Barcelona is betting on Harquitectes with six projects at once: "We seek a balance between the ordinary and the extraordinary."

David Lorente, Josep Ricart, Xavier Ros, and Roger Tudó, the four members of Harquitectes, are the designers of the moment in Barcelona's cultural sector. Or, at least, those with the most commissions. They are working on the expansion of the MNAC, the first Catalan museum, and also on the MACBA. They have designed the transformation of the Foneria de Canons into the Centre for Digital Culture and the former Teixonera tile factory into the headquarters of cultural institutions. They are renovating the Teatre Arnau. They are building a large cultural center in Nou Barris... Over the last quarter of a century, this Sabadell-based firm has reinvented efficient housing. Now it is redesigning Barcelona's major cultural institutions.

Barcelona has entrusted you with most of its current cultural facility renovations. How are you handling this responsibility?

It wasn't a sudden development, but rather the result of winning successive competitions. After winning the MACBA expansion, we invested in this professional aspect. We're interested in commissions where architecture plays a significant role. Some typologies allow for standardized solutions, but in the field of cultural institutional facilities, from museums to theaters, architecture can provide new solutions. The echo of architecture in this cultural world, to which our discipline also belongs, motivates us.

They now work more on these types of buildings than on housing, where they have distinguished themselves.

Yes, in terms of square footage, there's no comparison. But we continue to build family homes. They're a good typology to experiment with.

Cultural architecture Since the Bauhaus, the rational component has been important. But we mustn't forget the emotional component.

They like to innovate and define new construction systems. Is this feasible in cultural institutions when it comes to renovation or expansion?

Heritage status doesn't limit research or the ambition to redefine the nature of institutions. Often, these types of interventions have become mere problem-solving. If you approach them with that spirit, the result will lack soul. An effort must be made to find a balance between the ordinary and the extraordinary. Facilities need that balance, and we seek it. Since the Bauhaus, the rational component is important. But we mustn't forget the emotional component, which is of great importance in the cultural sphere. In the case of renovations, a certain synchrony must be sought between the pre-existing and the contemporary dimension.

How is it achieved?

In housing, either material or sustainability can predominate. In public facilities, we try to create urban spaces, urban rooms, somehow introducing the urban scale into the building. This is true at the MACBA, the MNAC, the Arnau, Nou Barris, La Foneria, Teixonera… It's about going beyond the short term and thinking long-term.

They like to take risks. Have they made many mistakes?

We'd like to think there are few. We work hard to minimize errors. It's about properly testing hypotheses. We agree with what Coderch said: "I'm not going to make a mess of it."

Expand the MNAC We want to attract people and place them inside the museum almost without them realizing it.”

What is the guiding idea behind your proposal for the MNAC?

These are its urban spaces, straddling the exterior public space and the interior workings of the building. It is the space that connects the extension of the Victòria Eugènia Palace with the Palau Nacional. It is a welcoming space where many things can happen, one that manages to naturally lead the visitor from one part of the museum to the other. More than a hall, which it also is, this space is a covered, topographical passageway.

What did the client ask of them?

Two things: more exhibition space and better attracting people to the museum. Our strategy is to draw people in and place them inside the museum almost without them noticing. The numerous levels of the space become three, very clear and decisive.

Let's move on to the MACBA. How will it improve with your intervention?

We aspire to improve the museum and also the square, which currently has something of a poorly designed cul-de-sac . We will complete the façade of the square, which combines buildings from very different eras. We will organize it, making it more powerful, clear, and accessible. Richard Meier's building is already very powerful, but also hermetic; its access is unclear, its interior is not visible. In the extension, we will build a hall with a porch that will invite you in. It will be a great showcase. I think we will create more symbiosis with the Raval than Meier did. In addition, the communications system will allow all the museum's departments to be better connected, and will give it the quality of a cultural complex.

The new Macba Our lobby will be inviting. We'll be more symbiotic with the Raval than Richard Meier."

There has been a dispute that is delaying the work. Has it been resolved yet?

In the case of both the MACBA and the Arnau Theatre, the City Council intends to have the works completed by the end of the current term, in two years.

How do you feel about the fact that the MACBA and the MNAC were once commissioned by international figures like Meier and Gae Aulenti, and that you now direct their expansions? What's changed?

Competitions are now held. Previously, in those cases, some authority chose the architect. Now in Catalonia, there's a culture of competitions in which architectural quality is valued. Perhaps we won these competitions because they had complex terms. We're good at solving complex problems. We make few decisions, but we have a high capacity to intervene in different aspects of the project.

