Publication information

Since the blue marble that in the 1970s captured the fragile beauty of Earth, satellite images have enabled us to contemplate our planet with both analytical insight and aesthetic delight, and this two-way gaze is what supplies the zenithal images for the covers of Arquitectura Viva's new 'Balances' series. With the aim of condensing the main social, historical, and geographic debates being waged around architecture, Luis Fernández-Galiano gathers in nine volumes a series of articles first published in our magazines or in the newspaper El País during the years when he contributed to it as a critic, but also lectures delivered in congresses, chapters of books, speeches, and reviews, which together give the coordinates for situating ourselves more effectively in our place and time.

The first volume of the series, Panoramas del mundo, presents seven pairs of essays that take stock of the intellectual climate surrounding the discipline over recent decades, while the second, Pensamiento visual, explores the means of dissemination that tie up the theory and criticism of architecture with its spread to the public at large. Finally, Tipos edificados groups into categories different writings on buildings, in a taxonomy that goes from huge skyscrapers and airports to modest cultural facilities.

The two following releases, Lecciones nacionales and Espacios españoles, reflect upon the historical evolution of Spain and the changing identity of the country by means of texts that are either letters of presentation to outside opinion or in-house examinations of conscience.

Finally, Estampas madrileñas, Una España plural, Esa Europa posible and Los otros continentes compose an atlas of architecture in instalments that invites the reader to travel from the local to the global, ending with a critical assessment of the state of the world today.

Collection ‘Balances’, 2023
Language: Spanish
Soft cover
128 pages