Presentation of the IV International Architecture Congress, ARCHITECTURE: CHANGE OF CLIMATE

Rem Koolhaas wwas born in Rotterdam on 17 November 1944. He began his career as a journalist working for the Haagse Post and also as a set designer in the Netherlands and Hollywood. He studied architecture at the Architectural Association School in London, and after winning the Harkness scholarship he moved to the USA. There he spent some time at the IAUS (Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies) in New York, a centre directed by Peter Eisenman. He later moved to Cornell University where he studied with Oswald Mathias Ungers.

In these early years of collaboration between Rem Koolhaas, Elia Zenghelis, Madelon Vriesendorp and Zoe Zenghelis, the name of the group while they were developing their first ideas and conceptual projects was more experimental: Office for Metropolitan Architecture – The Laboratory of Dr. Caligari. A time that served to consolidate initial ideas that would later lead to the formal founding of OMA in 1975 with his three colleagues.

In 1978 he wrote Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan, which has become a classic of contemporary architectural theory.

The most important works by Koolhaas and OMA, from its foundation until the mid-1990s, include the Netherlands Dance Theatre at The Hague, the Nexus Housing at Fukuoka in Japan, the Kunsthal in Rotterdam, the Grand Palais of Euralille and Lille, the Villa dall’Ava, the Très Grande Bibliothèque, the Jussieu library in Paris, the ZKM in Karlsruhe and the Seattle Public Library.

Together with Koolhaas’s reflections on contemporary society, these buildings appear in his second book, S,M,L,XL (1995), a volume of 1376 pages written as though it were a “novel about architecture”. Published in collaboration with the Canadian graphic designer, Bruce Mau, the book contains essays, manifestos, cartoons and travel diaries.

In 2005, with Mark Wigley and Ole Bouman, he was the founder of the prestigious Volume magazine, the result of a collaboration with Archis (Amsterdam), AMO and C-lab (Columbia University NY).

His built work includes the Qatar National Library and the Qatar Foundation Headquarters (2018), Fondation Galeries Lafayette in Paris (2018), Fondazione Prada in Milan (2015/2018), Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow (2015), the headquarters for China Central Television (CCTV) in Beijing (2012), Casa da Musica in Porto (2005), Seattle Central Library (2004), and the Netherlands Embassy in Berlin (2003). Current projects include the Taipei Performing Arts Centre, a new building for Axel Springer in Berlin, and the Factory in Manchester.

Koolhaas directed the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale and is a professor at Harvard University, where he directs The Project on the City, a research programme on changes in urban conditions around the world. This program has conducted research on the delta of the Pearl River in China (entitled Great Leap Forward) and on consumer society (The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping). Taschen Verlag has published the results. Now is preparing a major exhibition for the Guggenheim Museum to open in 2019 entitled Countryside: Future of the World.

Among the awards he has won in recent years, we mention here the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize (2000), the Praemium Imperiale (2003), the Royal Gold Medal (2004) and the Mies Van Der Rohe Prize (2005). In 2008, Time mentioned him among the 100 most influential people on the planet.

Bjarke Ingels (born in Copenhagen, in 1974) studied architecture at the Royal Academy in Copenhagen and the School of Architecture of Barcelona, ​​obtaining his degree as an architect in 1998. He is the founder of the BIG architecture studio - (Bjarke Ingels Group), a studio founded in 2005, after co-founding PLOT Architects in 2001 with his former partner Julien de Smedt, whom he met while working at the prestigious OMA studio in Rotterdam.

Bjarke has designed and completed award-winning buildings worldwide, and currently, his studio is based with venues in Copenhagen and New York. His projects include The Mountain, a residential complex in Copenhagen, and the innovative Danish Maritime Museum in Elsinore.

With the PLOT study, he won the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale in 2004, and with BIG he has received numerous awards such as the ULI Award for Excellence in 2009. Other prizes are the Culture Prize of the Crown Prince of Denmark in 2011; Along with his architectural practice, Bjarke has taught at Harvard University, Yale University, Columbia University and Rice University and is an honorary professor at the Royal Academy of Arts, School of Architecture in Copenhagen.

