Juan Rico, the visionary behind Architectural and the vaunted Reeko project, stands as one of techno’s most compelling and enigmatic figures. Born in Oviedo, Asturias, in 1981, Rico’s journey into electronic music began in the late ’90s, but it was his relentless experimentation and uncompromising vision that catapulted him to the forefront of the global techno scene starting in 2010 with the first in a string of releases bearing his name (on the self-titled label that kicked off the project). Under the cloak of anonymity, he departed from the hard-edged techno of his Reeko alias in favour of a multidimensional ambient sound. Haunting echoes replete with gaussian grain and emotional tones that explore his duality as an artist, sometimes folding in beats that hark back to his better known pseudonym. Alongside releases on Semantica, Wolfskull, Turbo and Non Series, his work as DJ has seen him play equally esteemed spaces like Printworks, Tresor, Robert Johnson, Awakenings and L.E.V. in his native Asturias. Carving cinematic soundscapes from the void, Architectural puts forth a penetrating, high IQ strain of electronic music that complements his dance tracks to a T. For Zenaari Mix 023, the Spanish veteran treads softly through that murky world and delivers an hour long expedition through the avant-garde and melancholy, experimental beeps and syncopated scratches that break new ground while staying true to his spirit. This is a sonic journey through the shadows and light of his dual world, a highly charged number from a Spanish pioneer.
Link in @zennaari bio.
Architectural - Liminal Dancery (dsr-c27)
After debuting on Delsin in 2023 as Reeko, Spanish techno icon Juan Rico now steps up as Architectural to present his second EP on Delsin. Where Reeko is known for his adventurous, highly energized, broken techno bangers, his approach as Architectural is more fine-drawn. Over the course of four tracks, his tracks build slowly into immersive pulsations, pushing deep frequencies into captivating rhythm grooves layered with mesmerizing atmospheres.
Pre-order for a limited edition on clear vinyl is available now on Bandcamp/Delsin shop. Full release out early May.
written & produced @_architectural_@reeko_mentaldisorder
mastering @maspaventimastering
artwork @deconstructie
distribution @clonedistribution@epmmusic
For our first interview of the year, we’re honored to welcome Juan Rico, the mind behind Reeko and Architectural. For more than twenty years, the Spanish producer has moved through the scene as a deliberately blurred presence: too restless to remain within linear techno, too refined to retreat into pure experimentation.
His path doesn’t follow genres or fixed definitions, unfolding instead as a meticulous, almost obsessive exploration of sound. From fractured techno to ambient, from the hypnotic depth of looping structures to the sharper edges of recent drum & bass incursions, Juan Rico has turned each alias into an open laboratory.
As Reeko, he etched the hard, hallucinatory imagery of labels such as Mental Disorder, Emergence and PoleGroup, shaping a body of work that defined a specific, dancefloor-oriented sonic language. With Architectural, he designed a completely different soundscape — more abstract and three-dimensional — where the pressure of the kick drum coexists with near-cinematic atmospheres.
In this interview, we discuss his origins, influences, production approach, and constant transformations. To close on a high note, Juan also recorded an exclusive Reeko mix for us, blending classic and contemporary techno cuts.
» Check out the full interview and the mix on our website.
✍🏻 by: Carmine Di Donato, Martina Ventre, Juhi Gupta 📸 by: @pelayo_zurron
#reeko #architectural #mentaldisorder
Juan Rico vuelve a Veta 2026 desde el subsuelo, esta vez como @_architectural_ ⛏️
Principalmente conocido como Reeko, es una de las figuras clave del techno nacional. Durante décadas ha trabajado el sonido con la precisión de quien conoce bien la presión, la repetición y el tiempo, convirtiéndose en un referente por la solidez y coherencia de su obra.
En 2025 sorprendió con un set especial de drum & bass, explorando nuevas vetas sonoras. Este año regresa con Architectural, su faceta más hipnótica y mental: techno excavado despacio, capa a capa, como un trabajo constante bajo la roca.
📷 @seca________
Chiming in for Bassiani’s anniversary party on October 10th comes an exceptional talent from the Asturian coast and Architectural’s third appearance in the Podcast series. Since 2004, Juan Rico’s been holding the line as Reeko, a stand-in for blistering industrial rhythms, founder of Mental Disorder and founding partner of Spanish techno bastion PoleGroup. Come 2010, a new incarnation emerged under the stage name Architectural, a faceless and assumedly authorless variant of his that played on rich textures, cinematic tones and a heavier focus on the architecture of sound itself. In the studio he manipulates and records sounds in real time, allowing for a greater degree of spontaneity than working with standalone parts would otherwise permit. No longer incognito, Architectural offers a brand of ambient techno charged through with Jazz and references from the world of film that pulsates and slithers, crackles and shifts. From his earliest releases on his eponymous Architectural imprint, through Semantica, Non Series and others, his music has established itself as a touchstone for avant-garde techno centred on body and dancefloor, and his future’s sure to keep delivering more of his monolith beats. Bassiani Podcast 287 is a truly impressive addition to the series, a sweeping three-hour montage of gritty textures, modulated frequencies and punchy basslines recorded live at Bassiani.
