The Scottish Parliament, "a magnificent building by Enric Miralles"

BarcelonaAlthough already an internationally renowned architect, in the summer of 1998, Enric Miralles (1955-2000) stunned everyone when, along with his wife and partner Benedetta Tagliabue, he won the competition to build the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. As the British Minister for Scotland, Donald Dewar, said at the time, Miralles beat out his rivals, including American Richard Meier, "through his energy, imagination, and creative flair." "Enric Miralles is one of the most interesting and respected architects working today, and he showed enormous enthusiasm for the project," Dewar emphasized.

Instead of a monumental building, Miralles and Taglibue, who collaborated with the local studio RMJM, proposed different modules that dialogue with each other and with the site. The drawings and plans for these modules can be seen starting this Thursday in the foyer of the Scottish Parliament project. "Every time I return to Edinburgh and see the building, I think it looks better than when we opened it. It's been maintained perfectly," says Benedetta Tagliabue. Of the entire complex, Tagliabue holds a particular value for one part of the building: "The hemicycle is stunningly beautiful and also looks very contemporary because it's made with a wood and steel structure and wooden elements that were very innovative at the time," recalls the architect.

To design the Parliament, Miralles was inspired by an image of highland boats, and from there, with the chamber at the heart of the complex, he developed other elements, including an office building, a press tower, and an administrative area. Another of the Parliament's most emblematic parts is the courtyard covered with fireflies reminiscent of other boats or leaves that connect them. Unfortunately, Miralles's death prevented him from seeing the completion of what is considered his finest work. "It is possibly the building that most truly represents the art of Enric Miralles," says Tagliabue. "I like to say, especially since he was Enric's great teacher, that Rafael Moneo came to Edinburgh expressly to visit the Scottish Parliament and said that it is the best building of Enric Miralles's career. There is no doubt about the authorship of this building, but that is not the case. This building absolutely bears within it all the characteristics of Enric's architecture."

The premature death of the Barcelona architect was not the only occasion. A few months later, Donald Dewar, the political driving force behind the building, died. During construction work, the cost of the building increased tenfold, exceeding 600 million euros, following changes requested by the authorities. The inauguration was delayed compared to the planned deadlines and finally took place in the autumn of 2004. "A parliamentary commission was set up to clarify why the building cost more than initially stated. Those were the most stressful years of my life, because at the same time we were trying to finish the buildings, we were also doing that research, which was extremely tough," Tagliabue recalls.

Be that as it may, Tagliabue and her team pulled through, even when disputes over authorship arose with her Scottish collaborators. "The research went very well," says the architect, "and at the time my message that people would ultimately love the building reached all the newspapers, and now I think the building is very well loved. It's a magnificent building by Enric Miralles, although everyone's collaboration was fundamental."

The importance of public space

Miralles himself stated that the Scottish Parliament is a public building due to the amount of "public space" it generated, especially thanks to the park he included in the project. "It wasn't in the competition rules; we included it, and the Queen of England donated the land because it didn't belong to Parliament. For us, it was very important to have a place where people felt they could participate in the building, even though it has many security measures," Tagliabue recalls. "Now this park is extraordinary. In addition to being a public passageway, you see it like everyone else. You can contemplate the top of Arthur's Seat, which is beautiful, and the Queen's Palace, and you have the Parliament building behind you."

The exhibition, which will remain open until October 30, also includes other projects by the studio in which public space is key, including the Santa Caterina Market in Barcelona; Hafen City, part of the transformation of the historic port area of Speicherstadt in Hamburg; the Kalida Sant Pau Center in Barcelona, and Rimini's Parc del Mare, a six-kilometer promenade that reconnects the city and the beach, renaturalizing a severely damaged area. "With these other projects, we want to demonstrate that we are, above all, public architects. We have always participated in public competitions, we have always designed public buildings and spaces, and the creation of open-air spaces where people can meet is a very important part of the buildings we are developing," says Tagliabue.