A continent away, the annual summer studio in Barcelona, Spain, took on an added dimension this year with that city hosting the XIX Union of International Architects Congress. The students were taught by some of the participants in the conference, which drew thousands of academic and professional attendees worldwide. The 14 graduate students also attended lectures and tours by prominent Spanish architects. In the studio exercises, the students designed a new building for an older quarter of the city and worked with international students from the conference on development designs for a coastal area. At the end of the program, a panel of architects judged the designs.
Architects there pay so much attention to detail.
They don't have strict building codes over there, so there is much more freedom. The shapes are more visually interesting, and the design is much more complex. In the last 15 years, and in part because Barcelona hosted the 1992 Olympics, the government has financed a tremendous amount of building, including airports, schools, hospitals, housing projects, plazas and parks. Contemporary Spanish architects have written a whole new chapter on contemporary design. The graduate students also viewed top-notch architectural exhibits in conjunction with the international congress in Barcelona and traveled to Milan, Italy, to study Italian influences on Spanish architecture.