The Exhibition

“Sensitive Matter: Young Catalan Architects” is an exhibition of architectural works by young studios established in Catalonia which are not only from the same generation but, above all, share certain attitudes and ways of understanding and practising architecture.

It is also a personal gamble (and thus, it is necessarily biased and has a certain degree of risk). It can also be seen as a possible answer to two important questions: What will happen to architecture now that the current model is being questioned? And how can Catalan architecture contribute in the context of the global crisis?

An architecture with an ability to reinterpret prior models and references in order to provide new answers is demanded. A sensitive, honest architecture where people are more important than the construction itself or aesthetics, which assumes the limitations of the context, the place, the commission and the available and transforms them into opportunities. Local architectures for a global world. Architecture that is sensitive to its roots, changes and how is lived and perceived by the people and its users.
Far from wanting to be opportunist or reactionary, “Sensitive Matter” is demanding a certain type of architecture, some values and a way of working which are not related to time but to convictions and good sense. This is something that the selected architects were already doing when iconic architecture was at its height.