Fill this form to have the opportunity to join the New Generations platform: submissions will be reviewed on a daily-basis, and the most innovative practices will have the chance to be part of the media's coverage and participate in our cultural agenda, including events, research projects, workshops, exhibitions and publications.
New Generations is a European platform that investigates the changes in the architectural profession ever since the economic crisis of 2008. We analyse the most innovative emerging practices at the European level, providing a new space for the exchange of knowledge and confrontation, theory, and production.
Since 2013, we have involved more than 300 practices from more than 20 European countries in our cultural agenda, such as festivals, exhibitions, open calls, video-interviews, workshops, and experimental formats. We aim to offer a unique space where emerging architects could meet, exchange ideas, get inspired, and collaborate.
A project by Itinerant Office
Within the cultural agenda of New Generations
Editor in chief Gianpiero Venturini
Editorial team Pablo Ibáñez Ferrera
Copyediting and Proofreading Akshid Rajendran
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Based in Madrid, mecanismo results from the combination of a profound interest in materials and a careful execution of ideas, all developed with a clear obsession for investigation and innovation of new concepts. The materialization of these ideas resulted in Marta Urtasun and Pedro Rica coming together in 2012 carrying out work specialised in the development and execution of projects, systems and products related to design and architecture.
We first met during university as classmates who were coincidentally working on our undergraduate final project. In an organic fashion, we began collaborating on different projects and competitions, eventually winning some of them. From there, some projects emerged, most of them being rehabilitation projects for houses. Little by little we started growing and participating in projects of greater complexity and different natures, while always being faithful to our philosophy while simultaneously evolving with our way of life, tastes and interests.
For us, architecture is just another aspect of our life, a hobby or profession that naturally integrates and sometimes monopolises our daily activities. Therefore, our sole objective is to make the most of and enjoy what we do. On many occasions we decide not to participate in a project because we feel no connection or empathy with the client. Our true success is the creation of a deeply-involved team, in which each participant considers the project as their own.
We do not think that the architecture profession is more complex or requires more dedication than other professions. It is simply that when you are part of a profession as liberal as architecture and you are running your own company, no matter what field you frame these conditions within, you end up spending a lot of time on work and it eventually merges into your personal life. We do not wake up thinking that we have to go to work, nor do we differentiate a weekend from a weekday. Everyday, we spend a great part of our time thinking and designing architecture. This is a natural attitude or a hobby, that does not interfere with other dedications, obligations or hobbies that we have. Rather, everything is simply integrated into what life is.
Our team and the space in which we work are another consequence of our way of being and living. We have not designed the space in which we work as if it were a commission. It is rather being formed and modified according to the momentary needs of the studio. We all work in an open space on large tables. Marta and I design and supervise the process of each project for which a team member is responsible. But although each one deals especially with one or several jobs, everyone is always up-to-date with the status of every project. Our hierarchy and human organisation, just like space, grows and improves over time.
We have never had, nor do we have, great expectations about what we are going to do. We never even clearly expected to create the studio that we have today. Everything is a natural process supported on a day-to-day basis, which we do not fully control, we simply guide it towards our great objective, which is to enjoy what we do.We are interested in any type of project where we can develop something new, i.e., something that we do not know or cannot control; where the process is challenging for us. We are driven by the processes rather than the result and perhaps for this reason, we carry out a variety of projects that we can always approach with the same perspective, regardless of the type, scale or budget.
Our real objective, in the short and long term, is to enjoy and be able to face new projects that generate complex situations that make us have to learn and seek new resources or solutions. We do not think about concrete projects but about evolving our technical and creative skills.We hope that the future will continue to surprise us as it has done so far.
Photography courtesy of mecanismo
Photography courtesy of mecanismo
Photography courtesy of mecanismo
Photography Miguel de Guzmán y Rocío Romero. (Imagen subliminal)