Alberto Veiga - calm and balance in architecture

Ola Kloc

24 of December '19

conceptual sketches

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+12

From the series "Meeting with the Master" - Alberto Veiga (Barozzi Veiga)

[ A&B 06'2019 original material]

Alberto Veiga of the Estudio Barozzi Veiga studio, co-author of the Szczecin Philharmonic among others, and winner of the 2015 Mies van der Rohe Prize, is interviewed by Ola Kloc.

Alberto Veiga

Ola Kloc: Congratulations on winning the Mies van der Rohe Award. This is a great honor, not only for Szczecin, but for all of Poland. Thanks to this project, Szczecin has become known on the architectural map of the world.

Alberto Veiga: Thank you.

Ola: At what point in your career, or perhaps with which project did you discover your own style and feel that you knew which way you wanted to go as an architect?

Alberto: Well, it's difficult to answer unequivocally. First of all, there are two of us in the studio and we work together. We've matured and developed together over the past several years - I think the kind of architect I am now is a result of how I developed while working with my partner. When we started, we didn't have a clear vision of what kind of architecture we wanted to create - we've been discovering that over the years of our work, and we're still doing it.

During that time, there were projects that "marked" us more, we took part in competitions that made us try to move forward in one direction or the other. I think it was more progressive, as if we were gradually defining ourselves in the direction of certain interests; a continuous evolution rather than one specific moment when you realize that "this is who I am, and this is what I want to do." Over the years it's been a constant process of thinking about what you can offer, what you'd like to convey in your work, and how far you'd like to look. So I can't point to one project.

Philharmonic Hall in Szczecin - concept sketch

Ola: Continuing with the theme of finding your own style, Barozzi and Veiga's studio has primarily focused on international competitions since its inception (in 2004). How has your studio changed over these fifteen years? How have you discovered and developed your style? How do you see it from your point of view and from the studio's perspective?

Alberto: The architectural profession is related to everything you do. Projects are mixed with the baggage of your experiences, with your obsessions, desires and everything you have behind you. And it's true that in one way or another you try to reflect that in the things you do. You always reflect it. What's more, we need it - we're both convinced that this individual approach is necessary.

So our work, at least mine, has evolved over these fifteen years also because I am gradually getting to know myself better. I know myself better, I'm better able to synthesize things that are important to me. I think when I started in the profession, I didn't know myself very well and I didn't know what I wanted to talk about through what I was doing. Now I know myself better and when I do something, at least I know what I want to say through it from a personal point of view. Work is a kind of continuous learning, but above all a process of getting to know yourself, which in turn is reflected in what you do. And that's why I think there wasn't one particular moment or project. But, from a professional point of view, I've noticed that it's important to constantly ask myself "why?" - Is doing something important to me or what sense does it make from my point of view, is it really something I identify with? Discovering this was important to me because at first I didn't think I could have such a personal connection to the work I was doing.

Ola: You said in an interview that you didn't decide to devote yourself to architecture because of your passion, but over time you began to feel comfortable with your work and came to love it. How did this process go?

Alberto: I'm not an architect by vocation, I'm not one of those people who, at fifteen years old, already know that they want to be architects. I started doing architecture by coincidence. I just know that if there is something that defines me, it's that I like to do things well, I like to work well. And that's why I sometimes joke that I could be a good doctor or whatever, because what I like is to do things well. Of course, I became an architect, and over time I fell in love with this profession - it became my passion. In the beginning, I didn't have in my plans such dedication to the profession, I didn't think about what kind of architect I would become. Gradually, I began to discover this, and within a few years architecture gave me many things I didn't expect. Thanks to the fact that it was all a process, a road back and forth between architecture and me, at the moment our relationship is working very well, it is beautiful and rewarding, but it could have been very different.

Ola: How, then, did it come about that you decided to study architecture, and how did you endure for so many years? Architecture, after all, is not an easy major.

