SLATS FAÇADES

The Venetian blind pays homage to the shade, as a subtle mechanism capable of showcasing the light. Because, all in all, light is all we have left. We architects build spaces for the light to inhabit. Is an element of climate control that provides thermal inertia to the façade. The recent curtain walls, inside which access can be made for maintenance or cleaning operations, are of that same trend, and they reactivate a certain value that architecture, because of a poorly understood technology, had discarded in the 70s. The grids on the Bank of Bilbao by Oiza, as well as Foster’s latest office buildings in Germany, are the modern inflections that Barragan in Mexico, Browner in Ibiza or Sostres in the Catalan Pyrenees utilized as the cornerstone of vernacular architecture.

In all of those projects, there are grids that fold up as a secret tribute to Gaudi, and wood planks nailed on a wall, like Aalto did in Muuratsalo. Because there is no such a thing as modern vs classic architecture, except subtle differences, or differences not worth mentioning.

We highlight some of the architects who write about their buildings in this book: Ábalos y Herreros, Octavi Mestre, Jean Nouvel Ateliers – Ribas & Ribas Arquitectos, Álvaro Siza, Ruiz-Larrea & Asociados