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Carme Pinós, recent works

Mon Apr 02, 2018 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
For over 20 years, the studio founded and led by Carme Pinós has undertaken outstanding national and international projects, working on creations within very diverse contexts, frameworks, programs and scales in countries such as Mexico, Austria and France. Currently, it is one of Spain’s most prolific award-winning architecture firms. Estudio Carme Pinós works on a wide range of typologies - from urban layouts, parks, bridges, seafronts, office towers, cultural and sports centers, universities and schools to housing facilities and furniture design. The response to each program, context, budget and time availability is necessarily unique, but there is a common denominator which underpins all of the studio’s designs: an understanding of the world and of architecture in which common sense and responsibility are the priority. Likewise, the projects undertaken by the studio reflect a concern for the city and the territory in which the most purely abstract geometry engages in a dialogue between large and small scale projects and the human relations they generate. The work of Estudio Carme Pinós has a poetry and fluidity which blurs the distinction between architecture, urbanism and landscape. Every project by Estudio Carme Pinós is developed around a strong and simple conceptual framework, devised and constantly reviewed by the architect Carme Pinós herself, and designed to suit all those involved. Consistency across every project is also ensured by the close attention paid to each and every phase of the commission, from the original outline down to the last detail, and the careful consideration lavished on the building process. This particular approach to commissions translates into a recognizable formal language in which structural and conceptual clarity, material honesty, simplicity and conclusiveness play an integral role. Speaker: Carme Pinós set up her own studio in 1991 after winning international recognition for her work with Enric Miralles. Since then, she has worked on numerous projects ranging from urban refurbishments and public works to furniture design. Her sharp approach to design, anchored by a constant focus on experimentation and research, has made her work garner worldwide recognition at the same time that Barcelona architecture has cemented its own identity and reputation throughout Europe and South and North America. Her current projects include the Regional Office of the Generalitat in Tortosa (Spain); the architectural set composed by Gardunya Square, Massana School of Arts, a housing block and the west façade of the popular La Boqueria Market in the Historical District of Barcelona (Spain); and the Masterplan for the historic centre of Saint Dizier (France), where she is also carrying out various interventions in public spaces. Among her most significant completed recent projects are the Departments Building of the Vienna University of Economics and Business (Austria), the Cube II Towers in Guadalajara (Mexico), the Caixaforum Cultural and Exhibition Centre in Zaragoza (Spain), the metro station Zona Universitaria in Barcelona and the Crematorium in the Igualada Cemetery (Spain). Carme Pinós combines work as an architect with teaching, and is actively involved her in the development and delivery of seminars, courses and workshops worldwide. She has been guest professor at several higher education institutions, including the IUAV of Venice, Architecture Schools of Paris, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf, Columbia University in New York, l’Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, Accademia di Archittetura di Mendrisio in Switzerland, Universitá di Roma Tre in Italy, among others. In 2016 she was awarded the Richard J. Neutra Medal for Professional Excellence by the California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, in recognition of her career. She received the 2016 Berkeley-Rupp Architecture Professorship and Prize valuing her contribution to promoting the advancement of women in the field of architecture and her commitment to the community. In 2015 she was honoured with the Creu de Sant Jordi Medal, one of the highest civil distinctions awarded by the Catalan Government to individuals and organisations for their cultural and social services. She received the First Prize at the 2008 Spanish Biennial of Architecture, the National Award for Public Architecture by the Catalan Government in 2008, and the National Architecture Award by the High Council of Spanish Architects. She was named Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 2011 and RIBA International Fellow in 2013 for her outstanding contribution to architecture. Her work has been widely exhibited in several galleries, museums and universities. The Centre Pompidou acquired the scale models of the Caixaforum Zaragoza in Spain, the Hotel Pizota in Mexico, and the Maison de l’Algérie of Paris. The model of the Cube I Tower currently belongs to the collection of New York’s MOMA. In 2012 Carme Pinós launched OBJECTS, a collection of products designed, produced and commercialized by her own studio. Participating Units: Berkeley Architecture