TODAY WE INTERVIEW ROGER FORNOS

This has been his career path so far:

Architect from the Polytechnic University of Barcelona in 2002. After passing through different architecture and engineering studies, he has been part of the PMMT Arquitectura team as Friendly Materials Manager since 2018.

Let us get to know you a little better...

What is architecture for you?

As architecture, I understand the materialization of an accessible, safe, comfortable and well-protected environment against external elements, where human activities can be carried out in a functional way, and whose beauty comes precisely from the perfect resolution of these conditioning factors.

Sustainability and architecture are increasingly linked…

I fully share this appreciation, what's more I think that whoever is left out of this premise will soon be out of the game in the world of architecture. It is not necessary to be very aware of the state of exhaustion of resources on our planet to be aware that we can no longer face architecture as if the resources used came from an inexhaustible source, as has been done since the industrial revolution. For this reason, we believe that all strategies aimed at reducing both the carbon footprint of the materials used in construction and the energy consumption of the buildings and facilities constructed are absolutely necessary.

How do you imagine the architecture of the future?

We will see how construction is industrialized and digitized, with higher quality buildings, faster to build and much more sustainable, a reusable architecture, adaptable to changes, with industrialized processes that facilitate its production, built with materials free of toxic substances and universally accessible.

Any important project you are working on that you can tell us about?

We are currently working on different projects, all of them important to us. Currently the structure of PMMT is made up, between Barcelona and Madrid, of 7 teams of architects who manage their own projects, so the number of active projects is always very high. We can say that among the projects that we are developing, several of them are far from our field of social and health architecture, which is an opportunity to apply all our research and knowledge acquired during more than 25 years of experience in the sector.

What is the most curious place where you have been inspired?

As is rightly said, inspiration has to find you working, although it is true that sometimes ideas come to you in the most diverse situations, totally out of context, where the mind acts without the pressure to achieve an immediate result.

Any dream project come true?

Not at the moment, the dream projects are still in the plane of abstraction. Dream projects help us move forward and motivate us to look for new challenges, but once they materialize they are no longer part of the territory of dreams and we must find new motivations to continue evolving.

What led you to dedicate yourself to architecture?

I made the decision to study architecture because of how attractive its program seemed to me, a perfect mix of science, art and history, a combination difficult to find in other careers and that made the choice very natural for me. Each project is different, as is the environment where it will be physically reflected.

How do both concepts come together?

Each project must relate to the environment where it is located, I do not conceive of an interchangeable architecture created without taking into account the constraints posed by its environment. In fact, it is these same conditioning factors that give us guidelines and help us to configure a project that responds to the requirements of its surroundings and that results in a unique project that is a reflection of its surroundings and unrepeatable in a different location.

Pere Virgili Project. Photographer Delriobani
Arnau de Vilanova Hospital Project. Photographer Delriobani
Hospital Project in Sucre-Bolivia. Photographer Jagstudio