Architectural se une a Veta 2026 para erosionar la roca a golpe de densidad sonora ⛏ Últimos abonos a precio actual en
Architectural es el proyecto de Juan Rico en el que el ritmo se convierte en estructura y el sonido en materia. Su lenguaje es pesado, denso y meticuloso: techno construido como arquitectura subterránea, capa a capa, con una presión que no busca la explosión sino la profundidad.
Una intervención precisa en el corazón industrial de la montaña. Un arquitecto del sonido abriendo nuevas galerías para el cuerpo.
Architectural joins Veta 2026 to erode the rock through sheer sonic density ⛏
Architectural is Juan Rico’s project in which rhythm becomes structure and sound turns into matter. His language is heavy, dense and meticulous: techno built like underground architecture, layer by layer, with pressure that doesn’t chase explosion but depth.
A precise intervention in the industrial heart of the mountain.
A sound architect opening new chambers for the body.
📷 Pelayo Zurrón
Premiere of “Santa Compaña” by Architectural (@_architectural_ ), taken from “Santa Compaña” EP, forthcoming on Fanzine Records (@fanzine_project )
Listen:
SC: /carteltechno/architectural-santa-compana-premiere-i-fanzine-tr-002v
YT: /watch?v=l1Xjg3x10MU
Pre - Order:
/album/santa-compa-a
Label: Fanzine Records
Artist: Architectural
Title: Santa Compaña EP
Track: Santa Compaña
Catalogue Number: Fanzine TR 002V
Format: Vinyl/Digital
Release Date: December 12, 2025
Artwork by Burgalego
Masters by Human Mastering
Fanzine TR continues its journey with Santa Compaña, the second chapter of the label. Behind this project is Architectural, the acclaimed alias of one of techno’s most influential figures: Reeko.
This four-track release fuses Reeko’s signature sound with the vision of his alter ego, shaping a techno that is both powerful and atmospheric. The record is now available for preorder in two special formats:
Standard Edition: Black vinyl.
Limited Edition: Purple Marble vinyl, limited to just 100 copies.
Don’t miss out on your copy and get ready for the official release on December 19th.
Earlier this year I had the pleasure to make this remix of the track "Ich und meine Ubahn" by @11schnull feat. @newinfluenzer . It was really a challenge for me to take this sound in a different direction. Thanks again to @turborecordings for such a unique approach and for pushing me out of my comfort zone.
People - we're back in the physical space.
@minimal_collective returns to @dkmntl at night with a highly anticipated programme of sonic pioneers and collective affiliations.
Join us August 2nd at @isoamsterdam - expect the unexpected.
Line-up (A–Z): Architectural (@_architectural_ ) Brent Jacko (@brentjacko ) Cio D’or & Woody92 (@woodyninetytwo ) Costanza & DJ Red (@costanza_________ & @dj_red_official )
Tickets available via the Dekmantel website (link in bio).
You may be familiar with the work of Reeko, the Pole Group co-founder and Spanish auteur whose furious techno has expanded the definitions of his genre and piqued clubfloors over the last decade; Juan Rico’s alias has galvanised the world of electronic music like few can. Over the course of his active years he’s worked on a parallel body of work under the pseudonym Architectural, at first in the shadows of anonymity, now coming into the light. Through this second epithet he channels a more fluid sound, one that uses much of the same percussive scaffolding but goes deeper. The project began back in 2010 with a string of releases on his self-titled and newly pressed label and the 2012 release of Peacetime on Semantica Records, cementing his rise as a deft and mysterious talent from the Asturian coast. The intrigue continued with a fusing of his two projects in 2013, a Reeko and Architectural release on his native Pole Group entitled The Blue Album, a dialogue between the two visions, harsh kicks of the first fused with the trailing reverb of the latter. The next two years saw a pair of releases develop the sound he’d built via his own label and Dutch imprint Wolfskull. In tandem, his sets at Tresor, Printworks, Robert Johnson, Bassiani, Awakenings and his local festival LEV have brought his heavy atmospherics to a wider audience. His sound is primal, dubby and immersive, the output of many years of sonic research and collaboration, paced-out and rich with intelligent details. Here, for one of the most important mixes in this long running series, comes Bassiani Podcast 252, a truly singular piece recorded back in November from this paragon of experimental techno.
