Description by Foundation Enric Miralles
The exhibition MIRALLES. A quarts de quatre... is part of the MIRALLES events, promoted by the Fundació Enric Miralles with the support of the Barcelona City Council and the Generalitat de Catalunya, in order to honour the figure of the Catalan architect Enric Miralles in his many facets as a creator, and whose death marked 20 years in 2020.
The curators of the MIRALLES events are Benedetta Tagliabue and Joan Roig i Duran, and also collaborating are the Miralles Tagliabue EMBT architecture studio, the Escola Tècnica Superior d'Arquitectura (ETSAB) and the Col·legi d'Arquitectes de Catalunya (COAC).
The expression “A quarts de quatre” in Catalan indicates uncertainty. It refers to a period of time that can range from shortly after the first quarter of an hour to shortly before three quarters of an hour.
This is the starting point to explain the way of working of Miralles, an architect who approached projects collecting a large amount of information, analyzing all variables exhaustively and handling multiple unknowns at the same time, with an enormous capacity to manage uncertainty in the initial phase of the orders.
MIRALLES. A quarts de quatre...
In 1956, thirty years after his death, Barcelona paid tribute to Antoni Gaudí at this very Saló del Tinell, with a large exhibition of his work. Sixty five years later, with the exhibition that is now being presented, Barcelona wants to remember and pay tribute to another great architect, twenty years after his death.
Enric Miralles (Barcelona, 1955, Sant Feliu de Codines, 2000), who died prematurely at the age of 45, is one of the leading figures in Catalan and Spanish architecture and is internationally recognized for his work, as well as for his teaching, in multiple universities of the world.
The exhibition presented here, along with those that can be seen in other places in the city during this year 2021, want to show the legacy of Enric Miralles in architecture, but also in design and artistic creation, as well as his imprint on current generations.
The exhibition presents four works projected and built over 15 years: the Igualada Cemetery Park, the Huesca Basketball Pavilion, the Santa Caterina Market and Neighborhood in Barcelona, as well as the New Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. Throughout his life Enric always worked accompanied, since it was a vital need for him to share work and study with his partners and collaborators. Each project, at the time it was built, represented a major milestone in the evolution of his architecture and the four together make up the essence of his work. We wanted to show them with Enric's most personal documents, sketches, drawings, models and photographs, trying to make them accessible to the general public to whom, fundamentally, this exhibition is directed.
- IGUALADA CEMETERY PARK
First prize in competition, 1985
Enric Miralles and Carme Pinós
Revision of project, 1986-1987
First phase of construction, 1988-1991
Subsequent phases of construction, from 1993 onwards
This was the first important project awarded and constructed, to great international acclaim. Surrounded by mountains, the cemetery is embedded in the ground and blends into a stepped landscape that blurs in a continuous fluid progression. The project provides an example of the importance that Enric Miralles attached to nature and the land, which from this point on would always feature strongly in his work.
The cemetery was conceived as a space for reflection and recollection, where visitors could begin to understand and accept the cycle of life as a link between past, present and future.
The sacred mountain of Montserrat is secretly present in many details of this project.The architect Enric Miralles himself is buried in this Cemetery Park, which he continued to design throughout his career.
- HUESCA BASKETBALL HALL
First prize in competition, 1988
Enric Miralles, Carme Pinós, Robert Brufau and Agustí Obiol
Constructed between 1990 and 1994
The project consists of three distinct parts: low tiered seating dug into the ground, in the style of a Greek theatre; high tiered seating supported by a hypostyle structure; and finally, a large roof.
According to the plans, the roof was to be suspended by some metal cables attached, on one side, to six concrete structures, and on the other, to two gigantic free-standing pillars.
On 13 April 1993, the roof structure, still under construction, fell to the ground during the night. This put the young architect Enric Miralles in a very difficult situation. He received many warm letters of support. Finally, construction work was continued, thanks to an agreement between the parties, with a new, simpler roof, duly supported, which was also designed by Enric Miralles.
In 1996, Miralles won the Golden Lion Award at the 6th International Architecture Biennale in Venice with an installation about the Huesca sports hall.
- MARKET AND DISTRICT OF SANTA CATERINA IN BARCELONA
First prize in competition, 1995
Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue
Construction of the market and apartment blocks, 1999-2005
Construction of the district, from 1999 to the present day
The project aimed to renovate the market and to reorganise the district in which it is located. While this project was being designed, Enric Miralles was actually living in the district of Santa Caterina. This heightened his involvement in both the area and the work.
The project paid close attention to the history of the market, which had formerly been the site of an important convent, and sought to improve the environment by blending elements of the past and the present. Thanks to the design of the roof and the colours chosen, the market has become an icon, both within the city and internationally.
For Enric Miralles, Santa Caterina was a project in which he found fulfilment, due to the links with his city, his family, the neighbourhood, food, people… A monument to everyday life.
- NEW SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT BUILDING IN EDINBURGH
First prize in competition, July 1998
Enric Miralles, Benedetta Tagliabue and RMJM Scotland
Construction, 1999-2004
This project harnessed all the research and experience he had accumulated in the course of his career: respect for the environment, the history of the place as the driving force behind the project, topographic work and the construction of innovative roof structures.