In 2018, Bjarke received the Knight's Cross of the Order of Dannebrog granted by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II. He is a frequent public speaker and continues to give lectures at places such as TED, WIRED, AMCHAM, 10 Downing Street or the World Economic Forum. In 2018, Bjarke was appointed Chief Architectural Advisor by WeWork to advise and develop the design vision and language of the company for buildings, campuses and neighborhoods around the world.

Herzog & de Meuron Architekten is a Swiss architecture firm, founded and headquartered in Basel, Switzerland in 1978. The careers of founders and senior partners Jacques Herzog (born 1950), and Pierre de Meuron (born 1950), closely paralleled one another, with both attending the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich. They are perhaps best known for their conversion of the giant Bankside Power Station in London to the new home of the Tate Museum of Modern Art (2000). Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron have been visiting professors at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design since 1994 (and in 1989) and professors at ETH Zürich since 1999. They are co-founders of the ETH Studio Basel – Contemporary City Institute, which started a research programme on processes of transformation in the urban domain.

Herzog & de Meuron is a partnership led by five Senior Partners – Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Christine Binswanger, Ascan Mergenthaler and Stefan Marbach. An international team of 38 Associates and about 362 collaborators.

Herzog & de Meuron received international attention very early in their career with the Blue House in Oberwil, Switzerland (1980); the Stone House in Tavole, Italy (1988); and the Apartment Building along a Party Wall in Basel (1988).  The firm’s breakthrough project was the Ricola Storage Building in Laufen, Switzerland (1987).  Renown in the United States came with Dominus Winery in Yountville, California (1998). The Goetz Collection, a Gallery for a Private Collection of Modern Art in Munich (1992), stands at the beginning of a series of internationally acclaimed museum buildings such as the Küppersmühle Museum for the Grothe Collection in Duisburg, Germany (1999). Their most recognized buildings include Prada Aoyama in Tokyo, Japan (2003); Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany (2005); the new Cottbus Library for the BTU Cottbus, Germany (2005); the National Stadium Beijing, the Main Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China; VitraHaus, a building to present Vitra’s “Home Collection“, Weil am Rhein, Germany (2010); and 1111 Lincoln Road, a multi-storey mixed-use structure for parking, retail, a restaurant and a private residence in Miami Beach, Florida, USA (2010), the Actelion Business Center in Allschwil/Basel, Switzerland (2010). In recent years, Herzog & de Meuron have also completed projects such as the New Hall for Messe Basel Switzerland (2013), the Ricola Kräuterzentrum in Laufen (2014), which is the seventh building in a series of collaborations with Ricola, with whom Herzog & de Meuron began to work in the 1980s; and the Naturbad Riehen (2014), a public natural swimming pool. In April 2014, the practice completed its first project in Brazil: the Arena do Morro in the neighbourhood of Mãe Luiza, Natal, is the pioneering project within the wider urban proposal “A Vision for Mãe Luiza”.

Herzog & de Meuron have completed 6 projects since the beginning of 2015: a new mountain station including a restaurant on top of the Chäserrugg (2262 metres above sea level) in Toggenburg, Switzerland; Helsinki Dreispitz, a residential development and archive in Münchenstein/Basel, Switzerland; Asklepios 8 – an office building on the Novartis Campus in Basel, Switzerland; the Slow Food Pavilion for Expo 2015 in Milan, Italy; the new Bordeaux stadium, a 42’000 seat multifunctional stadium for Bordeaux, France; Miu Miu Aoyama, a 720 m² boutique for the Prada-owned brand located on Miyuki Street, across the road from Prada Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan.

In many projects the architects have worked together with artists, an eminent example of that practice being the collaboration with Rémy Zaugg, Thomas Ruff and with Michael Craig-Martin.

Professionally, the Herzog & de Meuron partnership has grown to become an office with over 120 people worldwide. In addition to their headquarters in Basel, they have offices in London, Munich and San Francisco. Herzog has explained, “We work in teams, but the teams are not permanent. We rearrange them as new projects begin. All of the work results from discussions between Pierre and me, as well as our other partners, Harry Gugger and Christine Binswanger. The work by various teams may involve many different talents to achieve the best results which is a final product called architecture by Herzog & de Meuron.”

