Manuel i Jaume-Patriç. I es completa amb un ampli ventall de fotos de Consol Bancells de les obres de Sayrach i amb reproduccions de nombrosos documents procedents de l'arxiu familiar dels Sayrach.

Imatge: El Nacional / Casa Sayrach

Dos obres completes
La Casa Sayrach i la Casa Montserrat, des del vestíbul, mostren la seva esplendor, amb tots els elements característics del modernisme: trencadís, estucats, esgrafiats, espectaculars vitralls, originals mobles en fusta o en metall, uns ascensors fora de sèrie, delicat treball de forja a baranes i reixes... Les sinuoses formes arquitectòniques remeten a la natura: estalactites, tentacles, fulles... Fins i tot els números dels pisos estan acuradament treballats. El llibre ens permet veure també alguns elements decoratius que es conserven a alguns dels habitatges: cadires, paviments hidràulics, vitralls, radiadors...

Molt més que un arquitecte
Sayrach (1886-1937) era fill d'un cirurgià i des de molt jove va ser col·laborador de La Publicitat i La Veu de Catalunya. Abans de començar estudis d'arquitectura i ciències ja havia publicat alguns llibres (a més a més d'obres literàries va publicar una constitució per a la República dels Estats Ibèrics que va presentar a Francesc Macià). La seva primera obra arquitectònica va ser la restauració de la seva torre familiar, a Sant Feliu, que dissortadament ja ha desaparegut. El 1915 va fer el projecte de la Casa Sayrach, però com que encara no tenia títol va haver de signar-lo un dels seus professors. El 1924 construiria, amb menys pressupost, la veïna Casa Montserrat. Treballava clarament influït pel modernisme en uns moments on el noucentisme s'estava imposant, i per això potser va ser poc valorat. No va fer moltes obres més, perquè durant molt de temps es va dedicar a dirigir l'empresa familiar d'assegurances. A més a més, algunes de les seves construccions van ser destruïdes durant la guerra i d'altres projectes, com el monument a Pi i Margall, mai no van arribar a aixecar-se. Tot i que mai no va ser dirigent de cap partit sempre va ser partidari del catalanisme i del republicanisme.

L'estil "catalàunich"
Tot i no ser molt prolífic, el 1909 va escriure un opuscle en què expressava la seva forma de veure el món de l'arquitectura: L'arquitectura nova. Estil catalàunich. Es tractava d'una reivindicació de la natura com a font d'inspiració de l'arquitectura. També va fer uns 2.000 dibuixos, de petites dimensions, que va agrupar a l'àlbum Croquis d'arquitectura, on compilava elements arquitectònics i ornamentals. Sayrach va treballar poc com a arquitecte, però va tenir la sort de no haver-se de condicionar a ningú (de fet, a les dues cases de la Diagonal, ell mateix va controlar tots i cadascun dels elements arquitectònics i ornamentals). En arquitectura va fer realment allò que va voler i va deixar volar la seva imaginació com pocs. De fet, ell presentava la Casa Sayrach com a mostra de l'arquitectura purament catalana, sense estrangerismes. Afirmava que volia reflectir l'ànima del país, i per això hi va incloure detalls que reproduïen la muntanya de Montserrat i també un bon nombre d'elements marítims: des de l'esquelet d'una balena fins a xarxes de pescar.

Retornar Sayrach al lloc que mereix
Aquest llibre té la clara voluntat de reivindicar la figura de Sayrach i la seva arquitectura i sens dubte ho aconsegueix. Ja que la Casa Sayrach i la Casa Montserrat són edificis privats, on hi ha oficines i vivendes, aquest llibre, amb les magnífiques fotografies de Consol Bancells, és una forma d'apropar-se a les interioritats d'un edifici que no és a l'abast de tothom. I, a més a més, el text ens aporta elements per entendre les claus simbòliques de l'obra de Sayrach, que té nombrosos referents religiosos, històrics o estètics que aquest llibre ens ajuda a descobrir. Una obra idònia per recuperar un personatge, i per revaloritzar un patrimoni no prou destacat.

