C-guide is a project designed and developed by Fundación Arquitectura Contemporánea in partnership with the Grupo Cosentino.
This collective effort will create a useful tool for exploring the complex contemporary architecture landscape and recognising works of interest that have been built around the world since 1975.
C-guide proposes to connect the digital environment with the reality of our cities through a web platform and mobile app, encouraging visits to the buildings and bringing their interpretation closer to audiences outside academia.
The guide will be expanded in phases, to include a new city each time and continually including new projects.
C-guide was created with the aim of recognising quality architecture around the world as well as providing a tool for understanding architectural practice as a crucial element in the development of today's cities. It seeks to raise awareness of the importance of cities, public spaces and architecture in the lives of citizens and to stimulate interest in architecture, regardless of the audience’s level of knowledge on the subject.
The aim is an interdisciplinary approach that generates the broadest possible public debate about the spaces we create in our cities, without geographical or disciplinary limits.
The guide seeks to build an open and collaborative imaginarium to help identify contemporary spatial trends, both locally and globally. To achieve this, the proposed digital tool will facilitate the exploration of contemporary landscape from two complementary positions: touring the digital map (website) or touring the real city (mobile application).
While they explore, both on the website and in the application, users can contribute to the development of the guide and the experience of others as well as developing their own personal guide based on their interests.
This guide aims to be an instrument of reflection in motion, focused on investigating the spaces that we are creating almost in real time. To achieve this, it uses the contributions of the authors as well as the users for continuous updates.
C-guide, with a radical focus on contemporaneity, only includes works dating from 1975. This forty-year perspective helps us reflect on global architecture at a time when the certainties of the modern movement have faded away and cities seem to have emerged as both a problem and a solution to human needs.
Selection criteria:
To start the process of preparing this collaborative global guide, the Fundación Arquitectura Contemporánea proposes three vectors of interest to consider when selecting works and labels:
1.Global – Local Tension
The guide aims to investigate these two contradictory trajectories in contemporary space creation. One tends to reinforce the local specificities of each city while another promotes the spatial homogenisation of the world. We are interested in exploring projects that clearly and consciously take advantage of one option or another as well as projects that are representative of the superposition of global and local dynamics - a fundamental characteristic of our contemporary landscape.
2.Symbolic Function
The guide explores the role of contemporary architecture as a generator of the collective symbolic imagination, able to produce sociability in various ways, to drive and generate desire, and to shape identities. Examples of this could be projects that generate collective participatory processes, important spaces for the emergence of specific geographical identities or spaces that have acquired a special relevance in the collective imagination because of their appearance in film or the media.
3.Public Space
C-guide understands architecture as a city generator. As a result, attention is paid to projects that play an urban role and especially those that generate spaces for meeting and exchange. We are interested in exploring the different types of public spaces that are being generated as a crucial element in understanding today's cities.
Classification criteria:
The projects published in the C-guide are selected and assessed by a Scientific Committee appointed by the Fundación Arquitectura Contemporánea, notwithstanding that its users can also provide their own classification, which will be taken into account by the Committee.
The meaning of the classifications is as follows:
CCC Must-see wherever you are CC Must-see project if you’re in the city C Must-see project if you’re in the area C-guide is a tool for exploring the contemporary territory from two complementary positions: touring the digital map (website) or touring the real city (application).
Website:
On the website, the central element is the map where the projects appear. An image of each of the mapped projects is shown at the bottom of the screen while the labels that correspond to those same projects appear in the upper right. Like the projects, these labels, which enable their interpretation and that of the landscape, are proposed by the C-guide editorial team at the request of the Fundación Arquitectura Contemporánea, as well as by the users themselves.
Mobile Application:
Once in the actual city, the application geolocates the user, suggesting the projects closest to their position. In this case, the user's movement through the city determines the projects that appear in the buildings grid, ordered according to proximity to their position.
FAQ:
What parameters can you use to search for buildings?
To facilitate browsing, C-guide allows users to filter works based on six parameters:
- Authors One or several authors can be selected.
- Year of completion. Any date range from 1975 to the present can be selected.
- Typology.Projects can be selected by type. For example: single-family housing, collective housing, schools, university, civic works, public space, etc.
- Labels One or several labels from those proposed by the team and users can be selected.
- Classification Users can filter according to the C number assigned to each work.
- Visitability. Projects can be filtered based on a Visitability code: Visitable / visible from the street / arranged visit / not visitable.
Can the labels that appear on the website map be selected?
The labels that appear in the top right of the screen can be activated, in which case only the projects that contain this label will be displayed.
What are the markers located in the bottom right of the screen?
The Classification filters are in the bottom right of the screen. By clicking on them, the user activates works classified as CCC, CC or C.
The meaning of the classifications is as follows:
C Must-see project if you’re in the area
CC Must-see project if you’re in the city
CCC Must-see project wherever you are
What information is offered for each project?
Upon entering a specific project, an image gallery and file open up, including a brief description of the building, the author, classification, year of completion, type, labels, + info (which includes a link to the authors' web page), visitability (which includes visitor information), location (if this is inexact at the wish of the architects, this will be notified).
The image gallery includes photographs of the project and may also include plans and drawings of its design process if the architects have supplied them.
Can you search for specific projects?
There is a free search engine for projects that can be used to search by name of project and author.
In what ways can users contribute to the C-guide?
Users, including authors, can suggest projects through the form enabled for this purpose or by sending us an email.
Users can contribute to the conversation included for each project. These contributions will be moderated by the C-Guide team to ensure they do not contain any offensive language.
The user can also contribute by providing images of the projects and rating them.
What use is made of the images and data provided by users and collaborators?
C-guide have any rights to any image provided by the authors, photographers, collaborators and users of the guide, unless expressly stated. Usage is restricted to incorporation in the guide and distribution thereof.
None of the generated content in the C-guide will be used for commercial purposes.