|
UIA | |
The Spanish architect Jose Rafael Moneo is the fifth recipient of the UIA
Gold Medal which will be officially presented to him on 4 July 1996 during
the XIX UIA Congress in Barcelona.
Born in 1937, in Tudela (Spain), he studied at the Madrid School of Architecture
from which he graduated in 1961. He worked with the Danish architect, Jorn
Utzon (1961-1962), then spent two years at the Spanish Academy in Rome.
He opened his own office in Madrid in 1965.
National Museum of Roman Art in Merida
Amongst his main works are the Diestre Factory in Zaragoza (1965-1967),
the headquarters of the Bankinter Bank in Madrid (1973-1976), the National
Museum of Roman Art in Merida (1980-1984), the extension of the Atocha railway
station in Madrid (1984-1992), the transformation of the ancient Villahermosa
Palace in Madrid into the museum now housing the Thyssen Bornemisza collection
(1989-1992) and the Pilar and Joan Miro Foundation in Palma de Mallorca
(1987-1992).
Pilar and Joan Miro Foundation in Palma de Mallorca
Outside Spain he has worked in the United States where he designed the
Davis Art Museum of Wellesley College in Massachusetts (1989-1993), and
the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, presently under construction. In Sweden
he designed the Stockholm Museum of Modern Art and Architecture, and in
Berlin the Potzdammer Platz Hotel and an office block.
Since 1966, he has taught in various Spanish Schools of Architecture as
well as in the United States where, from 1986 to 1990 he was chairman of
the Architecture Department of the Harvard University Graduate School of
Design. His critical and theoretical work is internationally recognised
and was first published in the Italian magazine, Lotus International
and in the American Magazine Oppositions and then in the Spanish
magazine Arquitectura Bis, of which he is one of the co-founders.
Rafael Moneo holds the Gold Medal for Fine Arts awarded by the Spanish Government.
In 1993 he was awarded the Arnold W. Brunnner Memorial Prize for architecture
by the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Schock Prize by the
Schock Foundation and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm.
Jury citation
During his career of international renown, Rafael Moneo has devoted himself to architectural design and teaching architecture. His projects have enlightened the architectural profession by enhancing the urban context while preserving and respecting the existing environment.
Most of his works are woven into the city fabric and are an integral part of the life and daily space of the inhabitants. Rafael Moneo succeeds in creating a balance between tradition and innovation.
Paris, 12 February 1996