Seville: Contemporary Architecture I. Dialogues with the Past

One of the most appealing topics we can explore in Sevilla is the set of interventions on pre-existing built environments, where contemporary architecture enters into dialogue with the past in a face-to-face encounter between the new and the old, a dynamic that has become deeply embedded in our daily practice. Among the most emblematic examples, visiting the Metropol Parasol (Jürgen Mayer, 2011) together with the Antiquarium (Felipe Palomino, 2011) is an essential experience, placing you at the heart of state-of-the-art architectural thinking and offering a unique opportunity to walk above the city’s rooftops. Equally significant is the Contemporary Art Space in the former Madre de Dios convent, belonging to the University of Sevilla and designed by the young firm Sol 89, imagined as a flexible and reversible environment that exposes the textures of the historic brickwork and the traces left by centuries.

Another outstanding reference is the rehabilitation of the San Telmo Palace by Guillermo Vázquez Consuegra, an ambitious intervention that embraces the complexity of the entire building through layered acts of restoration, reconstruction, rehabilitation and new construction. The Triana Ceramic Centre (2014) by AF6 Architects adds yet another compelling example, emerging from a long historical process in which the organisation of inner spaces responds not to preconceived forms but to evolving functional demands such as manufacturing, expansion, storage and modernisation. Without a traditional façade, the complex becomes a hidden treasure revealed only upon entering, offering visitors a rich narrative of place and time.