flores & prats: 'emotional heritage' at venice architecture biennale

’emotional heritage’ by flores & prats

Participating a fourth time, architects Ricardo Flores and Eva Prats of Flores & Prats offer visitors of the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale an intriguing insight into their extraordinary design process through countless design iterations, drawn and modeled. Part of the ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ section of the main exhibition at the Corderie, Arsenale, their installation — dubbed ‘Emotional Heritage’ — showcases the practice’s extreme sensitivity in capturing the accumulated layers of history that exist in every site, even those that are not immediately visible, their skill in transforming existing structures into emotional spaces.

‘Emotional Heritage’ by Flores & Prats | image © Adrià Goula

countless design iterations on full display

In a large, dense, and welcoming space, amidst dozens of studio models and hand drawings, in-progress design iteration open for collaboration, repositories of documentation, films, and animations, and photographs of buildings under construction, visitors find themselves immersed in the intensity of Flores & Prats’s projects, presented with descriptive accounts of their creation and an invitation to participate. In a laboratory-like atmosphere, filled with stimuli and spotlights, the architects occupy the Corderie space as if it was their studio in Barcelona, laying out everything in plain sight, ready to open a conversation with curious minds. Ultimately, by offering a glimpse into their fertile and bustling workspace, ‘Emotional Heritage’ encourages visitors to experience how Flores & Prats observe places and built spaces as repositories of emotions and memories.

installation view at the Corderie, Arsenale | image © Adrià Goula

‘People are not the only ones to contain the memory of a place. Buildings are also imbued with memories of the uses and lives that occupy them. The built environment reflects social behavior, speaking of a way of using the ground, sky, and a way of inhabiting. As an architect, reading the memories held in buildings and people is to think about a future that counts on the past,’ share the architects.

This idea is reflected in the studio’s cultural approach and projects, especially those focused on rehabilitating old structures for new occupations. The architects also suggest that when an abandoned building remains alive in the memories of those who lived there. These closed-off edifices carry civic and moral values embedded through use and time, along with the stories of past inhabitants. These occupations have created an invisible constellation of social relationships that expand the influence of the building to a universe around it.

countless design iterations | image © Adrià Goula

exploring four themes and six projects

The ‘Emotional Heritage’ installation by Flores & Prats is structured around four themes that explore the subject and features six projects by the Catalan architecture duo. The themes serve as a guide for visitors to navigate through the graphic material displayed on tables and containers. Each theme is detailed below.

Drawing with time: According to Flores & Prats, the advantage of working with existing buildings is that it allows the architects to observe and learn from what has already been created. They record everything they observe and incorporate the temporal dimension of the building into their design. By drawing the existing building, they make it their own and express the different generations that built it. The project selected by the architects to exemplify this theme is the Mills Museum in Palma de Mallorca (completed in 2002). Here they focused on enhancing the existing qualities and geometries, amplifying them through excavation and the introduction of natural light, to the point that their influence on the whole space was multiplied.

image © Adrià Goula

The value of use: Heritage is not based on monetary value or grandeur but instead on time and collective experience. This is evident in ordinary architecture, where layers of history are present in every detail, waiting to be remembered. Even seemingly insignificant elements of abandoned buildings, such as doors and windows, have value in their use. Drawing and cataloging these elements is a way to understand and appreciate building culture. The two projects featured here are the Yutes Warehouse in Barcelona (completed in 2005), which introduced them to the discipline of reuse, and Sala Beckett, also in Barcelona (completed in 2017), rehabilitated by restoring its physical and social heritage.

installation view at the Corderie, Arsenale | image © Adrià Goula

The open condition of the ruin: The architects describe the experience of being inside a ruin and how it presents itself as a patient and silent witness to the passage of time. The ruin is a palimpsest, where different periods are joined together, creating a timeless character that invites interpretation, offering a connection between one’s memories and the memories of the place. The project for the Variétés Cultural Laboratory in Bruxelles (ongoing), developed alongside Ouest Architecture to give new life to a 1930s theater, is presented here.

‘The open condition of the ruin’ theme | image © Eva Prats

The right to inherit: Each generation has the right to adapt the legacy of the past to current conditions; this, however, should be done with critical reflection and respect for the material and emotional history of what is inherited. An understanding and incorporation of what was there before are required, leading to a balance where design actions are not entirely novel but rather an evolution of what existed previously.

Two projects are featured here. For the Casal Balaguer Cultural Centre in Mallorca, developed with Duch- Pizà Arquitectes and completed in 2016, the architects converted an aristocratic house that dated back to the 14th century, was renovated in the 16th century, and expanded in the 18th century from a private family residence to a public building accessible to the entire city. Likewise, La Favorita Fab Lab in Barcelona (ongoing), which repurposes an abandoned industrial complex, considers external conditions beyond the building itself as a heritage to preserve. This includes the trees growing along its facade and the vast sky surrounding the site.

work in progress at La Favorita Fab Lab, Barcelona | image © Adrià Goula

’emotional heritage’ as an open + collaborative workshop

Flores & Prats has interpreted its exhibition space for ‘Emotional Heritage’ as an open and collaborative workshop integrated with its neighboring installations. The studio displays various materials, commonly used in their research and development of projects, on tables or freestanding satellites, creating an atmosphere of material flow beyond the tables and encouraging visitors’ interaction. Sketches and models are arranged on the tables, introducing the six projects that showcase the ‘Emotional Heritage’ approach of the practice.

These projects are presented as open and unfinished documents, inviting visitors to participate in the research and design process. Display devices, such as containers and models on legs, are located near the tables, showcasing fragmented material used in the design phases to test proportions and facilitate conversations with clients and builders. These trunks serve as archives for the models once the project is complete, allowing for a deeper exploration of emerging themes.

work in progress at La Favorita Fab Lab, Barcelona | image © Adrià Goula

The exhibition also features films and animations, providing a critical lens to view the creative process and explore the stories and situations that shape the final product. Flores & Prats’s participation in the Biennale Architettura 2023 confirms their role in the international architectural debate. It celebrates their remarkable ability to capture the accumulated layers of history present in every site, even the ones that are not immediately visible, and their skillful talent in transforming existing structures into emotional spaces.

Their ongoing project for the Théâtre des Variétés in Bruxelles, developed with Ouest Architecture and due for completion in 2024, proposes an open, inclusive public space to welcome debates, art, and musical performances and to celebrate public encounters, aiming to reactivate the place for its new use while retaining its unique spatial and material qualities.