New into Old

The July/August edition of the Architectural Review is dedicated to adaptive reuse. As well as the six winning and commended projects of the 2025 AR New into Old awards, the issue revisits five historical cases of transforming existing structures for new uses, from the sixth century to the final years of the twentieth.

One of these projects is La Fábrica, reviewed by Rafael Gómez-Moriana. In an excerpt, he writes: "It is curious how a structure as tough and resistant as a cement factory can lend itself to constant transformation. La Catedral has transformed from a garage to an exhibition hall to now a large workspace, while many rooms have alternated between residential and office spaces.

[...] Bofill Taller de Arquitectura is also a place where furniture, fashion, objects, graphic communication and publications are designed. Ricardo Bofill’s own bedroom is now a guest‐suite for artists‐in‐residence and many of his belongings have been stored away. More than 200 people work at La Fábrica today, where project teams are formed in certain spaces for certain durations of time, creating fluctuating patterns of inhabitation.

Yet what has in fact changed most is La Fábrica’s surroundings and general context. Spain eventually became a democratic EU member state, and Barcelona is known the world over as a model of post‐industrial urban transformation. The former industrial zone around the cement factory is now a quiet, verdant residential neighbourhood. The grey period during which La Fábrica was created as a defiant act of hope and imagination is no more."