Our work as an architect has a certain condition of alchemist, of transmuting metals, of turning worthless bricks into something valuable… And woe to anyone who renounces that magic, that search for truth!

 

Albert Einstein said, beyond the famous phrase “God does not play dice with the Universe”, that “The most beautiful thing we can experience is mystery. That is the source of all true art and science. This phrase presided over the work table of the office of José Antonio Coderch, with whom I worked as a student.

 

If, as Silesius said, “The rose is without why”, perhaps who smells its fragrance knows more than who removes it to analyze its petals under the microscope. That mystery is what I would like to share with all of you today and what has prompted me to write this book. Without the intention of giving lessons to anyone.

The book is the result of one of the courses given by the author in Italy in which the students asked him for images of the work and he preferred to write them the principles behind it, to dive into his own inner world trying to establish what it is and what it is not architecture. The book mixes reflections on his own work and that of others, with landmark buildings, things seen in so many trips and the teaching experience, understanding, as Einstein said that “the most beautiful thing we can experience is mystery. That is the source of all true art and science. The book is dedicated to uncovering that mystery. Spanish, French (with forewords of Ruddy Ricciotti and Laurent Duport) and English edition, with forewords of Juhani Pallasmaa).