Lluís Comerón, 1960–2022
Madeline Beach Carey
2. 2月 2022
Photo © Ana Amado
On Saturday, January 29, the funeral of Lluís Comerón Graupera, president of the Superior Council of Architects of Spain, took place in Barcelona, at the Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar. The event was attended by a large crowd, a clear sign of the immense loss that this death represents to many people in the architectural profession, as well as to family and friends.
Since 2018 Comerón had presided over the Consejo Superior de los Colegios de Arquitectos de España (CSCAE, the higher council of Architects Associations in Spain), and previously he was dean of the Col·legi d'Arquitectes de Catalunya (COAC). Born in the Catalan city of Mataró in 1960, Comerón trained at the Escola Tècnica Superior d'Arquitectura de Barcelona (ETSAB Barcelona School of Architecture). A few years after finishing school he opened his own office in Sant Cugat del Vallès.
But Comerón will be remembered above all for his tireless efforts in favor of the collective and the constant improvement of his profession. Particularly sensitive to global warming and the lack of access to public housing in Spain, during his presidency he promoted the creation of CSCAE's 2030 Observatory, a working group for the joint search for solutions to the challenges of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
Under his mandate, the CSCAE candidacy brought the UIA 2022 International Forum to Madrid, an event that will be held in May and be focused on livable and affordable housing; as well as the hosting of the UIA Congress in Barcelona in 2026, when the city will be the World Capital of Architecture.
With the architects' associations, he favored Spain's signing in 2018 of the Davos Declaration, a policy for a high-quality Baukultur in the built environment. He also lobbied for the recognition of architecture as an asset of general interest, supporting the development of the Architecture Quality Law, approved as a draft law in the Council of Ministers and currently in parliamentary proceedings.
Laureano Matas, Miriam Giordano, Lluís Comerón, Renato Turri, and Madeline Carey in 2018 on the occasion of the signing of the agreement between CSCAE and World-Architects. (Photo © Nfoca)
World Architects.com signed an agreement with the CSCAE in September 2018. On that occasion we interviewed Lluís Comerón (interview in Spanish) to learn more about his concerns and plans for the future. Hopefully many of us will continue to work together along the same lines.
His sudden death has left the architectural community in Spain devastated. Many colleagues remember him as an affable person, always willing to seek consensus, to work for cooperation and innovation between sectors and with different parts of society. He knew how to listen and how to talk to a huge diversity of professionals and agents.
At World-Architects we appreciate everything he did in favor of quality architecture — in Spain, in Europe, and at the international level. He will be greatly missed.