Benedetta Tagliabue on Architecture and Travel

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What is the importance of architectural tourism?

In a way, tourism is now kind of a new thing happening. I’m kind of surprised, for example, when I come back from a trip there is a big advertisement in Barcelona saying: “You will travel more” and to me is: “No, please, I don’t want to travel more”. Really, I travel at the maximum of my possibility because I have to and, sometimes, this idea of travelling is something very positive. Anyway, I don’t think that it is like this, but we are creating a kind of an idea like this, that travelling is always fantastic.

Architecture, in a way, is for whoever needs it. But, nowadays, we have so many people going here or there. It’s very important that architecture is recognizable, familiar, making you feel happy. So, we are in a moment where there is a lot of translating ideas from one place to the other. And, also, there is more consciousness about making good quality architecture, because people find it in many different places. So, for example, public space is becoming more important, good quality is becoming more important, fantastic lights. I think tourism on architecture is more about us becoming conscious.

I think that it is very important. For example, this idea of public space is so incredible. Now, I’m preparing a lecture for public spaces and I was thinking many times about the importance of the quality of public space. And, then, I realized that what I would like to say is so simple. Good quality architecture is making people happier. Bad quality architecture is making people not happy.

It’s just as simple as that. To learn how to make good quality architecture needs a lot of effort but, mainly, the idea is this. And, mainly, when you make a project you should be very conscious about this, about making something that will make people feel happier in that place.

What is the importance of Architectural events (like WAF that is holding us here) worldwide? What are the profits for a city holding this kind of events?

The WAF, the World Architecture Festival that I’m experimenting since its beginning which was three years ago, is a very good event. It’s like a magazine, but alive. That means that you have the possibility to meet together in many different ways of conducting a practice, to practically meet with people and to have a cultural exchange which is very strong and really worldwide, as the name says (world). I appreciate this very much and I think that it should involve the city which is hosting it a little more.

It’s not easy, I know that the organizers are really trying to do that but, Barcelona is not totally conscious that this is taking place here, in this city and for some precise reasons. This is now getting better. I hope, in the future, this will also involve more the cultural life of the city of Barcelona.

This is very subjective. When I met Enric Miralles, we had some kind of heroes. It was very beautiful to have this discovery of Le Corbusier or the secret Le Corbusier. Anytime we were traveling, we were kind of discovering new heroes or local heroes, people that you were not very interested in and then you start to understand. What is very important is to have your eyes open and to be open and understand everything you find in front of you.

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