Snøhetta is an integrated architecture, landscape, and interior design company based in Oslo, Norway, and New York City, formed in 1989 and led by principals Craig Dykers and Kjetil Thorsen. The firm, founded in 1989, which is named after one of Norway's highest mountain peaks, has approximately 100 staff members working on projects around the world. The practice pursues a collaborative, transdisciplinary approach, with people from multiple professions working together to explore diverse perspectives on each project.

Snøhetta has completed several critically acclaimed cultural projects, including the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt; the National Opera and Ballet in Oslo, Norway; and the Lillehammer Art Museum in Norway. Current projects include the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion at the World Trade Center site in New York.

In 2004 Snøhetta received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, and in 2009 the firm was honored with the Mies van der Rohe Award. Snøhetta is the only company to have twice won the World Architecture Award for best cultural building, in 2002 for the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and in 2008 for the National Opera and Ballet in Oslo.

Kjetil Trædal Thorsen (above left) is a multi-award-winning co-founder of the architectural and design firm Snøhetta. He is a visionary architect who has redefined the boundaries of contemporary design. Under his leadership, Snøhetta has created iconic structures that blend cutting-edge innovation with a deep sensitivity to culture and environment. Thorsen’s work is celebrated for its emphasis on social interaction, sustainability, and creating spaces that inspire and connect people. His groundbreaking approach has made him a leading figure in global architecture, shaping the future of how we experience the built environment.

Craig Dykers (above right)co-founded the architecture, landscape, and interior design company of Snøhetta, and he is Principal of the New York City office of the Norwegian-based firm. Snøhetta has developed a reputation for maintaining a strong relationship between landscape and architecture in all of its projects. His major projects include the design of Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt, the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo, the recently opened National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion at the former World Trade Center site and the redesign of Times Square in New York. Active professionally and academically, Craig has been a member of the Norwegian Architecture Association (NAL), the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in England. He has been the Diploma Adjudicator at the Architectural College in Oslo and has been a Distinguished Professor at City College in New York City. He has lectured extensively in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. In addition, Dykers has been commissioned to complete installation art projects in public spaces, many of which focused on the notion of context, nature and human nature.

Iñaki Abalos, (San Sebastián, 1956) graduated from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid ETSAM(1978), before going on to become a Doctor of Architecture, PHD (1991), and Professor of Architectural Project Design at he ETSAM. In 2009 he was Kenzo Tange Professor in Harvard University and since 2010 has been a guest professor at the Graduate School of Design (GSD).

A founder member of Ábalos&Herreros (1984-2007) and of Ábalos+Sentkiewicz arquitectos (since 2007), he has sat on the scientific committee of the Study Center of the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) in Montreal (since 2005) and on the management board of the Barcelona Institute of Architecture (since 2008).

He is the director of the Laboratorio de Técnicas y Paisajes Contemporáneos (Madrid, since 2002), and in 2009 the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) awarded him its international membership. He has taught at the Architectural Association (London), the EPF (Lausanne) and at the universities of Columbia, Princeton and Cornell.

Ábalos is the author of Le Corbusier. Rascacielos (Ayuntamiento de Madrid, 1988), Tower and office (The MIT Press, Cambridge [Mass.], 2003) and Natural-artificial (ExitLMI, Madrid, 1999), with Juan Herreros; and The good life (Editorial Gustavo Gili, Barcelona, 2000), the two volumes of Atlas pintoresco (Editorial Gustavo Gili, Barcelona, 2005 and 2007), and the monograph Alejandro de la Sota (Fundación Caja de Arquitectos, Barcelona, 2009; with Josep Llinàs and Moisés Puente). He also edited Naturaleza y artificio (Editorial Gustavo Gili, Barcelona,2009).

Renata Sentkiewicz (Kolo, 1972) graduated as an architect from Cracow Polytechnic. Since 2007 she has been Associate Professor of Architectural Project Design at the ETSAM and of the Laboratorio de Técnicas y Paisajes Contemporáneos (since 2002).

In 1999 she began working as an assistant at Ábalos&Herreros and in 2001 was made an associate. She is a founder member of Ábalos+Sentkiewicz arquitectos and a member of the Zero Energy Alliance (since 2009).

She has given workshops and seminars in architecture and landscape in different international centres, principally the Berlage Institute, the IUAV in Venice, the Festarch Cerdeña, the EURAU, the COAC, the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and the CEU.

She is the editor of Cuatro observatorios de la energía (COA Canarias, Santa Cruz de La Palma, 2007).