Let's talk about the Antiga Foneria de Canons, the future Digital Culture Center of the Generalitat. How would you define your contribution here?

The first step is to restore the structural prominence of this building on the Rambla, eliminating subdivisions and additions. We restored a large hall, hollowing it out and giving it the maximum possible height to fully utilize its potential. We connected it to the first-floor cloister and created a large vertical vestibule that leads users from the ground floor to the terrace.

How will a heritage building and the most contemporary artistic expression coexist?

It's both a challenge and the charm of the project: providing a good home for digital art in an old building. The challenge lies in unleashing the potential of every corner of the building. Our project will make the Foneria a very special space, suitable for unexpected programs. That's why the lobby has become so important and must be transformable.

The Nou Barris library, unlike the aforementioned works, is a new construction. What is your priority in this case?

It's a library, but with an atypical program, including a theater-auditorium of a certain size, a gymnasium linked to a neighboring school, and neighborhood facilities. It wasn't easy to combine all of that. What the project does, which includes a plaza in front of the façade, is open up said plaza and, from there, separate two levels. The two upper levels will house the library, more traditional, quieter, with a large terrace that will allow for an outdoor reading room, at treetop height. The lower levels will house the auditorium, the gymnasium, and the neighborhood centers, with a radically public dimension.

The new Arnau We'll be very conservative with the theater. And it will have a lot of character."

Construction on the Arnau Theatre has already begun. How will you combine a "barn theater" atmosphere with today's comfort demands?

Originally, the Arnau was little more than a hangar. At the beginning of the 20th century, a permit was requested on Paral lel for an industrial warehouse with a wooden structure and masonry enclosures, with metal trusses supporting the roof. Once the permit was obtained, a cabaret was set up inside. Other facilities were even more fragile, barely tents. The Arnau is half-finished. We found it very deteriorated, in a state that wouldn't support a current program. The strategy is to be very conservative with what gives it character, for example the lightweight structure, reinforcing it with concrete, but adapting the whole to today's needs.

El Molino, another classic music hall on the Paral lel, has seen fluctuating fortunes following its renovations. How will your work help prevent the same thing from happening at the Arnau?

The Arnau will have a lot of character. It's conceived more as a neighborhood, municipal facility. We hope it will generate resources. But public investment in this case goes beyond the business expectation.

What can you tell me about the work in Teixonera?

It used to be a tile factory, a kiln. We're going to build classrooms in the long gallery on the ground floor for various cultural organizations. The upper floor will house a large auditorium.

Environmental efficiency is a constant goal in your career. Is it as easy to achieve in cultural facilities as it is in housing?

The equipment is more powerful, larger, taller, with more mass... and with some limitations. We will also explore the horizons of this typology, but we cannot ignore the specificities of each type of management. A museum requires highly reliable air conditioning systems, with constant temperatures and humidity. Therefore, these facilities can be managed with hybrid climate regimes. The Arnau is easy to ventilate, being an almost entirely passive building. The MACBA is more selective.

The 1980s are often hailed as a golden age of Catalan architecture. How do you assess the present age?

Compared to other parts of Spain, we're doing very well. We've enjoyed opportunities in terms of amenities and housing, both in Barcelona and other municipalities, in the public and private sectors. As a generation, we've been consistent. In the past, there were outstanding figures like Enric Miralles, as brilliant as they were unique. The collective is now more homogeneous; it can generate a lot of long-term consistency. Now, there are many people doing sensible things. In the last ten or fifteen years, people and their well-being have been valued. Before, the city was very important. So was business. We create works that are not very metaphysical, based on materiality, experience, and efficiency. That's the character of the current generation.

In the middle of the Rambla Our project will make the Foneria a very special space, suitable for unexpected programs.”

You're already 50. What's your strategy for the future?

The main thing is to continue operating as we have. We engage in new projects with the same spirit as previous ones. We've evolved in programs, scale, ambition, and results. But we work the same. With a precise selection of what we decide to do and what we don't. The years have accentuated this desire for precision. We've had proposals for large-scale commissions abroad, but for now we prefer to delve deeper into our local area. We want to continue building homes. But we don't rule out trying something exceptional in the future, perhaps abroad.

What difficulties does this pose?

Our success stems in part from very close control of the projects. And that, the further away the project is, the more difficult it is. We'll see.