This personal work by Lluís Bort, collects a journey through different types of buildings. From a hospital that was abandoned when a new one was built on the outskirts of the city, passing through a Mallorcan textile factory that was one of the economic engines of the island during the Civil War when Franco's troops bombed the industrial nucleus of Barcelona, until arriving to the largest wine cellar on the island, which closed in the 1990s after four expansions.
"With this work I want to convey my concern for the forgotten heritage in the Mallorcan landscape and make society aware of the possibility of being rehabilitated and living a second life."
Bort carefully controls the light of the entire series and each building is presented with an intense and degraded blue sky, which allows him to reflect the beauty of each one of them, showing them as if they were “architectural jewels”.
The work consists of a series of 15 photographs of 40x50 cm. mounted on 50x70 cm white frames.
"The administration could undertake this work thanks to economic aid such as the ERDF Funds, which provide financial support for the structural development of European economies. And by drafting a Master Plan, the strategies and phases of intervention of the spaces in each building could be structured."
"Arquitecturas vacías / Empty architectures" seeks to value abandoned infrastructures with great patrimonial, historical, strategic and vital value for the history of Mallorca, located on many occasions in privileged locations in the Mallorcan territory, where they would have many guarantees of success if they were converted into new facilities such as museums, exhibition halls, neighborhood houses, among others. Actions that would allow to revive urban life, improve equipment and consolidate its local populations.
The photographic project began in 2019 and, as Bort comments, it should be noted that "since then some of the photographed constructions have begun adaptation work, which we hope will allow the building to be recovered and enrich the city with new cultural offerings."