Lacaton & Vassal. Anne Lacaton and Jean Phillippe Vassal created the office in 1989, based in Paris. The office has a practice in France, as well as abroad, working on various buildings and urban planning programs.

Anne LACATON was born in France in 1955. She graduated from the School of architecture of Bordeaux in 1980, and got a diploma in Urban Planning at the university of Bordeaux in 1984. She is teaching as a visiting professor at the University of Madrid since 2007, and was invited in 2011 at the Ecole Polytechnique in Lausanne, as well as in Harvard GSD Studio in Paris in 2011.

Jean Philippe VASSAL was born in Casablanca, Morocco, in 1954. He graduated from the School of Architecture of Bordeaux in 1980. He worked as an urban planner in Niger from 1980 to 1985. He is professor at UdK Berlin since 2012, and has been a visiting professor at the TU in Berlin in 2007-2010, and at the Ecole Polytechnique in Lausanne in 2010-11.

Main Awards, the Grand Prix National d’Architecture, France, 2008, the Rolf Schock Prize, visual arts category, Sweden 2014, the Daylight & Building Components Award, Velum Fonden, Denmark, 2011, and the International Fellowship of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2009, the Equerre d'Argent award 2011, with Frédéric Druot, France. Their work has been shortlisted several times and twice finalist for the Mies Van der Rohe Award, European Prize for Contemporary Architecture.

The main works completed by the office are: the FRAC, Public Contemporary Art Collection, in Dunkerque, France; the Palais de Tokyo, Paris, Site for contemporary creation ; social housing and student housing in Paris ; a music and polyvalent hall in Lille ; the Café for the Architektur Zentrum in Vienna ; a School for Business and Management in Bordeaux ; the Architecture school in Nantes, and significant housing projects in France such as the House Latapie, Bordeaux ; the House in the trees, facing Arcachon Bay, the "Cité Manifeste" in Mulhouse. They are now working on the transformation of modernist social housing : the Transformation of Tour Bois le Prêtre in Paris (with Frédéric Druot, architect), in St Nazaire la Chesnaie and in Bordeaux Grand Parc (with F Druot and Ch. Hutin, architects). All these projects are based on a principle of generosity and economy, serving the life, the uses and the appropriation, with the aim of changing the standard.

MVRDV was founded in 1993 by Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The practice engages globally in providing solutions to contemporary architectural and urban issues. A highly collaborative, research-based design method involves clients, stakeholders and experts from a wide range of fields from early on in the creative process. The results are exemplary, outspoken projects, which enable our cities and landscapes to develop towards a better future.

The products of MVRDV’s unique approach to design vary, ranging from buildings of all types and sizes, to urban plans and visions, numerous publications, installations and exhibitions. Built projects include the Netherlands Pavilion for the World EXPO 2000 in Hannover; the Market Hall, a combination of housing and retail in Rotterdam; the Pushed Slab, a sustainable office building in Paris’ first eco-district; Flight Forum, an innovative business park in Eindhoven; the Silodam Housing complex in Amsterdam; the Matsudai Cultural Centre in Japan; the Unterföhring office campus near Munich; the Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam; the Ypenburg housing and urban plan in The Hague; the Didden Village rooftop housing extension in Rotterdam; the music centre De Effenaar in Eindhoven; the Gyre boutique shopping center in Tokyo; a public library in Spijkenisse; an international bank headquarters in Oslo, Norway; and the iconic Mirador and Celosia housing in Madrid.

Current projects include a variety of housing projects in the Netherlands, France, China, India, and other countries; a community centre in Copenhagen and a cultural complex in Roskilde, Denmark, a public art depot in Rotterdam, the transformation of a mixed use building in central Paris, an office complex in Shanghai, and a commercial centre in Beijing, and the renovation of an office building in Hong Kong. MVRDV is also working on large scale urban masterplans in Bordeaux and Caen, France and the masterplan for an eco-city in Logroño, Spain. Larger scale visions for the future of greater Paris, greater Oslo, and the doubling in size of the Dutch new town Almere are also in development.

