The archery facilities of the Barcelona Olympic Games, by Enric Miralles and Carme Pinós, are one of the most iconic works of Catalan architecture of recent decades. At the same time, it is also a paradigmatic case of the pending path for administrations to fully value contemporary architecture and, where appropriate, to patrimonialize it. Following the collapse that occurred in Carmel in 2005, the public company GISA demolished one of the two pavilions of the building in 2008, the competition one, during the works to build a new maneuvering tunnel for L5 of the metro, with the commitment to rebuild it. A commitment, until now, unfulfilled. But now the solution could come through the municipal route: the plenary session of the Barcelona City Council has just approved, with the abstention of the PSC and the rest of the favorable votes, a proposal by BComú to renovate the changing rooms and the bar of the football and rugby fields of La Teixonera and integrate the competition building of archery, whose pieces have been abandoned on a nearby plot for seventeen years. But as ARA has learned from sources familiar with the case, the municipal government has no intention of rebuilding the building.

Although 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.

The legacy of Enric Miralles (1955-2000) is full of powerful yet lyrical gestures: the deceased in the Igualada cemetery are always underground, the pergolas of the Olympic Village evoke a procession of giants and tadpoles, and a former hall of the Círculo de Lector. Later, he incorporated the image of Highland boats into the design of the Scottish Parliament and conceived the roof of the Santa Caterina Market as a sinuous display of the most varied fruits and vegetables. Miralles is considered a brilliant architect, and one of the cornerstones of his career is that he always worked in partnership. Miralles founded his first studio with Carme Pinós, then had a solo studio, and later another with Benedetta Tagliabue. And throughout these times, he worked with a group of younger architects who were captivated by his creative power and bonhomie, both in the classroom and in his studio and on construction sites. As next Thursday marks the 25th anniversary of his death, we spoke with some of them, who remember it all as if they had been part of a very special family. "He was capable of constructing metaphors that go far beyond history, literature, and cinema," says Josep Bohigas, who taught Miralles and worked in his studio. "Enric was very Catalan and very interested in establishing these roots, while at the same time escaping," he explains.

The Gas Tower, of'Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue, is visible from many points in Barcelona. One of the most iconic views is that of this skyscraper, currently called Torre Marenostrum, framed by the Arc de Triomf. This omnipresence captivated Italian filmmaker Maria Mauti (Milan, 1974), who directed a documentary about the Barcelona architect titled simply Mirallese, which is part of the DocsBarcelona festival program. Tickets for this Tuesday are sold out, but there will be another screening on the 17th at the Renoir Floridablanca cinema, and the documentary is scheduled to hit theaters in September.

The Gas Tower, of'Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue, is visible from many points in Barcelona. One of the most iconic views is that of this skyscraper, currently called Torre Marenostrum, framed by the Arc de Triomf. This omnipresence captivated Italian filmmaker Maria Mauti (Milan, 1974), who directed a documentary about the Barcelona architect titled simply Mirallese, which is part of the DocsBarcelona festival program. Tickets for this Tuesday are sold out, but there will be another screening on the 17th at the Renoir Floridablanca cinema, and the documentary is scheduled to hit theaters in September.