Alberto: Actually, I don't know. My brother was an engineer, and I didn't feel that I could become one either. I think I saw myself as an architect, because I believed that this field of study would allow me to learn about many different things from a broader perspective, and it suited me this humanistic way of understanding life, getting to know everything bit by bit and then - gradually defining it. I wasn't a brilliant student either, I didn't get grades with distinction, none of that. I was an average student, and all I did was start working as soon as possible. It was working in architectural offices that allowed me to meet people who practiced their profession with passion, dedicated their lives to it, and were architects by vocation. I experienced this not so much at the university, but precisely in these studios. Once I was able to have my own studio, I tried to recreate more or less the same passion, this enthusiasm for work, and gradually I liked it more and more. I liked the life in the studio and the atmosphere that is generated there. Over time, I began to enjoy architecture more and more.

Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts (MCBA), Lausanne, projet: Estudio Barozzi Veiga, 2011-2019

Ola: Our magazine is read by many architecture students. Could you tell us how working in the offices of Patxi Mangado in Pamplona or Vázquez Consuegra in Seville influenced your career? How does your work experience influence your current architecture?

Alberto: Well, it's all connected to each other. Both studios were important to me, not just because of what I learned there in terms of architecture, because that was the least important. The most important thing was their attitude towards their work, they gave their souls to be able to get the job done right. They always had this need to do things to the best of their ability - each in their own style and language. When I started working, I thought it was important to learn the style, how to solve details, drawings, technical things. Later I realized that it wasn't important, that gradually I would discover it myself - each of the students, each of the architects would discover their own language. What I learned in these two studios is, first of all, the attitude you need to have towards your work in life.

Ola: What makes the buildings of the Barozzi and Veiga studios recognizable? Or by what elements would you like them to be recognizable? What is your architectural language?

Alberto: I believe that everything we have done so far is quite different, that our buildings are quite diverse, although there is a common thread - we are starting to like a certain way of doing things. I think all these projects are expressive. Our primary task is to convey things, and to achieve that, you have to be expressive in what you do.

We believe that everything we do conveys a certain balance. That when someone walks up to one of our buildings, they feel, or at least I would like them to, that they are balanced objects in relation to their surroundings, that they don't interrupt, adulterate or destroy the natural balance of a place.

There's also one word I like a lot - our architecture conveys a certain calmness. We would like to think that our buildings convey a sense of calm, they make you feel comfortable. They don't try to impose themselves or change the way you see the world, they just want to accompany you.

And well, there are buildings composed in a certain way and made in yet another way, but I think these three things, these three words, are the ones that best define us.

Ola: How do you start working on projects and what is the creative process like?

Alberto: We are partners and work as a team. We usually start thinking and working on projects at the same time, although we each need our own space to think. We start working on a project individually, and when we feel we are ready, we start talking, sharing our ideas, looking for compromises. I think what really works for us is that we are able to give up our ideas - when one of us sees that the other's idea is better, neither of us finds it difficult to withdraw from our own and continue with the other's idea. And I think this is one of the greatest advantages we have as architects - even though we are competing with each other and each of us is trying to win, we are able to recognize the value of the other person's work and once we decide which way we are going to go, we treat that idea as our own, we don't look back and we try to do everything as well as possible.

Once we have chosen a direction, we organize a sort of stress test for the idea. We invite people to help us with the project to see if it's good enough to be critiqued, improved, corrected. We also compete with them: we see if they can improve an idea, we in turn try to improve what they propose. We are always involved in the project from the beginning.

Bündner Kunstmuseum, Chur, projet: Estudio Barozzi Veiga, 2012-2016.

Ola: Who do you invite then? Other architects?

Alberto: Our collaborators. Fabrizio and I have been involved in the competition design work from the beginning, we like it a lot. We are not intuitive architects who one day have an idea, draw a sketch and pass it on to have someone else draw it. And it goes into a mockup and becomes a competition entry. We realistically take part in the whole process.

Ola: Both with the same involvement?

Alberto: Well, sometimes one gets more involved, sometimes the other, but always in a very personal way. We feel this inner obligation to be personally connected to what we are doing.

Ola: Turning to more technical matters: how do you arrive at solutions for light access to interiors in buildings such as the auditorium and convention center in Águilas or the Ribera del Duero headquarters in Roa, while achieving an effect as unique as the one that appealed to the makers of "Blade Runner 2049"?

Alberto: We always try to work, first of all, by emphasizing the fundamental issues of our profession, which are basically: hitting the scale, the right proportion in relation to the place and working with light. This allows us to understand the space, enables us to modify it and create atmosphere. Using these three concepts - scale, proportion and light - every time we take part in a competition is something that we have mastered very well and that we try to study to the best of our ability, sometimes with more or less success.

