2.5 Essay: Of bells and wings: Reflections on some recent works by RCR Arquitectes

摘要

In 2009 I traveled to Olot, Girona to visit as many buildings by RCR Arquitectes as I could. My trip was not only memorable but also enlightening. Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, and Ramon Vilalta showed us not only their works but also the Catalonian Northeast, which also entailed plenty of culinary excursions. On the last day of my visit, before driving back to Barcelona, we stopped to see a project with which Rafael, Carme, and Ramon were then involved, the future premises of their thriving studio: the reclamation of the Barberi Foundry. Dating to the 1550's, the renowned foundry was where innumerable church bells, sacred figures and artistic sculptures were cast before being shipped to Catholic churches and monasteries throughout Spain and its empire. The architects bought the foundry in 2004 and proceeded to transform its abandoned industrial spaces into a studio to serve the needs of their practice. At the time of my visit, the subtle, intricate integration of existing and altered volumes was already visible. I was amazed by how they made the spatial conversion from one function to another palpable, as if the existing foundry and the architect's vision for its transformation possessed an alchemical bond that exuded the power of enchantment. I recall thinking that RCR Arquitectes had found a site destined for them. Seeing published images of the finished work made this destiny even more apparent to me. The telluric, yet painterly, atmosphere of the foundry fused with RCR's material palette. The work yard, for instance, has been converted into a contemplative courtyard where lush vegetation casts a daily inventory of shadows and light patterns. The foundry's defunct chimneys are totems that point to a cloudless sky. The dilapidated stone and ceramic walls have been repaired and reinforced with steel plates and sheets, revealing not only layers of familial patinas but also the intertwining of human making past and future.