) is a Spanish essayist. He studied engineering and economics at the University of Barcelona

University of Barcelona

The University of Barcelona is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia in Spain. It is a member of the Coimbra Group, LERU, European University Association, Mediterranean Universities Union, International Research Universities Network and Vives Network...

 and urban studies at the University of California Berkeley. He was director of Spain's national library and of the Spanish College (Colegio de España) in Paris. He has worked with newspapers including El País, La Vanguardia

La Vanguardia

La Vanguardia is Catalonia's leading daily newspaper as well as the fourth best-selling in Spain. It has its headquarters in Barcelona, Catalonia's largest city....

. Currently, he works for Mundo Deportivo. He writes both in Catalan and in Castilian.

Works

• Filosofías del underground (Philosophies of the underground), 1977
• Sistemas de ciudades y ordenación del territorio (Systems of cities and planning), 1978
• Leonardo da Vinci, 1978
• Cercamon, 1981
• Del paro al ocio (From unemployment to leisure), 1983
• Textos de estética taoísta (Texts of Taoist aesthetics), 1983
• El Mediterráneo y los bárbaros del Norte (The Mediterranean and the barbarians of the North) (1985 and 1996)
• La forja de l'exili (The forging of the Exiles) (1985)
• Los ángeles cuánticos (Quantum Angels) (1986)
• Arte y ciencia (Art and Science) (1988)
• El Arte de Vivir (The Art of Living) (1989)
• Florencia de los Médicis (Florence of the Medicis) (1990)
• Atenas de Pericles (Athens of Pericles) (1993)
• Oriente y Occidente: Filosofía oriental y dilemas occidentales (East and West: Eastern Philosophy and Western dilemmas) (1993)
• El arte de escribir (The art of writing) (1995)
• La cárcel del amor (Prison of Love) (1996)
• El genio del lugar (The genius of the place) (1997)
• Guía Práctica para Insatisfechos: Valores, Política y Futuro (Practical Guide to Values, Politics and the Future) (1997)
• El progreso decadente (Decadent Progress) (2000) (Espasa - Essay Prize, Premio Espasa de Ensayo)
• El pecado original (Original Sin) (2001)
• La Costa Brava recuperada (Costa Brava recovered) (2000)
• El alquimista trovador: una fascinante novela histórica sobre Rai Mundo Lulio (Trovador the alchemist: a fascinating historical novel about World Lulio Rai) (2003)
• La sonrisa de la Gioconda (Mona Lisa's smile) (2004)
• Conversaciones con Pla y Dalí (Conversations with Pla and Dalí) (2004)
• El libro de los pequeños placeres (The Book of Small Pleasures) (2005)
• Los complejos de la derecha (The complex on the right) (2006)
• Leonardo Da Vinci: genio del Renacimiento (Leonardo Da Vinci: genius of the Renaissance) (2006)
• Sobrevivir a un gran amor seis veces -Memorias- (2009)