Alejandro Valdivieso (Madrid, 1981) is a Spanish architect whose work is based on a consistent theoretical insight of practice through the production of design, on the one hand, and scholarship on the other —bridging a wide array of topics; from design theories to the History of modern architecture (specifically, the intersections between building, pedagogy, politics and media in postmodern European and American architecture culture), or the urban history of the city of Madrid.
He develops his research through different formats and mediums: as an active practicing architect (principal and founder of the award-winning Madrid-based office VALDIVIESO ARQUITECTOS); as writer and editor for several platforms (Co-Editor-in-Chief of Arquitectura COAM magazine); and as an educator, currently an Assistant Professor of Architectural History and Theory and member of the research lab "Teoría y Crítica del Proyecto y de la Arquitectura Moderna y Contemporánea" at ETSAM UPM (Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid).
Valdivieso studied architecture at Universidad de Alcalá (2008), at Harvard University as a Fulbright scholar (2016, Master in Design Studies, History and Philosophy of Design) and at the ETSAM (UPM), where he obtained his PhD in 2021 with a dissertation on printed media and postmodern architectural culture titled Another Arquitecturas Bis: The Critical Contribution of Madrid. From 2010 to 2011 he was Subject specialist and Cultore della Materia at the Facoltà di Architettura di Alghero (Università degli Studi di Sassari). In its various formats, Valdivieso’s work has been presented, shared and published in Spain and internationally. Lately, he has coedited the book Viviendas para el Patronato de Casas Militares / Dwellings for the Military Housing Trust. Fernando Higueras, Antonio Miró, Madrid 1966-1974 (ACTAR Publishers, Fundación COAM, 2024). He is a member of the Spanish Asociación de Historiadores de la Arquitectura y el Urbanismo (AhAU); member of the Editorial Board of its journal Varia for its three first issues (2019-2022) and member of its Scientific Committee since 2023.