The projects in Águilas and Roa have different scales and different lighting mechanisms - I think appropriate for the scale of the buildings they are and the spaces they accommodate. On the other hand, in the render [of the unrealized museum project in Piloña - editor's note], which inspired the makers of the film "Blade Runner 2049," we wanted to show that with a certain scale, the right proportions and with natural lighting, you can create a space. By playing with just these factors, you can create a space that changes depending on the day and season, a space that can sometimes be dramatic, sometimes light or heavy, more or less emotional. I think we have tried to tell this story in this competition, as well as in all our projects.

Ola: The level of architecture teaching in Spain seems high to us. How do you see it? What do you think should be the most important thing in shaping young architects?

Alberto: I think architectural education in Spain is good. I can't say too much about education in Poland, I only know that we had two architects from Poland working with us and they were both great. I think the most important thing is that architects who graduate these days should not be obsessed with finishing their studies and becoming successful as soon as possible. In my opinion, studies show a certain way of understanding the world, a way of thinking and facing reality. They give you all the tools you need to gradually try to interpret the world, being an architect, because in fact everything happens slowly. When you graduate, you don't think about the fact that everything happens slowly.

Zurich Dance House, projet: Estudio Barozzi Veiga, 2014 (competition)-2019.

Ola: No one has that much patience....

Alberto: There are two qualities that all architects in the world have in common: you have to be optimistic and be patient. The most important thing is to be attentive to all the ways of seeing the world during your studies, to understand the importance of keeping your eyes open and seeing, and you will discover the rest over time, naturally. No matter what happens with your studies, you won't stop being an architect after you graduate, even if you decide not to work in the profession. Whether you want it or not, this education turns you into someone else; an engineer, for example, will have a different vision of the world than you.

During your studies, you get used to asking yourself certain questions or analyzing things in a slightly different way. And that will affect you throughout your life, what shirt you buy, what hotel you choose, what trip you take. You don't do it exactly the same way as other people. And in that sense, you will always be an architect, even if you don't work as an architect.

Ola: What do you expect from a candidate to work in your studio?

Alberto: We like to talk to candidates, talk to the people we work with. We're not a big studio, we always have a closer relationship with the people we work with, so it's important to get to know each other.

When we interview, I try to get a sense of whether the candidates are passionate about their profession. I try not to think about whether they are good or bad, but whether they really want to do things well, even though sometimes they don't work out. Things don't always work out well for me either. I also wonder if the person will try to give their best. And these are things I try to guess at. We've been very lucky when it comes to our co-workers, we've always met people who tried to work as well as they could.

Ola: You were recently a member of the jury of the competition for the design of the Center for Literature and Language "Planet Lem" in Krakow. You have participated in many competitions, how do you feel about the role of evaluating the potential of competition projects?

Alberto: There are times when I think that sitting on a jury is very complicated. As a participant in competitions, you have to think not only about what you see, but also about what goes beyond those drawings, about the potential that a project has. Sometimes it's hard to make a decision or define yourself, because architecture is something that takes time or you need time to think about it. Moreover, when the project is realized, it will also need time so that we can find out if it will become good architecture or not.

It was a good experience, but also difficult, it's not easy to evaluate the work of five final teams in two days. You can't say something is good, something is bad - and that's it. It's not easy to say why things are good or bad, it takes some time. So, well, it was difficult.

Ola: Did you enjoy the experience?

Alberto: Yes. I'm an optimist, I think you can learn something in any situation, and these two days served that purpose too.

Ola: Are you working on something now that you would like to tell our readers about? Is there something we should look into soon?

Alberto: We are just finishing two construction sites in Switzerland, and we are also participating in two competitions: in Denmark and Italy. We are constantly participating in competitions, because that is the raison d'être of our studio. It's like going to the gym, you have to participate in competitions to stay in shape.

Ola: But there is always some risk, right? You never know what the jury's verdict will be. It seems that you like adrenaline.

Alberto: It's true, it's stressful, but at the same time it allows you not to stand still. You're never in your comfort zone, and in my opinion that's important too.

Ola: Thank you very much for the interview.