Spanish architects Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, and Ramon Vilalta founded RCR Arquitectes in 1988 in their hometown of Olot, Girona. The firm’s projects are rooted in a strong sense of place and community, as reflected in their choice of materials, geometries, and sites.   

For her Current Work lecture, Pigem will discuss recent projects in Europe, including:

• Soulages Museum, a museum in Rodez, France, dedicated to French abstract artist Pierre Soulages and consisting of five interconnected Corten steel boxes.
• Crematorium of Hofheide, an iron-colored concrete structure that relates to the surrounding landscape of Holsbeek, Belgium. Project in collaboration with Ghent-based Coussée & Goris Architecten.
• El Petit Comte Kindergarten, a municipal school in Olot, Spain, marked by vertical tubes of different diameters and colors which filter natural light.

Carme Pigem completed her studies in architecture at the Escola Tècnica Superior d’Arquitectura del Vallès (ETSAV) in Barcelona alongside Rafael Aranda and Ramon Vilalta. 

RCR Arquitectes was awarded the 2017 Pritzker Architecture Prize.

In 2013 the practice established RCR BUNKA Foundation to disseminate architecture, landscape, arts, and culture to broader sections of society.

The lecture will be followed by a conversation with Nader Tehrani, principal of NADAAA and dean of The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union.

Support

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

The event is co-sponsored by The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union.