Tag: bilbao | ArchDaily

Louvres Around the World: The Export of Museums and Architecture as a Global Brand

Camilla Ghisleni — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 07:30:00 +0000

It is undeniable that, at first glance, the idea of a Louvre in Abu Dhabi or a Centre Pompidou in Brazil may seem somewhat disconcerting. The image of these museums, internationally renowned, appears in many ways inseparable from their original cultural contexts. And to some extent, it truly is. The Louvre, deeply rooted in the history of France as a former fortress and later royal residence, embodies a set of invaluable heritage values, further amplified by I. M. Pei’s iconic glass pyramid intervention in 1989. The Pompidou, meanwhile, is remembered as a historic turning point: by redefining the concept of public infrastructure through radically unconventional architecture, it marked the first time culture drew in mass audiences.

Etxenoi Pavilion / AMA architectural office

Pilar Caballero — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 12:00:00 +0000

In cities, containers filled with construction debris and discarded furniture are evidence of constant interior renovations driven more by aesthetic trends and marketing strategies than by real functional needs. This same superficial impulse is also reflected in public spaces and buildings, where many interventions prioritise image over fundamental aspects such as accessibility, comfort, or future adaptability.

Bilbao Architecture City Guide: 22 Projects Shaping a Modern Basque City in Spain

Diogo Borges Ferreira — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Bilbao, the largest city in Spain's Basque Country, has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past few decades. Once an industrial hub, the city has redefined itself as a center for culture, innovation, and urban regeneration. This evolution has been partly driven by architecture, which plays a central role in shaping Bilbao's identity. From contemporary landmarks to thoughtfully repurposed spaces, the city's built environment reflects a careful balance between honoring its industrial heritage and embracing modernity.

Plazuela de Santiago Apartment / BABELstudio

Paula Pintos — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 06:00:00 +0000

Located in a historic building in the Old Town of Bilbao, this project proposes the renovation of a home in which the image of the past and the present coexist, emphasizing the choice of natural materials and attention to detail of integrated furniture.

New York, Milan, and Venice Amongst Participants in C40's Reinventing Cities Competition 2024

Nour Fakharany — Tue, 05 Mar 2024 05:30:00 +0000

“Reinventing Cities,” C40’s renowned global design competition, has just announced its fourth edition. The competition’s main goal is to “transform underutilized sites or buildings into beacons of sustainability and resilience and act as a showcase for future zero-carbon urban developments.” This year, 15 cities have stepped up the challenge, inviting professionals from various disciplines to reimagine underutilized urban sites and design transformations prioritizing sustainability and inclusivity.

Burgatoi Renovation / Tenka Arkitektura

Pilar Caballero — Thu, 10 Aug 2023 02:00:00 +0000

By naming the project Burgatoi we make our own a term from the nautical world that refers to a piece of curved wood used in the construction of a ship. The idea is to make a simile with the curved construction of the living space in this house.

Foster + Partners’ Bilbao Fine Arts Museum Extension Breaks Ground

Maria-Cristina Florian — Thu, 29 Dec 2022 06:30:00 +0000

The Bilbao Fine Arts Museum remodeling and expansion project was attributed to Foster + Partners following an international competition in 2019. Now the construction phase was initiated with a breaking ground ceremony on November 17^th. The project includes the restoration of the existing 20th-century building and the expansion of the currently available spaces with a new public atrium and a contemporary art gallery organized in a floating pavilion. The design also highlights the relationship between the city and the museum by creating a new pedestrian path that runs from north to south. The path connects the original 1945 building, the 1970s extension, and a new visitor center while making the site more permeable at the street level.

25 Years of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain

Paula Cano — Mon, 17 Oct 2022 05:30:00 +0000

The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao is celebrating its 25th anniversary this October 2022. Set on the edge of the Nervión River in the Basque Country, Spain, Frank Gehry's Guggenheim boosted the city's economy with its astounding success and changed the museum's role in city development. Twenty-five years on, the Bilbao Effect continues to challenge assumptions about urban transformations and inspires the construction of iconic pieces of architecture that uplift cities' status, calling investors and visitors.

Cities from US and Europe Seek to Ban Fossil Fuels in New Buildings

Maria-Cristina Florian — Fri, 26 Aug 2022 05:30:00 +0000

Boston is the latest city to announce a city-wide plan that, if passed, would eliminate the use of fossil fuels in new constructions and major renovation projects. This measure expands upon the commitment to enact climate action and make Boston a Green New Deal city. Other US cities like New York, Los Angeles, San Jose, Seattle, and Berkeley have all imposed similar measures in recent years. Seven European cities - Bilbao, Bratislava, Dublin, Munich, Rotterdam, Vienna, and Winterthur - have also developed a project to phase out fossil fuel from urban heating and cooling.

