José Rafael Moneo Vallés (Tudela, Navarra, May 9, 1937) is a Spanish architect, the first to be awarded the Pritzker Prize for architecture in 1996.[1].
Biography
He obtained the title of architect at the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Madrid, where he graduated in 1961, collaborating during his studies on several projects with Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza (1956-1961). He worked between 1961 and 1962 in the office of Jørn Utzon in Hellebæk (Denmark), the designer of the famous Sydney Opera House.
In 1963 he received a two-year scholarship to study at the Spanish Academy in Rome,[2] a stay that had great influence on his later work. He returned to Spain in 1965 and was first an adjunct professor at the Madrid School of Architecture (1966-1970). In 1971 he won the Chair of Elements of Composition at the ETSAB, which led him to live for almost ten years in Barcelona, until in 1980 he won the competition for professor of composition at the Madrid School of Architecture, which he abandoned after a few years of practice.
In 1973 Moneo had established his own office in Madrid, since then combining architectural design with teaching. In both activities he denounced the modern tendency to create buildings with short-term criteria, and defended the design of works that can remain current for a long time, like monuments. In line with what has been called contextual rationalism, Moneo does not follow the currents of European utilitarianism and expressionism, but instead reflects in his works a softened version of the Nordic style and the Dutch tradition. To all this, Moneo adds his own vision of historical architecture. The works from the 60s are the ones that best reflect these ideas. In 1976 Moneo was invited to the United States, where he worked at the Institute of Architecture and Urban Studies in New York and taught at the Cooper Union School of Architecture (New York). During the following years he also taught classes at Princeton and Harvard and in the Architecture department of the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (Switzerland).
In 1985 he was appointed dean of the Department of Architecture at Harvard University,[4] a position he held for fifteen years. He continues to maintain his position as Professor of Architecture at said school, which he visits regularly, having recently obtained the Sert Professorship, an honorary title. In 1992 Moneo received the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts from the Spanish Government. In 1993 he was named an doctor by the University of Leuven (Belgium). He received the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize for Architecture, awarded by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was awarded the Prince of Viana Prize from the Government of Navarra. He received the Schock Prize for Visual Arts in Stockholm, a prize awarded by the Schock Foundation and the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts. In 1994 he received a from the Venice School of Architecture. In 1996 he was awarded the Pritzker Prize for Architecture and the Gold Medal of the French Academy of Architecture and the Gold Medal of the International Union of Architects. In 1996 he was in charge of delivering the proclamation of the Mercè Festival in Barcelona, with a speech in which he reflected on the relationship between the city and its architecture.[5].
Ruinogenic Vices
Introduction
José Rafael Moneo Vallés (Tudela, Navarra, May 9, 1937) is a Spanish architect, the first to be awarded the Pritzker Prize for architecture in 1996.[1].
Biography
He obtained the title of architect at the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Madrid, where he graduated in 1961, collaborating during his studies on several projects with Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza (1956-1961). He worked between 1961 and 1962 in the office of Jørn Utzon in Hellebæk (Denmark), the designer of the famous Sydney Opera House.
In 1963 he received a two-year scholarship to study at the Spanish Academy in Rome,[2] a stay that had great influence on his later work. He returned to Spain in 1965 and was first an adjunct professor at the Madrid School of Architecture (1966-1970). In 1971 he won the Chair of Elements of Composition at the ETSAB, which led him to live for almost ten years in Barcelona, until in 1980 he won the competition for professor of composition at the Madrid School of Architecture, which he abandoned after a few years of practice.
In 1973 Moneo had established his own office in Madrid, since then combining architectural design with teaching. In both activities he denounced the modern tendency to create buildings with short-term criteria, and defended the design of works that can remain current for a long time, like monuments. In line with what has been called contextual rationalism, Moneo does not follow the currents of European utilitarianism and expressionism, but instead reflects in his works a softened version of the Nordic style and the Dutch tradition. To all this, Moneo adds his own vision of historical architecture. The works from the 60s are the ones that best reflect these ideas. In 1976 Moneo was invited to the United States, where he worked at the Institute of Architecture and Urban Studies in New York and taught at the Cooper Union School of Architecture (New York). During the following years he also taught classes at Princeton and Harvard and in the Architecture department of the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (Switzerland).
