Workshop with RCR Arquitectes in La Vila

DATE

01.03.2024

The students of the MArch Advanced program in architecture, design and business administration have traveled this week to La Vila, in Olot, to carry out a workshop led by the prestigious studio and Pritzker award winners RCR Arquitectes.

Upon arrival, Carme Pigem presented the students with the exercise to carry out, within a workshop entitled Feeling the place. To understand its development, it is worth contextualizing the location of La Vila, a century-old house built in stone located at the foot of a mountain on a land that extends over an area that exceeds one hundred hectares, most of which are forest. In this area of land, in addition to all the existing nature, there are also sculptural elements that enrich the landscape, such as an installation made by RCR for the Venice Biennale.

During their days in Olot, students have had the opportunity to visit some of the most recognized projects developed by this renowned architecture firm, such as the Perelada wineries or the Les Cols hotel-restaurant, among others. In addition, they have had a series of thematic activities directed by Silvia Brossa, the philosopher Jordi Pigem and the photographer Eugeni Pons. The workshop has been tutored by the architect María Amat.

This is a totally different exercise from those proposed in MArch throughout the course, with a very variable work dynamic and in an incomparable environment, sheltered by mountains that in the past were the enclave of the peninsula with the highest concentration of volcanoes, and with medieval towns that still preserve the essence of the past, coexisting with the new architectures proposed by studies such as RCR.