Oriol Bohigas, Josep Maria Martorell, David Mackay. MBM

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Oriol Bohigas (1925-2021) and Josep Maria Martorell (1925-2017) began their joint professional career when they finished their studies at the Barcelona School of Architecture in 1951. Later, in 1962, the British architect David Mackay (1933-2014) joined the studio as an associate. It was then that they took on the name MBM.

During the 1950s, Bohigas and Martorell were members of Grup R, which returned to certain postulates of rationalism that had been interrupted by the Spanish Civil War. The rationalism of Grup R was characterized by its critical approach to the principles established by the modern movement: marked by new international currents, it recovered local and traditional accents. In a context of crisis and scarcity, Bohigas and Martorell’s designs placed special relevance on constructive rationality and material economy and introduced artisanal construction methods.

Following their association with Mackay, beginning in 1960 MBM’s work incorporated influences of Italian neorealism and included more expressive elements, using language as a tool for architectural design, as would also be the case with Postmodernism. Oriol Bohigas was at the head of a local current called the Barcelona School, a name he coined himself. As a result, his work was connected with that of other architects from his generation such as Correa, Milà, Clotet-Tusquets-Cirici-Bonet or Mora-Piñón-Viaplana.

During these early years, his designs were centred on residential uses, ranging from large single-family homes – many of them holiday homes – to social housing blocks. From the beginning of his career, he also showed a clear interest in civil architecture, which materialized in a notable and prolific reflection on buildings for use in education.

With the advent of democracy, Bohigas’ anti-Franco activism from previous decades morphed into political action, carried out from within the public administration. In this period, Bohigas became one of the main actors in Barcelona’s pre-Olympic urban and democratic renewal.

Notable examples from this period of great transformation include the renovation of the city’s seafront (Port Vell and Port Olímpic) and the plan for the Olympic Village. Under the motto “open up the centre, monumentalize the periphery”, Bohigas and MBM led profound urban transformations beyond central Barcelona, which received notable international attention.

In the 1990s, a fourth associate joined MBM: Albert Puigdomènech. Today, although none of the founding partners remain, the next generation has taken over the firm without interruption in its production.

Oriol Bohigas passed away in 2021, considered one of the most relevant personalities in Catalan architecture from the second half of the 20th century for his role as an architect and an urban planner, as well as an essential figure in the cultural, academic and political scene.

Bibliography

AA VV, Martorell Bohigas Mackay. Opere, Piani, Progetti [catalogue of the exhibition], Loggia de Lanzi, Reppubblica di San Marino, Firenze, 1998. NANNERINI, Giuseppe, dir., L’Industria delle Costruzioni, Revista Tecnica dell’Ance 293, Rome, March 1996.

AA VV, Arquitectos 119: “Oriol Bohigas, Medalla de oro de la Arquitectura”, Consejo Superior de los Colegios de Arquitectos de España, Madrid, 1990.

MARTORELL, Josep, BOHIGAS, Oriol, MACKAY, David, Documentos de Arquitectura 9 La Manzana, Delegación de Almería del Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Andalucía Oriental, Almería, June 1989.

El Croquis 34, 1998.

LLOPIS, Carme, dir., AMBRÓS, Jordi, ed., ON Diseño141, ARAM Ediciones SA, Barcelona, 1978.

BOHIGAS, Oriol, “Una posible ‘escuela de Barcelona”, in Arquitectura 118, Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Madrid, Madrid, 1968, pp. 24-30.