Maestro de Arquitectura 2017 - Juan Herreros
On February 6th LA IDEA held its annual Maestros de Arquitectura event at the District Architecture Center, having Juan Herreros, from estudioHerreros, as the guest lecturer. This is the most anticipated event of the year that the committee hosts since it is a lecture series created to recognize renowned Latin American and Hispanic architects for their professional accomplishments and personal journey to excel in their work both within the U.S. and around the world.
Juan Herreros, PhD Architect, is the partner-founder at estudioHerreros and Chair Professor of Architectural Design at Madrid School of Architecture and Full Professor at the GSAPP of Columbia University in New York. He has reached international acclaim for his prolific career as an architect and an academic. He won numerous international competitions including the design and construction of the Munch Museum in Oslo, the International Conference Centre in Bogota, the Euromed Project in Marseille, among many major projects around the world. His work has been featured in several publications and exhibitions, and he has received a range of awards including International Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA); AD Architect of the Year 2010; Medal of Arts from the city of San Lorenzo de El Escorial; among others.
The evening began with a 45 minute Tertulia; an intimate conversation where Victoria Delgado, LA IDEA’s 2017 Director of Education, interviewed Mr. Herreros about his evolution as a professional in the field of Architecture.
The main lecture titled ‘Global Thinking/Local Architecture’ followed, and Juan Herreros shared his insight on the emerging roles of the figure of the architect in light of the world’s current needs. He introduced the concept of Global Culture as a way of understanding different conditions and circumstances that can be brought into a project by an ‘outsider’, who can offer a unique view that in combination with local partners leads to projects that deeply interact and respond to their context.
During the engaging lecture, Mr. Herreros presented the projects of Euromed in Marseille, the International Conference Centre in Bogota, the Munch Museum in Oslo, the Bank of Panama Tower in Panama City, and the remodel of the Malba Museum Public Areas in Argentina - each with a detailed description of their unique circumstances, challenges, and opportunities, and a discussion of how the architects' approach has led them to be specifically crafted for their sites and successfully incorporated into their context. One of the many important lessons shared was that working as a collaborator at all times and combining input from local architects, experts, consultants, developers, clients, and the public is key for any project’s triumph.
We deeply thank Juan Herreros for graciously accepting LA.IDEA’s invitation, as well as all who attended the event. This event was made possible by generous donations from our sponsors and the hard work of our Committee members and volunteers.