In 1985 he was appointed dean of the Department of Architecture at Harvard University,[4] a position he held for fifteen years. He continues to maintain his position as Professor of Architecture at said school, which he visits regularly, having recently obtained the Sert Professorship, an honorary title. In 1992 Moneo received the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts from the Spanish Government. In 1993 he was named an doctor by the University of Leuven (Belgium). He received the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize for Architecture, awarded by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was awarded the Prince of Viana Prize from the Government of Navarra. He received the Schock Prize for Visual Arts in Stockholm, a prize awarded by the Schock Foundation and the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts. In 1994 he received a from the Venice School of Architecture. In 1996 he was awarded the Pritzker Prize for Architecture and the Gold Medal of the French Academy of Architecture and the Gold Medal of the International Union of Architects. In 1996 he was in charge of delivering the proclamation of the Mercè Festival in Barcelona, with a speech in which he reflected on the relationship between the city and its architecture.[5].
honoris causa
Laura ad Honorem
In 1997 he was appointed full academician of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid[6] and received the title of Honorary Doctor of Technology from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. In 1998 he received the Feltrinelli Award from the Academia Nazionale dei Lincei in Rome. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Academy of Saint Luke in Rome and the Royal School of Fine Arts in Stockholm. Since 2007 he has also been a full member of Jakiunde, Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters of the Basque Country. He is an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects and the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Moneo claims to seek durability and dialogue with historical evolution with its architecture. According to Moneo, it is up to the architect to find in each era the elements and models that transform it to adapt it to the needs of the passing eras. Moneo continues to be considered by many people to be one of the great contemporary Spanish architects.
In 2001 he won the Mies van der Rohe Prize.
In 2012 he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts.
In 2013, the Spanish State claimed two million euros from Moneo for "ruining defects" in the project for the residence of the Spanish ambassador in Washington, United States.[n. 1].
In 2015 he inaugurated his "most abstract building" as he himself defines it: the Museum of the University of Navarra. In 2017, he published the book A way to teach architecture. Lessons from Barcelona, 1971-1976,[9] a copy that brings together for the first time all the teaching material produced as it passed through the classrooms of the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Barcelona (ETSAB). A year later, in 2018, Rafael Moneo presented the book "The Life of Buildings" in his studio in Madrid. An informative book on architecture in the form of an essay that deals with several Spanish buildings: "La Mezquita de Córdoba", "La Lonja de Sevilla" and "El Carmen de Rodríguez-Acosta in Granada".[10].
In June 2019, he was named an honoris causa doctor from the University of Navarra for his professional career as an architect, teacher and theorist.[11].
In 2021 he wrote an obituary in memory of his fellow student, the architect Dionisio Hernández Gil, winner of the architecture pension of the Spanish Academy in Rome in 1962.[12].
Private life
He is married to Belén Feduchi (daughter of the architect Luis Martínez-Feduchi)[13] and is the father of the architect Belén Moneo.
The Kursaal
His "Kursaal Cultural Center and Auditorium" in San Sebastián, described by Moneo as a mediating element between the natural and the abstract, in line with Oteician thought, aroused the interest of critics; for the turn it represented in the work of the Navarrese architect. A conflictive work that led to numerous criticisms of the architect, since an error caused the collapse of the grand staircase of the main building during construction (fortunately, without any victims). It has become, once completed, an icon of the city.
Moneo on the Prado promenade
In the surroundings of Madrid's Prado promenade, Rafael Moneo has left three of his mature works that are most representative of a part of his thinking: the transformation of the Villahermosa Palace "Palacio de Villahermosa (Madrid)") to house the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, the expansion of the Bank of Spain (a controversial action due to the formal mimicry used by Moneo) and the expansion of the Prado Museum.
The three works mentioned have had the approval of public administrators and the general public, but they have distanced their work from the disciplinary avant-garde to which it belonged in the 1980s. The expansion of the Prado Museum was the result of a second competition, after an international competition whose first prize was void.
Moneo has also been a student of furniture design, which he has promoted by supporting business initiatives such as B.D. Design Editions") and himself addressing the design and contracting of furniture for many of his architectural projects.
