IÑAKI ÁBALOS Appointed Chair of the Department of Architecture at the GSD Harvard University

Iñaki Abalos, (San Sebastián, 1956) graduated from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid ETSAM(1978), before going on to become a Doctor of Architecture, PHD (1991), and Professor of Architectural Project Design at he ETSAM. In 2009 he was Kenzo Tange Professor in Harvard University and since 2010 has been a guest professor at the Graduate School of Design (GSD).

A founder member of Ábalos&Herreros (1984-2007) and of Ábalos+Sentkiewicz arquitectos (since 2007), he has sat on the scientific committee of the Study Center of the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) in Montreal (since 2005) and on the management board of the Barcelona Institute of Architecture (since 2008).

He is the director of the Laboratorio de Técnicas y Paisajes Contemporáneos (Madrid, since 2002), and in 2009 the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) awarded him its international membership. He has taught at the Architectural Association (London), the EPF (Lausanne) and at the universities of Columbia, Princeton and Cornell.

Ábalos is the author of Le Corbusier. Rascacielos (Ayuntamiento de Madrid, 1988), Tower and office (The MIT Press, Cambridge [Mass.], 2003) and Natural-artificial (ExitLMI, Madrid, 1999), with Juan Herreros; and The good life (Editorial Gustavo Gili, Barcelona, 2000), the two volumes of Atlas pintoresco (Editorial Gustavo Gili, Barcelona, 2005 and 2007), and the monograph Alejandro de la Sota (Fundación Caja de Arquitectos, Barcelona, 2009; with Josep Llinàs and Moisés Puente). He also edited Naturaleza y artificio (Editorial Gustavo Gili, Barcelona,2009).

Ábalos+Sentkiewicz arquitectos, AS+. Madrid-based architecture practice was founded and led by Iñaki Ábalos and Renata Sentkiewicz in 2006. The practice has local offices in Cambridge (USA) and Shanghai (China).

Iñaki Ábalos and Renata Sentkiewicz have taught in prestigious university centres such as GSD-Harvard University, Architectural Association, Columbia, Cornell, Princeton, and ETSAM, combining academic, professional and research activities. Iñaki Ábalos has been Chair of the Department of Architecture at GSD Harvard University and RIBA International Fellowship 2009 (Royal Institute of British Architects). Abalos is currently Chaired Professor at ETSAM.

The projects and built work of Abalos+Sentkiewicz AS+ are internationally recognized and have been the subject of individual exhibitions and many collective exhibitions in the most prestigious centres: GSD Harvard, AA-London, Pavillon de l’Arsenale-Paris, MoMA-NYC (5 built works in three different exhibitions: Light construction, ON Site, Groundswell), Chicago Architecture Biennial, Biennale di Architettura di Venezia, etc. This prestige also reflects in the 40 awards received (25 of them first prizes) in architecture competitions. Another 46 awards have been given to different research and design activities, 19 of them to Built Works. Their professional work has been collected in 12 monographs and their theoretical work has been compiled through 12 books. Critic William Curtis has chosen one work of the firm, the Pavilion in the Retiro Park, as one of the three best works built in Spain during the last 30 years.