Lineage and Legacy: A Certain Modernism in Cadaqües by Stephen Bates and Fernando Villavecchia investigates a particular and until now little-documented strain of modern architecture that flourished in the 1950s and 1960s in Cadaqües — a small Spanish fishing village on the Costa Brava whose extraordinary concentration of holiday houses by significant architects makes it one of the more remarkable sites of mid-century residential experimentation in Europe.
About This Book
The houses examined here were built between the mid-1950s and the 1960s by a group of architects who shared bonds of friendship and architectural sensibility, as well as connections with the international modern movement. The circle includes José Antonio Coderch, Lluís Clotet, Federico Correa, Alfonso Milá, Oscar Tusquets, and Manuel Valls. What emerges from the eight case studies — documented through a photographic essay by David Grandorge and detailed architectural drawings — is not a unified style but a common disposition: a careful attention to site, to local material culture, and to the specific pleasures of summer dwelling on the Mediterranean. A timeline contextualises the projects against historical events and the lives of the clients and architects who made Cadaqües a unique locus in architectural history. An interview with Bates and Villavecchia provides background to their shared fascination with the village. Bilingual English and Spanish (Spanish in an inserted booklet).
Key Features
- Eight case studies including houses by Coderch, Clotet, Tusquets, Correa, and Valls
- Photographic essay by David Grandorge
- 385 images and 118 sketches and plans
- Bilingual edition — English and Spanish (Spanish in an inserted booklet)
What You'll Discover
- A mid-century circle of Catalan architects whose work in Cadaqües sits outside the standard narratives of European modernism
- The relationship between site, local material culture, and the demands of Mediterranean summer dwelling
- How friendship and shared architectural values produced a coherent body of residential work across two decades
- Detailed drawings and photography of eight houses, many rarely documented elsewhere
About the Author
Stephen Bates is a founding director of Sergison Bates architects in London, whose work is widely recognised for its material rigour and contextual sensitivity. Fernando Villavecchia is a founding partner of Liebman Villavecchia Arquitectos in Barcelona. Both have long-standing research interests in the architecture of Cadaqües and the Costa Brava.
Specifications
- Format: Hardcover
- Pages: 180
- Dimensions: 20 x 26 cm
- Language: English / Spanish
- ISBN: 9783037613016
- Publisher: Quart Verlag
- Publication Date: 2023
Perfect For: Architects, architectural historians, and anyone with an interest in mid-century Catalan architecture, Mediterranean residential design, and the work of Coderch, Tusquets, and their contemporaries