2008 Vertical Workshop

The 2008 workshop was planned in a tandem style and was led by two Catalan architects of international renown: Carme Pinos and Carlos Ferrater. Similarly, the deputy directors, coordinators and all the guest lecturers also worked in pairs.

The Vertical Workshop title chosen by the directors was "one game in one location" and involved a discussion of the relationship between architecture and the world of games. The workshop was based on similar previous workshops in terms of justification, content and objectives.

Although at first it may seem to be naive, sometimes architecture can be understood as if it were a game. For example, there are some rules (those of gravity ...) and there is a board (a location, or a landscape). Architects must design and create their own rules and strategies to convey their ideas, and then everything must be created and built, this is considered to be a similar process.

The gaming industry is well established in Spain and is globally competitive. Yet the key factor that is unique to Spanish companies is innovation and product design, an essential feature in order to compete with emerging markets such as China and India.

Within UIC Barcelona School of Architecture, this course aims to encourage innovation, research and development in the world of games.

Directors: Carmen Pinós + Carlos Ferrater
Assistant Director:Alberto Peñín + Samuel Arriola
Coordinators:Borja Ferrater + Esther Rovira
International Jury:Mathias Klotz
Inaugural Conference:Jorge Wagensberg

Teachers:

• Jordi Roviras + Cristina Castelao
• José Zabala + Irene Hwang
• Manuel Blanco + Cristian Suau
• Alexis Cogul + Ivan Torres
• Jonathan Arnabat + Francisco Cifuentes
• Estel Ortega + Joan Vitòria
• Ivan Shumkov + Esther Roselló
• Marc Binefa + Jaume Canals
• Néstor Montenegro + Ignacio Toribio
• Montserrat Puig + Miquel Moragues

Directors of the Horizontal Workshop: Manel Arenas + Miquel Lacasta

Dates: Thursday 25 September to Friday 3 October, 2008.