MVRDV first published a manifesto of its work and ideas in FARMAX (1998), followed by MetaCity/Datatown (1999), Costa Iberica (2000), Regionmaker (2002), 5 Minutes City (2003), KM3 (2005), Spacefighter (2007) and Skycar City (2007), and more recently The Vertical Village (with The Why Factory, 2012) and the firm’s first monograph of built works MVRDV Buildings (2013). MVRDV deals with issues ranging from global sustainability in large scale studies such as Pig City, to small, pragmatic architectural solutions for devastated areas such as New Orleans.

The work of MVRDV is exhibited and published worldwide and has received numerous international awards. One hundred architects, designers and urbanists develop projects in a multi-disciplinary, collaborative design process which involves rigorous technical and creative investigation. MVRDV works with BIM and has official in-house BREEAM and LEED assessors.

Together with Delft University of Technology, MVRDV runs The Why Factory, an independent think tank and research institute providing an agenda for architecture and urbanism by envisioning the city of the future.

Francisco Mangado, (Navarra, 1957), is an architect from the School of Architecture of the University of Navarra, where he has been a professor since 1982. He has been a visiting professor at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, Eero Saarinen Visiting Professor at the Yale University, visiting professor at the EPF Polytechnic School of Lausanne, Baird and Gensler guest professor at Cornell University and visiting professor at the Polytechnic of Milan.

From his works they emphasize the Palace of Congresses and Auditorium of Pamplona "Baluarte" (2003), the Field of Soccer of Palencia (2006), the Municipal Center of Exhibitions and Congresses of Ávila (2009), the Museum of Archeology of Vitoria (2009 ), the Spanish Pavilion for the Zaragoza International Exhibition (2008), the BBAA Museum of Asturias in Oviedo (2015) and the recently inaugurated Palau de Congresos de Palma de Mallorca (2016) and the New Venue Building of Norvento Enerxia in Lugo (2017). Currently he develops his activity in several countries.

Thanks to this professional work he has received, among others, the Andrea Palladio Architecture Award, the Architecture FAD, the CEOE prize, the Construmat Architecture Award, the Fernando García Mercadal Architecture Prize, the Asturian Architecture Prize, the "Giancarlo Ius Gold Medal" awarded by the International Union of Architects, the Copper in Architecture Award, the RIBA EU Award, the Spanish Architecture Award 2009 and the RIBA for International Excellence, among others.

In 2011 he was named "International Fellow" of the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) and in 2013 honorary member of the AIA (American Institute of Architects). In November 2016, the Berlin Academy of Arts grants Francisco Mangado the Berlin Art Prize-Architecture Prize 2017 in recognition of his work.

In 2008 he founded the Architecture and Society Foundation, which works to favor the interaction of architecture with other disciplines of creation, thought and economy, which has received the CSCAE gold medal (Higher Council of Architects of Spain) 2015

In July 2015 he was appointed General Coordinator of Biennials and under his coordination was awarded to the Spanish Pavilion the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennial in May 2016.

Ábalos+Sentkiewicz arquitectos, AS+. Madrid-based architecture practice was founded and led by Iñaki Ábalos and Renata Sentkiewicz in 2006. The practice has local offices in Cambridge (USA) and Shanghai (China).

Iñaki Ábalos and Renata Sentkiewicz have taught in prestigious university centres such as GSD-Harvard University, Architectural Association, Columbia, Cornell, Princeton, and ETSAM, combining academic, professional and research activities. Iñaki Ábalos has been Chair of the Department of Architecture at GSD Harvard University and RIBA International Fellowship 2009 (Royal Institute of British Architects). Abalos is currently Chaired Professor at ETSAM.

The projects and built work of Abalos+Sentkiewicz AS+ are internationally recognized and have been the subject of individual exhibitions and many collective exhibitions in the most prestigious centres: GSD Harvard, AA-London, Pavillon de l’Arsenale-Paris, MoMA-NYC (5 built works in three different exhibitions: Light construction, ON Site, Groundswell), Chicago Architecture Biennial, Biennale di Architettura di Venezia, etc. This prestige also reflects in the 40 awards received (25 of them first prizes) in architecture competitions. Another 46 awards have been given to different research and design activities, 19 of them to Built Works. Their professional work has been collected in 12 monographs and their theoretical work has been compiled through 12 books. Critic William Curtis has chosen one work of the firm, the Pavilion in the Retiro Park, as one of the three best works built in Spain during the last 30 years.