From Defining the Collective to Creating New Contextual Synergies: 4 Emerging Practices in Europe

New Generations — Tue, 03 Aug 2021 03:30:00 +0000

Four emerging architecture studio profiles from Switzerland, Germany, and Spain have been chosen by New Generations, a European platform that analyses the most innovative emerging practices at the European level, providing a new space for the exchange of knowledge and confrontation, theory, and production. Since 2013, New Generations has involved more than 500 practices in a diverse program of cultural activities, such as festivals, exhibitions, open calls, video interviews, workshops, and experimental formats.

Shrinking Cities: The Rise and Fall of Urban Environments

Andreea Cutieru — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Urban planning is often based on the assumption of ongoing demographic and economic growth, but as some environments face urban shrinkage, a new array of strategies comes into play. The shrinking city phenomenon is a process of urban decline with complex causes ranging from deindustrialization, internal migration, population decline, or depletion of natural resources. Referencing the existing research on the topic, the following showcases approaches to this phenomenon in different urban environments, highlighting the need to develop new urban design frameworks to address the growing challenge.

Apartment Sombrerería / BABELstudio

Alexandria Bramley — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 10:00:00 +0000

The interior renovation project for Sombrerería is located in one of the most emblematic streets of the Old Quarter of Bilbao. Due to its corner position, the interiors have the advantage of having large window openings that provide abundant light and views of the neighbourhood streets.

Resa San Mamés University Residence / Masquespacio

Pilar Caballero — Sat, 13 Feb 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Masquespacio presents its last project for the University Residence Resa San Mamés, located in the new Termibus Bilbao.

Dique 2A Berria Housing Renovation / Behark

Pilar Caballero — Fri, 01 Jan 2021 23:00:00 +0000

Located in a small hill next to the estuary of Bilbao, in the riverfront of Olabeaga’s quarter, close to the city centre, 2A Dique street old building was in its origins a two stories farmhouse, that was subsequently converted into a collective household with the addition of three stories more. These very small dwellings were laid out around a tiny compensated staircase, which made its accessibility very difficult. The problem was aggravated with the location of the building in a steep slope, which has a great elevation difference with the street. Besides the housing units lacked insulation or any heating system. All this circumstances, combined with the age of some of the dwellers, make the efficient refurbishment of the building very recommendable. A plan was elaborated and presented to various public institutions in order to obtain aids for the financing of the works.

Houses Z42 / Garmendia Cordero Arquitectos

Valeria Silva — Fri, 16 Oct 2020 16:00:00 +0000

What we have experienced this 2020 has left among other things, many doors open in terms of home space requirements. Current shortcomings in the current real estate market were exposed and therefore a new opportunity to have a well-needed discussion about housing schemes has started. Although this project began before the COVID pandemic, it reveals dilemmas that should be part of this public debate, at least as a starting point.

Oslo Cowork / BABELstudio

Andreas Luco — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 02:00:00 +0000

Oslo Cowork, a minimalist and compact office space designed by BABELstudio represents the new studio of architecture photographer Erlantz Biderbost and a co-working space located in Olabeaga, Bilbao. Situated alongside the Nervion River, the Olabeaga neighbourhood formerly was home to shipyards, industrial plants and warehouses, then left abandoned and forgotten. However, for a few years the area is slowly rediscovered and revitalized. The design brief was to integrate 3-5 working places, a meeting and retreat space, kitchenette, bathroom, and extended storage in a rather small, 39 sqm gross floor area space with double height.

Mixtape Apartment / AZAB

Valeria Silva — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 02:00:00 +0000

The original apartment was built in 1968 in accordance with the project by the architect Celestino Martínez. It features a common domestic display for deep urban block buildings, with a north-south distribution where the common home spaces extend from the north alignment towards the street to the opposite façade open to a south interior courtyard.

Apartamento ready-made / azab

Andreas Luco — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 21:00:00 +0000

The original dwelling, located on one of the edges where the Bilbao urban regular grid begins to blur, is located in an elegant rationalist building designed by Hilario Imaz in the 60s. It presents a particular semi-circular floor plant opened to the outside plaza with generous windows that turn from North to South. What we propose here is an unprejudiced approach to the domestic issue where space moves away from that classic idea of succession of specialized and segregated spaces breaking the obsolete standards of serving-served, day-night and common-private. We seek to reach instead a generous and continuous space, without hierarchy or distribution, connoted with decontextualized techniques and objects, where the main thread is humour. A concept always ready for unpredictable appropriations of the space capable of satisfying the idea of domesticity of its inhabitants.