TC Cuadernos 167: Bak Gordon Architecture 2008-2024

Dedicated to the work of Portuguese architect Ricardo Bak Gordon, this issue reviews his career from 2008 to the present day through a selection of 17 projects, documented with plans, photographs and construction details. The selection includes emblematic projects such as the D. Dinis Secondary School in Lisbon and the García da Orta Secondary School in Porto, the National Museum of Carriages (in collaboration with Paulo Mendes da Rocha) and various detached houses that demonstrate his sensitivity to the domestic scale. Each project demonstrates his search for a timeless architecture based on fundamental values such as scale, proportion, light and materiality. The volume includes the essay ‘Convoluto’ by Nuno Tavares da Costa, which analyses the evolution of his work, and an in-depth interview by Alberto Pérez with the architect about his creative process. It also includes a fold-out of his drawings, together with reflections on their role as a tool for thought and exploration. Through its pages, the book demonstrates how Bak Gordon combines disciplinary rigour with a poetic dimension in his architecture. His approach to architectural projects combines technical knowledge with an intuitive sensitivity based on observation of the world, with the aim of creating atmospheres that, in his own words, ‘protect the unpredictability of life’.