0 CommentsBenedetta Tagliabue was born in Milan and graduated from the University of Venice in 1989. In 1991, she joined Enric Miralles's 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 EMBT won the competition to design the New Scottish Parliament building, and, despite Miralles's 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.
Today, under the direction of Tagliabue, the Miralles-Tagliabue-EMBT studio works with architectural projects, open spaces, urbanism, rehabilitation and exhibitions, trying to preserve the spirit of the Spanish and Italian artisan architectural studio tradition.
In 2005, Benedetta Tagliabue collected the RIBA Stirling Prize for the design of the New Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh, probably the most controversial building of this century. It was five years after her husband Enric Miralles's untimely death. He was also her partner in the architectural studio EMBT, and one of the most promising architects of recent times, who would not live to see his work built. Tagliabue has made sure that those projects would be completed and her team is now recognised as one of Europe's top firms in architecture.
You were born in Milan and studied at the architecture school in Venice. What made you settle in Spain?
I have been very lucky in this sense, having always managed to live and work in wonderful cities. Venice was an exceptional experience and a great school of architecture. Then I moved to New York to continue my studies. It was there that I met Enric Miralles. Well, I fell in love and thought it would be a good idea to move to Barcelona, another great city, where, at the time of course, there was a lot of work for architects. These were the years immediately before the Olympic Games were held there in 1992.
Miralles was considered the ‘enfant terrible’ of Spanish architecture. The New York Times of February 10, 2006, described Miralles as, “a sensualist, whose curvaceous forms imbued architecture with a lost sense of pleasure…”.
It is now seven years since his death. Can this still be said of the firm EMBT?
I don’t know, it is difficult to say and never nice for one to describe oneself in this manner… In any case, it will always be difficult to define oneself. One learns most by being able to look back, in retrospect. When we do an exhibition, for example, much as we used to do when Enric was alive, it is about taking the opportunity to present the work almost as an excuse for reviewing it and trying to come up with something new.
You and EMBT moved on with great energy to complete the works started, but which Enric would not be fortunate enough to see any of them complete – most notably the New Scottish Parliament. All works conceived at a time of great recognition of Enric and your firm’s work. It cannot have been easy. You had an exhibition, Work In Progress, and Enric was honoured with Gold Medal of the Catalonian architects association. What is your mission today?
Much the same as it was then. We have developed a strong legacy, and the success and pleasure of having completed the projects in that exhibition, other than, unfortunately, the new IUAV Istituto Universitario of Venice, where I had studied. Each project presents a new challenge, a new opportunity and is to be treated in a totally distinct manner from the previous one. Accompanied with a high level of conceptual thought, innovation and exploration.
You are now involved in several new projects, many outside Barcelona, across Europe, almost like a second generation office. But you do not seem to rely on any particular building type or any specific typology. You deal a lot with projects involving public spaces and landscape ideas…
Yes, we do. Well, buildings and landscape, they are much the same thing, you cannot treat one without considering the other, there are always strong contextual issues. I like to think that we at EMBT, look at things from above. We do not consider ourselves as specialists nor would we wish others to think of us in that way. We are not experts, we are architects; there is a difference. I believe that architects still have and must retain a central role in projects and of course, achieve completion and success with the direct collaboration of the specialists. It is important to have good working relationships in this sense. This permits the architect to focus his energies on breaking new boundaries, to be innovative, to come up with architecture which has no limits put to it. This facilitates the relationship and overlap between architecture and the environment that holds it.
You collaborated with film director Bigas Luna to produce a documentary on the work of EMBT…
Yes we had. We are good friends and at the time he was thinking of setting up a school and was interested in working with us, as co-producers. It was an interesting experiment, but was never repeated. He went back to mainstream film-making and we pursued building buildings. We are still very good friends.
What type of office is EMBT? Why would one want to work there? Which type of architect does it attract?
It is set in a historical district in beautiful Barcelona and young architects with a passion for experimentation find it a very attractive experience to undergo. It is also supported by the interest generated by the possibility of working on a wide range of diverse design projects.
I noticed that this month you participated in a Workshop in France called, Eating The City, and that five years ago you also collaborated on another project entitled, People, Projects and Food. Are you trying to tell us something here?
That’s funny… No, I can’t think of any direct relationship or any particular theme evolving. Unless of course, it is a result of our involvement in the renovation of the Santa Caterina food market in Barcelona which remains one of our favourite projects.
Tell us more about that…
Well, it is a dream project, isn’t it? It’s about celebration, daily event, happiness, and good architecture, and good food – they all go so well together. This market is in a very special area of the city, a beautiful area, one that was marginalised at the time of the Olympic Games and that got no funding and therefore no regeneration. But it is also the area where Enric and I chose to live and work, and it is the same market where we bought our food. It is a beautiful secret place where you can engage in deep conversation with the city. The project stopped this area’s destruction. Markets are of immense importance to any city.
Which project are you most excited about at the moment?
Without doubt the subway and train station Centro Direzionale in Naples, in Italy. It is great to work in my home country, but above all it is so important to be involved in any project that could assist to shift Italy out of the architectural paralysis it has been in for too long now.
OK, then let’s conclude very much in the same way we started… What makes Spain so special? How did it achieve its revered place in architecture and design in such a short time?
I think it is a chemistry consisting of a lot of different things. First of all, it is not true that we are all the same in the Mediterranean; there are for example, great differences between Italy and Spain. I think the main reason is the Second World War and the scale of funds available immediately at its end for reconstruction. Spain was not in the war; it had a civil war and no funds. Only a dictator. This left great impact. Above all, it meant that the post-Franco years have been full of energy, passion and enthusiasm, a perfect recipe for quality architecture. There is also an excellent relationship between the authorities and the architects. The architect still has an important role here in Spain.
