The Stone They Passed Over

In 2014, a young architect named Rafael Aranda stood in a forgotten quarry outside Olot, Spain, staring at volcanic basalt that local builders had dismissed for decades as too irregular, too dark, too difficult to work with. Everyone wanted smooth, predictable limestone. But Aranda and his partners at RCR Arquitectes saw something the industry had rejected. They built the stunning La Lira Theater from that very stone — raw, dark basalt set against weathered steel — and the structure became the heart of the town's cultural life.…