Benedetta Tagliabue

Her Barcelona-based company EMBT has become one of the most renowned Spanish practices of the 21st century as a result of her varied and intricate works.

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She is an internationally renowned architect founder with Enric Miralles (1955–2000) of the international studio EMBT Architects, with offices in Barcelona (HQ), Shanghai, and Paris.

She is renowned for her attentiveness to context, yet experimental, approach to forms and materials in her creations.

Tagliabue and Enric Miralles (1955–2000) collaborated to form the renowned architecture firm Benedetta Tagliabue - EMBT in Barcelona in 1994.

Benedetta Tagliabue (born 23 June 1963) is an Italian architect, who lives and works in Barcelona, Spain.

Tagliabue was born in Milan, Italy.

In 1963, she was born in Milan and started her architectural study at the University of Venice in 1981.

In 1988, she began to collaborate professionally with the architectural firm Transbuilding and Gandelsonas-Agrest in New York.

She graduated from the Istituto Universitaria di Architettura di Venezia in 1989.

In 1989, she graduated in Venice, and won first prize with her thesis in the "Biennal Joves de Barcelona" after two years.

Then she moved to a flat in Plaça Reial, in Barcelona.

ITALSTAD prize for Europe.

In 1989, Tagliabue graduated in Venice from the "Università Iuav di Venezia" in Italy.

Presently, Benedetta Tagliabue teaches at the University of Architecture ETSAB (Escola Tècnica Superior d'Arquitectura de Barcelona) in Barcelona and lectures regularly in architectural forums.

Coincidentally, their relationship started right before the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, which marked the apex of the city's development and architectural style.

The studio has offices in Barcelona (HQ), Shanghai, and Paris.

The studio is one of the most renowned Spanish architectural firms in the world.

Its primary philosophy is carefully responding to each project's context and site conditions.

It employs sensitive integration practices and creates a dialogue between design and its surroundings.

Mainly undertaking public projects, the office emphasizes the urban, cultural and material values of its design, resulting in unorthodox, subtle organic forms that echo the context's history, landscape and material presence.

Today, under the direction of Tagliabue, the Miralles-Tagliabue-EMBT studio works on architectural projects, open spaces, urbanization, restoration and exhibitions, trying to preserve the spirit of the tradition of Spanish and Italian artisan architectural studios, whose aim is not specialization.

Their architectural philosophy pays particular attention to the environment.

In 1995, she won the First National Architectural Price, Spain, for the Boarding School in Morella.

In the same year, Caterina Miralles Tagliabue was born.

1999 The Scottish Parliament By Miralles Tagliabue EMBT, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

1999 House at La Clota, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

In 2000, after her husband died, she took over the Santa Caterina market project and completed it.

2000 Six houses, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

In 2004, Tagliabue received an Honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Napier University and she is a member of The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland.

Benedetta is involved in teaching at various international schools and universities.

She is a visiting professor at Harvard University, Columbia University, and ETSAB in Barcelona.

She regularly lectures at renowned architecture forums and universities.

In 2004, she received an honorary doctorate from Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland.

Benedetta serves as a juror in prestigious international awards such as the Pritzker Architecture Prize, Princesa de Asturias de las Artes, Loewe Craft Prize, RIBA Jencks Awards, and RIBA Stirling Prize.

In 2023, she won the prize Global Award for Sustainable Architecture, and she claimed in her works, whenever she thinks about ancient structures, she realizes the difficulty, time, and strength that went into their construction.

No matter how many sources and materials were available at the time, in most cases she always noticed their existence was still relevant.

This idea is shown in some of her renovation designs, such as Santa Caterina Market.

In recent years, the firm's most striking work has perhaps been the Spanish Pavilion completed for the 2010 Shanghai Expo, a design which epitomizes their philosophy of continuing curiosity and material experimentation.

In 2022, Tagliabue's home is featured in Apple TV's Home in season 2, where she detailed the construction and renovation of her and her late husband's Barcelona gothic villa.