Spain goes to Manhattan

The XIII Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism moves to New York, with some of the best Spanish architecture, on show for a month at the Cooper Union.

The XIII Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism is exhibiting for the first time at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York. “Alternativas / Alternatives” is the name of the exhibition that showcases twenty recent Spanish architectures, awarded the Golden Lion at the last Venice Biennale.

Top: Luis Machuca, Caminito del Rey, Santa Cruz, 2014; photo Juan María Álvarez Espada. Above: Víctor López Cotelo, ETSA Granada, 2015, photo Lluís Casals

“Alternativas / Alternatives” is an itinerant exhibition that features projects that have been awarded in the heritage, urban planning and innovation fields: an overview of architectural and urban production carried out in recent years by Spanish architects, with interventions focused on a small scale, both for private and public projects.

MGM Arquitectos, Convento Sta Maria de los Reyes, 2015, photo Jesus Granada

“The economic crisis was a critical moment for Spanish architecture that led to an arrest to the construction of new buildings, but saw an enormous grouth in renovation projects”, explains Francisco Mangado, general coordinator of the Biennials in Spain. “Taking the Biennale to the Cooper Union, means transforming it into a traveling exhibition that opens up Spanish architecture to the world.”

Olalquiaga Arquitectos, 163 VPO en Vallecas, 2015, photo Miguel de Guzmán
José Luis Muñoz, Casa de los vientos, 2016, photo Javier Callejas
Víctor López Cotelo, ETSA Granada, 2015, photo Lluís Casals
OFS Architects, Fronton Gure Jokoa, 2016, photo J.Tellechea e J.Cutillas
José María Sánchez García, Industria montajes electricos, 2016, photo Roland Halbe
H Arquitectes, Casa 1014, 2015, photo Adrià Goula
Carles Enrich, Nuevo acceso centro Gironella, 2015, photo Adrià Goula


until 3 December 2016
Alternativas / Alternatives
The Cooper Union
Arthur A. Houghton Jr. Gallery
7 East 7th Street, New York