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Page 1 of 12 Mexican Wins Dubai Architect Award
May, 2009
And the winner is ... Mexico! La Paz native Fernando Donis was awarded the ThyssenKrupp Elevator Architecture prize this month for his 150-metre by 150-metre rectangular frame with a cafe and viewing terrace entitled "Dubai Frame".
Amidst fierce competition - there were 4651 architects from 106 countries who registered for the contest - Donis was rewarded for a design that embodied a "social recognition of the surrounding landscape" according to the panel of judges. The structure will be built in Dubai's Zabeel Park - the largest in the city - and will literally frame Dubai's iconic skyline.
"I didn't want to design something that was specifically for one purpose. I wanted to create something that worked in compliance within the context of its surroundings and also reflected a simplicity that sometimes modern architecture overlooks," explained Donis. "My aim was to build something that was economically viable and environmentally conscientious."
Donis, who for seven years was a senior associate partner at the Dutch firm Rem Koolhaas, set up his own company a year ago and has just won the contract to design Paris' new courthouse. He is also currently developing projects in his native country Mexico and the Netherlands.
At the heart of Donis' work is a committment to sustainability. The architect feels passionately about the subject and acknowledges that it is a fundamental influence on his designs. Dubai Frame embodies that sentiment.
"The structure is very thin much like a window. It will have elevators on either extremes and in the main body there will be several cafes and a viewing terrace to marvel at the Dubai skyline which is changing by the day." Donis said who received US$100,000 as the prize winner.
Although currently based in the Netherlands Donis is contemplating returning back to Mexico on a permanent basis where he's involved in several projects. Reflecting on his role as an architect, Donis feels there is a civic duty to create projects that entertain a natural symbiosis with their immediate environment.
"Over the past decades, the architecture and construction of a city was the product of a neoliberal philosophy that saw buildings erected without taking into account their environmental and social consequences and this has carried on for years without any criticism or oversight," said Donis. "Today's outlook has changed considerably. What I try and strive for when designing a building is that apart from being aesthetically attractive it should also be a design that is rational, appreciates the need for space and is simple and economical," he added.
With a doctorate entitled "The massive production of classicism" to his name, Donis has sought to analyze the relationship between architecture and the state of the economy. He asserts that every signifcant phase of classical architecture has almost always been preceded by an economic crisis and that right now is the best moment to lay down the rules for the next phase.
"Instead of following the complex tendencies of the past decades - from postmodernism to desconstruction and the "duplication" of techniques - the architecture I want to champion is simple, reproducible, and in contrast with contemporary aesthetics has a classic beauty about it," explained Donis who will receive his award on May 25 in Dubai.
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