References
[9] ↑ Moneo realizó más de 700 modificaciones durante la obra, incluido el uso de un ladrillo no apto para el clima de Washington. El proyecto y dirección de la obra tuvieron un presupuesto de 8,4 millones de euros, recibiendo Moneo como honorarios &&&&&&&&&0637108.&&&&&0637 108 €.[7][8] Sin embargo debido a que la reclamación por parte del Estado tuvo lugar después de trascurridos cinco años del plazo de garantía, no se vio obligado a abonar dicha indemnización.[7].
honoris causa
Laura ad Honorem
In 1997 he was appointed full academician of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid[6] and received the title of Honorary Doctor of Technology from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. In 1998 he received the Feltrinelli Award from the Academia Nazionale dei Lincei in Rome. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Academy of Saint Luke in Rome and the Royal School of Fine Arts in Stockholm. Since 2007 he has also been a full member of Jakiunde, Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters of the Basque Country. He is an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects and the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Moneo claims to seek durability and dialogue with historical evolution with its architecture. According to Moneo, it is up to the architect to find in each era the elements and models that transform it to adapt it to the needs of the passing eras. Moneo continues to be considered by many people to be one of the great contemporary Spanish architects.
In 2001 he won the Mies van der Rohe Prize.
In 2012 he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts.
In 2013, the Spanish State claimed two million euros from Moneo for "ruining defects" in the project for the residence of the Spanish ambassador in Washington, United States.[n. 1].
In 2015 he inaugurated his "most abstract building" as he himself defines it: the Museum of the University of Navarra. In 2017, he published the book A way to teach architecture. Lessons from Barcelona, 1971-1976,[9] a copy that brings together for the first time all the teaching material produced as it passed through the classrooms of the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Barcelona (ETSAB). A year later, in 2018, Rafael Moneo presented the book "The Life of Buildings" in his studio in Madrid. An informative book on architecture in the form of an essay that deals with several Spanish buildings: "La Mezquita de Córdoba", "La Lonja de Sevilla" and "El Carmen de Rodríguez-Acosta in Granada".[10].
In June 2019, he was named an honoris causa doctor from the University of Navarra for his professional career as an architect, teacher and theorist.[11].
In 2021 he wrote an obituary in memory of his fellow student, the architect Dionisio Hernández Gil, winner of the architecture pension of the Spanish Academy in Rome in 1962.[12].
Private life
He is married to Belén Feduchi (daughter of the architect Luis Martínez-Feduchi)[13] and is the father of the architect Belén Moneo.
The Kursaal
His "Kursaal Cultural Center and Auditorium" in San Sebastián, described by Moneo as a mediating element between the natural and the abstract, in line with Oteician thought, aroused the interest of critics; for the turn it represented in the work of the Navarrese architect. A conflictive work that led to numerous criticisms of the architect, since an error caused the collapse of the grand staircase of the main building during construction (fortunately, without any victims). It has become, once completed, an icon of the city.
Moneo on the Prado promenade
In the surroundings of Madrid's Prado promenade, Rafael Moneo has left three of his mature works that are most representative of a part of his thinking: the transformation of the Villahermosa Palace "Palacio de Villahermosa (Madrid)") to house the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, the expansion of the Bank of Spain (a controversial action due to the formal mimicry used by Moneo) and the expansion of the Prado Museum.
The three works mentioned have had the approval of public administrators and the general public, but they have distanced their work from the disciplinary avant-garde to which it belonged in the 1980s. The expansion of the Prado Museum was the result of a second competition, after an international competition whose first prize was void.
Moneo has also been a student of furniture design, which he has promoted by supporting business initiatives such as B.D. Design Editions") and himself addressing the design and contracting of furniture for many of his architectural projects.
References
[9] ↑ Moneo realizó más de 700 modificaciones durante la obra, incluido el uso de un ladrillo no apto para el clima de Washington. El proyecto y dirección de la obra tuvieron un presupuesto de 8,4 millones de euros, recibiendo Moneo como honorarios &&&&&&&&&0637108.&&&&&0637 108 €.[7][8] Sin embargo debido a que la reclamación por parte del Estado tuvo lugar después de trascurridos cinco años del plazo de garantía, no se vio obligado a abonar dicha indemnización.[7].