Barbas Lopes Arquitectos

Barbas Lopes Arquitectos is an architectural practice founded in 2006 by Patrícia Barbas and Diogo Seixas Lopes (1972-2016). Projects completed and in progress include public and private buildings, single-family homes, renovations, exhibition projects and furniture, covering a variety of scales and types. The work is based on a dialogue between theory and practice, manifested in their research, curatorial and teaching experience. Their work has been recognised in various contexts through exhibitions, publications and award nominations. FPM41, one of the most emblematic projects in Lisbon, was designed by Barbas Lopes Arquitectos.

Description of the work  "Chicago Tribune Tower: Vertical City":

In an age when information, true or not, travels so fast, the headquarters of the Chicago Tribune should be a combination of rigour and abstraction. It should be timeless architecture, modernist in form but classicist in principle. Adolf Loos' column (proposed in the 1922 competition) offers a model: base, shaft and capital. From this point of departure, we proceeded to the unlikely juxtaposition of three disparate references. This exercise in historical imagination allowed us to assemble a representation of the characteristics of our contemporary society. The first refers to the progressive alienation of the capitalist economy. The second responds to technical constraints and regulations. The third emphasises the need to believe that the newspaper is a house for building information and opening it up to debate in our society.