MBIArch 2010-11 Faculty: Iñaki Àbalos

Iñaki Àbalos with Agustí Obiol during the first BIArch Advisory Council Meeting, June 2009

Born in San Sebastian, a Basque coastal town, Iñaki Àbalos obtained an architecture degree and a PhD in Architecture at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura in Madrid (ETSAM), where he holds a chair as Architecture Professor and directs the Master in Environmental and Landscape Studies program. Aside from being a member of the BIArch Board of Directors, he is also currently Kenzo Tange Professor at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and founding partner at Abalos+Sentkiewicz Arquitectos. Iñaki Àbalos has been Buell Book Fellow and Visiting Lecturer at Columbia University, New York (1995); Diploma Unit Master at the Architectural Association, London; Visiting Professor at the EPF Lausanne (1998); Jean Labatute Professor at Princeton University, New Jersey (from 2004 to 2007) and Visiting Professor at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (2007-2008). He was a founding member of Ábalos & Herreros (1984-2006).

Merging landscape, urban design and architecture with environmental, social and aesthetic concerns, and focused on technological innovation, the work of Àbalos is both experimental and critical. The following are some of his most recent works and projects:

Renovation and extension of the Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona

Lolita. Office building, Madrid

Orfila Apartments, Store and Garage, Madrid

Atelier Oehlen, St. Gallen

Transportation Hub, Urban Park and Housing Towers, Logroño

Taipei Performing Arts Center

Tour Porte de la Chappelle, Paris

In the context of the MBIArch program, within the area of Architectural Design, Àbalos will head the Design Core Studio, in which students will address contemporary design issues through practical and analytical work, with the intention of responding to the pressures of technical advances and the simultaneous dissolution of the tasks and instruments of traditional architectures.