El Croquis

El Croquis El Croquis is a Spanish architectural magazine and publishing house known for monographic issues on contemporary architects and firms such as Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid, Herzog & de Meuron, Norman Foster, Tadao Ando. Founded in 1982, it functions as both periodical and curated archive, documenting projects by figures like Mario Botta, Alvaro Siza, Jean Nouvel, Peter Zumthor, Renzo Piano and institutions such as the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The publication has become a primary source for researchers, practitioners and students referencing work by practices including OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture), SANAA, Santiago Calatrava, and BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group).

History

El Croquis emerged in Madrid amid a European architectural milieu shaped by exhibitions at the Venice Biennale, critical debates involving Archigram, and pedagogies at schools like the Architectural Association School of Architecture and the École des Beaux-Arts. Early coverage juxtaposed Spanish figures such as Rafael Moneo, Santiago Calatrava and Enric Miralles with international practitioners like Luis Barragán, Aldo Rossi, Le Corbusier and Alvar Aalto. Across the 1980s and 1990s the magazine chronicled the ascendancy of movements associated with offices such as LOOK/1994 and networks tied to the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies. In the 2000s it consolidated monographic issues devoted to practices including Kengo Kuma, Steven Holl, David Chipperfield, Glenn Murcutt, and Francois Roche; in the 2010s it documented globalization effects seen in commissions by Foster + Partners, Gehry Partners, THA Architects and the proliferation of work in markets like Dubai and Shanghai.

Editorial Approach and Format

The editorial model prioritizes long-form monographs pairing extensive photographic documentation with measured drawings and technical plans created by firms such as Owen Hatherley or collaborators linked to Deyan Sudjic–style curatorship. Each issue typically centers on an architect or practice—examples include dedicated volumes for Kazuyo Sejima, Ryue Nishizawa, Alejandro Aravena, Carme Pinós—and includes essays, interviews and project sequences. Textual contributions have ranged from critics and historians associated with institutions like Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation to curators from the Museum of Modern Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The layout emphasizes full-bleed photography by photographers such as Iwan Baan, Fernando Guerra, Hélène Binet and measured drawings reminiscent of archives at the Canadian Centre for Architecture.

Featured Architects and Issues

El Croquis has presented monographs on an array of architects and practices including Álvaro Siza Vieira, Caruso St John, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, MVRDV, Peter Eisenman, John Pawson, Nicholas Grimshaw, Herzog & de Meuron, Koolhaas-affiliated projects, Sverre Fehn, Toyo Ito, Balkrishna Doshi, Arata Isozaki, RCR Arquitectes, Anna Heringer, Sou Fujimoto, Wang Shu, Li Xiaodong, Kazuyo Sejima and many others. Special thematic issues and curated compilations have focused on topics intersecting with the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Praemium Imperiale, and the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture / Mies van der Rohe Award, documenting prize-winning work and competition entries by offices like Santiago Calatrava and Jean Nouvel.

Influence and Reception

Scholars and practitioners cite El Croquis as instrumental in disseminating projects by prize laureates such as Pritzker Prize winners and recipients of the Royal Gold Medal. Architectural schools including Harvard Graduate School of Design, ETH Zurich, TU Delft and The Bartlett regularly use its monographs in design studios. Critics from publications like Architectural Review, Domus, Detail, A+U and Architectural Record have debated its editorial choices, comparing its role to that of archives like the Getty Research Institute and the Canadian Centre for Architecture. While celebrated for rigorous visual and technical documentation, it has also been scrutinized in dialogues involving global capital flows in commissions in places such as Abu Dhabi, Doha and Beijing.

Awards and Recognition

El Croquis has been recognized by cultural institutions and awards bodies for contribution to architectural culture, receiving endorsements and institutional acquisitions by museums such as the Museum of Modern Art and libraries like the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Publications and curators have acknowledged its role in the visibility of recipients of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, RIBA Royal Gold Medal, Mies van der Rohe Award and the Praemium Imperiale. Individual monographs have accompanied prize citations and retrospectives at venues including the Serpentine Galleries, Kunsthaus Zürich, MAXXI and the Fundación Joan Miró.

Category:Architecture magazines Category:Spanish magazines Category:Publishing companies of Spain