Architect Day: Alejandro Aravena

GenCept

by GenCept | April 28, 2010

Alejandro Aravena, seen as one of the great names of young architects, has produced great works in his own office, but with ELEMENTAL he stands to make great projects of public interest and social impact, an important issue for many cities.

alejandroaravena.com .

elementalchile.cl .

Alejandro Aravena was born in 1967 and graduated in architecture from the Universidad Catolica de Chile in 1992. Since 1994, Aravena began executing his own works, including buildings for Universidad Catolica, Faculty of Mathematics, Faculty of Medicine, Torre Siamesa and the School of Architecture. He was a professor at the Universidad Catolica de Chile, Instituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia where he got his graduate degree in History and Theory, and visiting professor at Harvard. Since 2006 Aravena is the CEO of ELEMENTAL S.A..

Architect Day: Alejandro Aravena
ELEMENTAL Quinta Monroy, Iquique, Chile. Photographer Tadeuz Jalocha

Architect Day: Alejandro Aravena
ELEMENTAL Quinta Monroy, Iquique, Chile. Photographer Cristobal Palma

ELEMENTAL is based on the strength of innovation and design of projects of public interest and social impact. Their designs are transformed into an opportunity to bring the benefits of the city for all.

“It’s a social and political problem, but we can use design to address these issues.” Alejandro Aravena

“I really appreciate having been trained in an environment of scarcity. Somehow it’s a very efficient filter against what’s not strictly necessary. There’s not enough money, not enough time, to answer with tools that are not exactly the ones you need for that question.” Alejandro Aravena

Alejandro Aravena has received numerous awards such as the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale XI, XII and XV Award Biennial of Santiago, was a finalist for the Mies van der Rohe Award in 2000 and the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture 2008 in Paris. He was also named one of 20 Essential Young Architects by Icon Magazine.