The exhibition opening was presided over by Ferran Mascarell, the Culture Minister of the Catalan government; Jaume Ciurana, the Deputy Mayor of Culture, Knowledge, Creativity and Innovation of Barcelona; Àlex Susanna, the Director of the Ramon Llull Institute; Josep Torrents i Alegre, the curator of the exhibition; and Guillem Carabí, the adjunct curator. 

“Arquitectures Empeltades / Grafting Architecture” revives the project submitted by Catalonia as part of the Collateral Events of the 14th Venice Biennale. The proposal, which was selected by a Ramon Llull Institute panel from among the candidates shortlisted after an open public competition was held, highlights the changes taking place in contemporary Catalan architecture and puts forth examples of architectural projects in the last 100 years that have successfully renewed the field and opened it up to new horizons. 

According to Carabí, Modernist architect Josep Maria Jujol took an approach that can be traced in many of the projects built in the last century. This approach is based on an intense dialogue between pre-existing physical and spiritual features that make it possible to develop a project, and involves mixing new elements with existing ones, just as a cutting is grafted to a tree. 

The exhibition’s starting point is Jujol’s Casa Bofarull, which offers a look into a timeless architectural approach. It is accompanied by La Llauna Secondary School in Badalona (1984-1986, Carme Pinós and Enric Miralles), La Lira Theatre in Ripoll (2004-2011, RCR Arquitectes and Joan Puigcorbé) and the visitors’ centre for the megalithic tumulus/dolmen in Seró (2007-2013, Toni Gironès), projects that have much in common with Casa Bofarull, despite being so removed in time. 

Guillem Carabí studied at the School of Architecture of Barcelona before earning a PhD at the UIC Barcelona’s School of Architecture. His thesis was “Renovations to Josep M. Jujol’s Casa Bofarull (1913-33): Simultaneous Transformations”. Since 2000, he has taught in the UIC Barcelona Department of Architectural Graphic Expression. In 2012, he also joined the Composition Department, where he teaches Composition IV. His main areas of research include intermediate processes between reality and abstraction, especially in the work of Jujol, and early 20th-century architecture and the period of transition from Modernist, Noucentista and rationalist architecture in Catalonia and the Mediterranean features that have stayed constant throughout.