Kersten Geers and David Van Severen draw buildings of bold shapes and exact spatial sequences, in a bid for conceptual clarity that the Belgian architects also show in their writings and lectures. In this ambiguous position between practice and theory, their free-spirited handling of history, types, and programs comes naturally, but never at the cost of the pragmatism that comes with the profession, as shown in the six recent works – three public and three private – featured in Arquitectura Viva.
For its part, the new issue’s dossier presents the current architecture scene of Morocco, a land hovering between its rich building tradition and the innovation associated with vertiginous economic development. El Mehdi Belyasmine and Khalil Morad El Ghilali, curators of the country’s pavilion at the ongoing Venice Architecture Biennale, write on a selection of five projects: Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique in Ben Guerir, by Bofill Taller de Arquitectura; the interpretation center of Volubilis in Meknes, by Oualalou+Choi; the Musée Yves Saint Laurent in Marrakech, by Studio KO; Guelmim Airport, by Groupe3Architectes; and the revitalization of Place Lalla Yeddouna in the medina of Fez, by Mossessian and Yassir Khalil.
In the Art and Culture section, Oscar Tusquets reflects on a design problem that dates back to Greek temples, and Juan Miró Sardá recounts the collaboration between Fernando Higueras and Antonio Miró using their shared interest in circular compositions as guiding thread. The usual News and Books pages are complemented with an essay where Luis Fernández-Galiano conjures up the figure of Léon Krier in the wake of his demise.
Kersten Geers and David Van Severen draw buildings of bold shapes and exact spatial sequences, in a bid for conceptual clarity that the Belgian architects also show in their writings and lectures. In this ambiguous position between practice and theory, their free-spirited handling of history, types, and programs comes naturally, but never at the cost of the pragmatism that comes with the profession, as shown in the six recent works – three public and three private – featured in Arquitectura Viva.
For its part, the new issue’s dossier presents the current architecture scene of Morocco, a land hovering between its rich building tradition and the innovation associated with vertiginous economic development. El Mehdi Belyasmine and Khalil Morad El Ghilali, curators of the country’s pavilion at the ongoing Venice Architecture Biennale, write on a selection of five projects: Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique in Ben Guerir, by Bofill Taller de Arquitectura; the interpretation center of Volubilis in Meknes, by Oualalou+Choi; the Musée Yves Saint Laurent in Marrakech, by Studio KO; Guelmim Airport, by Groupe3Architectes; and the revitalization of Place Lalla Yeddouna in the medina of Fez, by Mossessian and Yassir Khalil.
In the Art and Culture section, Oscar Tusquets reflects on a design problem that dates back to Greek temples, and Juan Miró Sardá recounts the collaboration between Fernando Higueras and Antonio Miró using their shared interest in circular compositions as guiding thread. The usual News and Books pages are complemented with an essay where Luis Fernández-Galiano conjures up the figure of Léon Krier in the wake of his demise.
