RCR ARQUITECTES ILLUSTRATIVE PROCESS CAPTURES THE MEMORY OF AN ATMOSPHERE
Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem and Ramón Vilalta, founded RCR Arquitectes in 1988 in their hometown of Olot, Spain. The Pritzker Architecture Prize winning studio is praised for such works as the Soulages Museum in Rodez, France made of weathered steel-clad boxes and their own studio, Barberí Laboratory, built within the renovated walls of a foundry.
At the heart of their practice is the extensive application of gouache and ink drawings they create to express the abstraction of architecture. A language that links the conceptual world with the concrete, their ink gouaches ‘are similar to the liquid world of dreams’ that lend themselves to seduce and inspire the creative process while making a path toward the materialization of built space.
In this interview with MATERIA and RCR Arquitectes principles share their creative origins, artistic practice and their perspective on the relationship between art and architecture.