Son[i]a #153
Isabel Bachs
In 1986, Barcelona City Council, with Mayor Pasqual Maragall at the helm, commissioned North American architect Richard Meier to build the headquarters of the new museum of contemporary art, MACBA. Richard Meier & Partners, New York, set up a partnership with local architects Fernando Ramos, Antoni Caballero, Isabel Bachs and José Colomer, to work jointly on the project.
The construction process spanned from 1990 to 1995. During this period, the project triggered a whole range of expectations from different groups in the city, from wild enthusiasm to total rejection, or simply curiosity or reluctance.
MACBA opened its doors to the public on November 28, 1995. From that point onwards, it embarked on a long journey in which the initial plan to create a museum for the city has evolved side by side with the development of an architectural model that is constantly interacting with the artworks that it houses and with residents and visitors in El Raval neighbourhood.
SON[I]A talks to Isabel Bachs, Head of Architecture at MACBA, about the beginnings of the architectural project for the Museum, its impact in urban and citizen terms, its stylistic features, and some of the most noteworthy exhibitions.
Rita McBride
The work of Rita McBride (Des Moines, Iowa, United States, 1969) is situated on the hybrid territory between sculpture, architecture and industrial design. Starting with the critical appropriation of everyday objects, the artist creates enigmatic pieces that force us to question the nature of the symbols on which our culture is based.
Bartomeu Marí, Luis Fernández-Galiano, Anne Pöhlmann and Rita McBride talk about the exhibition "Oferta pública / Public Tender".