(a propósito de) Pamplona > [ver +][English]What have been the influences, challenges and consequences of staying in Pamplona for you?Héctor Gato Cid, UPM ETSA Madrid, End of Course Project student. Patxi Mangado: I have always been the kind of person who has intuitions and they work for me. Obviously, these intuitions must be based on knowledge. And I had a clear intuition that my place was here, in Pamplona. I can’t deny there was probably an element of fear in that decision. At a time when post-modernity reigned, when the leading schools of architecture like Madrid and Barcelona were immersed in organisational chaos, I decided to stay in Pamplona, where at the time, architecturally speaking, there was still a lot to be done. I believed I would have more of an opportunity to develop what I had been taught by Echaide: a more scientific, more objective style of architecture. I’m not a ‘natural born’ architect. For me it is more a question of willpower. Genius, despite my intuitions, does not form part of the equation. I decided not to work in a major studio, where I might have had earlier opportunities to prove myself as an architect. But I think time has proved me right and despite the fact that communications and the transmission of information were not as fluid then as they are now, we have ended up with a system where it does not matter where you work but how you work. I believe that you have more of a chance to show your worth outside the mainstream.   The School of Architecture was, and still is,...

(a propósito de) Francisco -Patxi- Mangado > [ver +] [English]Patxi Mangado: I ask whoever works with me in my studio to show good will and a technical feel for the basics of what he/ she is working on. I say to them, “You put this here and that there …I’ll add the final touches and show you how it all comes together”. I have twelve people working with me now,. tThey are all licensed architects. They work under pressure, putting up with my moods,. tThat’s the way I am. Some people only last  a week, but those that overcome that first week stay with me for a long time. They know that if I’m not saying anything, that’s a bad sign. But if I’m active or in a mood, even if I’m being very demanding, then things are going well. I ask students to make themselves worthy of the time I dedicate to them, the time I invest in them, and to have a sense of humour to put up with me. Between all of us we execute the entire project, we undertake the process entirely, here in the studio. [Español]Patxi Mangado: A quienes colaboran en el estudio les pido voluntad, y sentido sintético para saber cuáles son los fundamentos de lo que se está haciendo. Les digo: ‘aquí vosotros poned lo que hay que poner... que yo ya pondré la cabeza para enseñaros’. Ahora tengo 12 colaboradores.Todos son arquitectos licenciados. Se trabaja con presión, con genio, es mi forma de ser. Hay gente que no aguanta una semana, pero los que lo superan siguen bastante tiempo. Saben que...

(a propósito de) concursos > [ver +][English]Patxi Mangado: Small details do not kick-start a process, but on occasions they can explain it. I would not say that I follow a particular order when I am organising or beginning a project – I don’t know if anybody does – but, well, I think… I intuit: that to start a project one doesn’t need a method or a great previous knowledge. Sometimes one doesn’t even have to know what one is going to do. We live from approximations, attempts and … of course knowledge as well. The order of these things is the crux and that will vary from project to project.  There are concepts that are there from the start of the project, in one way or another: the place, the physical site and, like I was saying, the use of materials. But sometimes, it is the anecdotal things, the smallest detail that can spark the fuse and produce the mechanism that generates the project. A material that I find abandoned in a place, for example, might then become the fuse that explains that place most precisely. The project process is a source of resources and suggestions, but it requires a more reflexive, less intuitive level of awareness. I trust in this process a lot. Although I do need to provoke it, do you understand? It is a battle between the most intuitive and the most rational: between a synthetic awareness and an analytical one. One sometimes takes a long time in finding the spark to activate the process. Once I’ve found it, I work relatively fast. When I take...

(a propósito de) materiales > [ver +][English]Patxi Mangado: I am  very much attracted by materials, by the material nature of an object and its construction, by technical rather than technological aspects. Our designs do not offer grand displays from a materials point of view. However, there is a process of elaboration of that reality in all of them. We never include a single detail directly from the market: things that have been mass-produced do not interest me much. For example, I might resolve the problem of a door handle by using some folded metal sheets that I have lying around, which I might also use to sort out some carpentry problems I have.  I’m interested in the raw material, in exploiting it to the extremes, which might be determined by me or by the project. I like to look for expressive values, different ways of making and  manipulating materials, different from what is on offer in the market, which is usually perfect, but too simplistic and anodyne. Just think about an iron foundry.. about those fantastic balls of iron that are used to moor boats. Don’t you think that they could be a means of provoking architecture? Don’t they suggest something that might serve as a project? Or extruded aluminium. I’m not interested in the profile products in the catalogues. What really interests me are aluminium sheets. Because they can be manipulated and worked on, I can make a special cut out of them or whatever… That’s what I mean by investigation and research. It’s fascinating to manipulate a material, even one not normally used for that purpose, finding...