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The editorial team at the Universidad del Norte, led by Óscar Ángel Ángel and Rossana Llanos Díaz, has shared with ArchDaily their compilation project on the modern work of architect Roberto Acosta Madiedo. Below are some of his most iconic projects in the city of Barranquilla from the mid-twentieth century. 

Texts courtesy of Roberto Acosta Madiedo: la Estética del Oficio.

Built in 1983 in the Eastern Hills north of Bogotá, the Floresta 3 house was the first of Baresch's residential projects to feature exposed adobe. To achieve this level of supreme craftsmanship within the building system, the adobe blocks were manufactured on-site, honoring the natural context of the project, where earth and vegetation take center stage.

What first strikes you about the Cultural Heritage Institute is the enigmatic uniqueness of its headquarters. Affectionately known by Madrid locals as the “crown of thorns,” the building comes into view at the entrance to Madrid from the La Coruña highway. To the right, guarding the Moncloa Palace, stands this timeless artifact; boldly resting on Madrid’s University City, entirely detached from the rationalist architecture of its surroundings. An expressive formal hybrid, the result of combining the features of a fortress, a bullring, and a spaceship. It does not go unnoticed, nor does it seek to. It surprises and impresses us, unsettling to a certain extent, yet always carrying the intuition that this is an important work—an architecture that deserves, at the very least, our interest.

Abandoibarra is now the heart of Bilbao. Years ago, the former shipyards and Renfe railway depots prevented this stretch of land along the Bilbao estuary from revealing the full potential it enjoys today. Part of this area, the now-defunct Euskalduna shipyard, withstood the passage of time until 1992, when the widespread demolition of the facility that gave the site its name began. A total of 8.4 hectares of land were cleared to make way for new public uses—specifically, the creation of a “general equipment network.” Initiated in 1993, the intervention was subsidized by the Basque Government's Industrial Ruins Demolition Program, with a budget of 83,403,157 pesetas. The construction of the Guggenheim Museum at one end; the development of the Conference and Music Center [1994–1998], or Euskalduna Palace, on these vacant lots; and the open dialogue established with the University of Deusto and the Museum of Fine Arts created a dynamic relationship among four architectural pieces that activates the site, shaping a new cultural enclave.

Floresta 5, located in northern Bogotá, Colombia, sits adjacent to the lot of Floresta 3, directly in the foreground of the latter's primary view. Built in 1986, it is an exemplary residential design within a housing development, conceived in dialogue with the preexisting building next door, which was also designed by Baresch.