The etymology of the term “cosmetic” combines the idea of order with that of ornament (beauty and image), establishing a dual synergistic bond.

It is precisely from this apparently contradictory connection where very personal and extended cosmetic techniques emerge, such as a contemporary version of the “architecture of resistance” that aims to perpetuate itself and counteract the momentum of (programmed) obsolescence of the language. With the extensive use of cosmetic techniques, ornament becomes a tool that takes on new meanings, broader and even less apparent.


From here, Quaderns 272 proposes an analysis of different cosmetic techniques through the critical display organised on three levels, corresponding to three project scales. First of all, the current state of “the face of the European city” is approached, constructed, reconstructed, and transformed. Second, the definition of the architectural object is debated, analysing both the surface and the depth. Finally, cosmetic techniques are analysed from the study of the architectural fragment while simultaneously attending to the identity of the whole. It is precisely the conception of this fragment which contains some of the keys to responding to a possible shift in architectural discipline. A shift maybe, no longer so cosmetic.