Rehabilitación del Mercado de Santa Caterina, Barcelona, 1997-2005. Enric Miralles, Benedetta Tagliabue / Miralles Tagliabue EMBT. La propuesta buscó confundir la rehabilitación con las nuevas construcciones y aportar espacio público y densidad residencial. Rehabilitation of the Santa Caterina Market, Barcelona, 1997-2005. Enric Miralles, Benedetta Tagliabue / Miralles Tagliabue EMBT. The proposal sought to con-fuse rehabilitation and new construction and provide public spaces and residential density.
- EMBT bears the names of two partners, one of whom died 15 years ago, which makes it necessary to also talk about Miralles. What do you remember of the first years working with him and how was your evolution to become partner? It was the process of being next to a man for whom architecture was his life. We met in New York looking at architecture. I was doing my PhD at Cooper Union and he taught at Columbia University. So when he finished his work with students we got together for walks around the city and to visit New York architecture of the 30s. That’s how we came together. When we realized we also wanted to share our lives, we came to Barcelona, m e to my life and him to his own. But it was very difficult to separate things because Enric always had an idea: stop what you’re doing and we’ll go to visit this park or that building’... So little by little we came to share every moment, especially the moments of architecture. At first I didn’t think of becoming his partner, but it was impossible not to be. I was his partner in life, at all times, and being together was an important part of work too. - Miralles had great creative potential, with a very particular language in both his built work and his drawings and practice. He has even been compared to an emerging Gaudí, with a fresh and new vision of the modern movement, to some extent almost unclassifiable. Do you share this comparison?
True, they had similar characters. The first time I was in Barcelona I saw one of the few existing pictures of Gaudí and I told Enric: ‘You know that Gaudí looks a bit like you?’ Ha-ha ... But it is true that Enric was very special, a permanently creative human being, who was always surprising. His way of looking at things, projects and topics was different from any other; his way of thinking and seeing was always completely different. He drew superbly and mesmerized the audience when he spoke; everyone felt they were discovering something new. And that’s how he conquered the world. - You managed to work together for nine years. What legacy of his do you recognize in your own way of working and that of EMBT? The legacy is there for sure and not just in me, but also in several members of the EMBT team who learned with Enric. Each has learned in their own way, but I think we all share the feeling that Enric was a very open person who always looked for something new in the project. So I like to carry the studio not so much copying ways of the past, but with the spirit in which everything is new and where we should go ahead discovering new roads.
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