Emotional Heritage: Exploring Architecture and Memory with Flores & Prats

The "Emotional Heritage" installation by Flores & Prats brings a profound exploration of architecture, memory, and the passage of time to life. Presented in Venice, Italy, as part of their 2023 exhibition, this installation delves into the duo's architectural philosophy, revealing their unique approach to design through six iconic projects. Organized around four key themes, "Emotional Heritage" serves as both an exhibition and an interactive workshop, inviting visitors to engage with the creative process.

Four Themes of Emotional Heritage

The installation explores architecture's relationship with history, use, and memory, structured around the following themes:

1. Drawing with Time

 Architectural Observation

Flores & Prats emphasize the value of observing and documenting existing buildings, incorporating their temporal dimensions into new designs. By drawing the structures they work with, the architects engage deeply with the generations that shaped them.

Highlighted Project:

• Mills Museum, Palma de Mallorca (2002)This project focused on enhancing the museum's inherent qualities by introducing natural light and excavating its geometry. The result amplified the structure's influence across its spatial layout.

2. The Value of Use

 Functional Heritage

This theme celebrates the cultural and functional worth of everyday architectural elements, even in seemingly abandoned buildings. Doors, windows, and other small details carry a legacy of collective experience, which the architects meticulously document and preserve.

Highlighted Projects:

• Yutes Warehouse, Barcelona (2005): An early foray into adaptive reuse, emphasizing the value of cataloging historical elements.
• Beckett Room, Barcelona (2017): A careful restoration project that honored both the physical structure and its social history.

3. The Open Condition of Ruins

 Ruin Conservation

Ruins represent a timeless connection between personal memory and historical context. Flores & Prats view these spaces as layered narratives, open to interpretation and reinvention.

Highlighted Project:

• Cultural Laboratory Variétés, Brussels (In Progress): A collaboration with Ouest Architecture to rejuvenate a 1930s theater, blending modern utility with the timeless essence of its original design.

4. The Right to Inherit

Keyword: Sustainable Heritage

Each generation inherits architectural legacies and has the right to adapt them to current needs. However, Flores & Prats stress the importance of balancing innovation with respect for the material and emotional history of these spaces.

Highlighted Projects:

• Casal Balaguer Cultural Center, Mallorca (2016): The transformation of a historic house into a public cultural hub, preserving its multi-generational significance.
• Favorita Fab Lab, Barcelona (In Progress): A revitalized industrial complex that integrates surrounding natural features, such as trees and open sky, into the design.

The Exhibition: A Collaborative Workshop

Flores & Prats designed their exhibition space as an interactive workshop, filled with sketches, models, and materials from their projects. Tables and standalone displays encourage visitors to participate in the research and design process. These installations represent open and unfinished documents, highlighting the studio’s dedication to collaboration and continuous learning.

The exhibition also incorporates films and animations, providing a narrative lens for visitors to understand the stories behind the projects. These multimedia elements enrich the experience, revealing the intricate details and thought processes that shape Flores & Prats' work.

A Philosophy of Emotional Heritage

The "Emotional Heritage" installation by Flores & Prats underscores a fundamental truth: heritage is not defined by monetary value or grandeur but by the layers of history, use, and memory within architectural spaces. This philosophy is evident in their six featured projects, where every intervention is a balance between preserving the past and adapting for the present.

This exhibition is more than a showcase of architectural prowess—it is a celebration of sustainability, heritage, and the emotional connection between people and their built environments.

All Photographs are works of Adrià Goula,  Eva Prats