Bohigas, Oriol

Bohigas, Oriol, 1925-2021, Spanish modernist architect, b. Barcelona, Spain, as Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona (Barcelona School of Architecture; Arch. 1951, D. Arch., 1963). Bohigas reacted against the conservative architecture promoted during the Franco regime to champion a more modern approach. In 1951, he partnered with fellow Spanish architect Joseph Martorell to found a firm that, with the addition of architect David Mackay in 1962, became MBM. The firm first received recognition for its design for an open-classroom school, Barcelona's Escola Thau, in 1974. He was best-known for designing Barcelona's Olympic village in 1992, which became a model for future Olympic sites, as well as major museums and a renovation of the city's port. Eventually, as an advisor to the city government, he oversaw the redesign of large parts of Barcelona, renovating older structures and adding new facilities. He taught at Barcelona's School of Architecture from 1964-77, and served as its director from 1977-80. He was also a publisher, cofounding Ediciones 62, which he lead from 1975-99, and directed the Fundació Joan Miró (1981-88). He was the author of many books on architecture published in Spain.

See his Barcelona entre el plà Cerdà i el barraquisme (1963); La arquitectura moderna (1967); Polèmica d'arquitectura catalana (1970); Reconstrucció de Barcelona (1985); Barcelona olímpica: ciudad renovada (1992); Contra la incontinencia urbana. Reconsideración moral de la arquitectura y la ciudad (2004).

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