LECTURAS
Un autor para la Casa de la Nata
El edificio fue levantado por Manuel Sayrach, arquitecto tan notable como desconocido cuya producción suma solo dos construcciones en la ciudad
Natàlia Farré | El Periódico, 2018-12-19
https://www.elperiodico.com/es/barcelona/20181219/manuel-sayrach-arquitecto-casa-de-la-nata-7211395

#books #architecture | Atlas of mid-century modern houses

Atlas of mid-century modern houses / Dominic Bradbury.
London [etc.] : Phaidon, 2019.
439 p. : il.
ISBN 9780714876740
/ EN / Libros / Arquitectura – Siglo XX / Arquitectura doméstica / Casas individuales / Chalets
ehuBiblioteka BCG A-728.3 ATL
https://ehu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1126995590

A groundbreaking global survey of the finest mid-20th-century homes - one of the most popular styles of our time. A fascinating collection of more than 400 of the world's most glamorous homes from more than 290 architects, the ‘Atlas of Mid-Century Modern Houses’ showcases work by such icons as Marcel Breuer, Richard Neutra, Alvar Aalto, and Oscar Niemeyer alongside extraordinary but virtually unknown houses in Australia, Africa, and Asia. A thoroughly researched, comprehensive appraisal, this book is a must-have for all design aficionados, Mid-Century Modern collectors, and readers looking for inspiration for their own homes.

#books #architecture | Housing : Vandkunsten Architects

Housing : Vandkunsten Architects / Anne-Mette Manelius (ed.).
Stockholm : Arvinius+Orfeus Publishing AB, 2018.
94 p. : il.
ISBN 9789187543708
/ EN / Libros / Arquitectura – Siglo XXI – Dinamarca / Arquitectura doméstica / Inmuebles para vivienda / Vandkunsten Architects
ehuBiblioteka BCG A-728.2 HOU
https://ehu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1121629305

With a portfolio of hundreds of housing projects, Vandkunsten Architects is renowned for designing quality spaces for affordable living. This volume is part of a series about projects by the Danish firm that are representative of its work throughout the years. Ten ongoing or recent projects are selected that feature social, minimal, exclusive, and quite ordinary settings in which people live, ranging from container residences and social housing to luxury living in Oslo Fjord. Modest budgets call for efficient construction techniques, yet the office pursues maximum architectural freedom in its designs, whether using prefab timber-frame box modules, solid wood, or concrete elements.

#books #architecture | Data-driven design and construction : 25 strategies for capturing, analyzing and applying building data

Data-driven design and construction : 25 strategies for capturing, analyzing and applying building data / Randy Deutsch.
Hoboken, New Jersey : Wiley, 2015.
ISBN 9781118898703
/ EN / Libros / Arquitectura – Infomática / Arquitectura – Práctica / Construcción – Informática
ehuBiblioteka BCG A-72:681.3 DAT
https://ehu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1125151975

In this comprehensive book, Professor Randy Deutsch has unlocked and laid bare the twenty-first century codice nascosto of architecture. It is data. Big data. Data as driver. This book offers us the chance to become informed and knowledgeable pursuers of data and the opportunities it offers to making architecture a wonderful, useful, and smart art form."--The Foreword by James Timberlake, FAIA Written for architects, engineers, contractors, owners, and educators, and based on today's technology and practices, Data-Driven Design and Construction: 25 Strategies for Capturing, Applying and Analyzing Building Data addresses how innovative individuals and firms are using data to remain competitive while advancing their practices. seeks to address and rectify a gap in our learning, by explaining to architects, engineers, contractors and owners--and students of these fields--how to acquire and use data to make more informed decisions. documents how data-driven design is the new frontier of the convergence between BIM and architectural computational analyses and associated tools. is a book of adaptable strategies you and your organization can apply today to make the most of the data you have at your fingertips. Data-Driven Design and Construction was written to help design practitioners and their project teams make better use of BIM, and leverage data throughout the building lifecycle.