He carved out an earthen amphitheatre at the foot of the magnificent hill known as Arthur’s Seat, opposite the ancient Royal Palace of Holyrood. He wanted this amphitheatre to evoke the first meetings of the Scottish clans to deliberate.
Like a wooden ship, the Debating Chamber is anchored on this primitive earthen amphitheatre. The public enter below the Chamber, in a vaulted area, as if they were underground, and then they move up towards the light to where the elected politicians debate in the refined ritual of democracy.
In the exhibition you can see sketches, models, technical drawings and photos retouched with cuts or collage. This will be the first time that these materials, from Fundació Enric Miralles’s archive, have been accessed. In addition, four videos have been created showing each of the projects, with interviews with people linked to them: politicians, artisans, architects…
Enric Miralles Moya (Barcelona 1955 - Sant Feliu de Codines 2000) studied at the Barcelona School of Architecture, ETSAB, graduating in 1978. From 1973 to 1983 he collaborated with Albert Viaplana and Helio Piñón, and in 1984 he founded the Enric Miralles and Carme Pinós studio, from this stage one of his most poetic works stands out, such as the Igualada Cemetery. In 1993 he began the EMBT study with his wife and partner Benedetta Tagliabue.
Considered an architect of great inventiveness, he defined himself as the enfant terrible of Spanish architecture. He was a Fulbright Visiting Professor at Columbia University for the 1980-81 academic year. Two years later, he presented his doctoral thesis "Things seen to the left and the right, (without glasses)."
Since 1985 he was professor at ETSAB (Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona), holding the Chair of Architecture since 1996. In 1990 he began as Director and Professor of the Master Class at Städelschule of Frankfurt and beginning in 1992 served as the "Kenzo Tange Chair” professor at the GSD of Harvard University. Moreover, he was visiting professor and lecturer at several universities in the United States (Columbia, Princeton, Harvard, Yale), Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, and a member of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland.
As an architect of many works, his projects include, the Igualada Cemetery in Spain (1995) and the rehabilitation of Utrecht City Hall in Holland (2000). He was also active as an interior designer, with projects including The Hipostila shelving system(1989) in collaboration with Lluis Clotet and Oscar Tusquets Blanca for Bd Ediciones de Diseño, Lungomare Bench for Escofet,(2000), Vacante bench for Sellex (1991), and many other furnishing designs which were not put in production.
He has received numerous awards, including the National Prize of Spanish Architecture 1995, FAD Prize (Fomento Artes Decorativas) 1985 and 2000, The European ITALSTAD (Italy) 1991. Leone d’Oro Prize at the Biennale di Venezia 1996. His work has been published internationally in the most distinguished reviews, El Croquis N.100 101, Enric Miralles Benedetta Tagliabue 1996-2000. GG. Miralles Tagliabue Time Architecture 1999. Electa, Documenti di Architettutra. Benedetta Tagliabue. Enric Miralles: Opere e Progetti. 1996. In 1999 he was named an Honorary member of The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland. In 2002 he received posthumously the Gold Medal from the Col·legi d'Arquitectes de Catalunya.
Benedetta Tagliabue was born in Milan and graduated from the University of Venice in 1989. In 1991 she joined Enric Miralles’ studio where she eventually became a partner. Her work with Miralles, whom she married, includes a number of high profile buildings and projects in Barcelona: Parque Diagonal Mar (1997-2002), Head Office Gas Natural (1999-2006) and the Market and quarter Santa Caterina (1996-2005), as well as projects across Europe, including the School of Music in Hamburg (1997-2000) and the City Hall in Utrecht (1996-2000).
In 1998, the partnership won the competition to design the new Scottish Parliament building and despite Miralles’ premature death in 2000, Tagliabue took leadership of the team as joint Project Director and the Parliament was successfully completed in 2004, winning several awards.
She won the competition for the new design of Hafencity Harbor in Hamburg , Germany, for a subway train station in Naples and for the Spanish Pavilion for Expo Shanghai 2010 among others.
Today under the direction of Benedetta Tagliabue the Miralles-Tagliabue-EMBT studio works with architectural projects, open spaces, urbanism, rehabilitation and exhibitions, trying to conserve the spirit of the Spanish and Italian artisan architectural studio tradition which espouses collaboration rather than specialization.
Their architectural philosophy is dedicating special attention to context.
Benedetta has written for several architectural magazines and has taught at, amongst other places, the University of architecture ETSAB in Barcelona. She has lectured in many international architectural Forums as, for example, the RIBA, the Architectural Association and Bartlett School in, London, the Berlage Institut in Amsterdam, and in USA, China and South America.
Joan Roig Duran has taught Architectural Projects at the ETSAB since 1984, and has lectured at the Barcelona School of Agriculture and been visiting professor at the following schools, among others: the Academie van Boukunst (Rotterdam, Holland); Delft University of Technology (Holland); the ILAUD-International Laboratory of Architecture and Urban Design (Urbino, Italy); the IUAV-Istituto Universitario di Architettura (Venice, Italy); the Faculty of Architecture (Genoa, Italy); the ITU, Faculty of Architecture of Istanbul (Turkey); Washington University (St. Louis, USA); the University of Illinois (Chicago, USA); the École Supérieure du Paysage de Versailles (France); the Technische Universität (Munich, Germany); Universität Stuttgart (Germany), and the School of Architecture of Navarre (Pamplona).
His work has won several awards and has been the subject of several publications.
