
100 years since the birth of Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola
Graduated in 1951, graduated as a technician in urban planning (1961) and doctor in 1965. His work is vast. He was one of the promoters of Grup R (1953-63). In 1962 he created the MBM Arquitectes studio, together with Josep M. Martorell, which was later joined by David Mackay (1962), Albert Puigdomènech (1994-2000) and Oriol Capdevila and Francesc Gual (2000).
Among his works are: the Mútua Metal·lúrgica; the group of housing in the Ronda del Guinardó; the workshops of La Vanguardia ; the Thau school; the Augusta Clinic; the Creueta del Coll park, in Barcelona; the Destino building, in Badalona; the Garbí school, in Esplugues de Llobregat; the Sant Jordi school, in Pineda; the Martí l’Humà block, in Sabadell; the Catalunya school, in Sant Adrià de Besòs; the Friedrichstadt complex, in Berlin; the Nestlé headquarters, in Esplugues de Llobregat, and the housing on Kochstrasse in Berlin and the Vila Olímpica in Barcelona. He won numerous FAD awards. He was a professor at the Barcelona School of Architecture; he was its director from 1977 to 1980, and carried out a profound revival there.
He took part in cultural enterprises, the most notable of which was his contribution to the publishing house Edicions 62, of which he was president from 1975 to 1999. From 1980 to 1988 he was president of the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona. From 1991 to 1994 he was councilor for Culture of the Barcelona City Council. In 2003 he was elected president of the Ateneu Barcelonès, a position he held until 2011.
He inspired the urban planning policy carried out by the city council, and his intervention was decisive in the projects developed for the 1992 Olympic Games, especially in the renovation of the city’s seafront, which includes the design of the Olympic Village.
He published several essays on architecture and received a large number of distinctions. He was an honorary member of several international academic institutions. In 2011 he was awarded the National Culture Award of the CoNCA for professional and artistic career, in 2013 with the Gold Medal of the Generalitat de Catalunya and in 2018 with the Gold Medal of the City of Barcelona. In 2021 he donated his documentary collection to the National Archive of Catalonia.
Source: Web of Generalitat de Catalunya